Business Proposal Evaluation of Alternatives

Document management is an important issue that organizations are not putting great emphasis on these days. With the growing inevitable need for globalization, where large amounts of data and documents have to be handled, there is an increasing need for document handling and management. The documents may include product or business plans, meetings or brainstorming sessions, etc., but these papers lose their value if not handled carefully, especially in the growing companies (Rosoff, 2011). However, document reproduction has its own significance since it is an important stage in the preparation, designing, engineering, referencing, and administering of the papers within an organization. The most commonly used methods of document reproduction are photocopying, electrographic copying, electronic copying, thermo-copying and diazo copying.

The organization under consideration for the purpose of this paper does not have any document reproduction system employed within its premises. Various document reproductions are required on a daily basis, but the equipment meant for this purpose are unavailable. The paper seeks to propose alternatives and analysis of the criteria that are feasible for implementation by the company in question.

Overview of Alternatives

LaserJet Photocopying

Laser printer can be expensive but once they are present in the office, their maintenance is not costly. The toner powder is cheap and used effectively to keep it running. Offices usually keep laserjet printers for efficient documentation, especially when long documents are to be printed. This mechanical efficiency is due to the printer's advanced processing speed. The printer's most functional use is that it can serve every kind of employee within the same office.

There is no doubt about its efficiency and speed; moreover, the resolution results of the images printed or copied out of the laserjet printer are outstanding. The resolution is adequate for normal everyday printing purposes, especially for spreadsheets, database printouts, letters or simple graphic photos or artwork (if needed in the office) (Rouse, 2010). However, it depends on the usage of the documents within the company in order to decide the type of paper handling required in the laserjet printer or photocopier. For example, most laserjet printers use letter-size or cut-sheet paper; on the other hand, the simple laser photocopiers use manual duplex printing.

Inkjet Printing

The key advantage of an inkjet printer is that it is low-priced. The basic needs of printing and copying are fulfilled with the help of inkjet printers as they not only provide digital images on a special paper, but are also lightweight, adding to their handling benefit (Sridhar, Blaudeck & Baumann, n.d.). Although the copies from inkjet printers take time to dry, their basic usage within the offices is still acknowledged. The inkjet printing sheets may require more time to dry if the printing deliverables contain large regions of black color.

Criteria

Cost

Since the firm is aiming to control costs, it can start from having one laserjet printer and one inkjet printer. The two unique printers can provide the firm with the opportunity to look at the functioning of both, so that it is better placed to decide which one suits its needs for reproducing documents. In future, the company can be able to choose more units of either of the printers/copiers.

Capacity and Speed

The capacity and speed of the laserjet printer is clearly higher, but as mentioned above, if the company is looking for lessening costs, the inkjet printer can be a good option. If the firm needs documentation that is not of high quality, but fulfills its basic daily needs for document reproduction then inkjet can be a better option. However, if the firm prioritizes capacity and speed of the printing or copying of the documents, this decision would negatively impact the selection of the printer or copier as well.

Quality

If the quality of reproduced paper is ranked as the highest criterion, the company's CEO has to look into this matter seriously since the quality of the documents can in turn impact its future deals with other companies. For example, if any document is to be sent to Apple, the paper should be of high quality. Hence, the decision of the type of laserjet printer or copier to be bought by the company would be of a high priority.

Purpose of the Document

As mentioned earlier, if the purpose of the document is important, a quick choice has to be made when it comes to laserjet printers, copiers or inkjet printers. The reproduction technique will be based upon its purpose, such as paper for a meeting or formation...

The preservation only becomes possible when the document is of high quality, which might be used in important meetings, such as meetings with stakeholders or shareholders of the company.
Research Methods

The paper made use of the combination of primary and secondary research. In the primary research, a survey was conducted within the company to assess factors that are critical in determining the reproductive expenditure. By carrying out primary research, the company was able to address the specific issues it encounters so that a hands-on experience was gained along with the knowledge of the issue (Driscoll, 2011, p. 163). Also, the control over the collected information was high since it was in the hands of the organization's researcher how the information would be collected. Further, with the help of primary research, the most recent data was collected for better data interpretation. The consent of the interviewees was taken so that sharing of their information would not become a problem.

The secondary research was used in the form of internet articles, periodicals and publications in order to determine differences between photocopied and printed documents. After doing so, the differences were evaluated along with their pros and cons. Secondary research was used so that the data on which prior researches have been made could be accessed easily (Cheng & Phillips, 2014, p. 374). Besides, the low cost to acquire information on the prior studies was an added advantage so that clarifications of the research questions could be obtained.

Research on Two Alternatives

Secondary research was conducted and showed how two companies attempted to solve the problem identified in this paper. The company, ABC, had document reproduction issues as well and went on to install a laserjet printer and copier within its offices. It was a small law firm that needed documents to be copied or printed on a daily basis. The lawyer and his employees needed to go to a nearby printing shop that took them 10 minutes' walk or 5 minutes' drive daily. They wanted to have a printer and copier in their office. Therefore, they bought a machine each and noticed that their time and money were saved. Moreover, the five criterions were fulfilled by having their own devices within the office.

Another company, XYZ, was evaluated on the same grounds. This company wanted to have an inkjet printer in its offices since it was a small research organization that did not have much money at the beginning phase of the business. The manager stated that he planned to buy more advanced devices as the company kept on making more profits from its business, which was likely to be in another six months. Nevertheless, in the starting phase, to fulfill the needs of documents reproduction, it had to buy inkjet printer to save them costs and time. Unlike the company ABC, this firm did not have any nearby shop that offered printing services, so had to rely on one of its employees who had a printing shop near his home. When the employee got home daily, all of the documents that needed reproduction were kept safe in his office bag and he brought them back with him the next morning. Therefore, the manager had to wait till the next day when all the papers were made available to him by that employee.

Findings and Analysis (see figure 1)

Cost

Alternative A: Laserjet Photocopying

The cost of laserjet printing was higher since the cheapest photocopier go for $130. Similarly, the ongoing costs of using a laserjet photocopier is relatively lower than that of an inkjet printer since the cost per page is 6 cents (Simpson, 2013).

Alternative B: Inkjet Printing

The cost of inkjet printing was also low as the buying price of an inkjet printer ranges between $60 and $70. However, the ongoing costs can be higher than that of using a laserjet printer since it comes with starter cartridges that do not have full ink tanks. This simply means that the business has to incur extra ongoing costs of refilling these tanks after a few printing jobs. Moreover, if the printing needs to be done in black, the cost per page would range from 7 to 8 cents (Simpson, 2013).

Capacity and Speed

Alternative A: Laserjet Photocopying

The black and white printing papers are printed at a fast speed by the laserjet photocopier. It can copy up to 20 pages per minute, adding onto the machines speed. If the offices require fast documentation, laserjet photocopying seems to be the best option with this regard (Simpson, 2013).

Alternative B: Inkjet Printing

The speed of…