The Datamax Thinking Blog

Educating, collaborating, and sparking ideas for maximizing the technology that matters.


6 Rules for Diving Deep Into Your Print Environment

Developing a vision, and implementing it with strategically-placed solutions, will guide your exploration deep into the depths of your entire fleet of devices, and can lead to exhilarating new discoveries...including a dramatically more breathable bottom line. 

“Plan your Dive. Dive Your Plan."

Descending steadily toward the ocean floor, entering the wilderness of the deep sea and the marine life that inhabits it can be exhilarating... life changing. Properly planning and executing your dive under a specific set of rules and checklists helps you maintain control over your equipment – and your environment. It ensures a successful dive.

Topics: Printing Document Security Print Management Managed Print Services

Get Employees On Board with Copier Fleet or IT Onboarding Process

In working with your partner, how successful is implementation of new technology? Is there a Change Management Methodology that gets every employee on board safely? Or just a train wreck? 

Woodrow Wilson once famously said, “if you want to make enemies, try to change something.”

Funny, but for IT managers or business owners implementing an MFP fleet or IT-related onboarding process, perhaps a little too close for comfort.

Topics: Business Problems Productivity Tips and Tools Network Management Partnering Print Management

No Production Print Job Left Behind: Is That the Case With You?

Production printers, in short, need to make-ready for the long print run. But with a well-vetted partner, print operators and print executives alike can exhale a little deeper, breathe a little easier.

The air inside production print rooms continues to get thinner.

When the challenges arise that come with quicker turnarounds and increasing client demands, in-plants, quick print shops and commercial printers find it harder to breathe easy in the press room. Common scenarios...

Topics: Color Printing Office Equipment Production Print Print Management

A Print Workflow Wellness Check for Your Healthcare Organization

The right technology partner can ensure long-term wellness for your organization: From security/compliance peace of mind, to highly efficient workflow processes and optimal uptime on your fleet of equipment. 

An annual check-up is a routinely prescribed course of action for adults to ensure long-term wellness. But that’s not the end-game.

True wellness is not defined by any one current ailment or appointment; it’s an actively pursued goal of maintaining good health based on a myriad of ongoing good habits. To ensure overall wellness for their print fleet, a healthcare organization needs much more than an annual checkup.

Topics: Healthcare Solutions Office Equipment Print Management HIPAA Managed Compliance Services

Print Pacesetter: In-House Production Offers You Control at Every Turn

With capable production print systems and the right technology partner, in-house production offers you complete control over your price, your processes and your final product.

In the Indy Car racing circuit, road courses require superior braking systems that are able to handle intense, repetitive braking as cars approach sharp, hairpin turns.

Often times, outsourcing your production print is a lot like racing behind the wheel of a 700-horse power,  2.2-liter twin turbo Indy Car with inferior brakes: It runs like clockwork until the unexpected happens (deadline change, color issue, mark-up fee) and you completely lose control.

Topics: Color Printing Productivity Tips and Tools Production Print Print Management

Technology Forecast: Office Climate Change Imminent, but Probability of Printing Remains High

In the report, 36 percent of enterprises surveyed say they are printing MORE OFTEN than they were 12 months ago, while only 14 percent are printing less often. Similarly, 40 percent are scanning more often and 35 percent are copying more often.

By 2020, Cisco’s Internet Business Solutions Group predicts that 50 billion physical IoT devices will be connected to the Internet, consuming, generating, and communicating data. The office is no exception.

Crucial documents reside on our desks and file cabinets, but also in cloud servers and mobile devices. With such wide and easy access to the information we need, it’s tempting to think that printing may soon become a function of the past.

As ESPN analyst Lee Corso famously says on College Football Game Day, “Not so fast, my friend!”

Topics: Scanning Printing Printer Management Multifunction Copier Office Equipment Document Security Print Management Canon USA Managed Print Services

Managed Print Services: A Road Map for Your Printing Environment

When it comes to managing a printing environment, many organizations find themselves without even a road map. Most companies don't realize how many documents are wasted daily – money literally thrown away. 

It comes up regularly on long car rides with my wife – what did we ever do pre-smartphone GPS? My answer: There was always, of course, the trusted Rand McNally map, along with the refined technique of folding it back adequately enough to fit back into your glove box. The Rand McNally, for me, is a sentimental relic from family vacations past.

Topics: Document Security Print Management Managed Print Services

Canon's Unified Firmware Platform:  Full Speed Ahead in Existing Copier Models

The burden of administrators handling an entire fleet can be significantly lifted by usability improvements and features that simply make doing their job more efficient.

Visiting a car dealership (even if today, most buyers’ research is done online beforehand), there’s multiple variables to consider. Beyond budget and leasing options, one must consider speed (that sleek, streamlined sports car), functionality (the gas-friendly cross-over with room for the dog), safety/security, as well as that inevitable drop in value with that vehicle moving forward.   

The same used to be said about copiers.

Topics: Multifunction Copier Productivity Tips and Tools Office Equipment Print Management Canon USA

12 Effective Capabilities and Controls for Managing Your Enterprise Print Fleet

The ability to offer the tools and control needed to help reduce waste and boost productivity can be the difference in whether your organization finds itself "on cloud nine" or "under a cloud" when it comes to managing print.

For many organizations, printing continues to be a frustrating cost issue that remains pretty much untracked and uncontrolled. That’s amazing since managing print output and associated costs has been such a hot topic for so long. 

More companies understand this now, but not enough want to really pour in the effort to do anything about it.  Apparently, they're less interested in the gathering clouds of documents and print and are more convinced of better cost savings they can be chasing down in their businesses — so they think. 

Topics: Office Equipment Print Management Managed Print Services

Do Centralized Copiers and Printers Hurt or Harm Productivity?

Buying one, centralized multifunction printer for your office will save money, right? It's not as simple as that.

Centralizing your multifunction copiers makes a lot of sense. You don't need to buy multiple machines to cover all of the departments, the IT team can easily network and troubleshoot them, and you won't have employees wandering around trying to figure out where to get their copies.

This configuration works out great, in theory. In practice, you could end up with the MFP becoming the de facto water cooler. When staff makes their way to the digital copier to pick up their papers, they may take a socialization trip at the same time.

Topics: Printing Printer Management Multifunction Copier Digital Copiers Productivity Tips and Tools Print Management