Advances in technology have made it possible to control the costs associated with print management. Small businesses and large corporations use a variety of strategies to minimize printing costs. The different types of print management solutions available include self-printing, online print management, network print management, and outsourcing print management.
For the entrepreneur or the small business owner, small print management solutions make it possible to print limited amounts of materials using inexpensive home office equipment, paper, and ink supplies. Print jobs can be managed on a small scale via small printers or multi-function office machines connected to personal computers and home networks. Self print management is slower and project size is limited by the capacity of home office equipment, but quality continues to improve with advances in home office equipment.
Online print management solutions are available to anyone from the office professional in a small office to print administrators at the corporate level. Many print services and office-product companies provide some type of online interface that allows individual projects to be printed on a large scale by uploading them via the Internet. This can include jobs like business cards, letterhead, fliers, postcards, and marketing materials. Print jobs are then completed and shipped within days. Online print management solutions can be a convenient way to accomplish print jobs in less time without leaving the office.
When a company requires multiple, simultaneous print jobs from many departments, a networked print management solution may be in order. Large business machines can be centrally located and networked with the computers in various other departments so that jobs can be sent directly to printers and copy machines for faster processing. Printed materials can be picked up or delivered to users within minutes, making the networked print management solution efficient and reducing the need for individual printers in each office.
There are times when a large corporation needs a huge print job to be completed using high-quality equipment to produce top notch results for an important event, marketing, or sales activities. When this is the case, outsourced print management solutions can be used. Jobs are handled quickly and bulk projects can be completed less expensively when they are outsourced to a printing company. The same company that handles online printing needs may also provide solutions to manage bigger projects by an outsourced method.