Start from the office floor model (64 desks) (free sign-up; running a simulation is Pro). Fewer multifunction printers cost less, but those who go for their prints start to wait. In this article, in the members’ office model, your AI simulates two hours of printing in the morning. It ran the same tools an AI calls over MCP. Every figure and number below comes from that run.
1. The office and printing
- An office of 64 desks in eight islands of eight. It has two multifunction printers, at the west end and in the middle of the middle strip.
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The AI wrote this flow as a scenario (put_process_scenario).
- From 9:00 to 11:00, each of the 64 prints at random, once an hour, say.
- From their desk they walk to the nearest free printer of those in use, wait if it is busy, print and collect (30 seconds to 2 minutes, most often 45 seconds), and go back to their desk.
- Every number and time is an assumption. Put in your own office’s records.
2. The printers, and how often each prints
The AI changed the printers in use (1, 2) and how often each person prints (once in two hours, once an hour, once in 40 minutes) (sweep_process_parameters), 20 runs each. With one, it is the one by the west wall. Desk to desk and the wait are a print’s mean, the longest wait the mean over the 20 runs, and the walk is a print’s round trip.
| Each prints | Printers | Desk to desk (mean) | Wait (mean) | Longest wait | Walked a print (round trip) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Once in two hours | 1 | 2.4 min | 0.9 min | 4.3 min | 29.4 m |
| Once in two hours | 2 | 1.5 min | 0.1 min | 1.0 min | 21.8 m |
| Once an hour | 1 | 14.8 min | 13.3 min | 25.6 min | 29.7 m |
| Once an hour | 2 | 1.8 min | 0.4 min | 2.4 min | 22.7 m |
| Once in 40 min | 1 | 47.0 min | 45.5 min | 89.2 min | 29.7 m |
| Once in 40 min | 2 | 2.8 min | 1.4 min | 5.3 min | 23.1 m |
- With each printing once an hour, the 64 print 129.4 times in the two hours. With one printer the wait is 13.3 minutes on average, the longest 25.6, and desk to desk takes 14.8 minutes. With two the wait is 0.4 minutes, desk to desk 1.8.
- One printer does up to about once in two hours each, with a wait of 0.9 minutes on average.
3. Where the second printer stands
In one change (edit_space), your AI moves the second printer to the east end of the middle strip (past the storage) and runs the same printing with both.
| Each prints | Second printer | Desk to desk (mean) | Walked a print (round trip) | Walked by all (two hours) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Once in two hours | As now (middle of the strip) | 1.5 min | 21.8 m | 1,441 m |
| Once in two hours | The east end | 1.5 min | 25.1 m | 1,658 m |
| Once an hour | As now (middle of the strip) | 1.8 min | 22.7 m | 2,941 m |
| Once an hour | The east end | 1.8 min | 26.2 m | 3,388 m |
| Once in 40 min | As now (middle of the strip) | 2.8 min | 23.1 m | 4,473 m |
| Once in 40 min | The east end | 2.9 min | 26.4 m | 5,111 m |
- With the second printer moved from the middle to the east end, the east islands are nearer but the middle ones farther: printing once an hour, a print’s round trip goes from 22.7 m to 26.2 m, and all of them walk 3,388 m instead of 2,941 m, 15 % more. The wait hardly changes.
- With the one at the west end, the middle, where it is now, is closer for everyone.
4. How to use this check
- Draw your own office (from a PDF of the drawings or photos too), and tell your AI the staff and their desks, how often each prints, the time to print and collect, and the printers and where they are. Your AI also puts moved printers on the drawing and runs them.
- Not checked: large print jobs, scanning and faxes, paper jams and refilling paper, those who collect their prints later, and days when fewer come in.