The Remarkable Value of a Multifunction Printer
Printing, copying, scanning – the average office does plenty of these three tasks. They’re essential in preparing and managing the many documents your business has to handle each day. But there’s no need to have different devices for each process. A multifunction printer can do all three and even more.
What Is a Multifunction Printer?
First, a quick introduction.
A multifunction printer is just what it sounds like – a printer with an array of functions capable of much more than simple printing. Indeed, another way to think of a multifunction printer is like a printer plus, a copier, plus a scanner, all in one. Some of them can also send faxes, doing the work of four different machines.
The Obvious and Not-So-Obvious Advantages of a Multifunctional Printer
A multifunction printer brings many benefits to any office. Some of them are obvious and easy to see. Others are more hidden but equally valuable and important. Let’s take a look at some examples.
Unbeatable Convenience
First, an obvious advantage: it’s much more convenient to have a multifunction printer to work with, rather than three or four separate devices for scanning, copying, printing, and faxing.
Imagine a worker needs to do a couple of different tasks, scanning something into the system and making a few copies of a document. With two separate devices, they’d have to go to each one, configure it accordingly, and carry out the two tasks independently of one another. With a multifunction printer, the process is far simpler and faster.
It’s also more convenient for onboarding. When you bring a new worker into the office, it’s customary to teach them how to use the various bits of equipment around. If you’ve got three or four devices to show them, that could take a while and cause confusion. But, once more, with a multifunction printer, it’s significantly more straightforward.
Saving Space in Your Office
Every office, even the biggest ones, has a defined amount of space. It’s up to business owners to make the most of that space, optimizing every bit of square footage to get the most out of it.
You’ll need space for desks and workstations, for example. Then there’s space for filing cabinets and document archives, as well as a break room, meeting room, and other functional spaces for the workforce. Fitting a bunch of different devices among all that can be tricky, and it can be surprising to see how much room these machines take up.
Naturally, the more devices you’ve got, the more space they’ll take. That’s where the value of a multifunction printer emerges once more. These devices only take up a single part of your office, rather than three or four areas. So, if you’re tight on space, a multifunction printer might be the right choice.
The Energy-Efficient Choice
In response to the climate crisis and soaring energy costs, many businesses are aiming to become more energy-efficient. They want to waste less energy, not only to decrease their utility bills but also to boost their green credentials.
If you, too, are striving for an energy-efficient office, a multifunction printer is clearly a sensible choice when compared to having multiple separate devices scattered around the office.
If you’ve got a printer, a scanner, and a copier, for example, that’s three machines that are all consuming energy. They’re often left on and used throughout the day, contributing a notable amount to your monthly and annual electricity consumption. But, with a multifunction printer, you’ve only got one device eating up energy, not three or four.
Saving You Money
A multifunction printer can also save your office money, in more ways than one.
As the previous point illustrated, using a multifunction printer instead of three or four other devices leads to less energy usage. That also means lower energy bills. Plus, many of the best multifunctional printers are designed with energy efficiency in mind. Some even have sleep and eco mode features to save you more money while they’re not in use.
But that’s not the only way a multifunction printer generates savings. It’s also notably cheaper to buy one single multifunction printer, rather than several other devices. A good quality multifunctional device should be easy to run and maintain, too.
Improving Productivity Around the Office
Next, here’s one of the more “hidden” benefits of a multifunction printer. You might not necessarily assume a single device can have any notable impact on productivity, but many offices that switch to multifunctional printers see a genuine increase in this department.
It’s not too hard to see why. Rather than having to line up and move around to different devices to get their work done, workers with multifunction printer access can do all their scanning, printing, and copying in a single place. They only have one device to operate, which makes their work much simpler, reducing the risk of complications and freeing them up to focus on more important tasks.
Boosting Morale Among the Workforce
Productivity is not the only thing that gets better with a multifunction printer. Morale, too, may improve.
Again, this may seem surprising at first, but is relatively easy to understand. If you’ve got lots of different devices scattered around the office, it can be a pain for workers to get things done. They have to go around to each device, one by one, understand how it works, configure it accordingly, and so on.
That takes time, energy, and effort. Plus, with multiple devices, there’s more chance of one of them randomly breaking down and making it even harder for workers to carry out their duties. With only one device, everything’s more convenient and workers are less likely to encounter frustrating issues. So, if you’re seeking a simple way to improve morale, switching to a multifunction printer isn’t a bad move.
Improve Your Office With a Multifunction Printer
As you can see, a multifunction printer delivers immense value wherever it’s installed. It does the work of several devices in one, offering an energy, time, and money-saving alternative that can make your workplace happier and more efficient on the whole.
If you’d like help finding the ideal multifunction printer (or any other office technology solutions), Copiers Northwest is here to help. We can match businesses in Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia, Yakima, Portland, Tri-Cities, Spokane, Bend, Salem, and Eugene with the perfect printing and copying devices. Contact us today to find out more.