All you need to know about printer Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

Banner

There are so many things in life that seem relatively affordable on the face of it. A shaving razor, for example. A perfectly affordable piece of kit. Well, until you need to buy the blades. When you add up a year’s worth of usage - which of course, nobody ever does - it turns out to be a pretty pricey investment.

Similarly, a car is generally something we think about based on down-payment and repayments over the term. What we often forget to factor in, however, is that this car can cost us up to 25% of the purchase price to run, year on year.

A printer's Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) is a concept that is therefore important for sound financial forecasting. Without it, we can find ourselves lumped with running costs for devices and equipment that we can scarcely afford.

Did you know that printing, for example, is typically the third-highest business operating expense, behind rent and payroll? You may be surprised to learn this, because, unfortunately, aggressive sales tactics based on discounted devices are frequently used to get buyers over the line. The issue is that buyers are then tied into a contract that sees them paying over the odds for consumables and related operating expenses.

So, how can you avoid the sting? Be aware of what a printer's Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) includes and ensure you’re comparing apples with apples based on it. Luckily, this post will give you a solid idea of how to get started.

Factors that affect a printer’s Total Cost of Ownership

There are many factors that contribute to the operating costs of a printer or multifunction device (MFD), the main ones being:

  • Cost and yield of consumables (e.g. toner)
  • Electricity consumption
  • Paper consumption
  • Maintenance costs
  • Amount of user intervention required

Being able to calculate and compare each of these aspects accurately for your device’s lifetime can help you foresee any unnecessary expenditure before you make a commitment that will likely last for several years.

Calculating a printer's total cost of ownership

Consumables are typically the largest component of your TCO, but there are also other factors that should be considered when calculating the TCO.

To begin, it makes sense to take a look at your business-specific needs, so you can find the most appropriate device. Following this, look at aspects such as device costs, running costs, servicing and the typical longevity of the machine. If your company also has sustainability goals, it is worth assessing the environmental impact of the device or vendor as well.

Here is a list of typical questions you might start with:

  1. What are the printing and copying needs of my business?
  2. How much does the device cost to buy?
  3. How much does the device cost to run?
  4. What kind of service does the vendor offer?
  5. How much user intervention is required? How much power does the device use?
  6. What kind of impact does the device have on the environment?

Once you have these basics under wraps, you’ll have a solid overview of what you’re after.

If you want to get more granular than this, (and it is likely you will if you’re running any more than two or three devices), you’ll also need to understand how much power the device uses, how long you plan on owning the device, what delivery and installation costs are, how much they cost to service, and what kinds of warranties are offered by your vendor.

 

All you need to know about printer 5% toner page coverage

 Picture332

 

How many pages can be printed with one cartridge?

If you want to know how many pages your printer cartridge will print – You should be able to find an estimated number of prints listed against the product of the place where you bought the cartridge, but bear in mind:

Each printer is different and so each ink cartridge is different too. There are many factors that affect how many pages one cartridge can print. A simple way of looking at things is if you imagine you and a friend both have a drink of water. You aren’t thirsty, but your friend really needs a drink. How long will that drink last? It would be different for each of you because your friend is likely to drink much faster than you, because they are thirsty.

It’s the same for printers. If you take 2 exact same printer models but one printer is old, and another is brand new. The new one will be much more efficient and so ink will last longer. Also what is being printed can change the result. Photos use more ink and take longer to print than text so we need to take these factors into consideration.

How many pages per ink / toner – Quick calculation

Here’s a quick calculation you can do to get a rough idea of how many pages your cartridge will print. The manufacturer capacity is based on 5% of the page being covered in ink or toner, but if you are printing large shaded areas or more than 4 paragraphs of text, we generally print at more like 10 – 15% coverage.

So at 15% coverage, the calculation is, the new coverage value divided by the old coverage value (15 divided by 5). Then divide the stated manufacturer prints number (eg. TN2000 toner is 2500 pages), by the result of the last calculation.

ie.

15 / 5 = 3
2500 / 3 = 833.33 pages.