5 Things to Consider Before Moving Your Office Equipment

01/21/2025

Thinking about relocating or refreshing your office equipment? Your next thought might be of organizational headaches, logistical challenges or disruptions to daily operations.

Moving office equipment like printers and copiers doesn’t have to be painful. With the right planning and considerations, including a detailed timeline, a comprehensive inventory of all equipment and clear communications to your staff – your move can be seamless and efficient.

While every office equipment move is a little different, we’ve compiled this short list of guidelines to help keep you on track: 

  1. Understanding Your Staff Needs and Organizational Goals
  2. Assessing Space Requirements
  3. Power & Networking Considerations
  4. Equipment Moving Logistics
  5. Communicating the Plan to Your Staff

These five tips will assist in ensuring that your equipment move is positioned to minimize downtime and maintain office productivity. 


CASE STUDY: Green Bay Packers – A Winning Partnership for Office Productivity 


Understanding Your Staff Needs and Organizational Goals

Before you start moving any office equipment, it’s crucial to understand the needs of your staff and how they align with your organizational goals. Take into account workers’ daily tasks as well as the locations of their workspaces, workgroups and conference rooms.

Involve your employees in the planning process. Their insights can provide valuable information on what equipment is essential and what can be upgraded or replaced. This collaborative approach will ensure that everyone feels heard and their needs are met in the new setup. 


RELATED: How to Manage a Print Fleet Across Multiple Locations 


Assessing Space Requirements

Space planning is another critical factor to consider when moving office equipment. Measure your new (or reconfigured) office space to ensure that your equipment will fit and will have sufficient space for device airflow/ventilation and user needs.

We also suggestion that you create a floorplan of your new office layout with equipment locations noted. This will keep everyone involved in the project, informed and on the same page.

For additional guidance on office equipment optimal placement, we suggest that you read our 5 Tips for Proper Placement of a Printer or Copier.

Power & Networking Considerations

One of the most important aspects of moving office equipment is ensuring that your new location has adequate power and networking capabilities.

Our Digital Service Specialists are experts in connecting and setting up office equipment, such as printers and copiers. Here’s some things that they suggest you consider, before your move:

  • Does the new location have the correct power outlets?
  • Does the new location support a wired network connection?
  • If the new location will only support a wireless network connection, does your printer/mfp have a wireless connectivity option already installed?
  • If fax is needed, will an analog phone line be moved to accomodate?
    • Is there a jack available to connect the phone line?
    • If moving to e-fax, don’t forget to include a digital conversion tool.
  • If planning for a relocation-reconnection of multi-function devices, installation should be scheduled for after the network is up and running in the new location. 
  • IT support should be made aware of installation plans and available for support either in person or via phone on moving day.

In addition, be aware that office equipment such as printers and copiers often store data, so include in your plan the necessary security to protect sensitive information.

Addressing the considerations noted in this section before your move, will minimize downtime and ensure a seamless transition.

Equipment Moving Logistics

Moving large office equipment like printers and copiers can be challenging. To move these items efficiently, consider contacting your Managed Print provider. They have the experience and equipment needed to handle bulky and sensitive items safely.

Before the move, label all items clearly and keep an inventory list. Disassemble any equipment that can be taken apart to make it easier to transport. Ensure that all cables and accessories are packed securely to prevent damage.

Your Managed Print provider, contracted moving company, or internal moving crew will need to know the logistics of your office equipment move. Having floorplans and additional information ready, will also smooth the process and make this project more manageable.

Our Delivery Team suggests that you consider the following:

  • Does the new/old location have restrictions on what day or time of day, equipment can be moved in/out?
  • Location of loading dock or door to move equipment in/out of building (if necessary)
  • Does the new location have an elevator, or will the device have to be moved via stairs?
    • If stairs, how many?
  • Notify affected departments of this office equipment move

Communicating the Plan to Your Staff

Communication is key. Whether it is periodic emails, updates during department meetings or a printed timeline on the wall in the employee breakroom – keep everyone in the loop. This will prevent any unfortunate scheduling surprises and will help to boost employee morale during your move. 


“GFC took the time to understand our needs and worked with us to make sure that all employees stayed informed as our fleet-wide secure print management solution was implemented.”
– Erik Peik, Director of IT Infrastructure, Faith Technologies Inc. 


When we assisted with a print fleet refresh for Faith Technologies Inc., (FTI) our GFC team met with FTI weekly to discuss tasks and evaluate how the project was progressing. The printer fleet refresh covered the company’s 16 locations, which serve over 1,000 employees.

Feedback showed that these meetings helped to alleviate employee apprehension about changing office printing procedures. Information from these meetings was also used to inform employees as the new print fleet was rolled out.

Refreshing, reorganizing and relocating office equipment fleets – is our specialty! Contact the experts at Gordon Flesch Company to discuss what you can expect from a professional review of your business technology. 

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