Do businesses still need A3 printing?
The workplace has changed and with it the technology needs of businesses.
Cast your mind back a few years. It’s five minutes before your important 3pm meeting and Keith from accounts is printing off triplicate copies of his team’s quarterly appraisals. There’s no chance you’re getting six copies of your presentation (one between two) and an agenda out before the coffee’s been poured and you’re expected to deliver.
You can stop sweating, it’s 2023 and digital versions of your documents will suffice. In fact, it will likely be digital versions of your colleagues that will be in attendance. The point is that the workplace, and working behaviour, has changed.
Traditionally, everything from posters and labels, to a multitude of documents including invoices, payroll documents, presentations, and lists have been printed daily by businesses using large multifunction printing devices, capable of multiple different formats.
It’s not that printouts themselves have ceased to be useful (nor indeed are their numbers in massive decline) but that the devices printing them are now better suited to a workplace that no longer exists.
Many businesses invested in large, powerful devices designed to churn through high print volumes with hyper-specific print features – and they only took up the space of a small ice cream van.
Now, these machines remain centrally located and underused by teams working from multiple locations and who’ve changed their relationship with printing.
It’s not you, it’s me...
The users that legacy devices were bought for are not the same users who are using them today. Users have become more eco-conscious and therefore more discerning with their use of the print button – including diligently selecting double-sided printing and printing in colour only where needed.
They’ve also become more reliant on scanning as an essential method of ensuring equal access to printed information, whether in the office, at home or on the move.
Features synonymous with large copier printers such as A3 printing, staple finishing and booklet printing may not represent the new must-haves that users are now looking for. What’s more, if they are, many of these can now be found in much smaller, and more efficient, devices.
The use of documentation, still much of it on paper, remains a key part of their working lives, but they want it to work on their terms – to be a help and not a hindrance.
The printer queue is now certainly less of an issue for them, but the inefficiency of running larger, older machines remains a concern for businesses.
Companies must rationalise their equipment - recycling and replacing those devices they no longer use or fail to get the most out of - while at the same time providing colleagues with the technology that meets their needs and expectations.
Does your company need A3 devices? Professional inkjet could be a better solution
What is certain is that large, centralised devices may not always be the most efficient option for today’s workplace, when viewed from a total cost of ownership perspective. Many companies that have legacy A3 equipment are finding that users are printing little in this format. But despite these devices also offering an economical option for A4 printing, the initial outlay, maintenance requirements and supplies costs can mean that organisations aren’t getting the cost efficient print solution they need.
It's time to rethink the technology and fleet size that your business needs. Are you still able to meet the need for seamless access to print devices, secure printing practices and document management solutions that keep workgroups working wherever they are? And can you do all of this while reducing energy usage and electrical waste?
Professional inkjet printing might be just the solution you need to deliver against user demand and your own cost efficiency and sustainability goals.
Rethink your print. Make optimisation and rationalisation your guiding principles and discard the old notion that bigger is always better.
Read another piece I’ve written, for more advice on streamlining your printer fleet and why businesses are moving away from A3 printing .
