The Recycler podcast: Is print dead or is it just sleeping?

It’s safe to say that since the pandemic struck in early 2020, it’s been a non-stop whirlwind for the office supplies and managed print services (MPS) industries. We’ve all had to learn how to adapt to this new normal. In a recent podcast, we chatted with the hosts David Connett and Peter Mayhew about the biggest challenges the industry has faced and offered some predictions for the future.

What’s different in the printing industry

Across all industries, technology is playing a more significant role and our sector is no different. This has only accelerated over the past two years and due to digitisation of businesses, meaning that printing has definitely been put on a back burner.

The question is, is print ‘dead’ or is it just sleeping?

With more of us working from home, the majority of offices have stopped using their printers. However, this isn’t a trend seen across every industry. For example, the healthcare industry continues to print documents, as do those working in finance or conveyancing.

As normality eventually starts to resume and employees return to offices on a more permanent basis, the printing and office supplies industries will slowly start to ‘wake-up’ and we’re continually working to ensure our products can support customers - whatever their needs.

Hybrid working

Working remotely brings many benefits for employees. It enables a positive work-life balance that provides more flexibility whether that’s saving money on childcare or time on the daily commute. Businesses are also finding that expenses are being saved due to many giving up the lease on their office or switching to hotdesking to accommodate the new changes.

With more of us adopting this hybrid working model, it’s essential that businesses can provide employees with access to devices remotely and this includes the printer.

Should an employee need to access the print network from home, this should be a straightforward task not something that takes hours to resolve, while businesses need a solution that provides network security. These are the types of functionality we’ve been building into ECI’s product range over the past two years, having listened extensively to customer feedback.

To hear the full discussion and find out more about how ECI has adapted, you can listen to the full podcast here.