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Education
When it comes to print,
primary and secondary
schools face many of the
same pressures as commercial
organisations. Printed output
is still vitally important
for teaching material and
administration but tighter
budgets are encouraging
schools to monitor and control
print activity and explore more
efficient ways of managing
document workflows.
The extent to which they are
able to do this clearly varies from
school to school and is largely
dependent on pupil numbers
and ages. Even so, the state
of printer estates in education
today is such that even primary
schools can make big savings
by gaining control of print and
using electronic distribution of
coursework and correspondence
to reduce costs.
In the next issue, we look in
more detail at how they can do
this. But first, what are some
of the key trends influencing
schools’ printing choices?
The growth of colour
One of the key developments is
an increase in colour printing.
Colour output has obvious
benefits for learning: it is more
engaging for pupils and improves
understanding and retention
of information. Colour devices
can also be used to produce
booklets, posters, banners and
other display material in-house.
Yet, colour is expensive. At a
time of shrinking budgets, how
can schools meet demand for
colour output and keep costs
under control? One obvious
solution is to monitor and control
costs more tightly (addressed in
more detail in the next issue).
Another is to restrict output to a
smaller number of departmental
devices.
Printing in Education
In the first article in our series on printing in the
education sector,
PrintIT
looks at some of the factors
affecting primary and secondary schools’ choice of
printer. In future issues we will look in more detail
at how schools can reduce costs through smarter
printing and electronic workflows and at the role of
printing in universities and colleges.
Part One: Key Trends
Personal printer or network
MFP?
Just as in commercial
organisations, schools have
made the transition from
personal printers to network
MFPs, albeit at a slow pace. “The
transition to networked MFPs has
happened but it’s been a slow
process to get people to move
away from desktop printers,”
explained Altodigital regional
sales manager Andy Hargreaves.
“Rather than investing in some
form of output management
that will let staff run around the
school to get their print jobs,
many see desktop printers as
their personal devices and MFPs
or copiers as separate. Typically
you have one person looking
at photocopier contracts, while
desktop printers are provided by
an outsourced IT provider who
will also supply consumables
and may not want the school to
move to a more cost-effective
solution.”
The decision whether or not
to replace printers with MFPs
has a number of facets. It can
be driven by a desire to reduce
costs; to improve monitoring
and control; to gain additional
functionality e.g. colour
scanning; or to consolidate all
devices (printers and copiers)
under one supplier, typically as
part of a managed print service.
Distributed or centralised?
The move to MFPs also supports
schools’ efforts to reduce the
number of print devices through
centralisation. However, Paul
Steels, Epson head of Enterprise
and Public Sector Sales, warns
that this may not always be
what’s best for teachers.
“Centralising on MFPs has
a trade-off in the way teachers
educate. If you are a primary
school and you have a centralised
MFP you will have to send
someone out to collect the prints.
You can’t send young children
out and teachers obviously can’t
leave the classroom, so that
can be a challenge. The biggest
question they face is ‘Do we go
centralised or localised?’,” he
said.
Karen FitzGerald, EMEA
Head of Education Solutions
at HP, says the argument for
output on shared departmental
devices has been weakened by
the emergence of low-cost laser
MFPs. “The wider availability and
price decrease in Multi Function
Printers means every classroom
can afford to have a device
rather than printing and copying
centrally. Staff spend less time
out of the classroom and can
produce smaller print runs on
demand and include tasks for
students,” she said.
The trade-off between
convenience and financial
considerations is further
challenged by the rise of
business inkjets with high print
speeds and lower running costs
than laser devices.
Inkjet or laser?
As schools seek to gain
control over printing, many will
standardise on laser technology
on the basis that inkjet
technology is slow, unreliable
and expensive, even though in
the last two years Epson and HP
have launched a new generation
of inkjet devices that offer laser-
like print speeds with running
costs up to 50% lower than laser
devices.
Epson’s comparison of print
costs for its Workforce Pro
printers and two equivalent
laser devices shows that an
organisation printing 1,500
pages per month with a 50:50
mono:colour split could, over
three years, save £1,500
or £4,000 by switching to a
Workforce Pro inkjet. Replacing
a fleet of 10 laser devices would
enable a school to save £15,000
or £40,000 without altering
established teaching methods or
working practices.
“When organisations think
about what is being asked in
terms of spending cuts, there
are a number of implications
and cuts in the order of 20-30%
could impact the effectiveness
of services. With these savings
you don’t have to change the
process. In many instances you
could simply swap the fleet out
and still make savings in the first
year,” Steels said.
Another new inkjet model,
the Lomond Evojet Office 2,
based on Memjet technology
and distributed in the UK and
Ireland by Compatech, offers
print speeds of 60 pages per
minute, colour pages for the
same price as black and white
and the convenience of a utility-
Walton Girls’ High School and Sixth Form in Lincolnshire, a specialist
academy for the Performing Arts, Applied Learning and Languages, has
installed more than 40 EpsonWorkForce Pro printers around the school,
helping it to meets students’ colour printing requirements and reduce costs.
Continued...