The term ‘watercooler
moment’, describing a TV
event that everyone talks
about at work the next day,
should be changed to ‘MFP
moment’, if the findings of
new research by Brother
International Corporation are
to be believed.
Its survey of 1,000 US office
workers reveals that centralised
MFPs have replaced watercoolers
as the place to gather and swap
chit-chat, in the US at least. Six
out of 10 respondents stated
that they have conversations at
the copier/printer, compared to
31% who have conversations at
the water cooler.
On this basis, Brother warns
that centralising printing on
large MFPs can significantly
curtail productivity in the
workplace, potentially wasting
thousands of hours a year.
Its research shows that each
day employees in offices with
centralised MFPs spend an
average of three minutes more
on printing than employees in
offices with a greater number
of shared printers. This adds
up to 13 hours over the course
of a year or 6,500 hours for a
company with 500 employees.
The extra time spent printing
comes from having to walk
further to a print device, waiting
in a queue at the MFP and
stopping to chat while walking
to or from it.
The survey shows that
centralised printers have an
impact on behaviour too, with
users of centralised MFPs
more likely to forget to pick up
documents after sending them
and more likely to avoid printing
if a device is perceived to be too
far away.
Dan Waldinger, Brother
International director of Services
and Solutions Marketing, said:
“As print volumes change,
we know that many small- to
medium-sized businesses may
be underusing their copier/
printers and have placed them
ineffectively, with cost and
productivity implications. Our
survey findings demonstrate
how ineffective placement can
promote behaviours that may
ultimately lead to significant
productivity loss.”
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Britons prefer snail mail to Twitter for staying in touch with
people who live overseas. A survey by international calling app
Ringo.co found that 14% of Brits use letters and postcards to
stay in touch with parents and friends abroad, compared to 11%
who use Twitter. British men are much more likely to use the
post to stay in touch than women, 22% versus 6%.
Letter volumes fell again in
the first half of this year, but
by less than Royal Mail was
expecting due to the improving
economy. The Group’s half year
results show that in the six
months to 28 September 2014,
addressed letter volumes
decreased by 3%, compared to
an expected decline of 4-6%.
Overall, letter revenue was up
1% to £2,242 million, primarily
due to election mailings.
Letters decline slows
Printer sales up again as prices fall
Sales of printers and MFPs in Western European grew strongly
in the third quarter of 2014 – the sixth consecutive quarter of
positive growth – as prices continued to fall.
The latest
IDC Worldwide Quarterly Hardcopy Peripherals Tracker
shows that unit sales were up 2%, or 118,000 units, compared to
the same period last year, but that strong pricing pressure caused
the overall value of hardware shipments to fall.
Sales of MFPs grew by 2.8%, driven by rising demand for colour
devices, while those of single-function printers fell by 1.2%. MFPs
accounted for more than four out of five (80.8%) of the 5.87 million
print devices shipped.
From a technology perspective, laser sales were flat, while inkjet
sales grew by 2.8%. The business inkjet sector grew strongly with
shipments up 10.9%.
The UK market outperformed the market with sales growth of
7.8% and year-on-year increases in both inkjet and laser markets.
However, following very strong shipments in the first half of the year,
sales of business inkjets contracted by 11.2%.
Mobile printing
demand in
enterprises still
unmet
Office workers continue to be
frustrated in their attempts
to print from mobile devices,
according to new research
from Cortado.
Nine out of ten (92%)
consumers surveyed by
the enterprise mobility
management leader said
they want to print from their
smartphone/tablet and 73%
have already done so using
their home printer. Yet only 17%
have printed from a mobile
device to a corporate printer.
While two thirds (65%) of
consumers consider mobile
printing to be an improvement
to their way of working, 63%
of IT managers and business
users questioned described
mobile printing as an
‘unimportant’ option.
This, says Cortado, suggests
that businesses are seriously
under-estimating and failing
to accommodate the mobile
printing needs of their
employees.
The survey also highlights
the continued importance of
printing in the home despite
falling print volumes: 99.9% of
respondents said they still had,
and used, a home printer.
Users of centralised MFPs
spend more time gossiping
BULLETIN
PRINT.IT
7
bulletin
Three quarters of consumers
already print from a
smartphone to a home printer.
Employees with printers close to
hand spend less time chatting
