These days, IT operations are under a microscope like never before. The pressure is on to run compliant, cost-effective operations that maximize productivity and minimize costs. At the same time, decreased operational costs and proven returns on investments have become baseline requirements. There is, of course, no single solution that can achieve all these goals. However, there is at least one very prominent area that businesses of all sizes and types may exploit: the opportunity to streamline and organize imaging and printing strategies. Resolving this situation is a no-brainer, because it can enhance the bottom line, increase employee productivity, and ultimately, create competitive advantage.
DOCUMENT PRODUCTION TRENDS How have organizations reached this current state of imaging and printing chaos? A number of factors come into play here. For example, the sheer number of imaging and output devices deployed has steadily proliferated year after year. While everyone was waiting for the paperless office to arrive, waves of single- function hardcopy output devices were deployed, oftentimes haphazardly. It’s not surprising that market research firm International Data Corp. projects the number of document pages printed annually by U.S. companies and consumers to burgeon to nearly two trillion by 2006.
The Situation “No coordination” is the best way to describe Lincoln County’s old approach to managing its printers and copiers. Many of the County’s 28 departments did their own thing – they worked with diff erent vendors, secured diff erent equipment, and ordered and warehoused their own supplies.
The result was astonishing – spread throughout the County were: • 170 printers – of these there were 54 different models using more than 54 diff erent cartridges. The average printing speed was 15.181 prints per minute (ppm) and only 50 percent of the printers were on the network. • Of the printers deployed, a sizeable number were color ink jet printers printing color at high cost. • 30 copiers – 24 different models all using different toner cartridges. • 18 fax machines – 15 different models all using different toners.
The situation could best be described as chaos, both from a purchasing perspective as well as for the IT department that would often be called upon to fi x problems. With a department of only three full-time technical people and one part-time, it was a challenge for IT not only to provide the service when needed but the expertise on the many diff erent models.
Understanding true costs was impossible. “There wasn’t any individual accountability for printing,” Don Schlising, IT Director for Lincoln County, said. “We had no way to know what the individual County departments were actually printing so no way to track costs. And, because they just ordered the equipment they thought they needed, we had no idea what their printing needs were and if they had the right equipment to meet those needs.”
Waste of stocked supplies when equipment was replaced was also a problem. With so many diff erent models, quite often when a machine was replaced its stocked supplies were unusable.
The Situation . . . The printing and copying needs of Olmsted County’s 20-plus departments range widely. From departments with very sophisticated printing needs to those that only need basic printing functions, Olmsted County’s challenge was to meet the needs of each department accurately. “Unless you really dig in and have meaningful discussions with departments identifying their real printing needs, you might as well be working off wish lists from those departments or lists that generalize all function,” stated Debbie Palmer, Purchasing Manager for Olmsted County.
With numerous County buildings spread out geographically there isn’t a great deal of opportunity to share equipment. Factor in limited budgets and the need to be vigilant in spending taxpayer dollars, and the need for absolutely pin-pointing individual department requirements is critical. “Our biggest challenges are always going to be money and resources,” Palmer said. “So it really is all about getting the right machines in the right places and then monitoring them to make sure they are doing the right job for us. The key is having a competent partner you trust, and we have that with EO Johnson.”
Jordache Enterprises, Inc., designs and manufactures a wide variety of denim, apparel and accessories, and prides itself on its reputation for high quality merchandise. Distributed globally, Jordache owns several apparel brands, including Jordache, Gasoline, Airport, Maurice Sasson, KIKIT, Jordache Vintage and US Polo Association, and also manufactures private-label denim for many well-known companies. In addition to its apparel business, Jordache Enterprises is heavily invested in worldwide residential and commercial real estate, holds a majority interest in a private jet charter service and owns an award-winning olive oil company.
ordache turned to Toshiba America Business Solutions, Inc. for a way to update and streamline its fleet of outdated office equipment. Jordache’s Vice President of Procurement, Ezri Silver, was tasked with improving functionality, efficiency and productivity while consolidating the number of copiers, printers and fax machines located throughout the two floors of its corporate headquarters in New York City.
- Outfit its new 296,000-square-foot campus with the necessary equipment for handling document needs of 500 employees
- Orient and train the employees
- Maintain business operations without interruption in service to clients
Solution Toshiba America Business Solutions, Inc. (TABS) analyzes the company’s needs using its proprietary Encompass™ software, the industry’s most comprehensive document management and output analysis program.
- The resulting recommendations optimize company’s document output fleet by reducing the number of units (copiers, printers, fax systems and scanners) by 30 percent
- Decreasing the company’s overall output and supply costs
- Increasing the availability of color printing campus-wide
Background Why the company contacted Toshiba… After experiencing significant growth, a major corporation found it necessary to relocate to a new 296,000-square-foot campus. The move provided the perfect opportunity to evaluate their business systems—the copiers, printers, fax machines, and scanners required to maintain operations. In the company’s own words, they needed to “find the right device configuration with Scan-To-File and Scan-To-Email capability, color print capability, record retention and archiving, and improved efficiency. We want redundancy in the event units go down, but also want to combine units wherever possible. Overall, we want the transition to be a positive experience, not only for our team but for the entire organization.”
How much am I really spending on desktop, workgroup, internal production print, and outside print services?
How do our total document expenses compare to those of our key competitors?
What factors contribute to these costs?
How much money can we save and how?
How much of an investment in time and money is needed to assess my document costs?
Does this require a detailed on-site audit?
Challenges
Getting to the true cost of documents across your organization
Cost reductions
Determining peer performance & benchmarking
Developing an enterprise document strategy
Increasing efficiency & optimization
Introduction & Objectives The proliferation of output devices such as printers, copiers, fax machines, and scanners has significantly contributed to the dramatic increase in document output volume and cost over the years. While the majority of today’s organizations acknowledge the potential savings from better document management, many still lack the understanding and expertise to address the problem. Third-party providers including office equipment manufacturers, document outsourcing firms, and independent service providers are offering assessment services that focus on identifying costs and inefficiencies around document output.
Challenge The Seneca Park Zoo, located in Rochester, NY, needed to do something about its undersized signage. For years, the outdoor year-round facility was creating one-off plastic laminate signs for the facility’s more than 50 animal paddocks and multiple recycling receptacles. This process caused several challenges, including the laminate not being able to withstand the harsh conditions for more than a few months. It also couldn’t be easily replaced or updated, and didn’t mesh well with the zoo’s environmentally-friendly mission. The Seneca Park Zoo needed a new, time and cost-effective way to create small signage that could survive summer and winter conditions, leaving little to no environmental impact and staying in-line with the zoo’s public image.
As a non-profit, the Seneca Park Zoo Society did not have the funds for a dedicated in-house design staff to produce the small signage. They contracted with an outside company for their larger signs, but to keep costs down, created smaller signs on 8 1/2” x 11” paper which were then laminated. Turnaround time could be several days, so as a result, last-minute announcements such as, “Sea lions are unavailable today due to pool cleaning,” typically were hand written and tacked up at the main gate.
And the plastic lamination? It didn’t hold up in the extreme range of elements this outdoor facility saw year-round, and the signs were contrary to the zoo’s mission of leaving little to no negative environmental impact.
“Those plastic signs definitely didn’t support our goal of being stewards of the environment,” said T.C. Pellett, Marketing and Corporate Relations Director for Seneca Park Zoo.
The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) was founded in 1877 in Providence. The school is comprised of a vibrant community of artists and designers, including 2,200 students from around the world, approximately 350 faculty and curators, and 400 staff members. RISD fulfills its educational mission by providing the highest quality instruction in the visual arts, design, architecture, and art education.
While proud of its educational programming, RISD also places emphasis on providing its faculty and student population with the latest technological resources. One of the most used of these resources is the campus’ Copy Center. In July of 2003, RISD began the process of replacing its entire fleet of copiers and printers pending expiration of its existing lease. In addition, Diane Sanborn, Copy Center supervisor for RISD, wanted to upgrade to newer technology.
RISD conducted a thorough equipment provider selection process, which eventually led the school to choose a Toshiba dealer based in Massachusetts. After Toshiba presented its recommendations and demonstrated the capabilities of several Toshiba e-STUDIO™ multifunction products (MFPs), it was clear that Toshiba understood RISD’s needs and could provide a cost-effective strategy for improvement.
These days, IT operations are under a microscope like never before. The pressure is on to run compliant, cost-effective operations that maximize productivity and minimize costs. At the same time, decreased operational costs and proven returns on investments have become baseline requirements. There is, of course, no single solution that can achieve all 
The Situation 
The Situation . . . 
