Cost Per Page

If your monthly volume merits, invest in a networked workgroup laser printer to drive down your support costs and cost per page.

Investing in a workgroup laser printer is often the best bet for a small business. Depending on the manufacturer, product, networking capabilities and advanced paper handling features, workgroup laser printers typically cost anywhere from $900 to $1,500 (and up).

Lowest Cost Per Page and Most Durability

With a workgroup laser printer, you’ll generally see a cost per page of around $0.025 to $0.03.

You’ll also have no problem handling high printing volumes, on the order of several cases of paper each month.

Double Duty as a Photocopy Machine

For very small offices, a workgroup laser printer with a printing speed of 25 pages a minute or more often can serve double duty as a photocopy machine replacement, if most or all of your documents already are digitized, or if you keep a flatbed scanner with the copy machine function near the printer.

Cost Per Page Comparisons: 

Inkjet, Personal Laser Printer and Workgroup Laser Printer

Let’s say you’re outfitting a small office with six PC users and planning to install a LAN. What makes the most sense?

A)     Six inkjet printers, around $200 each ($1,200 total)

B)     Six entry-level laser printers, around $400 each ($2,400 total)

C)     One high-speed networked workgroup laser printer, around $1,500. And for occasional color printing, one inkjet printer (around $200), shared on a peer-to-peer basis ($1,700 total)

Unless you have some out of the ordinary requirements, I’d almost always recommend option C. The bigger challenge is convincing the six users to give up their personal printers.

Organizational and Behavioral Barriers

All of a sudden you’re asking employees to walk a few feet to pick up printouts when they were used to the convenience of their own printers on their desks.

If you really are committed to keeping your costs as low as possible, and getting your office a more reliable, high-volume printer, your employees simply may have to learn to share.

A Colorful Future

If you have a high-volume color printing requirement, you once only had two choices: swallow hard and pay sky-high prices for inkjet printer cartridges, or outsource the color printing to a local service bureau.

 

Cost Per Page Action Items

How many networked workgroup laser printers does your company own? How many PC users share these resources?

Do you know how to check the page count on your laser printers (i.e. the printer equivalent of an odometer)?

Have you ever used the page count meter on your laser printer to figure out what your true cost per page is?

Do you track support costs for individual printers? Have you considered consolidating several personal printers into one high-capacity, shared resource to help drive down support costs?

Could your company benefit from a color laser printer? Have you checked prices recently on color laser printers? (Hint: They are now more affordable than ever.)

 

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