Strategic Finance
Finance directors and print procurement strategies |
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| Strategic Finance | |
| Written by Doug McLean, CEO, Office Canopy Group (OCG) | |
| Friday, 09 October 2009 | |
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Advice on saving money on print.
During a recession, all businesses come under pressure to cut costs, but sometimes this is something that is easier said than done. Large scale cost cutting measures often involve fundamental changes to the way that businesses are run, and can be very lengthy and time consuming processes. Controlling ConsumptionThere are literally millions of pounds worth of toner supplies choking office drawers and cupboards all over the UK. Many of these supplies will never be used, or found, and are often consigned to the bin when it is discovered the printer hardware has been superseded. Very few businesses have the data or management tools to make sure that toner supplies are only bought when they are needed, but it can make a big difference to overheads; experience has shown that the most efficient user will consume around one third the volume of the least efficient user. As well as looking at the consumables, it is important to analyse the optimum size, capacity, function and location of printer hardware to meet the needs of end users. The majority of printer hardware is bought piecemeal, often outside of regular IT procurement policy and without consideration to fluctuations in workload and user profiles; a common example is the use of colour printers where there is only need for a simple black and white laser printer. Beat the channel at their own gameThe majority of consumers deploy competitive tendering amongst a handful of selected suppliers as a means of seeking the lowest price. These processes are time consuming and expensive to execute and as a result tend to occur at best annually but more usually bi-annually. Any supplier who has to commit to a forward price for any period longer than one week – the maximum period to correctly call the buy price from a distributor – has no option but to estimate a supply price. Most will err on the side of caution to take into account the numerous variables that will need to be incorporated in their future buy price which results in relatively high pricing to business consumers. When putting a toner procurement contract out to tender, the business consumer needs to look at the supplier. The bigger the supplier and the more purchasing power they have, the easier it is to get lower prices for toner. A supplier that can get closer to the distributor themselves, and remove a further element from the supply chain will be able to offer a lower price than those suppliers who are in turn purchasing from a supplier. Visibility and control over consumptionLarger businesses with more offices and more people will find it increasingly difficult to see who is buying what, and from which supplier. Very few business consumers have solved the problem of visibility over consumption. Only a few actually have the capacity to analyse spend after the event with the granularity required to influence decision making. By making sure that all of your company’s offices order from the same system, and by controlling who can order what product, a business can make sure that only authorised people can make purchasing decisions, and also that only authorised goods are purchased. The more information that is at your disposal, the easier it becomes to control your toner procurement expenditure. ConclusionBy making small cost savings throughout your different business processes, you can help to improve overall efficiency, and make sure that your business is not needlessly losing money. Whilst it may be difficult to implement all of these strategies to every process throughout your company, it will ultimately be worth it if it improves your bottom line.
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