Does outsourcing print reduce risk and cost?

As organisations who rely on print and related print services take steps to cut costs and improve efficiencies, they may consider outsourcing their print and print management needs.

The important questions to ask when considering outsourcing print services...

• Are you completely in control of your print budget and are you confident in precisely how much is being spent on print? Who is spending your budget, what is being bought, and are you spending wisely and effectively?
• What controls do you have in place to ensure quality, and that potential savings can be realised as value for money to your organisation?

If you’re not clear on the answers to either of these questions, outsourcing your print requirements to a trusted partner, may be a practical option to reduce not only cost, but also risk.

Back in control and able to focus on your core business

If you feel like you need to wrestle back control of your print spend, then outsourcing to a reputable print management partner could give you the power that you need, but will this really provide cost savings?

The short answer is yes.

Firstly, you will be outsourcing to a company that has higher volumes. Economies of scale can be significant across both print buying costs and postage rates, meaning that you can access the best possible prices in the market.

Any cost savings can be fully tracked, and the comprehensive reporting offered by print management services can answer the who, what, where questions around spend, that we posed at the beginning of this post.

A good print manager will not only save you money by finding the best price for your job but will also invest considerable time and energy understanding your specific requirements and, where necessary, they will provide options and alternatives – even value engineering the requirement (with your agreement of course) to generate a better solution which is cost and process efficient. In some cases, the advice may be to print less altogether by embracing a multi-channel solution.

Learn more about how we helped Lambeth Council save with print management

Now that we have explored the role of the print manager in reducing costs, it's time to take a look at something equally important – risk

Outsourcing your print when you operate in highly regulated areas such as the public sector, healthcare, finance or law can be a scary prospect, but it doesn’t have to be. A print manager can actually help to reduce the risks involved.

Even if you don’t operate within a highly regulated industry, you are still open to risk when it comes to printing. Poor quality materials, design and reproduction can negatively affect a brand’s reputation or risk making printed material inaccessible to users with complex needs.

It is vitally important to get the right piece of print to the right person and to get it out to them promptly, this is something that can be ensured by your service level agreement. Outsourcing print work can boost this accuracy in delivery.

There are two reasons for this. Firstly, for personalised, sensitive print, our technology ensures that every item or ‘pack’ is printed with a unique barcode. This is scanned and recorded on camera, as it passes through the factory, ensuring that the correct piece of paper is inserted into the correct envelope. This then creates a record of every piece of mail, so it’s easy to investigate if an issue were to arise.