Perception and reality are supposed to have a huge difference at times. How do you limit this gap and close it all together? You do it using analysis, real-world updated information and ruthlessly impartial data. In the enterprise printing domain, print job tracking performs this task.
Print tracking is easier said than done. You will need a good software to do it sense tracking print jobs are only as good as the software that tracks them. Primary print management solutions are not sufficient to deal with this daunting task. They only have basic tracking functionality and auditing capacities.
The question still remains. How does one improve print job tracking in a professional setting? How does one use it to extract meaningful data which can subsequently be used to improve the performance of the entire system? We will address this question in the following segment.
- Determine your print environment
This simple sounding task is actually daunting. You need to separate the what from the chaff. You will need to do a comprehensive assessment to determine what print environment exists in your organization. Only then will you be able to generate viable and useful data to improve your organization’s functioning. Non-centralized solutions are generally not encouraged since they encourage the formation of silos rather than a holistic overview.
- Converting obtained data to readable forms
Once you set up a system to receive data from your organization’s print network, you will have a huge dataset. This dataset has no relevance to the average official who will go through the functioning of the organization. Hence, it is important to curate this dataset and put it in readable forms. It needs to be in the form of facts and figures, so that the organizational hiccups can be observed.
- Learn to prioritize
The context of the print job ordered should be an important part of its tracking. Certain departments like finance and sales are prone to generate more printing tasks. However, if you see departments like R&D generating more print jobs than usual, something could be amiss. This is why you need to prioritize while organizing your print job data. It needs to be sorted according to departments and time. Doing this manually is nearly impossible so you need a software that is up to the mark.
- Set up proper infrastructure
Consumable supplies aren’t the only thing that is affected by printing. Printing will cause eventual wear and breakdown of your hardware as well. It is important to periodically assess the state of your infrastructure and upgrade it if necessary. You can set up short-term monitoring for reporting the status of every individual printer. However, over time you will need help from a software to assess which units are taking up more workload.
These simple sounding tips aren’t a piece of cake. Most print management solutions aren’t able to handle all of these. You require a next-generation solution with powerful core-level print job tracking functionality. Additionally, you need to have the appropriate printing tools. The quality of printing and the functionality of the printer are heavily dependent on the printer cartridges used by the printer. To get the best printer cartridges for your printer you can visit sites like Needink which offer some of the best products available in this domain.