Every company suffers from some kind of waste in its printing operations. For architects, this can lead to increased costs and lost revenues if they don’t track all prints accurately. As architects can charge reimbursement costs to customers for all their project-related prints, they must monitor all printing tasks in the firm.

The global architectural services market will grow to more than $391 billion by 2025. This is despite cost pressures, labor shortages, and slowing economic growth. The government sector will grow exponentially at a CAGR of 9.1% over the forecast period. Residential sectors also account for a large portion of the anticipated growth. The industry outlook is favorable for architectural firms, but to capitalize on this growth, it’ll be important to increase efficiencies, reduce waste, and invest in productivity solutions.

Printing Services that Help Reduce Operating Costs

Architects depend on a variety of engineering prints during the lifecycle of a project. The blueprints and construction plans can increase costs if the company doesn’t have a print management solution. To regain control over runaway printing costs, there are printing services and solutions available to help establish effective policies and stringent tracking of every print job.

Tracking Reimbursable Prints

After completing a design, the cost of printing the engineering drawings and blueprints is for the customer’s account. Whether it’s for a house or a new school, these prints can quickly add up during the project. Reprints, revisions, and engineering changes all affect the project’s total print cost. While not every print is reimbursable, architects will need to track those that are and invoice them to the customer.

Print administration software can help architects to establish a robust tracking system for all their wide format printers and plotters. The solution will log every print by device, department, and user. With detailed logs of all the company’s prints, the firm can accurately bill their customers. A print administration solution also allows the firm to enforce policies that eliminate waste.

Keep Prints In-House

If the firm uses an outside vendor for their prints, they’ll end up paying more for every job. The vendor will levy a portion of their overheads into the cost per print. As the firm invoices these prints to their customers, it will drive up the overall project cost. Keeping printing tasks in-house can reduce the total cost per print, leading to more significant cost savings for the firm’s customers.

For firms that do have wide-format printers, they can opt to use managed print services (MPS) to reduce their printing costs. With MPS, the firm can get all their devices, supplies, and maintenance for a single monthly cost. The MPS Company will evaluate the current print environment and provide an integrated solution that suits the company’s needs and budget.

Benefits of MPS for Architects in Ohio

MPS is an effective strategy to improve operations while remaining productive. For architects, it can help improve device reliability and increase oversight of their printing operations. The firm will gain insights into their current consumption, cost of supplies, and identify where they are wasting money on unnecessary prints.

How an MPS Solution Works

With an MPS solution, another company takes all responsibility for the print environment. The MPS provider will assess the company’s print requirements, develop a custom-fit solution, and ensure the firm receives its supplies on time. With more companies around the world, realizing that MPS is a sustainable business strategy, the industry continues to grow. For architects, an MPS solution can give them a competitive advantage.

The Value MPS Brings to Architectural and Engineering Firms

Architects manage multiple projects at any specific time. Every project relies on the designs and construction plans to execute a project successfully. As plotters and wide-format printers age, they can become prone to failure and require costly repairs. Similarly, manually keeping track of every project-related print can be time-consuming and lead to human error.

MPS overcomes these challenges by establishing a robust print management solution. It can help the company to consolidate older devices, track every project’s print jobs, and reduce the need for prints with a document management solution. As the print management software integrates with billing and invoicing systems, MPS can automate the majority of the reimbursement process.

Reduce Waste and Increase Your Firms Efficiency with Printing Services from Blue Technologies

Today’s architects need to cut costs wherever they can to remain competitive. By tracking all their reimbursable prints efficiently, they can reduce the administrative burden on their staff and increase their billable hours per month. It also helps them to eliminate waste, and they can pass on any savings to their customers. Blue Technologies has a variety of solutions available, including wide format printers that operate efficiently, reliably, and with the precision that all engineering prints require.

If you regularly print construction plans, blueprints, or engineering drawings and need a printing services company that can help reduce costs, speak to one of Blue Technologies’ agents today.