Too many printer models can quietly drive up costs, complicate support, and overwhelm your IT team.

Walk into many offices today, and you’ll find a familiar situation: printers everywhere.

A desktop printer here. Another in the back office. A few scattered across departments. Maybe several different brands purchased over time as needs changed.

Individually, each device may have seemed like a quick solution. But over the years, those small decisions can add up to a complicated and expensive print environment.

That was exactly the situation facing one of our clients.

The Challenge: A Printer Fleet That Grew Out of Control

A multi-site financial institution we support had already been working with Budget Document Technology for copier services.

But outside of their copiers, the bank’s printer environment had grown organically over time. Across their locations, they had accumulated:

  • 103 desktop printers
  • 70 different printer models
  • More than 70 toner cartridges to manage

Each model required its own toner cartridge, meaning staff had to track dozens of different SKUs, store them somewhere, and make sure the right cartridge reached the right printer.

It created a ripple effect of operational headaches.

Supplies were hard to track. Inventory closets filled up with cartridges. Employees occasionally ordered duplicates. The IT staff was frequently pulled into troubleshooting issues across unfamiliar devices.

The system technically worked. But it was inefficient, costly, and difficult to manage.

The Assessment: Taking a Closer Look at the Print Environment

To understand the full scope of the issue, BDT conducted a Managed Print Services (MPS) assessment. An MPS assessment looks beyond individual printers and evaluates the entire print environment, including:

  • Device types and locations
  • Supply usage
  • Model diversity
  • Maintenance and support workflows
  • Opportunities for consolidation

What we discovered was clear. The bank’s biggest challenge was not how much they printed. It was the complexity of their device fleet.

Seventy models meant seventy different toner types, inconsistent performance across locations, and unnecessary administrative overhead. The solution was not adding more printers. It was simplifying the fleet.

The Solution: Consolidating the Printer Fleet

Based on the assessment, BDT recommended consolidating the organization’s desktop printers into a smaller, standardized fleet.

Instead of supporting 70 models, we recommended reducing the fleet to just five printer models. These commercial-grade devices were selected for reliability, efficiency, and ease of support.

The implementation included:

  • Replacing aging desktop printers with Lexmark commercial-grade devices
  • Standardizing equipment across locations
  • Reducing toner inventory requirements
  • Bringing supplies and service under a single click rate

This meant the bank no longer needed to worry about tracking dozens of toner cartridges or managing multiple vendor relationships. Everything became unified under one streamlined system.

The Implementation: Simplifying Supplies and Support

One of the most immediate improvements came from simplifying toner management. Before the transition, the bank had more than 70 toner SKUs to track. After consolidation, that number dropped to just five.

This change alone transformed how supplies were managed. Inventory became easier to track. Supply closets became manageable again. Ordering became straightforward.

BDT also implemented proactive service and toner management, ensuring devices stayed operational without constant attention from internal staff.

For older printers that were replaced, the bank even had the option to redeploy or remove devices as needed. Some retired units were repurposed or offered to employees. The goal was not just to replace equipment. It was improving the entire workflow around printing.

 

The Results: Lower Costs and Less Complexity

The results were immediate and measurable. By consolidating its printer fleet and simplifying supply management, the bank achieved:

  • $1,000 in monthly savings
  • Dramatically simplified toner inventory
  • Improved device uptime
  • Less strain on internal IT resources
  • A more consistent printing experience for employees

But according to the client, the most valuable improvement was not just the cost reduction. It was the ease of management.

The Takeaway: Simplicity Is Often the Biggest Efficiency Gain

Many organizations assume their printing environment is fine simply because it functions day to day. But when fleets grow organically over time, complexity creeps in. Too many printer models can lead to:

  • Supply confusion
  • Higher inventory costs
  • Increased support demands
  • Inconsistent device performance

Sometimes, the most effective improvement is simply standardizing the environment.

Is Your Print Environment More Complicated Than It Needs to Be?

If your organization is managing more than a few printer models, there’s a good chance you’re dealing with unnecessary complexity. A Managed Print Services (MPS) assessment can identify opportunities to simplify your fleet, reduce supply costs, and free up internal IT resources.

At Budget Document Technology, we help organizations across Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts evaluate their print environments and implement practical solutions that work.

If you’re curious whether your printer fleet is working for you or against you, let’s take a look. You might be surprised at how much easier things can be.