Printer Survey Under Way

NMU is conducting a building-by-building survey to determine the number, types and annual volume of desktop printers.

“The data will be used to analyze options for standardizing and possibly consolidating print/scan machines to reduce costs, especially for inkjet and small laser printers, which are the highest cost per page,” said Art Gischia (Finance and Administration). “Printing costs have tracked near $100,000 per year for the past three years on purchases through our prime vendor contract.”

According to Dave Maki (IT-Technical Services), the up-front cost of purchasing a printer is not the issue; it’s the replaceable ink cartridges and the heavier paper required.

“The cartridges are so expensive that you basically repurchase the printer three times or so over the course of the year. With that and the paper quality required, it can cost 10-12 cents per sheet, especially with older models. We’re not going to be the printer police, but we’ll suggest options to help departments see on a budgetary level how they might save money on printing. For example, putting a multi-function printer in a central location. If they’re printing larger quantities, why not do it on a better printer? And if they can print at 2 cents a sheet instead of 10, why wouldn’t they?”

The process began in early November. Surveys have been completed in the majority of non-academic facilities. Don Salo (IT-Technical Services) said academic buildings are likely to take longer because of the number of individual offices. The goal is to complete the survey before the end of the academic year.