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25
Meanwhile, manufacturers have already developed
innovative models to move away from selling printers to
selling printing as a service.
To support this transition to a services model, most
manufacturers now offer managed print services (MPS)
as a way to help customers reduce the cost, complexity
and risk of an unmanaged print infrastructure. Through
a usage model, MPS offers businesses predictable
expenses and eliminates capital expenditure whilst
reducing operational expenses.In this way, manufacturers
retain ownership of their products, and sell their use as a
service enabling the optimal use of resources.
Quocirca sees a significant opportunity for MPS in
the circular economy model, not only to reduce the
environmental impact of the products that a business
uses, but also as a way for manufacturers to deliver more
innovative products and services to meet the changing
needs of customers.
Quocirca recommends the following best practices to
drive a more sustainable MPS for the circular economy:
1
Assess current environmental impact.
Begin with assessing energy consumption, paper use,
carbon footprint and costs across the printer fleet. Some
MPS providers offer environmental or carbon footprint
calculators or assessments specifically for this purpose.
An assessment should focus on identifying areas
where the business can lower its environmental impact
and recommend a balanced deployment of hardware
and software to decrease usage of energy, paper and
consumables. By redesigning the print infrastructure
with fewer devices, the fleet is optimised with less
hardware that is more energy-efficient. MPS can provide
further benefits by leveraging best practices through
management of change and print policy enforcement.
This encourages users to print responsibly, eliminating
wasteful paper usage and encouraging better recycling
practices.
2
Save energy.
Consider energy-efficient products
that meet eco-labelling qualifications, such as ENERGY
STAR, EPEAT or Blue Angel. Devices that meet the most
recent ENERGY STAR requirements can be up to 40%
more energy-efficient than others. Look for printers
and MFPs with fast warm-up times and deep-sleep and
toner-saving modes. Intelligent print management tools
can ensure the most appropriate device is used for each
print job by automatically routing large jobs to lower
cost, more energy-efficient printers or MFPs.
3
Reduce the paper trail.
Reducing paper
usage is one of the fundamental ways in which MPS
can reduce environmental impact. This can be achieved
through better solutions for mobility and security. Using
MFPs that allow users to scan documents then store
and share them digitally, either on-premise or in the
cloud, minimises an inefficient and costly paper trail.
Meanwhile, simple ways to reduce paper wastage
include setting double-sided printing as default or
introducing booklet printing. Pull printing or PIN printing
saves jobs on a virtual print server until users log in at
the print device. This reduces the risks of users forgetting
to pick up their documents and reprinting them later
or the wrong person picking them up, compromising
security and confidentiality.
4
Encourage good recycling practices
. Assess
the effectiveness of existing approaches to recycling
paper, print cartridges and older print devices and set
recycling guidelines for these items. Look for providers
that offer a take-back program and responsibly recycle
returned toner cartridges. For imaging equipment, the
Nordic Swan and Blue Angel labels ensure this support
is in place. Switching to recycled or sustainably sourced
paper can also lead to considerable environmental
savings, particularly in terms of carbon emissions.
5
Measure and manage.
Integrated
reporting provides enterprise-wide visibility of a print
infrastructure’s environmental impact, including the
amount of paper used, overall energy consumption and
carbon footprint. This provides excellent opportunities for
continuous improvement. In fact, many manufacturers
now offer tools and resources to help organisations
quantify the impact of their printer environment and
develop plans for improvement.
Conclusion
The circular economy represents a markedly different
way of doing business, forcing companies to rethink
everything from the way they design and manufacture
products to their relationships with customers. Offering
customers access to, rather than ownership of, printing
resources will lead to more sustainable consumption.
Some leading print manufacturers are already starting
out on this journey and seeing positive results with MPS
and other cloud-enabled service offerings.
Rethinking MPS for the circular economy requires a
different approach across the value chain: leasing rather
than selling products; remanufacturing goods; seeking
ways to extend the life of products or their components;
and changing the behaviours of end-users. Given the
changing consumer, business and government attitudes
towards consumption and the environment, the circular
economy is poised to help organisations operate more
smartly – a transformation from selling boxed products
to supplying ongoing services, ensuring a more effective
use of raw materials and increasing competitiveness
by nurturing relationships with customers rather than
relying on a one-way model of selling and buying.
Louella Fernandes is Associate Director, Print Services
and Solutions at Quocirca, a primary research and
analysis company specialising in the business impact
of information technology and communications (ITC).
Quocirca regularly surveys users, purchasers and resellers
of ITC products and services on emerging, evolving and
maturing technologies. Clients include Oracle, IBM, CA,
O2, T-Mobile, HP, Xerox, Ricoh, Symantec and other
large and medium-sized vendors, service providers and
specialist firms.
References
1. McKinsey & Co,
Remaking the industrial economy, Insights &
Publications
, February 2014.
2.
Towards the Circular Economy
, published in Davos by the
World Economic Forum (WEF), in partnership with the Ellen
MacArthur Foundation and McKinsey, January 2014.
3. Analysis by Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP),
WRAP’s vision for the UK circular economy to 2020
, 2010
4.
Circular economy: this is the future for business - interactive
.
Published by the Guardian in partnership with Philips, December
2014.
