Printing

In general we need to examine every piece of paper we generate to see if it is truly needed or if there is a better way to accomplish the same task. Although the cost of paper and the equipment to print it are substantial, the real cost is in the distribution, location, handling, filing and disposing of paper documents, i.e. "paper shuffling". Some needs for paper reports can be met with access to online databases. Some data collection forms can be eliminated by allowing clients to update files directly.

However, even after considering alternatives, paper is and will continue to be the most appropriate choice for many tasks. Once we have determined that a paper report or document is optimal, our next task it to determine:

• Who will use it?

• How will it be distributed? How will it be filed? Archived? Recycled?

• What type of form is required? custom or stock? continuous or cut-sheet?

• How and where will it be printed?

Traditionally much of the paper generated by UVM administrative offices was printed by high-speed (and high cost) line printers in CIT's Data Center. Around the clock, seven-day operator schedules and a staff of 12 meant that boxes and boxes of forms could be printed, burst, decollated and sorted into output bins to await early-morning pick-up by departmental couriers. The number of staff in the Data Center is now about half and further declines are anticipated. Expensive computer-room line-printers ($30-40,000 new) are 5-15 years old and are wearing out, and it is not clear that there will be any funds to replace them.

Fortunately, the cost of distributing laser printers has declined substantially and UVM has implemented a campus network that makes electronic delivery of information fast and inexpensive. By locating low-cost laser printers at the point of use several potential advantages can be achieved:

• output can be printed directly at the point of use;

• the client department need not wait behind demands of other departments competing for a distant shared printer; reports and forms can be printed on demand ‹ waiting for overnight printing is no longer necessary;

• laser print quality is superior to line-printer output;

• the cost of custom forms can be avoided by printing form-images on the printer as the output is printed;

• Laser output is normally in a standard 8.5X11" format generally regarded as more convenient than traditional green-screen 11X15" computer paper;

• errors and quality problems can be caught more quickly since the staff removing the paper from a departmental printer is familiar with the application and quality standards.
  

There will be a continuing need for some output to be printed in the Data Center. Existing paper stock may not be suitable for laser printing. In some cases there may not be adequate time to design an appropriate laser form. Existing departmental equipment may be inadequate to handle all necessary output. In some cases (e.g. mailers) an impact printer may be required. For these purposes CIT will continue to provide line-printer services within the limits of declining staff resources. The long-term goal, however, is to eliminate 90% of such output, and though we may not be able to move immediately to distributed printing in every case, we must continue to seek that goal.

Other possibilities

In some cases departments will find it convenient and cost effective to print most of their documents using distributed desktop laser printers, but may also have needs that require large laser output runs that exceed the capacity of the decentralized staff and equipment. In these cases we may wish to explore the possibility of the shared use of one or more high-capacity, fee-for-service laser printers. Analysis may reveal that this kind of operation to be more suitable for outsourcing or location in University Graphics and Printing.