The supply chain: the mechanism that pulls every business forward towards success—or holds them back. Efficiency is the name of the game when it comes to the chain, and you might be surprised to discover how much that efficiency relies on your print setup.
These are the three supply chain areas that managed print services (MPS) can improve:
Related content: Managed Print Services—Everything you need to know
1) Inventory and distribution
Invoices, barcodes, mobile printing: all integral parts of inventory management and distribution, and all made more efficient by managed print services.
Take scanning and copying of invoices and delivery notes, for example. Inbound or outbound, the efficiency gains enabled by managed print services (MPS) makes operation more smooth (via reliability) and accurate (via scanning and print legibility).
MPS gives warehouse staff greater efficiency, less time on admin, and removes many of the blockages that can plague a back-end supply chain.
Barcode management also benefits greatly from managed print services. Faster, reliable printers with regular consumable deliveries means you keep your items flowing out of your warehouse to where they belong: to your customers, clients, or onto the retail shop floor. Inventory gets replaced faster, meaning customers can get what they need more easily, resulting in a better customer service on the front-end.
The mobile device printing that comes as part of Brother Managed Print Services also gives warehouse employees the ability to print out item lists, invoices, barcodes, and so on, from wherever they are. This way, they are able to use tablets or smartphones to print and manage stock inventory in one device, rather than having to transfer that data to a desktop.
MPS gives warehouse staff greater efficiency, less time on admin, and removes many of the blockages that can plague a back-end supply chain.
2) Reporting
Retail executives need reports. These reports also need to be shared. Considering that people still seem to prefer reading print rather than digital, print is the vehicle by which these reports are shared. It pays to make sure your print system can keep up.
Managed print services ensure that these reports are not only available quickly, repeatedly and accurately, but that they are presented in a way that is also aesthetically pleasing—something that is unsurprisingly important while presenting.
It may not be the coalface of the supply chain, but make no mistake, the corporate end of the supply chain benefits just as much from managed print services as those who are in the trenches.
Even more importantly, it’s important not to run out of ink or toner when an important report is due. Brother keeps an eye on your supply levels and remotely monitor your printer as well to ensure we can act quickly if something isn’t right.
It may not be the coalface of the supply chain, but make no mistake, the corporate end of the supply chain benefits just as much from managed print services as those who are in the trenches, printing out inventories and barcodes.
3) Budget and cashflow
What’s a supply chain without a budget and cashflow management system? Without the ability to detect cost inefficiencies throughout a business supply chain, an entire business can quickly find itself falling into a pit of financial problems.
Without the ability to detect cost inefficiencies throughout a business supply chain, an entire business can quickly find itself falling into a pit of financial problems.
Not so with managed print services. Brother Managed Print Services gives you the maintenance and upgrade opportunities that ensure you get the right print solutions for your business, and you will get transparency on actual usage of hardware and consumables. You’ll be able to dodge any unexpected costs as a result.
But that’s not all. Brother MPS goes one step further and identifies potential efficiency holes in your supply chain print setup, and provides insight into how to plug them—whether it be with the best-suited devices or even something as simple as the best placement of these devices according to staff workflows.
Summary
Whether it’s cash flow or bar codes, there are very few parts of a business that can’t benefit from the efficient, reliable print setup enabled by Brother Managed Print Services.
To find out more about the MPS solution for retail businesses, download our free ebook below.
