With digital printers now the main form of printers available, your business can decide the type of printer needed, knowing it will always be digital in nature.

Before you start comparing digital office copiers, there are three key questions you’ll need to answer:

1. What do I need my office printer to do?

Understanding your business needs is important before purchasing equipment like printers. Modern digital printers are often referred to as multifunctional products (MFPs) or multifunctional devices because they do much more than just copy. MFPs also print, fax, scan, email, make double sided copies, collate, punch holes, staple, and make booklets. These type of functions and features are great for most business types including offices, school and NGO’s.

Having a multifunctional product connected to your internal network allows you to take care of many tasks directly from your computer. Not only can MFPs aid in electronic communication, they make it convenient to create finished documents without ever leaving your desk. They’re also the ideal space saver, considering that one device handles your scanning, faxing, emailing, and printing.

If your business has the need for a more specific printer like a wide-format style one, then you can find the perfect printer for your business here too. Businesses in the engineering, government or architecture and design industries often require these printers to complete daily tasks.

2. How much do I need to print and copy?

Once you decide on the features you need, the next step is to narrow your choices based on the number of copies you make in a month.

If you already own or lease a printer, you can determine your actual usage by looking at the counter, usually found under the platen glass or internal storage. Much like an odometer on a car, the meter on the printer cannot be tampered with. It varies depending on the brand of printer, but each one has a menu that shows how many colour copies, colour prints, black and white copies, black and white prints have been made. The overall total is also displayed on the counter.

If you don’t have a printer at all, take a look through any receipts from printing you have had done externally or ask office admin staff for an estimate. If you’re going to use the printer as a network printer as well, a useful way to get a rough estimate is to track your monthly paper consumption.

Don’t worry about being too exact. Once you have a rough volume figure, increase it by at least 15%. This will help you account for future growth, as well as compensate for the somewhat inflated monthly copy volumes claims from manufacturers.

If you’re expecting to make fewer than 1,000 copies/prints per month, you probably don’t need the expense of a “business” copier at all. You’d be better off purchasing a small office copier, also known as a personal copy machine, from an office superstore – unless you want the advanced features or service guarantees that come with business copiers.

3. How fast do I need it to be?

Printer speed is measured in copies per minute (cpm), pages per minute (ppm), or outputs per minute (opm). Whichever term is used, it refers to the number of A4 sized pages the machine can produce in one minute when running at full speed. The printer industry categorises six segments, defined by speed:

Segment  | Speed | Business size

1      |       15 ppm    | very small or home office

2      |       20 ppm    | small offices

3      |     30 – 50 ppm     |   small to mid-sized offices

4      |        50 – 70 ppm     |   mid to large offices

5       |       70 – 90 ppm    |    very large offices and/or print runs

6      |        90 – 100 ppm   |  commercial printers

Note that segments 3 and above can all be networked. Most companies are satisfied with printers from segments 2 to 4, in the 20 to 70 ppm range.

Of course, more complex forms of copying–two-sided copies, copying on larger paper, and sorting–are slower. If you will be frequently doing these types of copying, make sure you anticipate and plan for the slower speed. Also, if you expect to make many one-time single copies, ask about the first-copy speed, or the number of seconds it takes for one single copy to be made.

Now that you have a better idea of what you desire from your commercial printer you can make a clearer decision once you have received your quotes.