If you’re in the process of writing an RFP or invitation to tender for Managed Print Services (MPS), you may have outlined the services that the business needs, but have you considered the goals and objectives of an MPS contract?
Beyond managing your organisation’s printing, scanning and copying processes, MPS should be providing a return on investment and with that, there should be goals in place - it could be in terms of cost, time savings or environmental sustainability.
The goals could even include all of the above in an attempt to move the organisation forward and show real change as a result of Managed Print Services.
Here’s a breakdown of the 3 key goals mentioned and the questions you can ask suppliers in your RFP:
1) Cost Reductions
Cost reduction is a common goal for organisations investing in Managed Print Services.
When it comes to the procurement and monitoring of MPS over the contract, cost savings are often an easy goal to set as it feels like it’s bringing value back to the business and it’s easy to understand when reporting back to the company.
No-one is necessarily debating the value of MPS, afterall it ensures continuity of printing processes, but reporting a 30%+ cost reduction in printing is a surefire way to impress those above you.
If your goal is to reduce overall print costs, make sure to outline this expectation and ask some of the following questions:
- What is your average cost reduction for your customers?
- How will cost reductions be measured? How do you report on cost reduction?
- How will you ensure costs are reduced?
- What tools and software do you use to reduce and control costs?
- How will you help us manage the cost of printing?
- Please explain the cost of colour page printing and define the criteria for a colour page vs a mono page.
- Please provide some examples of how you’ve reduced printing costs in the past.
2) Time savings
Given the value of time in any business, saving time might be a key objective from MPS, through optimising printing processes and removing some of the time-consuming elements of printing, scanning and copying.
While an MPS provider might not be able to tell you straight away where time can be saved, they can at least explain where they would look and what they would assess to work out where time can be saved.
One question to ask might be:
What’s your process for reducing print times and saving employees time?
3) Environmental sustainability
Environmental sustainability is a hot topic across all industries with every organisation striving to play their part in the bigger environmental challenge.
Like cost reductions and time saving, achieving environmental sustainability goals and objectives can give great results and ROI to report back to the company.
If your organisation is thinking about more environmental friendly printing solutions, be sure to ask the following in your RFP for suppliers:
- Do you have solutions that address environmental sustainability goals? If so, please explain what solutions you have.
- Do you have any case studies/examples of where the environmental impact of printing has been reduced?
- How do you measure the environmental impact of printing?
- How do you support a cultural shift in the mindset of your customers towards a more sustainable and environmentally friendly attitude towards printing?
When choosing an MPS provider, having the goals and objectives in mind will help you ask the right questions and in turn, will help ensure you achieve your MPS goals with the help of your chosen supplier.