MPS - a Quick Guide

A Quick and Easy Step-by-Step Guide to Managed Print Services (MPS).

How does it work? How does it save you money and reduce your business' environmental impact?

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Environmental Management Systems - Managing Business Waste

The Write Stuff – Choosing the Writing Instrument That’s Right for You

The Pen is Mightier than the Sword

If you have to do any amount of writing for work, study, or in your home life then you are bound to have been dissatisfied with your pen at some point.

Either it’s just too ‘scratchy’ on the paper, or the tip has become all gummed up, or it’s leaked, or the ink didn’t dry quickly enough and it ended up smeared halfway across the page. Yes, I know, you probably should have been more patient and let it dry for longer, but who has the time to wait, right?

Whatever the issue, spending a few minutes thinking about what pen suits you, and what you are writing, is worthwhile.

So, what’s the deal?

Finding a pen that is right for your needs should be pretty easy. In today’s market, you have a much greater choice than was once the case.

If you’re looking for a cheap, effective, disposable option to fill up the stationery cupboard then you probably need look no further than a box of simple ballpoints (see below).

If the pen is for personal use, then it’s worth trying a few options. Many pens these days come in a variety of ergonomic designs, including cushioned gripping surfaces and nicely balanced weights to suit most writing styles.

Let’s run through a few types of pen. You are probably familiar with them, even if you don’t quite know the differences between them or maybe even what they’re called.

Ballpoint pens.

Ballpoints are the most common ‘stick’ pens on the market. Loads of people in the UK refer to these pens as the ‘Biro’, which is understandable (Lazlo Biro was the Hungarian inventor who developed the first ever ballpoint pen) but most stationers will list the pens as either ‘stick’ pens or, more commonly, ‘ballpoints’. They are inexpensive, usually disposable, and use an oil-based ink that dries quickly on the page. However, over time the ink can start to coagulate and collect dust in the tip of the pen, which creates gummed-up blobs. Because these pens are available so cheaply in large quantities, they are the usual ‘pen of choice’ for stationery cupboards in businesses and schools. A typical example would be the Bic Cristal pen – a pen that is so common it’s almost impossible for you not to be familiar with it.

Rollerball pens

Rollerballs. These pens use similar technology to the traditional ballpoint, but they typically have a finer tip (producing a thinner, neater, line when writing) and they use a water-based ink. The ink flow of a rollerball is therefore much more consistent than a ballpoint so it ‘skips’ less often when you are writing. You also need apply less pressure, so it can be much more comfortable to write with than the ballpoint. They do have a greater tendency to leak than ballpoint pens, however, so a rollerball is not a pen you would want to store in your shirt pocket. Also, the ink takes slightly longer to dry than the oil-based ink in a ball pen so, if you are left-handed, a rollerball may be a turn off for you, depending on your writing style.

Gel pens.

Well, the clue is in the name… these pens use a thick gel instead of an oil-based or water-based ink. The gel does have a shelf-life (it dries up after about three years, so an older gel pen may not work) but whilst they are working they are very nice to write with. They have an effortless ‘gliding’ feel to them as the pen slides across the page. However, these pens require you to be patient. The ‘ink’ takes a long time to dry so don’t go touching it too quickly afterwards, or you will end up with your writing smeared halfway across the page. Again, as with rollerballs, gel pens may not be great for left-handed writers.

Fountain pens.

The fountain pen is the oldest form of pen that is still commonplace in the market. Typically, these pens come with a selection of interchangeable nibs, making the fountain pen a versatile writing instrument that rewards practice with some truly excellent handwriting results. The application of different pressure whilst you’re writing can also result in different weights of line, making the fountain pen a more technically challenging instrument to use, but also one that can yield very good results. The downside of fountain pens in general is that, as mentioned it does take quite a bit of practice to use a fountain pen well, and they can have a tendency towards leaking too. However, it can be worth persevering and there are some fantastic relatively inexpensive fountain pens on the market – Lamy do a range of brightly coloured, modern, pens that are comparatively easy to get to grips with.

Felt tip pens.

There are a bunch of different felt tips on the market, most of which are a sort of halfway house between a stick pen and a marker pen (so not something you would normally use for writing). They can be good for bigger, bolder pieces of writing, but not on a lighter weight or matte paper because the ink will tend to ‘bleed’ on the paper. If you want to write on unusual surfaces (i.e. – not paper) then you could do worse than choose a felt tip pen like the world-famous Sharpie – a brand that has become almost synonymous with ‘permanent marker’, and is rightly lauded for its ability to write on almost anything.

Fineliners.

Fineliners are pens that are worth a mention because, although they are intended for use with graphic design or drawing, a lot of people favour them for writing too. Fineliners have a fine fibre or plastic tip and a long metal-clad nib, and they use dye-based inks. The inks are not always permanent, so if you want your writing to last then it’s worth checking that the ones you are buying use lightfast and waterproof pigments.

Hang on, aren’t posh pens kind of expensive?

Sure, you can spend anything from a few pence to a few hundred pounds on a writing instrument and whilst you might not be in the market for a high-end pen, you might want to consider giving a refillable pen a go. It means you have a pen that you get to know well and that you love writing with, and for from being expensive it’s actually cheaper in the long run.

Fountain pens are the most obvious example of refillable pens. Most of the modern ones come with plastic ink cartridges, although you can also still get the old-fashioned type that have a reservoir that you fill from an ink bottle.

But it’s not only fountain pens that are refillable. The more expensive gel pens, ballpoints, and rollerballs are also reusable rather than disposable. And here’s the thing. Refill sticks or cartridges use up fewer resources than a disposable pen so, not only will you have a nicer writing experience but also, it’s a bit better for the environment too.

Thanks for reading, and if you think that this information will be of use to someone else you know, please don’t hesitate to share it.

Inkjet vs. Laser – Battle of The Printers

Things to Consider When Choosing a New Printer

It used to be so easy – laser printers were ‘business’ machines and inkjet printers were domestic machines.

These days, it’s more confusing with new innovations in technology making the decision a whole lot harder than was once the case.

In simple terms, the difference in the basic technology is still easy to understand:

·       Inkjet printers use liquid ink which is sprayed through microscopic nozzles on to the paper.

·       Laser printers use a toner cartridge (which is filled with a very fine powder) and a heated fuser.

So, with the technology being so obviously differentiated, making a choice between the two types of printer ought to be straightforward:

·       Laser printers have always tended to be more expensive than inkjet, but they have typically been faster (once they have warmed up), and have a higher output per cartridge. If you needed something fast that could handle heavy office workloads, you bought a laser. Hence, they have traditionally been the choice of business.

·       Meanwhile, if you wanted high-quality, affordable colour printing for the home or professional quality photo prints, you went for down the inkjet route.

So far, so simple.

But things have changed:

Colour laser printers have now started to retail at prices tempting to home users, while business inkjets have been taking strides forward in development so that they are becoming more of a credible business choice.

The last couple of years have seen the evolution of a new breed of inkjets that are faster than their ancestors, and more ecologically friendly than their toner-consuming laser cousins.

So, what’s the real story?

Both Inkjet and Laser printers still have advantages and disadvantages, although it is fair to say that improvements to the core technology are helping both types of printer to push past their limitations. There are five main things you need to consider when you are looking at choosing your next printer:

1.       Speed

2.       Quality

3.       Durability

4.       Costs

5.       Networking and security

1.       The Fast and the Furious. Time is money; speed is important.

It has traditionally been the case that laser printers were the fastest kids on the block, but inkjets are the new boy-racers.

Not so long ago, inkjet printers topped out at around 30ppm (pages per minute) in black-and-white and only 10ppm in colour. Yep – the printer equivalent of a Granny in a Honda doing 50mph in the slow lane. Meanwhile, laser printers were routinely hitting speeds of up to 40ppm, irrespective of whether it was printing in black and white or colour. Ferrari territory.

Now, though, laser printers are hitting speeds of 60, and even 70ppm. You might think that this would be like the lasers simply upgrading from sports car to supercar; widening the performance gap between the two types of machine and leaving the inkjets in the dust.

Nope.

The new generation of inkjet printers now have print heads that span the entire width of an A4 page, and they can spew out pages at a ridiculous speed; up to 75ppm, which matches and even beats some of the fastest laser printers, and turning preconceptions on their heads. Granny just overtook Vin Diesel doing 120mph in the outside lane.

2.       Quality is king

In many cases a good quality laser printer will still have the edge when it comes to clean, crisp black text and colour graphics for most business documents.

However, whilst not quite stealing a march on the lasers just yet, inkjets have improved dramatically. Inkjet text reproduction is now easily good enough for all internal documents and even most external use.

Add to that, inkjets almost universally produce the best results when printing photos, and you can see that the newer generation of inkjet printers are very much a contender when it comes to selecting a credible business machine. 

3.       Durability – your business needs a workhorse

This is where laser printers have always smashed it out of the park. They are built to handle enormous workloads of anywhere between 2000 and 20000 pages.

Even with the new generation of inkjets, they still wimp out after a monthly workload exceeding the range of 1500 to 5000 pages (depending on model).

But, you know what? 1500 – 5000 pages is a lot.

In fact, it’s probably going to be perfectly adequate for most smaller SMEs (where an average print job is around four pages) or small departments in large businesses. So, even on the durability front, don’t count out the inkjet just yet.

4.       Money, money, money. How much does it cost?

In printer lore passed down from days of yore, we know that lasers are expensive to buy but cheap to run, while inkjets are cheap upfront but cost you more in the consumables, with a laser toner cartridge churning out thousands of prints, and an inkjet cartridge running out every five minutes.

But, as with so much else in this brave new world of printing devices, this conventional wisdom is no longer reliable.

On the one hand, lasers are getting cheaper to buy up front. Budget models are coming with smaller starter cartridges that run out fairly quickly, though the standard or super-sized cartridges will still have impressive lifespans. In toner alone, expect the cost per page to come in at around 2p for a black-and-white page and 5p to 10p for a colour page.

On the other hand, business inkjets are getting their own costs per page right down, to the extent that some models can now produce prints for around 1p per page for black-and-white to 5p per page for colour. Meanwhile, extra-large cartridges have hit the market and so too have clever innovations like Epson’s Ecotank range. This means a lot of newer inkjets are able to print over 9000 pages (black) or 6500 pages (colour).

It’s only fair to note that there are other costs to consider.

Laser printers still deliver excellent results even on plain paper (although smoother paper will always produce even better results), so there’s no need to splash out on dearer paper.  

Having said that, inkjet paper is no longer so much more expensive, and inkjets usually consume less power than lasers, so they are cheaper (and more ecologically friendly) to run in terms of power consumption.

Combine that with a lower purchase cost, and there’s definite scope to save your business money.

5.       Networking and Security – plug in, baby

It is still true that the top-end enterprise level laser printers offer more management tools, plus support for more high-end networking (e.g. Gigabit Ethernet and IPSec).

But even in this area, inkjets are coming into their own. An increasing number of office inkjet printers have the same or similar embedded management features that laser printers have, plus document security features that you normally only get with MPS (managed print services solutions), such as secure pull-printing, where jobs are held in a queue until released at the printer with a PIN code.

Not only that, but also the new generation of inkjets come with wireless and cloud-printing features that enable the printer to work with a wider range of devices or take print jobs from remote locations.

So, a laser might offer more management and security features at the top end of the market but a business inkjet can still give you all the tools most businesses need.

What’s the bottom line?

It’s no longer a straightforward decision of ‘laser for business’ and ‘inkjet for home’. But that’s a good thing.

As technology has evolved, the range of functions and applications available across a wide range of different machines means that your business can now take advantage of the features it needs at a price that is competitive. Combine a smart printer choice with a MPS solution, and you will be optimising your efficiency in terms of your business expenditure and your operational effectiveness. 

Thanks for reading, and if you think that this information will be of use to someone else you know, please don’t hesitate to share it.

What’s the Deal with Copy Paper?

An Article That is Worth the Paper It’s Printed on…

Even in today’s digital world, most businesses go through a lot of paper. As you might expect, paper is the number one most price sensitive category in office supplies.

The so-called paperless office has yet to arrive, and it’s hard to believe that it ever will. So, no surprise then; a lot of businesses focus on how much they spend on paper. As a result almost all office supplies companies shout about their big splashy deals on copier and printer paper reams.

Why does this matter?

Chances are that your business spends quite a bit of money on paper. If your team is ‘on it’ it’s likely that they will be able to sniff out some (seemingly) good deals on paper for you.

But there may be a catch:

Paper pulp is a commodity which means there is a ‘bottom dollar’ price below which your suppliers cannot sell paper without losing money. Ergo, if your supplier wants to keep advertising big ‘discount’ deals on paper reams they might be promoting something of a lower quality in order to hit a price point.

In most cases there is nothing underhand going on – they will be honest about what they are trying to sell to you… but it’s important that you know what you are buying.

You might be happy with lower quality paper for some internal documents. But not for everything. And what happens if the paper doesn’t go through your printers properly?

But hang on. How confusing can it be? It’s only paper, right?

Well, yes. Fair comment. It’s not exactly brain surgery. However, let’s not be too dismissive. Paper comes in a lot of different forms. And having a little knowledge is not always enough. It’s not just a case of thinking “I know I want 80gsm A4 printer paper because that is what I have always used”.

Depending on other characteristics of the paper, you might find a 75gsm paper that goes through your printer and looks better in your presentation folder than the 80gsm you have been buying.

Here’s the bottom line:

To make life simple we thought we would produce this FREE guide to the basics of paper.

So, let’s have a quick rundown of different characteristics and types of paper, their qualities and benefits, and break through a bit of the needlessly confusing jargon so it’s easy for you choose the right type of paper for your business needs and your printer.

Five points to paper perfection - Coating, Opacity, Weight, Smoothness and Brightness:

A lot of people know that ‘weight’ is a thing to consider, just like the example above where we talked about ‘80gsm’ vs ‘75gsm’ paper. However, weight is just one of five key characteristics that can make a sheet of paper ideal for one job and completely unsuitable for the next. So, let’s look at what Coating, Opacity, Weight, Smoothness and Brightness might mean for your printer and your print jobs.

Coating:

Printer papers have different surface coatings. Most commonly there are matte, dull, or smooth. Smooth surfaces are most commonly used to create a glossy effect – ideal for printing images or photography.

Opacity:

What is opacity? Very simply, if something is opaque, you cannot see through it.

So, the greater the opacity of the paper, the less see-through it is. The opacity of a sheet of printer paper indicates how much the print will show through on the opposite side. Heavier weight papers often have greater opacity than lighter weight papers. So weight is an important factor, however it’s not always the only factor, so opacity is measured separately on a scale of 0 to 100, with 0 representing transparent sheets and 100 representing completely opaque sheets.

Weight:

Although it might be hard to discern manually unless you are a real paper geek, printer paper comes in a range of weights. The weight results from the thickness of each individual sheet. Paper weights are quoted as grams per square metre (gsm).

As a rough guide to help you relate to what different paper weights mean, a book cover board would be something like 200gsm or over, whilst paper with simple text printed on it might range from 50gsm (a lightweight paper from a cheap paperback novel) to 170gsm (heavy paper that you might see in a top quality magazine or brochure).

For the paper you typically might buy for your printer or copier the weight will be indicated on the printer paper’s packaging. The weight of the paper is often the key factor in determining whether it is suitable for the job it is intended for. For example

·       75gsm bond paper – ideal for everyday print and copy tasks.

·       90gsm mid-weight paper – provides crisper images, would be ideal for important documents and also for double-sided printing.

·       150gsm poster paper – deal for signs, flyers and promotional prints.

The thicker the paper weight, the more durable it is. However, thicker paper goes through printers at a slower rate.

Smoothness:

Different printer types can benefit from different levels of printer paper smoothness. Laser printers have a thing called a ‘fuser’ in them. This is basically like an ‘oven’ inside the printer that ‘bakes’ the toner powder onto the page (that’s why pages are always hot when they come out of your laser printer). Laser printers often require smoother paper to produce the best results. Meanwhile inkjet printers mostly use water based inks, and they can benefit from textured papers, which are better suited to absorbing the ink.

Brightness:

You might be thinking, “I just want white printer paper. Surely that’s not difficult?”

Well, you’re right of course. But, although the vast majority of printer paper sheets come in a white tone, they are spread across a scale of brightness levels. This is usually labelled on the printer paper packaging, with the ‘brightness’ given a numerical value. In simple terms, higher numbers provide sharper images. The brighter the paper, the better a print will look. Most printer papers range between 80 and 100 on the brightness scale.

Worth thinking about for your documents – make sure you are showing them off to the best effect!

How can you actually use this?

In practical terms, it’s helpful to know what to look for on the packaging of different printer and copier paper reams, and also on the website of your chosen office supplies and stationery supplier.

Most often you will see paper listed by ‘type’ or its intended purpose. It’s not always quite as straightforward as finding something that has ‘Printing Paper – A4’ written on it but if you understand the qualities and features of paper, like the characteristics listed in the quick guide above, you will hopefully find it easy to select the perfect sheet for your current print job.

For example:

·       Inkjet paper – as you would expect, this is designed to work with inkjet printers… but there are lots of types of jobs you might use an inkjet printer for, so inkjet paper refers to photo paper, glossy paper, business card paper and greeting card paper, all of which have the qualities to go through inkjet printers… but not all of which are the same.

·       Laser paper - laser printers can benefit from specially designed laser paper (remember what we said about ‘smoothness’ above?)

·       Matte paper – this is most commonly used for everyday printing tasks like document printing. A matte paper has a white coating which allows the ink to dry quickly, so it’s good for document printing on an inkjet printer. The quick drying times reduce the risk of smudged or blurred images and text, but beware… images are often not as sharp as when printed on other, glossier, types of paper. If your document has a lot of images in it you may want to avoid a matte paper.

·         Glossy paper - this is traditionally used when printing documents with lots of images, or photographs, due to its ability to produce sharp, vibrant images. The glossy surface accurately absorbs the ink, creating images of high clarity and accuracy. However, a point to be aware of is that ink can be smudged or blurred with fingerprints. Glossy paper sheets can stick together and may even stick to other surfaces.

·       Photo paper – a heavy-weight glossy paper, photo paper is designed primarily for printing photography. Available in a range of different sizes and weights, photo paper has a glossy finish and a specially-designed texture which allows ink to dry quickly, producing high clarity prints. This is usually quite pricey, but it’s designed to produce good results for a very specific purpose.

·       Bright White Paper – with a smooth, non-textured, surface bright white paper is often ideal for double sided printing. The brightness of the paper ensures that both sides of the paper are printed on without the print affecting the other side. Obviously, this does require your printer to have a ‘duplex’ function (a function allowing double-sided printing).

·       Card stock – typically used to print business cards and post cards, card stock paper is significantly thicker than other types of printer paper. It is strong and sturdy but goes through printers slowly (and some printers cannot take it at all).

Finally, Size Matters:

Size is the final, and in many respects most important, factor when selecting the correct reams for your printer and the jobs you are looking to complete.

Here is a short guide to paper sizes and the jobs for which they are most commonly used.

·       A4 - 210mm x 297mm – everyday letters, files and documents.

·       A3 - 297mm x 420mm – twice the size of A4. Often used for small posters, print outs of spreadsheets or larger, more complex, documents.

·       SRA3 - 320mm x 450mm – slightly over the size of A3 allowing room for ‘bleed’ and trimming.

Looking at the internationally recognised ‘A’ paper sizes, a simple way of understanding them is to think of a sheet of A4 as the most standard document size. If the ‘A’ number is higher than 4, the paper will be smaller than A4. If the A number is lower than 4, the paper will be bigger than A4.

So, A5 is half the size of A4, and A3 is double the size of A4.

International A paper sizes
	Millimeters	Inches
A0	841 × 1189	33.1 × 46.8
A1	594 × 841	23.4 × 33.1
A2	420 × 594	16.5 × 23.4
A3	297 × 420	11.7 × 16.5
A4	210 × 297	8.3 × 11.7
A5	148 × 210	5.8 × 8.3
A6	105 × 148	4.1 × 5.8
A7	74 × 105	2.9 × 4.1
A8	52 × 74	2.0 × 2.9
A9	37 × 52	1.5 × 2.0
A10	26 × 37	1.0 × 1.5

Thanks for reading, and if you think that this information will be of use to someone else you know, please don’t hesitate to share it.

All the Essentials for Heading Off to High School

Son or daughter heading off to High School?

Not sure what they need? Here's our handy guide!

Some schools will give you a list but, in case yours is one of the many that do not, here is a quick guide to the sorts of things that most young people need as they enter secondary education. 

Definitely needed from day one:

Ballpoint pens (three different colours), pencils, coloured pencils, glue stick.

You might want to buy a pencil case to put these things in.

  

Very likely to be needed (but not necessarily from day one): 

Geometry set (compass, protractor, ruler etc).

Long ruler (top tip – either buy a 30cm pencil case so that the long ruler fits inside, or buy a folding ruler).

Scientific calculator (most commonly Casio FX83 or FX85 is recommended).

Scissors.

Sticky-backed plastic for exercise book covering.

Brown paper for text book covering.

Some schools but not others:

Exercise books, lined paper/ pads, folders.

Dictionary.

Memory sticks (not necessary for some schools as they have an online portal for transferring work).

Top tip:

Use a blob of nail varnish as an identifier tag – quicker and easier than trying to put a name tag on everything!

Click to check out our Back to School Shophttps://www.officeprimesupplies.co.uk/StoreFront/Back-to-School-2017-L-6

Managing Your Print Costs Effectively

Could Managed Print Services Save Your Business 30% on Printing Costs, and Give You a Greener Footprint?

You may have heard of Managed Print Services (MPS). They are a sophisticated way of making sure your business does not pay more than it should for what it prints.

MPS solutions are based around a ‘pence per page’ subscription model and software monitoring the energy consumption of the printers you have on your network.

MPS solutions come in all shapes and sizes, and it is very likely that there will be a Managed Print Services solution that is fit for your business – no matter how big or small you might be.

89% of SMEs in the UK have fewer than nine employees, and they have an average of 1.4 printers on their network. There are MPS solutions that can work to save money and environmental impact even for these small businesses.

Most of the larger printer providers (such as Xerox, Kyocera, Brother, Epson, HP and so on) offer some sort of MPS solution, with some of them (notably Brother and Epson) specifically tailoring solutions for even the smallest SME.

The aim is simple – to give you control and visibility of what your business is printing, to improve your environmental sustainability, and to enhance your document security.

Whilst MPS is not just for big business, bigger companies can certainly get huge benefits from it. When you look at your total print costs (the total cost of managing your printers, their output and the people and processes that support your entire print ‘fleet’) it can make up a very significant chunk of your total office supplies spend – often around 15% of your total expenditure.

If you think that’s an over-estimate, start to work it through as a rough approximation in your mind, and factor in:

·       The physical pages printed by office workers, mobile workers or production print operations;

·       The cost of running the desktop printers, multifunction printers, copiers, scanners, fax machines (yes, some people still have them) and high-volume printers;

·       The materials you are outsourcing for quick print jobs, mailing, distribution etc.;

·       The cost in IT resource (tech support, installations, move and change requests); and, the biggest factor of the lot,

·       Ink and toner consumables.

You can see how the cost soon mounts up.

How does it work?

For any credible MPS solution, a piece of software will be loaded on to your network to assess and audit your current print ‘fleet’ (your print ‘fleet’ is comprised of the printers you have on your network). The software will produce a report showing the current levels of usage and energy consumption from the printers you already have, regardless of what brand they are.

Most solutions will provide you with a suggested roadmap to reduce the number and types of printing devices you have, and optimise your supply of consumables, whilst meeting the needs of your business. This will help you to make informed decisions about whether the printers you currently have are working efficiently for your business.

The subscription model is set up based on a forecast of your likely toner or ink consumption and, instead of buying toner and ink cartridges on an ad hoc basis, fresh cartridges will be ordered automatically for you by the software on your system.

The bottom line:

You never run out of ink or toner, and you never have more than you need.

You reduce your environmental footprint – less paper, less energy consumption, and less waste.

Rather than just paying (often a lot of money) for cartridges whenever you run out, you simply pay for what you have used on a ‘pence per page’ basis which is calculated over the life of a contract – typically three or five years – which can save you as much as 30% on your printing costs.

Thanks for reading, and if you think that this information will be of use to someone else you know, please don’t hesitate to share it.

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