InfoTrends Calculates the True Cost of Printed Business Communications
The research firm recommends that companies conduct a thorough analysis of internal work processes that are involved for the most common documents produced. They should then quantify the internal and external expenses to create, produce and distribute these documents on an annual basis.
| Total Breakdown of Print and Non-Print Costs | ||
| Function | Avg. Costs for 500 |
% of Total Avg. Cost for 500 |
| Creative (internal) | $707 | 8.6 |
| Creative (external) | $1,045 | 12.7 |
| Editorial | $2,691 | 32.8 |
| Project Management | $657 | 8.0 |
| Warehousing/Archiving | $37 | 0.5 |
| Shipping/Distribution | $236 | 2.9 |
| Printing & Finishing | $2,843 | 34.6 |
| Total | $8,214 | 100 |
“Companies should determine the level of savings that could be achieved by outsourcing to the right service provider,” says Steve Adoniou, director of InfoTrends’ Consulting Group. “They should consider a supplier that not only could save money on printing and related services through operational efficiency gains, but could also provide services beyond printing to reduce the costs of non-print related activities by delivering improved and consistent product quality, quicker turnaround times, and enhanced performance to service level agreements (SLAs).”
