THE CHALLENGE
In 2001, Repco was operating with over 4,000 staff and 400 stores. The company’s print costs were high, in excess of over $1 million per annum with over 1 million pages printed per month. The company was finding managing hundreds of ageing printers across 350 sites burdensome with constant complaints from stores. Repco’s Help Desk received up to 300 calls a month from across Australia and New Zealand regarding machine issues and toner. Turnaround for replacement toner and parts was slow – up to three days from the time a call was first placed with the Help Desk.
Rob Watts, Repco’s Information Services Manager, had no real visibility into the status of the fleet, volume of printing and the total cost of service and support.
“We had six different vendors and it was difficult to track costs of printing or servicing the machines.”” said Watts, “As the company grew, I realised we needed a better solution”.
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THE SOLUTION
A centrally managed print solution that included the roll-out of more than 400 printers, fleet management, service and support was implemented. The solution delivered a 27% cost saving, which for Repco translated into $270,000 per annum.
Upstream tailored a service model to ensure that all Repco’s branches had fast access to service and support, including storing back up printers and parts at Repco’s six distribution centres. This enabled the delivery of printers, parts and consumables to 85% of stores across Australia and New Zealand within two to three hours. Said Watts:
“Our stores always have an urgent need for a printer or toner. Upstream’s attention to detail and quality of service has been outstanding. Our problem calls are down from five a day to about five a quarter and Upstream always responds to our requests within the hour. Productivity has increased and our stores are now able to focus on the bottom line.”
Since the initial implementation in 2001, Repco has continued to realise new efficiencies in its print platform. A tailored solution deployed in the business’ head office and six state offices provided the company with visibility and control over its colour printing. In addition, a refresh of the stores’ busiest print devices drove costs down a further nine percent.
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