”

The amount of work Ricoh MDS personnel put into

understanding our needs, before there was even a

contract to sign, really impressed us… they had used

everything they learned to develop a comprehensive

solution that met or exceeded all of our needs.

‘‘

Knox Grammar Schooland a Ricoh Managed Document Services Solution

Widely recognised as one of New South Wales’ most

outstanding schools, Knox Grammar School has a proud

tradition of academic achievement. With approximately

400 staff members and 2,171 students in Prep through to

Year 12, the School is focused on providing a second-to-

none learning environment; and it is a close partnership

with Ricoh Managed Document Services (MDS) proving

instrumental in maintaining that level of excellence.

Challenge: Finding a cost-effective document partnershipFor five years prior to April 2011, Knox Grammar had relied on a third-party vendor for the provision of a print and copy infrastructure, which included a managed fleet of multifunction devices (MFDs) and a staffed, on-site bulk printing facility.

Yet without accurate cost tracking, adequate service response levels or environmental measures, the infrastructure fell short of a total service. Having learnt from experience, the School put its entire document printing and management requirements out to tender, with Kerrie Howarth, Personal Assistant to the Deputy Headmaster for Professional Learning and Compliance, assuming the role of tender response manager.

“Our primary objective was to identify a provider committed to a partnership beyond the basics of providing print and copy facilities,” Kerrie explains. “Essentially, a partner to work with us in a proactive manner to help us achieve value for money, better environmental outcomes and a broad range of document efficiencies.”

Understand: Leaving no stone unturnedAs one of several companies responding to the Request For Tender, Ricoh came forward with a comprehensive MDS solution, which led in with a highly detailed discovery methodology.

In following that methodology, Ricoh MDS project managers conducted extensive meetings with key stakeholders at the School, designed to assist in developing a concise understanding of document print, workflow and usage requirements. Coinciding with that was

a thorough on-site inspection that encompassed factors such as: network connectivity, optimum MFD locations and device security.

“The amount of work Ricoh MDS personnel put into understanding our needs, before there was even a contract to sign, really impressed us,” Kerrie says. “It was definitely evident in their final presentation that they had used everything they learned to develop a comprehensive solution that met or exceeded all of our needs – and that was instrumental in Ricoh being awarded the contract.” The MDS commitment to understanding, though, extended beyond being awarded the contract, with Ricoh MDS specialists returning to carry out further audits and assessments to optimise the solution and plan for a smooth transition.

Improve: Service, cost and environmental performanceBased on those extensive audits and its detailed understanding of Knox Grammar’s needs, Ricoh proposed a solution tailored specifically for the School.

Included in that proposed solution was hardware that could handle almost any print, copy or scanning need Knox Grammar may have. A fleet of 38 Ricoh MFDs would be complemented by an on-site Green Print Centre housing two high-performance devices: a Ricoh MP C7501 high speed colour MFD and a Ricoh Pro 907EX black-and-white production printer.

Full-time, on-site Ricoh MDS personnel would run the Green Print Centre, manage the fleet, provide valet services and work proactively with the School to optimise ongoing performance and service levels. A Ricoh Web Smart Device Monitoring (WSDM) solution would allow MDS personnel to monitor the status of every device in the fleet in real time, helping to ensure, among other things, fleet uptime of no less than 96 per cent and bulk print job turnaround times of under 72 hours.

At a management level, the solution was designed to incorporate Equitrac software tools customised by Ricoh to allow Knox Grammar to closely track and analyse document spending. Ricoh’s Equitrac installation would also facilitate the development and enforcement of print policies across the entire School to reduce costs and waste, contributing to predicted overall cost savings of up to 40 per cent.

Follow-You Printing was another important aspect of the Ricoh solution, under which all fleet print jobs would be routed to a central server, instead of being sent to a specific MFD. All jobs would be held at the server until the initiating user entered their PIN or swiped their card at any of the School’s 38 MFDs, at which point the documents would be printed on the spot. Any jobs not released at an MFD would be automatically deleted from the server after a set period of time, reducing the waste problems associated with uncollected prints and improving document security.

The outcome· Reduction in cost and waste, including 30 per cent saving

in paper usage through enforced print policy

· Improved document workflow with introduction of Follow-You printing offering greater printing flexibility, increased document security and reduced paper waste

· Full-time on-site dedicated Ricoh MDS personnel manage fleet, provide valet service and run the Green Print Centre at Knox

· Fleet monitoring ensures fleet uptime of no less than 96 per cent and bulk print job turnaround under 72 hours

‘‘

”

Ricoh has delivered precisely what we were looking for in regard to

governance. We have been able to realise substantial and sustained

improvements in efficiency and reductions in waste, which in turn has

helped us reduce costs and improve our environmental performance.

That saving is being further improved with proactive management from Ricoh’s MDS-staffed Green Print Centre at Knox Grammar. If a single-sided print job is submitted, for example, MDS personnel will contact the job’s owner to investigate a double-sided printing alternative. In at least 50 per cent of such cases savings can be made, and that proactive approach is saving an estimated 10,000 pages per month.

Follow-You Printing has eliminated problems associated with uncollected print jobs across the fleet and substantially improved document security, as every job is held secure and unprinted on the server until authenticated for release. Staff members are also realising the flexibility benefits of Follow-You Printing, as they can initiate a print job from their office before a class, then simply collect the job from whichever MFD is closest to the classroom.

“Ricoh has delivered precisely what we were looking for in regard to governance,” Kerrie says. “We have been able to realise substantial and sustained improvements in efficiency and reductions in waste, which in turn has helped us reduce costs and improve our environmental performance.”

Optimise: An ongoing partnershipContinuous optimisation is another vital component of Knox Grammar’s Ricoh MDS solution, with Ricoh on-site personnel working with the School on a daily basis to maintain optimum performance and efficiencies.

A typical example is the constant monitoring by Ricoh personnel of fleet devices and print volumes using Equitrac and WSDM. Aside from supporting governance, monitoring helps identify MFDs that may be under- or over-utilised, facilitating device-swaps to ensure an optimum balance between user demand and device performance.

Optimisation at the School extends well beyond the device performance level, with Ricoh personnel providing support to Knox Grammar staff on all print-related issues. Kerrie provides examples:

“Often our teachers will want to use resources they only have in a single hard-copy format. In those cases, our Green Print Centre personnel scan the resources and save them in digital form for on-demand printing. Then there are instances where staff members need advice on the most appropriate finishing options for a large print job. Again, Centre personnel are there to help – and they do!

“Ultimately, we have what we wanted – a strong and effective partnership with the vendor, and a solution customised for our needs,” Kerrie concludes. “And should those needs change, we know Ricoh will be ready and able to adapt the solution and change with us.”

Transform: A 12-day rolloutIn accepting the proposed solution with its range of stated objectives, the School presented the Ricoh MDS team with a major challenge – implement and commission the entire solution within 12 days.

Underpinned by the Ricoh MDS methodology’s Transform process, a day-by-day action plan was developed, which incorporated comprehensive risk assessment and contingency planning. As part of that, off-site production print facilities were established to guarantee on-time and uninterrupted service for the School, regardless of unforeseen influences.

Simultaneously, all MFDs were configured and tested in a Ricoh staging facility prior to delivery while, on-site, Ricoh personnel assisted in decommissioning the School’s legacy print infrastructure.

“Despite the 12-day timeframe, Ricoh had everything up and running on time,” Kerrie states. “Just as impressive was how smoothly the entire process progressed and the level of communication between us and Ricoh. We were constantly updated on progress, and staff members were given full notification of when old devices would be replaced with our new Ricoh MFDs.”

With the rollout complete, the transformation continued with Ricoh customer training representatives conducting sessions on MFD functionality, Green Print Centre capabilities and efficient document production workflows. Importantly, sessions were scheduled to best fit in with teachers’ timetables, and follow-up sessions provided on an as-needed basis for new staff or those who needed a refresher on various features.

Govern: Realising the benefitsSoftware solutions, formal quarterly reviews and the ongoing work of Ricoh’s on-site MDS personnel are all part of the Ricoh MDS governance processes at Knox Grammar – a process that now provides substantial cost saving, efficiency and environmental benefits for the School.

Playing a key role in governance is the solution’s Ricoh-customised Equitrac reporting and management software, which allows the School to track and analyse print volumes and document spending. In addition, Ricoh has set up Equitrac to administer print policies. They include routing large jobs to the Green Print Centre instead of an MFD, and enforcing double-sided printing as the campus-wide default, helping the School ensure every job is printed as economically as possible. So much so, in fact, that within only a few months of adopting the Ricoh solution, the School gained a 30 per cent saving in paper usage.

Ricoh Australia Pty. Ltd. 8 Rodborough Road, Frenchs Forest, NSW 2086. Phone: 1800 181 002 Fax: 02 8977 1100 Web: ricoh.com.auRicoh New Zealand Pty. 60 Stanley Street, Parnell, Auckland New Zealand. Phone 0800 2 Ricoh (0800 2 74264) Fax: 09 915 1401 Web: ricoh.co.nz

Product code: B950575Printed on a Ricoh