Challenges and Solutions
Challenges:
With machines from ten manufacturers and 90 different photocopier models at 30 sites across Europe, it became very clear that Groupe FSD had to streamline its device fleet. The Information Systems Department decided to put an end to excessive printing costs, ineffective technical management of the fleet, and complex coordination of print activities. It invited around ten manufacturers to submit a tender, with the following objectives:
- Create a partnership with a single manufacturer with European-wide support capabilities
- Limit the number of models for edge-to-edge printing of traceability labels to three or four;
- Achieve economies of scale within a short time by implementing a cost per page agreement
The tender also called for a remote monitoring and maintenance solution, to replace numerous local contracts and provide coverage to sites where none existed. In addition, there was an extremely tight lead time of five months, over the summer holidays, between the call for tenders and first deployment.
Solutions:
Following the call for tenders, Kyocera Document Solutions was selected as the winner. As a first step Groupe FSD’s entire fleet was replaced with 300 devices, reducing the number of models from ninety to four. Deployment was managed by the Kyocera Document Solutions team with the support of Groupe FSD staff in France, and by Kyocera or a maintenance partner in all other countries.
With the set-up of KFS, technical and accounting information can be reported automatically. The automatic export of counter logs eliminates the need for a counter sheet to be sent by fax and data to be entered manually with a password for each unit. Previously, each site managed its own supplies locally. Now, the management of consumables is centralised by the KFS system, which automatically triggers orders and delivery requests as and when necessary. Maintenance is covered by a single contract replacing numerous contracts per site.
All in all, the solution enables technicians, working remotely, to retrieve status pages, logs and fax reports, to reboot the machine, and to amend settings and configurations. Last but not least, the various reports generated by KFS on the number of machines installed, the ratio of colour to black and white printing, and the number of incidents, provide input for the quarterly committee meetings held between Groupe FSD and Kyocera Document Solutions, enabling ongoing monitoring and optimisation.
