Facilities Managements company takes delivery of a print solution as reliable as it's own service

When this national facilities management company was awarded a seven-year franchise to operate and maintain a major transport system, their focus was on boosting services and implementing improvements that would enhance not only the owners’ reputation for delivering world-beating reliability to its customers; but also provide those customers with an improved and efficient service that did not see costs rise.

An integral part of this efficiency drive was focused on the need for a cost-effective print solution. The organisation had the option of using the existing mixed fleet of around 70 assorted printers, deployed across a mix of offices and railway stations, that had been offered by the previous franchise holder, but which used a mixture of different toners and had no maintenance or service contracts attached.

Hardly the hoped-for cutting-edge, single vendor, print management solution that would reduce overheads and be kinder to the environment – an important part of the organisation’s ethos.

Temple Knight Plc, conducted a free print audit that highlighted how total cost of ownership was high, equating to 1.82 pence per copy (PPC) for mono printing and 10.94 PPC for colour. Using that information, a proposal was put forward for a bespoke system that was secure, robust, environmentally positive and compatible with both the newly installed IT system and the hardware. It also included a service and maintenance contract, an attractive cost per copy and a controllable print output that was a vital requirement of the new system.

Under the previous franchise holder the workforce had been used to unrestricted printing which meant a vast amount of wastage. This organisation didn’t, however, want printing to become a big HR or trust issue. The challenge was to migrate workers from ungoverned printer usage to a managed system, transforming attitudes towards printing through automatic, personalised cost notices and print controls.

Temple Knight recommended using door entry swipe cards as the key release for print jobs and the implementation of PaperCut software to help cut print output. With this method, users are forced to pre-set print jobs and collect their output only when they are physically near the machine. Printing is also trackable and accountable.

To reduce further unnecessary printing, a prompt on the user’s computer appears. The message was designed to warn users of the cost of each print job and how much they could save before they pressed ‘Start’ – a move that has become the talk of the company. All print defaults to mono and duplex to increase cost savings.

Installation in two offices and five stations was carried out by UTAX’s Solutions Team who integrated the system within at their main stations.

Has the solution been a success? In the first two months alone 18% less physical printing took place and nearly £10,000 was saved. Colour output has been reduced from 63% towards 50% and a managed print service means consumables are only delivered when needed, which saves space and potential wastage.

In the first two months alone 18% less physical printing took place and nearly £10K was saved. Colour output has been reduced from 63% towards 50%

just three days by collaborating closely with Temple Knight’s engineers and the customer’s IT Team. Inevitably, there were a few technical issues on changeover day but these were quickly ironed out as the install team had, over the first two days, built up an understanding of the system and developed a productive working relationship with the client’s team.

Temple Knight managed to reduce the organisation’s original 70-strong fleet by 30% to 45 devices. At their offices, they installed a total of seven high volume colour A3 5505ci MFPs, ten 2500ci MFPs, 22 P-C2660DN colour laser printers and one P-4030DN mono printer while five 2500ci MFPs were installed.

For peace of mind, Temple Knight monitors the contract from their HQ in Edenbridge and, in the unlikely event that something goes wrong, Temple Knight service engineers, trained to a high standard by Kyocera / Utax professional Technical team, are always on hand.

The head of IT said: “It’s a fabulous common sense system. It was all about winning hearts and minds and a buy in to the new IT system infrastructure and how it would benefit the users (and our customers). The organisation invested in brand new computers and screens for everyone and all these are compatible with the new printers. Temple Knight planned and managed the whole project and worked in close collaboration with us to create a well thought-out, bespoke print management solution which was delivered on time and has so far achieved its objectives.”