How should a school size its copiers?

To the peak month rather than the annual average. School volume spikes sharply at the start of terms and during exam periods, and a device sized to the average will run past its recommended volume during those spikes and fail early.

Do schools need booklet finishing on a copier?

If packets, programmes, exam papers or newsletters are produced in-house, yes. A booklet-making finisher typically costs less over a lease term than outsourcing the same work to a print shop.

What copier does a school need?

What's actually going on

School printing is spiky, not steady. September and exam periods can run at three times the annual monthly average, and a machine sized to the average fails in the spike.

Booklet and staple finishing genuinely matters here in a way it does not in most offices, because packets and programmes are produced in-house.

Departmental accounting is usually a budget requirement, not a nice-to-have.

What to do in the next 48 hours

1Size to your peak month, not your average. Ask for twelve months of meter history and look at the highest reading.
2Specify a booklet-making finisher if you produce packets, programmes or exam papers in-house. Outsourcing those is usually more expensive than the finisher.
3Set up department or user codes from day one so print costs can be attributed to budgets.
4Check the lease term against your fiscal cycle so renewals do not fall in the middle of a school year.

The honest tradeoffs

One production-class device in a central print room is far cheaper per page than distributed copiers, but requires someone to run it.
Distributed classroom devices are convenient and are almost always the most expensive printing in the building.

Your next step

Rather just talk it through with someone local?

203-777-0011 Or request service

Questions people ask next

How should a school size its copiers?: To the peak month rather than the annual average. School volume spikes sharply at the start of terms and during exam periods, and a device sized to the average will run past its recommended volume during those spikes and fail early.
Do schools need booklet finishing on a copier?: If packets, programmes, exam papers or newsletters are produced in-house, yes. A booklet-making finisher typically costs less over a lease term than outsourcing the same work to a print shop.

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