Print Audit’s New Report Helps Dealers Select which Printer and MFP Models to Include for Auto Toner-Fulfillment
November 29, 2014 – Calgary-based Print Audit is introducing an MPS Readiness Report exclusively for Print Audit Premier members. The firm says the report will help alleviate one of the biggest challenges managed print services (MPS) providers face today: implementing an effective automatic toner-fulfillment program, also known as Just In Time (JIT).
Print Audit notes that saving customers the hassle of manually ordering toner every time a machine runs out of it is one of the key components of an MPS program. Unfortunately living up to this part of an MPS agreement can be a much more difficult task than office-equipment dealers and MPS providers realize. The challenge arises from variations in how different models of printers report their toner levels.
Print Audit says it’s made the process of Just In Time toner delivery much easier with its new MPS Readiness Report, which provides a rating system that ranks individual printer models based on how easily they can be incorporated into an automatic toner-fulfillment program.
“Print Audit’s MPS Readiness score is an objective rating of a printer model’s suitability for automated supplies management. It focuses on the reporting of supplies information through the Printer MIB, and reflects the cumulative value of the information available,” explains Rob Thiessen, vice president of sales for Print Audit. “This is accomplished through a five-point rating system which measures the frequency, consistency, and detail provided regarding supplies levels on over 2,400 networked printer models.”
According to West McDonald, vice president of business development at Print Audit, two of the most common impediments to a good automatic toner-fulfillment program are:
- Locally Connected Printers and MFPs: Locally connected devices are the most obvious roadblock as they don’t effectively report over the network. While some devices that are locally attached do have the ability to “auto order” on their own, this usually bypasses the dealers in favour of the OEM replacing the toner cartridges. And, it has to be set-up one device at a time and doesn’t allow for central management of the process.
- Devices that don’t report granular percent increments: Not all devices report their toner levels in the same way. Some only report in 25-percent increments, others only a status indication such as “low” or “empty”. And other devices report in granular increments until they reach 20 percent and don’t go any further. The best devices to include in a JIT toner-fulfillment program report in 1-percent increments, right down to being empty.
The new report is available exclusively to Print Audit Premier members. It enables office equipment dealers and MPS providers to easily assess the MPS Readiness of their customer’s devices before deciding which models they will or will not support as part of their automatic toner-fulfillment program.
To learn more about the MPS Readiness Report and how to access it, visit Print Audit here
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