MFPs FOR EDUCATION
While schools, colleges and universities are increasingly embracing digitalisation across their operations, there is nonetheless still high demand for printed materials from teaching and administrative staff alike, and for many a multifunctional printer (MFP) is a preferred option, which presents opportunities for resellers. Rick Dove, pre-sales technical specialist at Epson UK, says that demand for MFPs from education providers remains consistently high. “This reflects the ongoing need for shared and centralised print environments across schools, colleges and universities,” he explains. “Despite ongoing digital initiatives, printed materials continue to play an important role in teaching and in administration, from lesson resources and exam papers to safeguarding records. “The latest research by Epson highlights this need, with 29% of UK teachers saying they do not have enough printers in their school to provide hard-copy resources whenever they are needed. The same research found that 80% of teachers believe printers should be considered when policymakers make decisions about improving educational outcomes, reinforcing the growing demand for robust, centrally managed print solutions such as MFPs.” Deyon Antione, product marketing manager at Toshiba Tec, agrees that despite ongoing digitisation in schools, MFPs remain widely used for teaching packs, reprographics and high‑stakes assessment administration. “While digital tools, such as classroom devices and cloud services, are rapidly growing in adoption, this does not signal a move to a fully paperless environment,” he adds. “Instead, digital solutions sit alongside long‑established paper‑based workflows. Although print volumes are gradually declining, very few organisations are paperless; most are accelerating their digitisation efforts, increasing the need for
scanning and workflow processes. As a result, MFPs continue to be essential tools.” Gary Organ, head of device technology sales UK at Fujifilm, says the company is are seeing interest in MFPs from across different types of education providers. “Not only because print still matters to them, but because customers are increasingly looking for MFPs that support secure, sustainable, smart and adaptive ways of working,” he says. “From Fujifilm’s perspective, it’s a clear shift in what customers are asking for and it’s shaping how we support the sector.” Advantages of MFPs There are various advantages of using MFPs for education providers. Deyon notes that education providers appreciate how one device has multiple functions such as A3/A4 print, copy, scan and finishing. “Central reprographics can handle high volume jobs (booklets, stapling, labels) that single function A4 printers cannot do cost effectively or reliably,” he adds. “There is also lower total cost per page at scale. Consolidating individuals’ desktop printers into shared MFPs typically reduces unnecessary colour printing and enables duplex defaults and policy controls via MPS software analytics. MFPs are the capture gateway from paper to digital.” With security an increasing concern, MFPs also offer functions such as secure release and auditable scanning. “Card/PIN release cuts abandoned prints; integrated scan workflows to cloud repositories and back-office systems support compliance requirements,” Deyon adds. Rick adds that MFPs’ ability to combine printing, scanning and copying in a single, centrally managed device designed for shared use is important. “This makes them well suited to education settings like schools and universities that deal with high volumes of documents – ranging from lesson materials to exam papers – often under time pressure,” he says. “Compared with single-function printers,
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Despite ongoing digital initiatives, printed materials continue to play an important role in teaching and in administration, from lesson resources and exam papers to safeguarding records.
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