New print service to save money, trees and time
Brenton Stacey
Public relations officer
Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia
A contract Avondale College has signed reducing the number of copiers, faxes and printers on campus will save money, benefit the environment and improve productivity.
The contract with office automation systems manufacturer Lanier is for five years. It will:
- Reduce the number of devices from 109 to 32 and the number of models from 59 to five
- Free up administrative resources by reducing the number of vendors
- Cover the depreciation of existing devices—Lanier will pay Avondale $25,000 for this cost
- Standardise cost per copy for all staff members
- Reduce the cost per copy by about half a cent for black and white and one-and-a-half cents for colour, saving an estimated $150,000 over the five years
- Reduce the use of paper from about four-and-a-half to three million sheets per year, saving an estimated $14,000 and 172 trees
- Reduce the use of electricity from about 20,000 to 8000 kilowatt hours
Vice-president (finance) Francois Keet managed the signing of the contract after Lanier completed an audit of all the devices on campus. He says the Lanier-managed service will result in changes to workflow but notes the changes will improve productivity by:
- Increasing reliability—Lanier will install new devices
- Increasing functionality—all scanners will be optical character recognition compliant
- Increasing security—users print to a virtual queue on the print server and delete or release their job by swiping their ID card
- Optimising the use of devices—users can print to any device in their access group and even interrupt other jobs
- Generating automated service and consumable alerts—Lanier responds to these alerts within seven hours; if Lanier receives the same alert from the same device more than three times, it will replace the device with a new device; R & B Office Machines will continue to maintain all devices
Lanier will also produce what it calls a g-doc report each quarter identifying electricity and paper use and greenhouse gas emissions.
Chief information officer Simon Short supports the Lanier-managed service but notes the need to finalise a plan to meet customer service expectations and to integrate the new devices with Avondale’s print management software. However, he adds the devices may solve perennial issues such as the ability of casual lecturers to print from their personal computers and the reliability of existing devices, many of which are ageing.
The audit came after Avondale Library implemented a Lanier-managed print service that offered staff members and students a more seamless service across its two campuses. The service also reduced what head librarian Marilyn Gane describes as the “excessive” use of paper in its printers—users would lose patience waiting for others to print and either forget to claim their job when it printed or print again to another printer. “It is much more cost effective for students and better for the environment,” says Marilyn. “We’re pleased Avondale is now rolling it out across the campus.”
Avondale will begin implementing the Lanier-managed service over the next two months.