Print proposal

OFFICE AUTOMATION

Outsourcing simple office printouts can save money.

The IT department of Pfizer faced a printing cost problem. Everyone wanted inkjet printouts "" approximately Rs 2.50 per page, not to mention hardware maintenance and procurement costs.

"The way out," says Shiva Nair, senior manager, business technology, Pfizer India, "was to outsource our printing needs."

The Mumbai branch had a little over 150 deskjets. It struck a deal with Wipro to provide 20 network printers and 50-odd deskjets.

Today, Nair says that his branch saves more than Rs 1 lakh per month on printouts. Implemented across the company, it would amount to a lot every year. Besides, it has eased printout tracking and billing, to Pfizer's delight.

And it is not alone. Printout outsourcing has begun, in keeping with worldwide trends (Ford has famously given the job to Hewlett Packard, which promises a 20-30 per cent drop in costs).

Closer home, Gati has entered into a contract with WeP Peripherals. Voltas is working with Lexmark and the entire deal for its Mumbai head office is being routed through CMS, which buys the printers and runs them (Voltas pays a price per page; on about 80,000 printouts a month, that saves a packet).

"The project was completed less than three months ago, and complete benefits are yet to be realised," says a Voltas spokesperson.

"Companies can unburden themselves of the need to think about AMCs, toners, cartridges and purchase of printers. They can focus on their core businesses," says P G Kamath, country manager, Lexmark India.

The total market for printing outsourcing worldwide is estimated to be around $20 billion. A Gartner study indicates that most organisations can reduce their printing expenditures by 10-30 per cent.