Patent ID: 8823993

Claim:
A method for print job distribution, the method comprising: determining an amount of a first consumable resource for each of a plurality of printers; determining an estimated usage of the first consumable resource for each of the plurality of printers for one or more printer jobs in a printer queue; accessing a predetermined maintenance schedule for replacing the first consumable resource for each of the plurality of printers; and determining a print distribution plan for each print job in the printer queue based at least in part on the amount of the first consumable resource for each of the plurality of printers, the estimated usage of the first consumable resource for the plurality of printers for each printer job in a printer queue, and the predetermined maintenance schedule for replacing the first consumable resource for each of the plurality of printers, wherein: the print distribution plan operates to decrease the amount of the first consumable resource wasted upon being replaced based on the predetermined maintenance schedule; and the print distribution plan operates to minimize the amount of downtime of the plurality of printers based on the predetermined maintenance schedule.