PRINTING IN HOSPITALITY
Are you being served? Hospitality is a fast-moving industry and businesses in it need to be as fast and efficient as possible to be successful and printers are playing an increasingly significant role in achieving this, which means there are plenty of opportunities for resellers in this market.
In the hospitality sector, smooth and efficient operations are key. At busy service times, staff and their equipment need to be working in harmony to stop waiting times building up and delivering a positive experience for the customer. Increasingly, printers are playing a crucial role in helping to improve services. “This means fast print speeds are a must, as are design innovations that improve frontline worker productivity, such as reducing media roll or ribbon changes,” says Richard Barfield, product marketing manager, Core Portfolio Printers, Printing Supplies and Environmental Sensors, EMEA, Zebra Technologies. “Minimising downtime helps reduce wait times, so you need reliable and durable printers, capable of dealing with high- volume use and able to take the knocks and drops but keep working through a full shift,” he adds. “Simplicity of maintenance should not be overlooked. Printers with easy-to-replace consumables, user-friendly maintenance processes, toolless swap out of serviceable parts, and on-display wizards and walkthroughs can save time, effort and training for the staff. “Connectivity is key. Not just from the mechanical perspective. Yes, your printer should have all the relevant options for getting connected to your network, such as USB, ethernet, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. But better communications facilitate greater contributions.” Jurgen Stephan, senior director of global marketing for Honeywell Productivity Solutions and Services, adds that on-demand printing from anywhere is also important. “Printers should be capable of printing swiftly whenever and wherever required,” he says. In addition to reliability and speed, printers should enhance the overall customer experience rather than being a distraction, he adds. “To achieve these goals, three key aspects – print speed, print quality and reliable operation – are crucial. Additionally, the
hospitality sector often faces high employee turnover rates. Therefore, it is vital to be able to manage printers with an intuitive user interface that provide clear feedback on printer status and operation. This makes it easier for new employees to use the printers effectively.” He adds that to improve user-friendliness, printers should offer: l Intuitive operation: The printer interface should be easy to understand and use l Easy maintenance: Simplified maintenance procedures help keep the printers in good working condition l Clear user feedback: Using LCD displays, icons and/or LED indicators to provide clear status updates to the user is crucial for better interaction. Trends While those are core customer demands for what they want in a printer, hospitality businesses’ requirements for what they want their printers to do is changing. “Label customisation and flexibility are increasingly important for the hospitality sector,” says Jurgen. “Printers must be capable of accommodating various label sizes and fonts, and they should have adaptive labeling capabilities to support customer- specific labels. These features play a critical
Rich Barfield product marketing
manager, Core Portfolio Printers, Printing Supplies and Environmental Sensors, EMEA
zebra.com
The ability for hospitality associates to use technology to queue bust can really help to ramp efficiency and customer satisfaction. “ ”
20
Powered by FlippingBook