Introduction to Network Document Management Systems (NDMs)
A Network Document Management System provides superior document and printing management in a modern Windows® network.

Since computers have been a business mainstay for creating, reading, processing, or printing documents for over 20 years, it is surprising that a better system for management and control of these processes does not already exist. The document-imaging portion of this process is estimated to cost two percent of a company’s overhead. A 15 to 30 percent saving can be substantial.

The current systems for monitoring and controlling the document imaging process are mostly SNMP polling systems, whose task is to tally printer clicks in order to provide printing administrators with billing and maintenance functions. Resellers normally pay for these programs.

Network Document Management Systems (NDMs) integrate more capabilities into the process. NDMs place a program interface between a Windows application, such as Microsoft® Word, and the printer driver. An NDM monitors, controls, diverts, and manages printing from the Windows application. It also uses SNMP polling to monitor print jobs and copies from non-Windows sources, and for walk-up copiers.

NDMs provide many benefits to document users, owners, resellers, service organizations, network printing managers, and hardware manufacturers. NDMs are forecast to capture about half of the Windows network-connected printers and multi-function devices (MFDs), or 30 to 60 million installs. NDMs can also control local printers that are connected to a network desktop. NDMs provide a wider set of benefits than the conventional SNMP polling systems, so the user usually pays for them. These systems often pay for themselves in the first three months of operation, and provide other productive, maintenance, and capital savings.

American PrintWare (APWI) produces RoutXpress™, one of the first NDMs. The RoutXpress system has several modules and adjunct programs. RoutXpress’ Master installer package loads the RxSpooler file, which automatically locates all of the network print drivers. The network Administrator chooses a location to install the RxServer, which includes the database where all of the operation decisions are made and the accounting data is stored. The RxAdmin Client module configures the system, and displays grids and charts that provide a complete audit trail of all print jobs and system information. The RxPrint Client module acts as a network spooler. Here network-printing jobs can be scheduled, routed, and divided. The communication between RoutXpress modules is via Remote Procedures Calls (RPC), a standard Windows procedure that is as safe as any network traffic on a Windows system.

The user controls his printing using the RoutXpress Messenger Client, loaded on every user system. This is an Instant Messaging (IM) popup utility that resides as an icon in the lower right corner in the Windows System Tray. It serves as the interface between the document system and the system users, providing real-time information about their document jobs. The function of the interface is to:

• Report to the user when a document has finished printing, and where the print job is available.
• Give the user a choice to print the job or send the document as an email attachment, such as in cases of mainframe-generated documents.
• Allow media printing, which lets the user load forms into the printer tray before the print job starts.
• Allow the user to enter an account number for customer bill-backs.
• Route the job to a printer with the correct capability, such as color, page size, and duplex.
• Provide secure printing capability to the user, notifying him that the secure job is about to print, thus permitting him to go to the printer to guard the document.
• Allow entering return addresses or security barcodes to the document.

The user will also notice that his print job prints faster and more reliably. These capabilities will be appreciated where printing is critical, such as at a hospital nurses’ station.

RoutXpress also includes an Accounting Report Writer module and an Optimizer module. The Accounting System and the Optimizer (System Modeling) provide the capability to the user and reseller management to optimize their document environment. Because of controls placed in document printing, the unauthorized use of the printing equipment can be controlled. Nobody wants 100 copies of a personal “Garage Sale this Weekend” flyer printed on an expensive company color printer.

Another advantage of NDMs like RoutXpress is click management. Printers and copiers usually have a two-tier cost structure for ownership and maintenance. For fewer than 100,000 clicks the maintenance cost could be 0.005¢ per click. However, each click over 100,000 costs 0.008¢. If there are three network printers in the area, often one printer will get 200,000 clicks, and the other two printers get 30,000-50,000. This is clearly an inefficient operation.

NDMs balance these clicks using two methods. First, the NDM enforces a ceiling on the clicks for a given machine. Second, the NDM manages a printer pool for printers. Using both methods gives the enterprise the best of both worlds.

For example, RoutXpress manages click migration, based on the size of the print job. In a typical installation, a small (1-5 pages) job can print on a local inkjet printer, but anything larger will be automatically routed to a common printer.

Generally, black and white inkjet local printers cost from 15 to 30 cents per page; a black and white common printer will print for about 6-10 cents per page; and a network printer will print for about 2-4 cents per page. NDM users save money based on the click migration to a less expensive network printer.

Color printer costs are a little harder to get a handle on, but inkjet color printer costs are estimated to run between 25 and 75 cents per page. Common color printers cost around 10 to 16 cents per page, and network color printers will print for about 6 to10 cents per page. An NDM system will route higher cost color print jobs to the common printer, and color print jobs destined for the common printer will end up on the less expensive network printer.

Here is another example of potential savings using an NDM system. Consider a volume of 5,000 color pages per year, which is common for an inkjet printer. Using a local printer, the expense would be about $2,500 per year. If just the larger print jobs are diverted to a common printer, say about one-third of the inkjet’s printed pages (1,650 pages X ($.50 -$.10)), the organization would realize an annual saving of about $660 per year per inkjet printer!

How many inkjet printers do you have?
Many printer problems revolve around maintenance. With the NDM’s malfunction and maintenance tracking ability, substandard printers can be identified and removed from service.

Another key feature of an NDM system like RoutXpress is the maintenance email capability. When a printer malfunctions, an email is sent to a service center, and/or an on-site maintenance person’s BlackBerry®. The print jobs destined for the (down) printer are automatically rerouted to the secondary printer. Since all print jobs are being re-routed to functioning printers the pressure to make an immediate repair is lessened.

Finally, NDMs provide user and department bill-back features. Recently, a hospital printer manager called APWI for help. Having recently purchased three new color printers, the manager discovered a problem: Everybody in the hospital loved the new printers, but during the first month all users had printed three times as many clicks as originally estimated. “Who is eating my porridge?!” cried the printer manager.

APWI explained that installing an NDM will give the manager the capability to identify who is printing, what they are printing, and bill back the per-copy cost to the various users and departments. The NDM will also allow the administrator to set limits to who can print, and how much each individual can print in color and/or in black and white.

The use of an NDM at a customer site allows the reseller and the company management to more fully understand their users’ document requirements. This enables the installation of the right amount of network and production printing systems. And because the NDM provides the necessary documentation for upgrading to more efficient hardware, the enterprise IT managers are able to justify purchasing additional printing equipment.

In conclusion, networks that are running an NDM system lower printing cost, provide better service to all network users resulting in higher productivity, and supply the IT staff with tools that empower them in managing their organization’s printing network.