URL Source: http://soti.net/resources/blog/2024/importance-of-printers-to-business-success/

Last Updated At: 2025-09-06 02:04:59 UTC

Description: If you don’t think about printing efficiency, you’re risking downtime. See how losing printing efficiency impacts operations in retail, T&L and healthcare.

Author: Joe Gordon

Keywords: SOTI Connect, Printers, Retail Printers, Healthcare Printers, T&L Printers

---

# Importance of Printers to Business Success

##### by Joe Gordon Nov 19, 2024

### **Printing Efficiency is Vital for These Three Industries**

When you think about all the tools and technologies critical to business success, mobile and industrial printers aren’t probably top of mind.

Yet, if you’re not getting printing efficiency from these devices, everything grinds to a halt. That printer you never think about is the cornerstone to your operations.

If you don’t think printers – and their output – are essential, think again. In all [industries](https://soti.net/industries/soti-industries/), printers can be the difference between being in the red or in the black. Here’s how.

### **1. Retail: Working Printers Equals Happy Customers**

Printers can be found throughout your store floor operations. For example:

- Mobile, stationary and self-serve point-of-sale (POS) terminals for printing receipts.
- Shelf-edge printers for printing pricing labels.
- Handheld printers to print labels for customized products, such as prescriptions or packaged food.

Printer downtime equals unhappy customers with limited patience. Estimates say [73% of customers will leave an in-store checkout line](https://facit.ai/insights/retailers-losing-customers-queues-move-slowly#:~:text=A%20quarter%20of%20people%20%2825,for%20more%20than%20five%20minutes.) if they must wait longer than five minutes. Considering the average printer downtime incident lasts [23 minutes](https://soti.net/resources/blog/2022/soti-connect-solves-your-printing-headaches/#:~:text=printer%20downtime%20is%20more%20than%20a%20nuisance%2C%20costing%20an%20average%20of%2023%20minutes%20of%20lost%20productivity), that’s a problem.

For any retail organization, customer satisfaction is the top priority. An easy way to provide it is to ensure your in-store printers are working.

### **2. T&L: Deliver on Time, All the Time**

Printers in the supply chain print critical documents such as:

- Packing slips.
- Shipping labels.
- Delivery inventory.

Printer issues come in different forms. It could be that the Wi-Fi connection between the printer and the network has been severed. Perhaps the darkness settings are making labels impossible to read. Maybe the printhead is overheated, causing the printer to shut down.

In T&L printers are at the end of the process after everything is packed. If they stop, everything stops. Whatever the problem, the results are the same: delayed deliveries, unhappy customers and frustrated workers.

Lost printing efficiency due to downtime also impacts bottom line performance as [organizations spend 20% more on shipping costs](https://soti.net/resources/blog/2023/geolocation-series-device-location-history/#:~:text=organizations%20spend%2020%25%20more%20on%20shipping%20costs%20to%20compensate%20for%20late%20deliveries) to compensate for late deliveries.

### **3. Healthcare: Faster Patient Care, From Triage to Discharge**

When people step into a medical facility, they want to be attended to and get out as quickly as possible. At all stages, printers play a key role:

- Triage: Printing patient wristbands once an initial diagnosis is made.
- Admittance: Printing patient records to understand their history and help deliver the best possible care.
- Discharge: Printing prescription labels to enable patients to heal and recover.

Printer downtime can result in delays in patient care and the availability of critical information. The cost of downtime can reach [$9,000 (USD) per minute](https://soti.net/resources/blog/2022/technology-in-healthcare-the-constant-battle-against-down-time/#:~:text=the%20cost%20of%20it%20downtime%20within%20the%20healthcare%20industry%20ranges%20between%20%245%2C300%20to%20%249%2C000%20per%20minute.%20some%20of%20the%20real%20losses%20include%3A%20). Printer problems impact the organization, patients and caregivers, making already stressful situations worse.

### **If Printing Efficiency is Important, Then Printer Management is Essential**

You just read three examples of why printers can’t afford downtime.

How do you prevent that from happening? With printer management from [SOTI Connect](https://soti.net/products/soti-connect/).

A single printer issue reduces printing efficiency. That can negatively impact your bottom line. SOTI Connect keeps your printers printing in five ways:

| [Securing Against Threats](https://soti.net/resources/blog/2024/printer-security-the-unlocked-back-door-you-forgot-about/) | Protect printers from threats and costly data breaches. |
| :---: | --- |
| [Reducing Deployment Costs](https://soti.net/resources/blog/2024/want-to-reduce-printer-deployment-costs/) | Add new printers to your network by simply unboxing them, plugging them in and connecting to Wi-Fi. |
| [Enterprise-Grade Printer Management](https://soti.net/resources/blog/2024/is-your-printer-fleet-management-enterprise-grade-it-should-be/) | Manage [multiple printer manufacturers](https://pulse.soti.net/support/soti-connect/certified-device-list/) from a single pane of glass. |
| [Remote Printer Monitoring](https://soti.net/resources/blog/2024/spend-less-print-more-with-remote-printer-monitoring/) | Get alerts on potential issues before they become big problems and proactively resolve them. |
| [Printer Asset Management](https://soti.net/resources/blog/2024/five-reasons-you-need-printer-asset-management-from-soti-connect/) | Track all your printer assets and ensure no printer is unaccounted for. |

SOTI Connect simplifies printer management. When printers print, your business stays productive and profitable.

Want to know more about printer management? Download your FREE copy of [The BluePRINT for Printer Management Success](https://soti.net/media/tnafrzy5/soti-ebook-connect-a4.pdf).

Want to know more about SOTI Connect? Here’s how you can start:

[Free Trial](https://soti.net/products/soti-one-platform/soti-one-platform-free-trial/) [Book a Demo](https://soti.net/products/soti-one-platform/book-a-demo/)

[Send us your questions](https://soti.net/about/contact-us)

##### About Author

Joe Gordon

VP, Product Innovation

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