AIOI: Battle Cry? LOL!

Blogger Pete Lavelle of Printerinks.com News posted a comment on my post; MPS Providers interview #2. I could not help but chuckle at what he had to say:

"Interesting idea for a series. Interview enough executives and the great MPS mystery may finally be solved.

By the way - it never occurred to me how much the acronym for 'Adventures In Office Imaging' sounds like a battle cry."

-Pete Levelle

With that in mind I have decided to post my response to his comment:

"Thank you for reading Peter, indeed I would like to think this will be a most illuminating series of interviews.

AIOI - Battle cry? lol! I like it, I would go so far as to say you "get it". I was told yesterday by one of our readers that:

"There’s a bit of “angst” that tends to come out in your posts – anger and resentment as opposed to a focus on education. It’s hard to pinpoint, but it’s there and puts a reader on edge."

"We must be clear in that we do not have any interest in slamming “ uber big print manufacturers” as we partner with several on many different levels and would never want to jeopardize our relationship with any of them."

I admit, I do tend have a bit of angst towards the folks I call the "big boys" (Ikon, Xerox, HP, Canon etc.) only in regards to MPS however.

Hey lets face it, many of them only jumped on the MPS bandwagon when it became clear that box pushing would no longer line their pockets with gold.

With that being said we do business with some of these companies and as manufacturers they are excellent companies.

Based on their time in the MPS industry though, compared to a company like us who have been doing MPS before the term managed print services even existed, they are not MPS experts."

-AIOI

I would like to make it very clear, that the simple fact of the matter is that 10 years ago none of the "big boys" were doing managed print services. Some companies like Expert Laser Services have been doing managed print services or have been involved with managed print services early creation and evolution for almost two decades.

To see companies like HP, Xerox, Ikon, Canon, etc. Hit the scene claiming to be experts in managed print services is to some extent, insulting. Our founder was in the trenches at the very epoch of what we know managed print services to be today.

Does this mean that I hate the "big boys"? NO! But I will not stand by and watch as these giants claim expertise in a field that they have only just recently entered. When compared to many of the smaller MPS Providers who have been part of MPS for many years prior to these companies even having an interest in managed print services, the need to bring this to light is important.

The fundamental truth here is that customers have the right to know that in some cases these smaller MPS providers will give them a superior product and service backed backed by years of experience, something that the "big boys" simply can not offer.

MPS Providers Interview #2: Greg VanDeWalker

Our second interview in our MPS Providers interview series connects with Greg VanDeWalker who is the managed print services financing and leasing executive from GreatAmerica Leasing Corporation. Greg has a very interesting position within the managed print services industry as to how his work at GreatAmerica helps dealers create their own custom MPS programs.

AIOI: What company do you work for?

Greg: GreatAmerica Leasing Corporation

AIOI: How many employees does your company have?

Greg: 325

AIOI: How do you personally define "Managed Print services"

Greg: Technically – All of the customers document output needs are analyzed, right-sized, optimized and managed.

Practically – The customer has one throat to choke when it comes to document output.

AIOI: How long have you been involved with Managed Print Services?

Greg: 6 years

AIOI: What benefits does your MPS program offer your customers?

Greg: GreatAmerica doesn’t claim to have our own MPS program, we help our dealers create and implement their own MPS program. Our primary business is a finance company. We focus heavily on the copier and printer channel, consequently we have created expertise around the intricacies around billing and collecting bundled contracts. Our system integrates with all the major ERP systems to allow for seamless download and upload of meter reads which enables us to bill very complicated MPS contracts with ease. Since we are billing and collecting a dealers money in the contract, the dealer must have 100% confidence that we are handling their money accurately. A big part of our capabilities is our ability to invoice for BOTH financed and non-financed devices on one invoice. The concept of MPS being a complete rip-and-replace is outdated and not reality. We realize that some equipment will be needed today, and over time devices will added and deleted from contract while maintaining the single invoice. We also a bringing other MPS tools to help our dealers. We have our own remote monitoring tool, FleetView that our dealers can use. We have an MPS business model program called Navigator to help our dealers identify all the needed aspects of an MPS business. Plus, more tools will be announced later this year.

AIOI: What are some of your major successes?

Greg: We have many dealers who have transitioned their business from transaction to contractual solutions. The percentage of bundled contracts has steadily increased year over the year. We have been chosen by many of the national MPS providers to be their financing partner. Those companies looked at the other providers and we came out on top, we are very proud of that fact.

What separates your MPS program from your competitors?

Greg: From a finance company perspective, there is no other company that has the tools we possess. I say often if your customer wants to lease their devices there are many good leasing companies to help. But if you are selling a bundled/MPS/one invoice solution, there is no other company you should work with in the industry.

MPS Providers Interview #1: Chad Anguilm

Since Adventures in Office Imaging started, one key component in the mission of the blog has been to raise peoples awareness to the fact that aside from the "big boys" (Xerox, Ikon, Canon, HP, etc.) there are small companies all over the country/world that have been doing managed print services far longer than any of these aforementioned uber-giants.

This is important to me because I believe in supporting small/local businesses/companies. It should be important to you if you plan on signing a contract with an MPS provider to manage your fleet of office equipment.

So in the spirit of enlightenment this will be the first in a series of interviews with representatives from companies like Expert Laser Services, who although do not have global accounts like the "big boys" have far greater experience within the creation, development and evolution of managed print services than any of these monsters of the office imaging industry.

First up is Print Management Coordinator and Blogger Chad Anguilm (Kraft Care Blog)

AIOI: What company do you work for?

Chad: Kraft Business Systems, Grand Rapids, Mi.

AIOI: How many employees does your company have?

Chad: 25-30

AIOI: How do you personally define "Managed Print services"

Chad: Managed Print Services is a program designed to optimize your output budget with an evolving plan for the future. By first assessing the current environment and then making recommendations based on improving efficiencies a plan can be created and followed. Quarterly visits with a dedicated PMS rep helps keep IT Directors in the loop without investing any of their valuable time in the actual maintaining of the devices or supplies. Finally, to be a true Print Managed Services plan there must be the ability to make changes for the better of the organization. Gone are the days of base rates which lock companies into a minimum amount of images for a certain period of time. PMS is about eliminating images not capturing them!

AIOI: How long have you been involved with Managed Print Services?

Chad: Personally, 3 Years. Kraft Business Systems introduced KraftCare™ PMS in 2003.

AIOI: What benefits does your MPS program offer your customers?

Chad: The compelling reason for Kraft Business Systems to offer Print Managed Services is our customer’s frustration with the inability to control and manage print costs. Customers are unhappy with the inability to monitor and track a variety of products and vendors for service, supplies and billing. Many clients have an uncontrolled deployment of a variety of print and imaging products in a very Print/Copy-Centric Work Environment vs. Workflow-Centric Environment. None of our competitors talk about decreasing the amount of printed images since that is their life-blood. Finally, time is a huge concern for most IT Directors. Many are working more hours, for less pay. If we are effectively controlling their output devices, they don’t have to!

AIOI: What are some of your major successes?

Chad: I’d say one of my major successes thus far has been taking IT Directors that were not at all interested in the thought of Print Managed Services and showing them the value of a program capable of taking the onus off them to create a plan for the future and allowing them to utilize their experience and knowledge on network related issues and projects rather than fixing and maintaining printers.

Along with that, I have thoroughly enjoyed working with staff members to show how much more efficient they can become by replacing desktop printers with departmental multi-function units. By showing the value of the additional features I have been able to get buy-in from individuals that IT directors had feared for years.

What separates your MPS program from your competitors?

Chad: Kraft Business Systems is a complete systems integrator, something none of our competitors can compete with. Kraft also has a diversified & open product portfolio. This includes IT Management, Document / Forms / Workflow Management, Print Management, Voice / Data Management, and Imaging Equipment Management. Kraft is locally owned/operated in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Something that really sets Kraft apart is its ability to add/adjust product offerings and services quickly when most businesses either are forced to change or take a long time to do so. The flexibility to create a new program without going through a long, drawn out process is unique to Kraft Business. Last but not least we focus on true sustainability, no longer can it just be about capturing clicks and reducing the amount of devices. At Kraft we focus on limiting the amount of printed images through document routing and workflow managed services. The ability to take your business through the process and educate staff, through quarterly training visits, on the importance of an efficient office sets Kraft Business Systems apart from the rest here in Michigan.

Managed Print Services, Beware the Hype!

Here is an excerpt from a spot-on article about the "industry noise" that is coming from the large printer/copier companies in regards to managed print services (from MSPmentor)

A rather interesting trend has emerged in the printer industry: Traditional sales have been weak, so printer makers have been working overtime to say they lead the next-generation managed print services market. No doubt, MSPmentor thinks managed print services offer lucrative opportunities to many MSPs. But the industry noise is becoming overwhelming — and perhaps a bit misleading. Here’s an example of what I mean.

According to Hewlett-Packard:

“In just three years after entering the managed print services (MPS) market, HP has surpassed its competitors according to recent industry analyst studies including Gartner and Photizo Group, and has now been named worldwide leader in number of MPS contracts by IDC.”

At the same time, Xerox, Oki Data and other printer providers have been evangelizing new or expanded managed print services initiatives.

In reality, Xerox was just about the only printer maker talking about managed print services for VARs when we launched MSPmentor roughly two years ago. A prime example: Do IT Smarter and Xerox in early 2008 hosted a road show for PagePack managed print services long before many rivals were out talking about the topic.

See the whole article here.

This article is loooong overdue. I am glad another source for solid MPS information is exposing the charades of these large companies who are "leaders" in managed print services. Honestly HP, Xerox, Oki Data Leaders?? Total Bull...

The CEO of our company who has been developing our PrintDOME managed print services program for 15 years is going a little crazy from receiving phone calls from sales guys who are calling him asking him if hes interested in buying MPS. When one such salesman asked him this he replied, MPS? What is that? and the salesman replied I am not really sure but I am going to a conference for a couple days and when I get back we will be selling it...

I can't write the "R rated" comments that my CEO has for people like this on this blog.

I can't say it enough, the "Big Boys" (Xerox, HP, Oki Data, etc.) are NOT experts in managed print services. Granted they are giants with more money than God, excellent marketing departments and the ability to manage global accounts however the real experts are smaller companies composed of folks like our CEO who have been doing this before the term managed print services even existed.

If you or your boss is looking to get an MPS program for your company please do your homework and look for the real experts. You may very well have a smaller local MPS provider in your area who can give you the best possible MPS program.

New Managed Print Services Group on Facebook

We are pleased to announce the launch of our new Managed Print Services group on facebook. The group is intended to be a place on the facebook social network for people who work within the MPS Industry to connect with each other as well as customers or those who are simply looking for information about Managed Print Services. Our hope is that experts within the industry will contribute content to the wall stream as well as the discussion page so that together we can aggregate a wealth of information pertaining to managed print services. It should be noted this group is an educational endeavor and not a place to push your products or services and all content will be moderated as such.

One billion dollar Apocalypse

A ZD net blogs post from March 16, 2009 states the following: (read the whole article here)

Managed print services (MPS) will make headway in the Asia-Pacific excluding Japan region over the next three years, according to a new report from Springboard Research.

Released Monday, the report noted that the regional MPS market will grow to US $1 billion by 2012

Just in time for what some folks believe will be the end of the world!

The 2012 phenomenon is a range of beliefs and proposals positing that cataclysmic or transformative events will occur in the year 2012.^[1][2] The forecast is based primarily on what is claimed to be the end-date of the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, which is presented as lasting 5,125 years and as terminating on December 21 or 23, 2012. Arguments supporting this dating are drawn from a mixture of amateur archaeoastronomy, alternative interpretations of mythology, numerological constructions, and alleged prophecies from extraterrestrial beings.

A New Age interpretation of this transition posits that, during this time, the planet and its inhabitants may undergo a positive physical or spiritual transformation, and that 2012 may mark the beginning of a new era.^[3] Conversely, some believe that the 2012 date marks the beginning of an apocalypse. Both ideas have been disseminated in numerous books and TV documentaries, and have spread around the world through websites and discussion groups. The idea of a global event occurring in 2012 based on any interpretation of the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar is rejected as pseudoscience by the scientific community, and as misrepresentative of Maya history by Mayanist scholars.

Xerox expands MPS offering

From Recycler Magazines website

Xerox today announced Enterprise Print Services (EPS), which it says is the first offering to help companies better manage documents across their global print infrastructure - from the office to the in-house print centre to the virtual workplace. With this move Xerox says it is aiming to solidifying its lead in managed print services (MPS).

Xerox EPS reduces the cost of printing, sharing and updating everything from a home worker's 50-page proposal to full-colour brochures in a marketing department. Extending Xerox's MPS offering to give companies a complete view of worldwide print operations, EPS ensures all document output meets budget targets, security policies, and environmental sustainability objectives.

Read the whole article here

Of special note:

"Earlier this year, Xerox also made its MPS offerings available to small and mid-sized businesses through its global network of channel partners. Xerox currently monitors approximately 1.5 million devices from multiple vendors worldwide."

In response I would say click here

A solution to Crowley's "waste lands"

While reading an article about managed print services at www.graphicartsonline.com I came across a quote from Ed Crowely of the Photizo group saying:

"Many companies have uncontrolled buying of printer supplies, says Crowley, resulting in "waste lands" of obsolete toner supplies crowding corporate closets."

"The ideal environment would have users having as much printing and copying capacity as they need with supplies being delivered only when needed," Crowley said. He noted that outsourcing an imaging fleet to a third-party managed print services provider, such as HP or Xerox, ends up "optimizing the imaging environment and optimizing document workflows."

With the concept of Crowley's "waste lands" in mind please check out the above video for the perfect solution to the "waste lands" problem.

Karma in the Managed Print Services Association

Upon registering my ELSBlogger profile on the new MPSA website I noticed an interesting profile dynamic:

Hits:	0
Online Status:	ONLINE
Member Since:	37 minutes ago
Last Online:	Now
Last Updated:	33 minutes ago
Connections:	-
Total Posts:	0
Rank:	-
Karma:	0
Location:	-
Signature:

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Eastern Philosophical concept, wikipedia says:

Karma (Sanskrit: कर्म kárma (help·info), kárman- "act, action, performance"^[1]; Pali: kamma) in Indian religions is the concept of "action" or "deed", understood as that which causes the entire cycle of cause and effect (i.e., the cycle called saṃsāra) originating in ancient India and treated in Hindu, Jain, Sikh and Buddhist philosophies.^[2]. 'Karma' is an Eastern religious concept in contradistinction to 'faith' espoused by Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), which view all human dramas as the will of God as opposed to present - and past - life actions. In Eastern beliefs, the karmic effects of all deeds are viewed as actively shaping past, present, and future experiences. The results or 'fruits' of actions are called karma-phala.

A concept of karma (along with reincarnation, samsara, and moksha) may originate in the shramana tradition of which Buddhism and Jainism are continuations. This tradition influenced the Brahmanic religion in the early Vedantic (Upanishadic) movement of the 1st millennium BC. Reincarnation was adopted from this religious culture by Brahmin orthodoxy, and Brahmins wrote the earliest recorded scriptures containing these ideas in the early Upanishads.

I am intrigued to know how the MPSA will dish out "Karma points"

Hopefully by walking the correct path within the temples of MPS I wont suffer reincarnation as a laser printer.

Would you let a baby sell you an MPS Contract?

Here is a paragraph from the latest from Managed Print Services (MPS) by the Photizo Group

"I believe that HP has seen the light and over two years ago started its major move into services – particularly managed print services. With the acquisition of EDS, HP has been able to offer customers a simpler way of managing their IT infrastructure and their printers. The recent announcement of their new MPS division again shows their services orientation."

(emphasis mine)

-- by Mike Huster, Sr. Consultant and Partner, Photizo Group

This is from Greg Walters Death of the Copier Blog

"HP has established a strong leadership position in the growing MPS marketplace, so to have the support of a company of this caliber brings a great deal of credibility to the MPS Conference and validates its importance to the MPS marketplace," said Ed Crowley, CEO and Senior Partner of the Photizo Group, which is hosting the MPS 2009 European Conference."

Two years huh? Must be nice to have a strong leadership position within the MPS marketplace with only two years experience. I suppose a giant brand name and a well known blue logo must cause some people to forget that they are essentially letting a toddler of the mps industry provide their company with a program that did not even exist a few years back.

Would you let a two year old drive your car? Do your taxes? Manage your company?

Then why would you trust one to provide your company with a managed print services program? Regardless of whether its HP, Canon, Ikon, Konica Minolta or one of the other "Big Boys" the fact remains that all of them have less than a decade experience in the MPS industry.

Sure becuase of their size and brand they may have a global presence with accounts all over the world and may very well seem like experts, but are they really? Some of these large companies are going to start going after smaller accounts and SMBs. If your the CEO of such a company again I would like to ask you:

Would you let a two year old drive your car? Do your taxes? Manage your company?

The answer is of course no.

So when your company is ready for an MPS program do your self a favor and think twice before choosing a provider with a big name and a well known logo and instead, do your homework. Chances are you will find (an albeit smaller) company that has far more years of experience in the field than these imaging industry giants who are really babies in regards to managed print services.

Once upon a time...

Click HERE to find out.

Copiers, Printers and Feng shui.

Feng Shui The Chinese art or practice of positioning objects, especially graves, buildings, and furniture, based on a belief in patterns of yin and yang and the flow of chi that have positive and negative effects. Definition from answers.com

Ok, set aside the mystical aspect of this concept and your left with a principle that is most useful in managed print services. How so? Well one of the most important aspects of managing an offices printers and or copiers is the location of a centralized printer as well as the location of smaller desktop laser printers or MFPs. If Chuck from accounting is printing on a machine that has a higher CPC and is doing a thousand prints a month while Susie from sales is using a machine with a lower CPC and does one hundred prints a month then you can see where the principle of said ancient Taoist art comes into play. Such a situation needs some business grade Feng Shui.

Arranging, adding or removing your printers and copiers in a way that is going to maximize productivity and keep your document output costs down is a huge part of MPS and regardless of how much better your positive "qi" energy is flowing when your MPS provider makes said arrangements, additions or removals you will be saving money. One could argue that by making your CEO happy you may very well bring about such positive energy.

The bigger they are the harder they fall

So according to the channel insider blog and their "Xerox Fires Back on Managed Print Services" article, Xerox seems to be having a fit over all the fuss that HP is making about now being present in the managed print services industry. David Bates, vice president for Xerox's office group is quick to point out that HP is but a startup within the MPS industry despite the fact of their longevity in the technology industry in general. Dave goes on to say "They may have a relationship with the customer, but do they have the experience to know how to optimize these products? Do they have the workflow knowledge?"

What is funny about Xerox throwing stones is the fact that they do indeed live in a glass house. Compared to some smaller companies like us here at Expert Laser Services they too are but toddlers in the realm of managed print services. They are lagging behind or at best only recently catching up to a program like ours that is over 15 years in the making. With that being said it can't be denied that Xerox is a behemoth not unlike HP and I am sure some would say "who cares if your company has been in MPS longer you guys are a small company, a blip on the radar." These oafs of the industry fail to realize that what starts as a small blip may end as the beast who sinks your ship.

Indeed I scoff at these oafs who claim to be managed print services experts. They are but monsters with big budgets and clever marketing teams. Folks who aggregate industry jargon that means nothing to the people who need the product. If you want something done right you go to the experts who have years of experience, of which all the big boys pizazz will never be equal too.

Xerox Video vrs. Expert Laser Services Video

Note to Xerox with a budget of your size.... you could do better.

Check out all of our funny and informative videos on youtube

Social MPS

Although you see some examples today, social media still has a long way to go in the B2B realm. I am pleased to say that within the context of our company (a B2B and MPS provider) Social Media has proved to be a valuable addition to our marketing plan. For us, social media has spawned local and international media attention, several prospects and a new customer all in the short few months time that we have had a social media program. As the creative marketing professional who suggested, organized and launched Expert Laser Services social media program I am happy to say that I think B2B social media really has a place within the Managed Print Services Industry.

There was a time when the prospect of working in an office seemed like a creative and or mental death sentence for me. A fate where I would be stifled artistically yet able to pay my mortgage and have health benefits. How ever after several years of being tossed around my company in various odd jobs landing a web/graphic design, SEM/SEO and Social Media Marketing roll I realized this industry could indeed be creative and fun at least from a marketing perspective.

Through musical MPS experiments, printer destruction contests and other oddities I have made connections with a lot great people within the MPS industry and was surprised to find individuals with as much if not more creative flare for the MPS industry as me. Greg Walters "Death of the Copier" blog has provided some inspiration for my Adventures in Office Imaging blog. Granted our sense of humour is a bit different, My focus is a creative perspective on industry relevant topics mixed with humor and knowledge of said focus while "DOTC" has a slightly sarcastic, rather entertaining but very professional and very readable twist on its content which is very much focused on "as they happen" industry developments and industry wisdom as well as great technology tidbits.

Now with the MPSA in place we see people all over this industry starting to garner a focus and determination to move MPS forward (even if the buzz is the low hum of intense activity).

The MPS community is just that, a group of people from large and small companies alike exploring this brave new world of the imaging industry and I am happy to say that social media and creative minds have a place in said brave new world. Which for me is wonderful because being "trapped" in an office has the potential to be a rewarding, creative and humours realm of an industry that has uber potential for incredible financial growth.

To the future MPS and social media I say HAZA!

Is HP ready to Battle?

With not only Xerox but Ricoh readying the troops for a battle against the old giant HP one has to wonder does HP have what it takes to hold its ground? At the same time one might consider how long Xerox or Ricoh would last should they dethrone the behemoth that is HP. With hardware sales projected to be down by as much as 30% by years end these "big boys" of the printing industry know that what will make or break them is the strength of their MPS programs which of course are newbies compared to some smaller companies that have provided solid MPS programs for a decade or more.

Of course the sheer power of the "big boys" will for now provide a shield against any real competition from these smaller groups but all the "jocks" of the industry still have to worry about each other and HP with a 25 year head start in the industry should be pretty embarrassed if they get knocked off their high horse after such a head start.

When one looks at Xerox and Ricohs various strategic alliances with computer manufacturers and some of the acquisitions they have made, it would be wise for HP to get a reality check if they wish to defend their position within the industry. I suppose in the end only time will tell but for now, lets sit back and enjoy the carnage. The "big boys" screw ups which will inevitably happen as time goes on will make good commentary for the little guys while they chuckle and rest upon their years of experience.

In the words of Mills Lane........ "Let's Get It On!"

Fried chicken should be sold in a box, not an MPS Program

I would say that in the next few years we are going to be seeing the puppets of the MPS industry crashing and burning in one respect or another. When a company like Office Max offers a "MPS program" which is little more than supplying toner in a way that vaguely resembles that one aspect of a real MPS program these poor folk who hoped that by jumping on the band wagon of the next big thing and cashing in are going to get a call for printer repair, a new machine or some other element of the industry that only the "big boys" offer as part of their program and then they are going to call one of them for help.

Like the child who's mother told them not to play with matches, indeed they will be calling for burn relief from the experts when their "MPS program" shows its true colors. If you need to outsource many facets of your MPS program, you are not offering a solid MPS program.

Indeed The hotwheels version of a corvette will not win the race against the car of which it is modeled after. So if you are going to buy something in a box, stick with fried chicken and be sure to get your MPS program from a professional company who truly provides what they claim to offer.

Is this your boss? Are you this boss?

We can help.

Songs in the key of MPS

I recently read an article about "copier" tweets on twitter at the Death of the Copier Blog. It is as most of Greg's articles are, relevant, humorous and informative. All of the thoughts in the article remind me of my own thoughts in regards to how twitter has been quite useful in respect to the twitter search engine and the relevant and useful information of which can be mined from said resource. I noticed Greg has been retweeting some very funny tweets about copiers, copier repair guys, laser printers, toner cartridges and the such. So I did a search of my own and found and retweeted this tweet which Greg later retweeted.

RT @DubiousMonk: RT @AgileRoxy: 1989: Leo Kottke records "Why Can't You Fix My Car?"2009: Jim Hutchins cries "Why Can't You Fix My Printer?"

Jim Hutchins cries "Why Can't You Fix My Printer?" - Being a Kottke fan, notably of his work with Mike Gordon I gota chuckle out of this.

Being a musician, I got proactive...

Above you will see the album cover artwork for my new single "Why Can't You Fix My Printer?"

Please click HERE - to listen to this song about office printer woes and the repair men who are supposed to fix the problem as well as an all around solution.

All instruments and vocals by yours truly.

New England Landfills Thank ELS!

What did our customers ever do for New England’s landfills?

Expert Laser Services customers have directly contributed to the duration of the landfills, not only in their own local towns, but also in Expert Laser’s home town of Southbridge as well. Within the decade the Southbridge landfill is expected to be one of only 8 active in Massachusetts receiving municipal solid waste! The town is quite proud of that fact, and Expert Laser’s customers can share in that pride. Each customer does their part to reclaim reusable materials, lessoning the impact on our landfill. Folks often wonder whether they really make any difference. Well ...

Their efforts made a difference.

The issue is laser toner cartridges. Hundreds of millions of cartridges go into dumps every year ... and the total is growing by about 12% annually! Imagine literal mountains of black, non-biodegradable, hard plastic cartridges. Well, over the past 19 years our managed print services customers are directly responsible for keeping between 100,000 and a quarter million cartridges out of our respective landfills! Since they require literally hundreds of years to decompose, even our great grandkids will appreciate it!

Most dumps quickly begin looking like ... well, dumps.

But the photo on the front panel is an actual picture of the Town Landfill in Southbridge, so you know that someone’s making a difference. At Expert Laser’s Southbridge plant we remanufacture about 1,000 cartridges per month. All parts are reused first and remanufactured as needed. Boxes, cardboard, packaging materials—everything is reclaimed as much as possible.

How “green” are we, really?

With O.E.M. manufacturers the routine is that cartridge cores are never brokendown completely. They are re-used most often just once, then discarded. Think about that: they are reused once only; it’s all done overseas saving THEIR landfills, with the work done by their workers driving THEIR economy. With Expert Laser your toner might actually rival the 9 lives of your favorite tabby! Cartridges will be remanufactured up to 8 or 10 times before finally reaching our “junkpile.” Of course, with Expert Laser even then the plastic is not just “dumped!” We have identified recycling resources for even the base cores and “non-recyclable” plastic tubes. The work is done right here in Massachusetts at our plant, bolstering our own economy. What’s more, the bottom line environmentally is that with your help we are keeping at least ...

12,000 toner cartridges per year out of our landfills!

One final shocker: Each cartridge equates chemically to two quarts of oil. So our customers are enabling us to keep the equivalent of 6,000 gallons of oil per year out of our precious landfills!

6,000 gallons of oil in our dumps is not a pretty sight.

Think about the difference that simply reusing cores makes: • Each and every new laser toner cartridge requires about two quarts of oil to manufacture! • Worldwide about 70% of used cartridges are simply trashed. • Every discarded cartridge adds about 3-1/2 pounds of solid waste to our dumps! • Every cartridge takes up to 450 years to decompose! • Reusing cores and remanufacturing cartridges cuts these numbers by up to 80%!

Can you imagine a mountain of 100,000 toner cartridges!?

Expert Laser Services is doing even more to make those mountains of cartridges into environmentally-friendly “molehills.” In co-operation with a regional environmental leader, Expert Laser Services has developed a system whereby we recycle virtually every piece of a toner cartridge.

Doesn’t “environment-friendly” imply “poor quality”?

In the early days of the recycling movement, businesses often had to settle for lesser quality if they wanted to use “green” products. That was never the case with Expert Laser Services. From our inception, top quality has been the top priority. The result was the development of a detailed and unique remanufacturing process. At our Southbridge plant every cartridge we receive undergoes a rigorous 7-step process of remanufacture before being boxed and loaded out to our trucks for another round of business productivity:

1. Our technicians do a complete disassembly of each cartridge.

2. Our eyes and hands examine each component—removing, inspecting, and either cleaning or replacing parts as necessary.

3. Left-over toner is completely purged (never re-used) in our state-of-the-art suction workstations, pulling the spent toner not into the air but into secure disposal units.

4. The cartridge’s toner hopper is refilled, matching original equipment manufacturer (O.E.M.) specifications.

5. Each refilled cartridge is professionally reassembled.

6. The exterior of each cartridge is wiped clean and relabeled as needed.
7. Every cartridge is print-tested for quality then repackaged (we even utilize reused or recycled packing materials).

Ultimately every customer using our cartridges benefits from fewer defects, and, at the same time, we all benefit! We even save money! That’s a rare bonus—dramatically cutting overall expenses while doing the right thing. It’s the reality for Expert Laser’s customers. Our managed print services customers routinely pay less than 2¢ per print including toner, routine maintenance, emergency service—everything. Sound like the best of both worlds to you? Well, that’s exactly what we offer.

Do we have a cartridge for that printer??

Happy Friday folks! Here is a funny little video for the purchasing department at your company.

Be careful with that axe Eugene...

Someday I am going to cut this printer into little pieces.

Ok, so he's got a shovel not an axe but lets face it this guy is not happy with this copier. It should not be your office staffs responsibility to fix a piece of office equipment if it goes down. However if said office staff needs to have that report on the CEO's desk in the next few hours and they come to that equipment and it is not working, they may feel the need to try to fix it, or smash it into little pieces.

Now what about calling a copier repair guy?

Do you know for sure they will be able to help you in time before that report is due?

Which repair service should you call?

How long will it take for them to get there?

Could this have been prevented?

Expert Laser Services Partnership Program (our MPS program, now known as PrintDOME) is the answer to these and many other questions regarding this stressful scenario. Please see the video below.

MPS, Headache Medicine for IT professionals

In your office chances are there is one person who would be even more happy than the CEO should your company plan to implement an MPS program. Your IT professional. Check out this funny video above!

This is the first part of a series of video posts about the benefits of MPS, namely our MPS.

Everyone and their Cousin?

I just finished reading an article at business transformation resource center (here) entitled "Four Keys to Selling MPS In Tough Economic Times" within the first couple of paragraphs I came across this unsettling comment "In the last six to eight months, managed print services has become extremely hot, so much so we are seeing everybody and his cousin get involved."

I must say that to me this translates to the idea that within the realm of managed print services there is going to be a slew of "jacks of all trades" who are masters of none, well not MPS anyway. With that in mind I would like to draw attention to the following bit of information from the same article "According to MPS research and analysis firm Photizo Group, MPS contracts could grow at a 22 percent compound annual growth rate through 2012." If you are a business owner who is considering an MPS program for your business I would like to ask you, does everybody and his cousin really have the experience and expertise to successfully run an MPS program for your company and truly save you the most money while providing you with the best service? I think not...

Point: When looking for an MPS company to manage your printer fleet, do your homework! Find a company who has the experience, and references to show that they truly are MPS experts.

Rookies in the major league of MPS

Photo by Rafael Amado Deras'

I recently commented at the Photizo Group's Managed Print Services blog about a point made in this post regarding the growth of MPS and the necessary evolution of hardware centric business models to professional service business models based on delivering Managed Print Services of traditional vendors. See below.

11:02 AM
Nathan Dube said...
In your opinion what makes a great MPS company? You mentioned that traditional resellers will be out of business within the next five years if they fail to make the transition to the new business model. So assuming some of these businesses see the changes ahead and create their own MPS programs, what would you say a customer should look for in a great MPS company? When so many companies will be scrambling to offer their own MPS product how does a customer separate the true MPS professionals from old school vendors who are throwing up a new sign and trying to sell you MPS in a box?

12:02 PM
Photizo Group said...
Nathan, you have a good question. The answer is, from my point of view, that there is no 'single' best dealer program. I guess the closest I could define is the Hybrid dealer. This is the dealer that has transitioned from a hardware centric sales focus to a professional services delivery focus. Check out our web site (www.managed-print-services.com) for more information.

While the MPS industry may seem fairly new and while the Photizo Group has made a point that traditional vendors will have to adjust to the demands of the MPS industry if they wish to survive, I must say that while there may be no single best dealer program there is in fact (not unlike the realm of baseball) rookies and major league veterans in this industry and the big name vendors who are transitioning to this industry are not always the later. Expert Laser Services for example (of whom I am biased), has been providing a top notch MPS program for more than 19 years. We are in comparison to some companies a small company. However compared to some of the new "Hybrid Dealers" we are one of the true veterans of the MPS world while some of these larger companies have just been called up from the minors so to speak.

No matter how big the name, or how many millions of dollars some of these larger companies make on a global scale, compared to us they are but newbies. The list on this post at Photizos blog are excellent points about what one should know about MPS. Surely many traditional vendors are scrambling to meet these expectations and ready them selves to make the transition spoken of at Photizo's blog. However even when a giant "old school" vendor with no prior MPS experience takes the time to study, organize, and eventually launch an MPS program and enter the MPS industry, they lack the one thing that we have. Expertise. No matter how you look at it, regardless of the preparations the rookies have made... the major league is a whole other ballgame and in the world of MPS there are smaller MPS companies like Expert Laser Services who are the true veterans of the game. Visit us here and compare our program and years of experience to some of these new "Hybrid Dealers" and decide for your self. Who do you want on your team?

Hidden costs in office imaging

Hidden supply costs are HUGE!

New IDC research tries to quantify the actual cost of the printed page. A blog post last week at Docusense's Cost Per Page Solutions blog pointed to the enormous impact of administration and IT costs. But there are big hidden expenses in every aspect of the printer page.

Whenever stats like these come out, the specifics are always hard to pin down in an "across the board" way. I am certain that the hidden costs far outweigh the obvious expenses of buying, supply and servicing equipment; however, I am just as sure that the percentages change when you move the survey from large corporate settings (i.e. where they would have full-scale IT support, doc management, etc.) down to an SMB.

That's our typical printer fleet management customer and we see the supply costs routinely as both very substantial and completely unmanaged. Of course, as mentioned above, the devil's in the details. Are they more than "Admin and IT"? Who knows, but consider these "Supply Costs" categories:

1. Purchasing -- Purchase order expenses; pre-purchase due diligence by buyers; monitoring of consummables' yield; returning defectives; tracking MRA credits; etc.

2. Inventory Management -- Receiving; warehousing; end-user distribution; etc.

3. Recycling -- Those who desire to be responsible environmentally will need to collect, warehouse and dispose of empties, usually involving shipping/handling expenses (or live with a 400-year decomposition period for toners in your town dump).

4. Obsolescence -- This is enormous. All the initial costs were already spent, years ago. The consummables were bought in bulk to get end-column pricing. The printers themselves are long gone. Yet all these toner cartridges are still being stored and counted in inventory and will eventually need to be disposed of. Every penny of associated expense is a complete waste!

We added three managed print services clients recently where the sales rep's found literally thousands of dollars of new O.E.M. cartridges unopened in storage rooms all around the facilities. The only problem? -- The customers no longer have those models anywhere in their organizations!

(Be watching for "toner cartridge bargain" on eBay sometime soon.)

Seriously, though, the "soft costs" hidden in every printed page are simply amazing. There are real savings within reach of any company that will simply begin managing this typically unmanaged area of their business.

MPS-in-a-Box? Think Again!

"Do you offer managed print services?"

"Of course ... Doesn't everyone?"

Remember the old Midas commercial when a roaring, back-firing car rolls into a local service station for a tail-pipe and muffler? The customer asks, "Are you sure you have one that will fit my car?" Then the "mechanic" with a sledge hammer resting on his shoulder answers, "No problem. I can make it fit."

Off-the-shelf managed print services are like that. Someone hangs up a shingle and "Bingo!" -- they're a professional.

Today every national distributor sells its own MPS solution, office supply superstores sell theirs over-the-counter, and every manufacturer in the Business Technology Association throws their hat into the ring. Consider this post yesterday by Louella Fernandes http://www.it-director.com/business/content.php?cid=11256 ... manufacturers are trying to simplify their channel propositions to make MPS more accessible for resellers so that they do not need to invest in a costly infrastructure. In effect, instead of building their own service infrastructure, they can resell an MPS as a "white-label" service provided by a manufacturer."

Since nobody is selling office imaging equipment right now, everyone and his uncle is pumping their unique document-output-control, cost-containment, imaging-fleet-management solution.

Even if they don't know a thing about it.

"No problem. I can make it fit."

It blows my mind. Expert Laser Services is a long-established MPS company with a mature product we've been developing and implementing for 15 years, with thousands of devices already under contract. We've already made all those "costly investments in infrastructure" that Louella's talking about -- a fleet of tech vans and technicians, a trademarked MPS product, a couple of successful, growing offices.

Yet we are in competition with everyone from Xerox all the way down to the local one-man PC repair shop who bought MPS-in-a-Box?!

"No problem. I can make it fit."

Naw, I guess I'll quit whining. Now that I think of it, their MPS product really doesn't compete with ours.

Printer Fleet Management

According to Buyers Laboratory, “Ninety percent of all companies do not track their printing costs.” If your company falls into this category and you are feeling the crunch of the current economic atmosphere it would be wise for you to consider paying closer attention to what you spend on running your printers and copiers and if you are in fact running them as efficiently as possible, especially if you have no clue about how much you spend on toner, repairs and service for your machines on a monthly basis. Honestly though, who has the time to keep track of such things? Well, if you want to save serious money you'd better be ready to invest the time and put up with the stress that comes along with such an endeavor or, you could just "bring it all under the dome". What does that mean? It means saving yourself time and money by joining Expert Laser Services PrintDOME Printer Fleet Management Program.

We Micro-Manage So You Don’t Have To!

Routine inspections are the foundation of our program. We visit each printer in your fleet regularly. Our technician performs a cleaning and evaluation. Potential issues are identified and addressed before they become a problem, lessening downtime. Preventive maintenance visits are complemented by our PrintDOME printer fleet management software, providing constant evaluation of usage. Active monitoring assures a proper amount of toner and the correct cartridge is always on-hand for each machine not “just in time” — but well in advance of need. Again, as with the routine inspections, this eliminates opportunities for emergencies to arise. Constant evaluation of alerts, jams, error messages—the complete printer history!—provides all the information needed to effectively manage the fleet. Machines which need to be relocated due to changes in volume or usage can easily be strategically redeployed resulting in user productivity increases, improved cost alignment as well as longer usable equipment life.

PrintDOME™ Benefits are Remarkable:

Detailed Reports — Receive monthly customized, accurate management reports. Paperwork Reduction — One single P.O. eliminates 100’s of requisitions and P.O.’s for cartridge purchases and inventories, yields, quality of copies, routine maintenance and emergencies—everything. Out-source Your Printer “Help-desk” — Users’ single point-of-contact is a live person help-desk reachable through a supplied toll-free number. Direct-to-desk Toner Supply — Save time and effort at every step in the process: ordering; receiving; warehousing; distributing; returning defective/spent cartridges. Environmental Impact! — With our customers’ help we are keeping thousands of toner cartridges out of our landfills each year! Our Data Collection Agent requires very little bandwidth and is completely secure. Our approach has proven effective over years of performance and its success is easy to explain: We eliminate all the headaches. Expert Laser Services is responsible for toner inventories, yields, quality of copies, routine maintenance and emergencies, in other words we cover absolutely everything!