As technology has improved, and as these devices now rely on digital technology rather than light and heat to make copies, you can find big productivity in a small footprint.
Anyone with children knows the outsized impact on your life that something so small can have on everything you do. You begin to worry about things and imagine dangers where none were before (how many of you have crawled around your house at child-eye level looking to remove anything that could be crammed into a tiny mouth or that could be pulled over?). Your thinking changes and your lifestyle certainly changes.
And, as all parents would say (though you might hesitate on “those” days – you know the ones): It’s worth it.
To ham-handedly switch gears to business, there are other good things that come in small packages; namely, the multifunction copier.
Big Productivity, Small Footprint
When it comes to multifunction copiers, many people continue to think of them as a couch-sized (or at least a love seat) piece of equipment – gray, white or off-white, that sits in a corner of the office and is the recipient of now and then abuse when it doesn’t work perfectly (or when users don’t know how to get the device to work perfectly). And, this is true. A multifunction copier can be very large – and, when they don’t work, a source of office worker frustration.
But they don’t have to be that large (or frustrating for that matter).
As technology has improved, and as these devices now rely on digital technology rather than light and heat to make copies, you can find big productivity in a small footprint. This means an office of any size can afford – and have space for – a critical piece of productivity-boosting office technology. Many of these smaller copiers, sometimes referred to as A4s, aren’t much larger than the color laser printers you have on that desk in the corner. And they have more features and functionality than the laser printer.
Of course, if you need the level of output a higher-volume MFP can produce, then you could still have that couch-sized machine.
But today, you can get fantastic productivity from a device that will sit on your desk or next to your desk and take up no more room than your filing cabinet (and if you use your MFP as the front-end to an electronic document management system, you’ll be able to get rid of that filing cabinet and save even more space).
My Black and White Copier “Couch” Still Works
Even if space isn’t an issue and you have a 10-year old copier, you should still consider investing in a new piece of office equipment. Here’s why:
- No network – equipment that old probably isn’t networked to your laptop, much less your phone. You’re missing potential process efficiencies.
- Maintenance contracts – Sure it works, but how much are you paying to keep it that way? You could be carrying a higher cost maintenance contract on a device that is less productive and more expensive than you could get today.
- Power – it’s probably sucking up more electricity than you realize. While not a huge budget-buster, more energy efficient devices do keep your bills down – good for your budget and the environment.
It’s time for you to change your thinking on what’s possible when it comes to your copier – good things do come in small packages.
