Can Office Equipment Hurt Your Company's Productivity Level? (12/31)

Can Office Equipment Hurt Your Company's Productivity Level?

It wasn't long ago that a business could function normally with nothing but a telephone, a mediocre copy machine and a calculator. Ah, those were the days, when complicated pieces of equipment like facsimile machines, modems, laser printers and cellular phones were just a figment in some engineer's mind.

Today, printers, fax machines and copiers are mainstays in nearly every office - from single-person, home-based operations to multinational corporations. Because of this, the manner in which these workhorses are operated and maintained can significantly impact a company's bottom line.

"Downtime of any duration, whether for equipment failure or a simple toner cartridge change, reduces productivity and eventually, profitability," says Roger Karvel, president of Information Alternatives, a suburban Chicago office-automation firm. He contends that many executives don't realize that equipment downtime can easily be minimized.

One way to minimize the problem is through preventative maintenance. A preventative maintenance contract - negotiated with the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) or other reliable source - can cost half as much as service purchased on an as-needed basis, according to Karvel.

He encourages businesses to implement a simple "low-tech" maintenance program; components include a can of compressed air and a hand-held vacuum designed for office equipment use. Both items typically are available at office-supply stores or computer retailers. "Spraying the compressed air in and around your machine once a month to remove surface dust, then following with a thorough vacuuming, can eliminate one or two service calls per year per machine," says Karvel. "At an average cost of $100 per service call, the savings can really add up."

Another way businesses can cut equipment-utilization costs is by seeking out alternatives to OEM toner cartridges. "OEMs like Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Xerox promote their own cartridge brands for obvious reasons," explains Karvel. "But a wide variety of options exist that are less expensive or yield more pages, thus decreasing downtime."

One viable option is remanufactured cartridges, which contain one or more recycled parts. Once considered inferior in quality, major improvements have been made to the category since1998, and today's products perform identically to the premium brands in every way but price. "Remanufactured cartridges typically cost at least 30 percent less than those with all-new components and are environmentally friendly, as well," he says.

Another alternative is high-yield cartridges, which can reduce equipment-operating costs by up to 70 percent. "High-yield cartridges are more expensive than standard-yield cartridges, but since they don't have to be replaced as often, they're significantly more cost-effective," says Karvel. Equally as important, he adds, many of the new cartridge options are American-made and backed by warranties and no-fault exchange programs.

"It may seem obvious, but people rarely take the time to learn the proper way to perform day-to-day cleaning, testing and cartridge installation," he says. "Sometimes just removing and gently shaking a cartridge that registers low in toner can yield hundreds of additional pages once it's reinserted. Too often, office machines are the victims of delayed maintenance, which can cost a company big bucks down the line."