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The Fuji Xerox Printers blog is now hosted on the Fuji Xerox Printers website. Visit us here: www.blog.fujixeroxprinters.com.au

We have also launched our Business First community to help business owners and office managers stay up to date with the latest technology and solutions for running an efficient office.

Join the community on Linkedin and follow us on Twitter at @business1stfxp.

 

Green up to help ‘Clean Up Australia’

By Michelle Rochford, Marketing Communications Manager with Fuji Xerox Printers

Though life may often seem too busy, it’s important to take a little time out to do our bit for the environment. Whether you’re a homeowner, sole trader, or part of a larger enterprise, it’s important to consider how you can green up and reduce waste.

Clean Up Australia will run a number of events over the coming weeks to promote a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. This is a great opportunity to encourage your staff, colleagues and family to make a difference.

Tuesday, February 25 is Business Clean Up Day when business owners and employees are encouraged to clean up their own workplaces and the surrounding community areas, whether it is rubbish or graffiti removal.  Clean Up Australia Day, which takes place on 2 March, extends to the broader community.

As part of this annual ‘clean up’, consider how you dispose of waste from your home and office.  Do you regularly dump cardboard and plastic packaging in landfill or do you dispose of it correctly? Do you have a collection of old mobile phones, devices or electronics lying around in cupboards or garages that needs to be recycled?

10 benefits of investing in the latest printing technology

By Michelle Rochford, Marketing Communications Manager with Fuji Xerox Printers

The New Year is well underway; it’s hard to believe that one month has already passed.

As the office desks fill with staff returning from breaks and production increases, it’s a good time to consider if any areas of your business can be improved to help cut costs and boost productivity.

For example, have you ever considered how old technology and printers can be affecting your business in terms of production times, quality of output, staff satisfaction (or frustration), wasted time, expensive consumables and energy costs?  It’s difficult to calculate the true cost but if you’re still using old printers and devices it may be worth considering the benefits of upgrading.

The Fuji Xerox DocuPrint 455/405 series offers a range of advanced functionality which can help businesses save time and money including:

Get print ready for back to school

By Thomas Dickson, Fuji Xerox Printers’ Volume Product Manager

For students and teachers alike, the Australia Day weekend marks the end of the school holidays.  It’s goodbye to long afternoons on the beach and hello to school uniforms and back-to-back classes.

I know all too well that the end of the holidays also means parents are busily preparing for the school year ahead.  From new schoolbags and books to lunchboxes and gadgets, the to-do list seems never-ending.

One thing that may be on the list, particularly with the continuing New Year sales, is buying a new home printer.  Whether it’s for printing assignments, receipts or work documents a home printer is a must for any household.  It can be a significant investment however, so make sure you’re making the right choice for your family. Before you hit the shops, here are a few things to consider:  

Resolve to discover managed print in 2014

By Anthony Toope, marketing and channel operations manager with Fuji Xerox Printers

While it may be hard to settle back in after the summer break, it won’t be long before the emails start flowing in, the calendar is jam packed with meetings and priorities shift from planning to tactics.

For business managers the start of a new year is a time for developing strategies, setting targets and making resolutions.  With the current economic uncertainty and weakening dollar, it’s likely that cost reductions and productivity improvements will feature high on business plans for 2014.

Recent Fuji Xerox Printers research found that budgeting and productivity are ongoing concerns for Australian business managers.  I wasn’t surprised to see that IT and printer-specific issues also feature high on the list of frustrations.

Managing an IT system can be frustrating, time consuming and costly; particularly if you regularly encounter issues.  Saying that, most business owners or managers have no idea how much IT and printing systems cost their business annually.  These systems can eat up a significant amount of time and budget. 

IT a top gripe for Australian office workers

By Michelle Rochford, Marketing Communications Manager with Fuji Xerox Printers

It seems our frustrations with IT are alive and well.  Fuji Xerox Printers recently surveyed 1,000 business managers and office employees about their pet peeves and IT came out on top for one third of respondents.  Think email, Microsoft Office, office equipment and internet outages.

As far as printer-specific issues go, one in five respondents are specifically frustrated with having to troubleshoot errors, which can waste precious work time.

Office workers are irritated by simple tasks such as replacing toner, loading paper and paper jams.  Thirteen per cent are unhappy about the distance from their desk to the printer.

IT issues and frustrations can be costly and time consuming for a business.  If you’re a business manager, it may be time consider how you can improve printing and IT processes to reduce the time and money spent on resolving issues.

As a business manager, improving the efficiency of printing and IT processes can target your number one frustration: cost and budgeting.  Our research found that for 38 per cent of business managers, costs and budgeting are a major worry and one in four are concerned about staff productivity.

A managed print services (MPS) contract, which outsources the management of your printing fleet to a third party, can help to streamline printing and reduce costs.

Signing up to a managed print services contract can result in a 30 per cent reduction in print related costs.  Furthermore, with staff no longer having to deal with printer issues, it also allows for improvements in staff productivity.

Cutting the ties: the wireless printing movement

By Thomas Dickson, Fuji Xerox Printers’ Volume Product Manager

In today’s mobile world the internet is a significant part of everyday life, both at home and at work.  The way we use and access the internet has changed dramatically over the last 20 years; move over dial-up connections, now we’re talking Wi-Fi and 4G.

As a nation we’re addicted to electronic devices and the internet.  Can you remember the last time you went an entire weekend without browsing the web?  I certainly can’t.

The number of electronic devices in the average Australian household is growing.  Whether it’s PCs, laptops, smartphones, tablets or printers; we’re a gadget loving gang.  In fact, according to a recent survey carried out by Fuji Xerox Printers, by the end of the year 86 per cent of Australians predict they will have at least one device connected to the Wi-Fi in their homes and over 20 per cent will connect more than five devices. That’s a lot of technology!

Recycle your old printers and reduce e-waste

By Michelle Rochford, Marketing Communications Manager with Fuji Xerox Printers

In today’s fast paced business world, the reality is that recycling is not always top of mind for business managers. It’s common for Australian offices to have several obsolete printers, copiers, fax machines and other devices lying around.

Take a look around your own office; do you have a collection of old devices that need to be recycled?  According to the results of our latest Fuji Xerox Printers research, there’s a good chance you do.  Of the 1,000 Australian office workers surveyed, 23 per cent have obsolete printers and devices in their offices and 28 per cent have more than three idle devices.

Considering the number of offices throughout the country, this could add up to a significant amount of waste.  In fact, e-waste (a term which refers to electrical appliances, from fridges and microwaves to computers and printers) is growing three times faster than other types of waste in Australia, and not much of it is bio-degradable. 

75 years on – Xerox celebrates anniversary of the first xerographic image

By Anthony Toope, marketing and channel operations manager with Fuji Xerox Printers

Printing is something we take for granted.  We have an expectation that, at the press of a button, data will be transmitted to a device and printed quickly and cost effectively.

I doubt many have ever stopped to think about how printing and document management processes have developed over the years.  In today’s busy world, it’s easy to shove history aside and focus on the here and now.

However, on hearing that Xerox has just celebrated the 75th anniversary of the first xerographic image, I did stop to consider just how far our industry has progressed.

It all started on 22 October 1938, when the world’s first xerographic image was created by Chester Carlson in a rented second story room in Queens, New York.  The copy was a date and location, written in a bold hand on a glass slide: 10-22-38 Astoria. The copy might have been fuzzy, but it was still a copy.

Carlson originally called the process electrophotography. This humble invention would eventually lead to the formation of the Xerox Corporation and the birth of an industry.  Even today, this xerographic process is still at the heart of most office printers and copiers around the world

While the technological developments have been incredible, it is fascinating to reflect on the passion, persuasion and perseverance of a few individuals in bringing their vision to life.

Fuji Xerox Printers Peddlers ride to conquer cancer

On October 12^th – 13^th, 1,034 cyclists took part in the second annual Ride to Conquer Cancer in Sydney. Cyclists travelled 200 kilometres over two days and raised more than $4.1 million for the Chris O’Brien Lifehouse.

Around one in two men and one in three women in Australia will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime and this year 43,000 deaths will be attributed to cancer in Australia.  With construction almost complete, the Chris O’Brien Lifehouse is due to open in November and will provide integrated care to cancer patients and carers, building on the services provided at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital Sydney University precinct at Camperdown, Sydney.

The Ride to Conquer Cancer is the largest fundraising event series in Australia and raises funds to support the in-patient care program at the Lifehouse in Sydney.

In two years, the ride has raised over $9.8 million for the Lifehouse and over $29 million for cancer programs across the country.  Participants include communities of cancer survivors, cyclists and supporters, who train and fundraise for months in order to participate.

Fuji Xerox Printers took part in this year’s event.  The Fuji Xerox Printers Peddlers team consisted of General Manager David Borg, National Sales Manager Greg Heard and Regional Technical Manager Glenn Casey.  The supporting crew included June Carter, Emily Hamilton, Armin Sayyadi, Maria Carpo and Pam Carlisle. The team raised $14,000 through partners, suppliers and other generous donations – thanks to all those who contributed. 

There’s still time to donate to this worthy cause – please click here for more details.