A key factor in running a successful business is ensuring that office equipment can quickly and easily be accessed by office staff. The smooth running of an office can be seriously disrupted by faulty printers and PCs or a lack of office supplies. Designing a well-defined strategy for keeping equipment up-to-date and functional is a crucial part of minimising costs in every office. The following are some useful tips for an office manager to ensure that office equipment remains well-maintained and prevent the company from needing to shell out on repairs or replacements.
1. Create a Regular Maintenance Routine
The first step to ensuring the longevity of your office equipment is to identify the different tasks that need to be accomplished to keep it working adequately. Once these tasks have been identified, decide on the regularity with which each task should be performed and use this to create a maintenance checklist. Consider creating a new role for someone who specializes in maintaining printers, copiers and fax machines, or hire an IT maintenance service company to do the job.
2. Find a Trustworthy Supplier of Office Equipment
Probably the most important way of reducing long-term costs and extending the life of office equipment is to do your research before you buy it and source it from a reputable supplier. The time you spend doing this is guaranteed to save you a multitude of problems that will occur at some time in the future if you opt for second-rate equipment. Companies like Konica Minolta can provide your office with the most durable and reliable equipment, replacements and IT services currently on the market.
3. Install the Latest Anti-Virus Software
The internet today is a risky place to spend time if your computer is not equipped with the latest anti-virus. All it takes is for one employee to open an email containing a malicious piece of software for a computer or entire network to be compromised. For a relatively small outgoing, you can save your company from data breaches and the potential downtime caused by workstations that are out of action due to a viral attack.
4. Train Staff in Equipment Maintenance
While some office equipment breaks or develops faults as a result of natural wear and tear, a large proportion of damage is caused by office staff themselves. Stressed workers on tight deadlines can often attempt their own DIY fixes instead of going through the arduous process of waiting for technical support, which, without the right technical expertise, can inflict further damage. Consider it wise to give staff members a quick walkthrough session to inform them of the avenues that they should pursue when new office devices malfunction.
By following these four tips, an office manager can significantly cut down on the need for costly repairs and replacements. Reducing office equipment overheads should help business of all shapes and size to increase their profit margin while having the added benefit of reducing the company’s environmental footprint.