Inside, business printers have come a long, long way. They now run sophisticated software, they’re connected to the internet, and they have a memory. On the outside, though, they often don’t look that different from their dot matrix ancestors. 

Another frustrating problem that has remained unchanged over the years is print disruptions. They seem to come without warning and right before a critical deadline. However, there is now a fix for this — predictive maintenance. 

What Is Predictive Maintenance?

Although providing regular maintenance according to the manufacturer’s instructions can help you avoid a lot of print disruptions, printers are kind of like cars. Moving parts wear out. A number of things can go wrong. And you don’t usually know that a critical part or system is about to fail until after it happens. 

Predictive maintenance relies on sophisticated print management software and sensor data to monitor your devices for any signs of wear and tear so that they can be addressed before they cause an issue.

Traditional Maintenance vs. Predictive Maintenance

Before predictive maintenance was possible, we were all in the same boat. Some offices that performed regular printer maintenance had fewer issues, but when a problem did occur, it looked like this. 

Traditional maintenance steps: 

• Your printer stops working
• You call a print technician and wait for them to get there
• They diagnose the problem, but will need to order a specialized part 
• They may have to wait to get the part in stock
• The technician returns to install the part 

Predictive maintenance steps: 

• A technician schedules a time to make a needed repair that works best for you 
• They show up with the correct part, and while they’re at it, they also install another new part that would have failed a month later 

The Benefits of Predictive Maintenance

We touched on one of the biggest problems — surprise disruptions — already. But there are others: 

• Lower maintenance costs, as each component is replaced at precisely the right time — before it causes a disruption, but not before its useful life ends
• Fewer unpleasant surprises and downtime 
• Longer equipment lifespan, as problems are caught early 
• More efficient service appointments 
• No wasted visits, as technicians know in advance what parts are needed 

Why We Love Predictive Maintenance, But Some Print Providers Don’t 

Some companies charge more, and some print technicians are compensated more, the more visits they make. Printers will always require maintenance, but predictive maintenance allows you to do more with fewer visits. That’s good news for businesses that rely on printing, but it puts some print technicians in a tricky spot. 

Quite often, when one component is about to fail, another one is soon behind it. But if a technician replaces both in one visit, they’ll get paid less. 

For this reason, as well as a few others, we don’t pay our technicians for the number of on-site visits they make. We pay them for how much reliability they provide for our clients. That makes our technicians happier, and as you might imagine, it provides a noticeably different experience for our clients. 

In-House Printer Maintenance Tips 

If you don’t have a service contract for your devices, you can take care of most of their regular maintenance needs in-house. Most routine copier maintenance needs are easy. But unless one person is designated as a printer/copier maintainer, it tends not to happen. 

Your device’s manual will list the tasks that need to be performed weekly, monthly, and so on, depending on how it’s being used. Most just take a few minutes and can make your printer last 1.5x longer than its expected life. 

What Kind of Maintenance Does a Printer Need?

Daily and weekly tasks include: 

• Clear paper jams
• Wipe down exterior surfaces and paper trays to prevent dust buildup
• Remove any debris from paper paths
• Load and store paper properly to prevent moisture damage
• Clean the scanner glass and document feeder 

Monthly or quarterly tasks include: 

• Clean print heads to prevent clogging 
• Clean rollers that feed paper through the system
• Check and clean corona wires in laser printers
• Run built-in printer alignment and calibration routines
• Inspect and clean ventilation areas

Annual/As-Needed tasks:

• Replace worn rollers 
• Service the fuser unit in laser printers
• Update firmware
• Replace any air filters 
• Have mechanical components professionally serviced 
• Deep clean internal components

Most office workers don’t mind removing a paper jam now and then, but unless you can designate someone who is willing and has the time to consistently take care of these needs, it might be time to think about outsourcing. 

The Easiest Way To Simplify Copy Machine Maintenance

We use Marco Print Aware — powered by MPS Monitor — in order to make printers less frustrating and more reliable for our clients, and while we’re at it,  automate supply ordering. 

We’re happy to help you get set up with the software you need to optimize your printing, secure your printers, and streamline day-to-day workflows. But if printer maintenance is such a source of frustration that you went looking for this blog, managed print services might be an even better fit. Maintaining your equipment is off your plate, but we’ll also get to work helping you save money on paper, ink and toner, utilities, and repairs while we increase productivity throughout your organization. 

Click the link below to see what’s included!