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Streamlining print operations

The University of Warwick is one of the UK’s great success stories. In less than fifty years since being founded it has become one of the UK’s best universities, consistently at the top of UK league tables and rapidly climbing the international league tables of world class universities. The University has 29,301 students and staff using average annual print volumes of 25 million pages.

After being selected under the Crown Commercial Services RM3781 framework, XMA began working with the University to provide a fully managed print solution. Chris Wood, Printing Services Owner of the University commented “We chose XMA because we felt that they were the most flexible”.

The University had a mixed fleet of 3,800 devices encompassing MFD’s and Desktop Printers. XMA have rationalised these devices, reducing the fleet by 60%. As part of this rationalisation project, XMA also provided a wraparound managed service for the University’s legacy MFD and desktop printers including HP, Samsung and Ricoh devices. Now, staff and students use the Print Management solution across the University, accessed via Mifare smartcards.

The initial requirement was a mix of HP and Kyocera MFD’s coupled with SafeCom Pull Printing and job accounting software in order to provide accurate billing for cost recovery. The second phase of the project was a Document Management Project to digitise information for sharing around the University, which will reduce overall page’ volumes University wide.

Adam Williams, MPS Manager for XMA noted: “With the University we had to adopt a customer led and very fluid approach as each Department had differing print requirements to be supplied through the Kyocera fleet of products”.

Chris continued: “The key for us was to have one user interface across a vast fleet of devices so that we could have support information, documentation, FAQ’s, where there was a real continuity to it and ease of use”.

The fleet has also been supplied with SafeCom pull print management software to reduce costs and meet environmental targets. Users authenticate at the MFD using MiFare smartcard technology.

“The pull print has made a massive difference for us, cutting down on waste. We used to see enormous piles of waste in the recycling bin; we don’t see that anymore. Another massive area for us is mobile print and technologies. That gives our users the ability to send an attachment to a specific mobile print email address, and that attachment will then be sent to their print queue. Use of this has doubled since last term and we expect that to continue.”

Since the initial phases, XMA now work with Warwick University, who also offer their print room services to local businesses in the area. This has created a revenue stream for the University, alongside their £180,000 reduced print costs and tangible environmental savings. Craig Colledge, Print General Manager explained:

“SafeCom gives you financial reporting that we can go back to the Financial Directors and tell them exactly what the cost implications of printing in the University are”.

Harrow College has its printing needs all mapped out thanks to a five-year fully managed print solution from XMA.

The ability to avoid unwelcome and costly surprises can be a useful asset for departments who must deal with constantly changing IT needs. It was certainly a consideration for Anton Saverimuthu, Harrow College’s technical services manager, when he investigated how to upgrade the college’s printing solution.

The college was using a mixture of old and new printers to support the printing needs of its staff and students across two campuses but Mr Saverimuthu wanted to introduce a much more standardised printing solution. He, therefore, opted for a fully managed print solution from XMA after finding the company could fit the right solution to his needs – and that printing costs could be spread over a five-year plan.

He said: “We now have a fully managed solution and XMA bill us a fixed price for our printing needs every quarter. It is based on our historical printing figures, what types of prints we use and how many. We have a five-year plan but after every year we assess and can adjust our payments accordingly.

“The fact our pricing is on a five year contract, based on a quarterly payment for the number of prints we do per quarter, means we have a very clear picture of our costs which is very useful for us. There was also no initial capital outlay required for the replacement hardware or software.”

Harrow College now has around 110 HP printers with printers installed in each classroom. They include 70 new HP 2055dn and two new HP 3525n printers. The solution is based on around 1.83 million prints per year.

The College wanted to retain the PaperCut print management solution, and the data available through it enabled XMA to plan the print solution refresh more effectively. The fully managed service option also includes remote monitoring via Jet Advice and a four hour response break fix support. The deal also gives Harrow College the opportunity to benefit from fortnightly preventative maintenance visits although this will not kick in until the printers need a greater level of maintenance.

The implementation of the solution went very well. There were a lot of printers replaced at two different campuses but everything happened smoothly and the result has matched up with our plans.

A consolidated approach

Mr Saverimuthu said: “Our project intended to get rid of some of our older printers and replace them as well as keep some of the more recent ones. We had different makes and models, a situation which was not ideal, especially as we also were reliant on different consumables. For example, up until this point we had been forced to buy toner from different companies, which could be difficult to keep track of.

“We knew if we standardised on one or two printer models it would make it easier to manage the whole system and enable us to run a much more effective print solution. We could drastically reduce the number of different consumables we had to use. At the same time, I knew I didn’t have too much money available and couldn’t just replace all the printers outright.”

The right solution

Mr Saverimuthu found XMA could provide the answer. He said: “We managed to reduce our solution by around 30 printers all together, keeping some of our existing printers as well as buying new ones. All our consumables are now provided by XMA and come via an automated ordering system as and when we need them.

“I was pleased the company could offer all HP printers, which was what I wanted. What’s more, the cost of the new printers was also worked out within the five year deal so that minimised our initial outlay too and made the whole project much easier.”

Good value as well as good price Mr Saverimuthu added: “Price played a part but it was not the only factor. XMA were competitive but not the cheapest. What was more important to me was that what they could offer exactly fitted with my plans and they had a value-add.”

Another factor in using XMA for Harrow College’s print solution was the reputation the company has built up in the education industry. Mr Saverimuthu said: “HP described XMA as one of its major print resellers and that played a part. We knew they had successfully offered this type of managed service to others in similar positions within our industry which gave me confidence in them.

XMA delivers better printing at lower cost for City College Norwich with eco-friendly Kyocera printers lowering Total Cost of Ownership.

This term City College Norwich’s 14,000 staff and students are reaping the benefits of new printers that are more efficient, cost less to manage and are better for the environment, courtesy of IT solutions specialists XMA.

The College appointed XMA to replace ageing HP units with a batch of 39 new printers, following a competitive pitch.

While the contract was worth just under £9,000, the savings made by the College will be significant due to the Kyocera models it has now installed.

Reducing spend on running costs

Gary Johnson, the College’s Procurement Officer, explains: “We had used HP printers in the past, but switched to Kyocera for the cost and eco-benefits they offer. For the most recent phase of our printer refresh it was important to go with Kyocera because they fitted in with our managed print service, complementing the existing infrastructure. But the savings speak for themselves – our TCO has dropped by a considerable sum.

The College, which prides itself on being a progressive and aspirational organisation, provides further and higher education and training to 14-19 years olds throughout Norwich and Norfolk. The printer refresh is part of the College’s commitment to providing its students with access to 21st Century systems and functions, while maximising value and adhering to sustainable practices.

Mr Johnson adds: “Obviously one of our biggest ongoing costs for running printers is consumables and we estimate we’ll spend thousands of pounds less running Kyocera’s printers over other models.”

The Kyocera printers, both colour (FSC-5250DN/FSC-5350DN) and mono (FS1370DN) were installed during the College’s New Year closure when there was less demand on the system.

For the new print installation, XMA’s role was supply and warranty support. XMA was eligible to bid for the contract through a framework agreement with the Southern Universities Purchasing Consortium.

According to Mr Johnson, the bidding process in itself was valuable for testing the market. He says: “By going out to tender we achieved instant savings over and above running new printers. We found the difference between the highest quote for the contract and the XMA offer was huge – XMA’s price was 30% lower than one of the bids, which just shows the exceptional savings that are available.”

Going the extra mile

While the current economic climate puts the spotlight on spending across all areas of industry, education particularly is feeling the pinch. He adds: “In this sector, there is a pressure to reduce spend and to ensure we’re getting the best value for money. The price was right with XMA, and they were brilliant in their service delivery. One of our challenges was that we had no way of storing the printers, which meant we needed multiple deliveries to reflect when the equipment could be fitted. The result was four separate deliveries, so XMA literally did go that extra mile for us.”

Kyocera is one of over 50 leading manufacturers with which XMA is a key supplier partner, providing long-life and award-winning printing solutions.

With increasing choice, the ability to deal hunt for the best price, convenience and order management, it’s not surprising that organisations are moving some of their purchasing online. In fact, a recent study by Magento revealed that 56% of business are expected to be making at least half of their work related purchases online, boosting the UK ecommerce market share to almost £75billion.

Our state-of-the-art Ecommerce platforms are already helping to address these trends. With HE Hub built exclusively for the Higher Education community, The EDUstore tailored for students and educators and XMA Shop facilitating complex purchasing needs, we are successfully providing the user experience our customers require.

XMA Store is open for business!

To extend this success, we are excited to announce the launch of XMA Store – providing a gateway to over 100,000 products, real-time stock inventory and automatically updated pricing for organisations wishing to make straightforward transactional purchases.

XMA Store offers an enhanced user experience, with improved search and filter capability, so you can find the product you are searching for with the minimum of effort. And if you still can’t find what you need, we have built a number of “Help Me Choose” tools such as an Apple Mac configurator, and ink and toner selector.

It’s our mission to make your day easier. Start browsing

Businesses, large and small, are now taking a considerable interest in the environment. ‘Sustainability’ has become a buzzword as many businesses look to become more socially responsible in how they buy and work.

Companies such as HP, are no exception. HP is leading the shift to more environmentally friendly printing by introducing key sustainability initiatives that helps both themselves, and end users become more aware of the environment.

Sustainable printer supplies

A key part of HP’s product innovation involves developing and delivering print cartridges that help reduce environmental impact and are manufactured and recycled responsibly – promoting good corporate citizenship. From the outset, HP’s Design for Environment (DfE) programme ensures HP cartridges are designed with the environment in mind.

Also, HP requires its suppliers to certify that all HP printing supplies and their packaging comply with the HP General Specifications for Environment (GSE) – a set of guidelines that prohibits the
use of specific substances that are potentially harmful to the environment.

Recycling empty cartridges

Developed over 20 years ago, HP Planet Partners Programme pioneered a simple and free-of-charge system for customers to return and recycle their used Original HP LaserJet toner cartridges through state-of-the-art ISO 14001 certified facilities.

This programme has since expanded to include Original HP ink cartridges and is now available in more than 60 countries and territories around the world. Through our Planet Partners Programme, HP guarantees that it will never refill or resell print cartridges, or send them to a landfill. The results of this recycling have been phenomenal.

HP has produced more than 2.6 billion original HP ink and toner cartridges with recycled plastics since 2005. 628 million HP cartridges have already been recycled since 1991. This has resulted in:

• A 33% carbon footprint reduction
• A 54% reduction in fossil fuel consumption
• A 75% reduction in water used

This has assisted HP in being awarded the Green Apple Award in 2014 and the Green World Ambassador Award in 2015 – both to recognise their efforts towards sustainability.

Sustainability in the future

Of course, HP cannot achieve these sustainability and recycling results without customers buying original and genuine printer supplies from HP. It is this support that is helping both the company and its customers look after the environment.

Counterfeit products that are not purchased from an authorised resellers, as we’ve spoken about in a previous article, can be detrimental towards our shared sustainability goals. Only buying your HP printer supplies from an authorised seller, like XMA, can guarantee that the company continues to fight sustainability in order to look after the environment.

For more information on buying your next HP printer supplies, speak to your XMA Account Manager today.

Most students look forward to the end of their GCSEs as it means they have more free time to spend with their friends but for Kit Swerdlow (16), a student at Nottingham free school Channeling Positivity, it’s a different story.

Kit currently spends a day a week at XMA, with the rest of his time spent at Channeling Positivity. Channeling Positivity is an alternative provision free school aimed at ages 13-16 needing another option other than mainstream schooling, where Kit has been studying for his GCSEs in English, Maths and i-Media.

Kit attended an Open Day at XMA last September and really enjoyed it. He was very keen to secure work experience at the company and was delighted when he was offered it. Once he has finished his exams, the time he spends at XMA will increase to two days a week and he can’t wait.

So far he has spent most of his time in the marketing department where he has been involved in creating and delivering email marketing campaigns and general marketing duties. In addition, he has also drafted the copy for a welcome pack for new staff when they join the company.

He is now spending time in the company’s commercial department and there are plans for him to go into the sales and customer service departments too.