Is your copier older than its lifecycle? This is a question that many people may not know the answer to, and you may be missing out on productivity if you don't. Discover what the lifecycle of a copier is, and why it's important to upgrade your equipment when it does become older than its lifecycle.
When Should You Upgrade Your Copier?
Updating equipment is usually a process that organizations prefer to hold off on as long as possible as it’s often misinterpreted as an “unnecessary” cost. “Why should I replace my copier if this one is working just fine…” However, waiting too long to replace technology can lead to many unexpected issues that cause more harm than simply upgrading equipment when appropriate. So when should you upgrade your equipment? To answer this, let’s take a look at the lifecycle of a copier.
The Lifecycle of a Copier
All technology has a lifecycle, which is essentially how long the equipment continues to meet productivity demands. For copiers the production level could mean something like: “x pages per minute, for x hours, with x level of quality and x amount of energy consumed”. As soon as production becomes lower than that, the equipment has reached the end of its lifecycle. For a copier, this is typically 5 years, which is why the most common length for a copier contract is 5 years. Although most copier contracts allow you to buyout the equipment at the end of the contract, it’s recommended to upgrade your equipment at this point as productivity will begin to decline, and other issues may arise.
The Importance of Upgrading Your Copier
Why is it important to upgrade your copiers? At this point it’s been stressed that upgrading at the end of your copier’s lifecycle is important, but why is that if the equipment still functions? A good comparison would be to think of a car. When you purchase a brand new car, it has “new” features for that time, low total mileage, practically brand new tires, brakes, and other parts, and it’s generally expected to last a long time before needing any major repairs or part replacements. However, when you reach around 200,000 miles on the car, most experts warn to expect major repairs and replacements for the car to still function, and they’re typically very costly. The car still works, and with all the repairs it will continue to work, but as time goes on more and more parts will begin to fail and more and more costs will be sunk into keeping that car running.
The same goes for copiers. Yes, the copier will still work after it’s lifecycle has ended, however it will begin to require more and more service, part replacement, and so forth which ultimately leads to unexpected costs and downtime. Upgrading your copier at the end of its lifecycle removes the worry of unexpected costs and downtime, and with new features and technology it’s possible to have a higher productivity level than what you had before. Another important thing to know about copier lifecycles is that parts become more and more scarce as the copier ages. Manufacturers are constantly creating new models and upgrading old ones and because of this they typically stop making parts for older models within 7 years or less of said models release. Eventually, you may run into an issue where your copier can't be repaired due to a lack of parts.
Putting it All Together
The lifecycle of a copier, or the amount of time a copier continues to meet productivity demands, is 5 years. After this point, the copier begins to have lower productivity, and the chance of having unexpected costs and downtime due to needing service and part replacements becomes increasingly higher. Upgrading equipment eliminates unexpected service and can potentially increase productivity with new features and technology.
Learn all about the ins and outs of purchasing a copier with the Rhyme MFP Buying Guide linked below:
If you have any questions about whether or not you need to upgrade your equipment, contact us.