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In 2009 RSA decided to review its print resourcing and embarked on a project to improve performance, better control costs and improve productivity. In that review RSA decided to move to a fully outsourced managed print service from a single vendor.
It’s not surprising that James de Watteville, CIO, would identify a large opportunity to make savings by deploying a managed print service, but James was not the only person at RSA to see the potential offered by the project. Paul Pritchard, RSA UK’s Head of Corporate Responsibility, realised that there was an unparalleled opportunity to improve RSA’s environmental performance at the same time. He explains: “Measurability is key to the success of sustainability initiatives and this will become increasingly important as carbon performance becomes a matter for audit and compliance rather than corporate responsibility. I knew that we could do more in terms of monitoring our consumption of paper, consumables and energy in relation to print, but we simply didn’t have the management information to allow us to get the figures. We needed to be able to document any improvements that we were making in terms of energy and paper consumption. We also wanted to help our staff engage more closely with office-based sustainability, so we were looking for a supplier that would help us achieve that aim.”
RSA designed a tender questionnaire that incorporated not only the technical elements of the solution they required, but also detailed sections on the environmental performance of both the proposed hardware and the vendors themselves, as Paul explains: “The corporate responsibility team gets involved at a very early stage in the procurement process, including questions that are genuinely meant to test how strong potential supplier organisations are in the sustainability area. We want to find out what suppliers’ solutions can do to help us improve sustainability at RSA, so we encourage them to explain their position and capabilities in detail. It’s not about excluding a company that “isn’t green enough” but rather gathering as much information we can so that we can take it all into consideration"
“Of course, when selecting a technology supplier, you have to ensure that all the technical and risk management elements are covered, but beyond that there are other differentiators that mark vendors out as good partners for RSA. Willingness to collaborate and engage with us beyond simply rolling out a solution is certainly a large part of that, and this was something that impressed us about the team at KYOCERA.”
After demonstrating that it could meet RSA’s requirements in all areas from technology to employee engagement, KYOCERA MITA’s MDS consultancy team was selected by RSA to carry out the project.
Efficiency opportunity
A project of the magnitude that RSA envisaged needed to incorporate as many efficiency drivers as possible to ensure swift return on investment. One of the key areas for improvement was document security. This was addressed with a FollowMe system using RSA’s existing door access cards to create a proximity system requiring users to “swipe” the card at the relevant device in order to initiate their print job. This fulfilled the dual ambition of increasing document security and eliminating uncollected printouts and therefore paper waste. Paper consumption was also significantly reduced by the decision to set all the new devices to print double-sided as standard.
In common with all businesses, RSA wanted to reduce operational costs associated with its print fleet. Rationalising the number of devices from one per eight employees to one per twenty-one employees immediately delivered a cost reduction. This was derived from fewer direct costs, such as supplies and maintenance, and reduced indirect costs, such as electricity. KYOCERA’s unique ECOSYS technology also ensured that toner costs for the new fleet were minimised, through the elimination of costly cartridges.
The new system needed to deliver maximum uptime, swift fault resolution and ensure that each employee had convenient access to the relevant functionality they needed for productive working. Allied to this was the imperative for detailed management information that would deliver live fleet monitoring , flagging up areas where devices were being over- or under-utilised, in order to allow dynamic fleet optimisation to meet the evolving needs of the company.
Following a comprehensive audit of existing facilities, and in-depth consultation with power users Kyocera designed a solution that would ensure that each RSA employee had convenient access to the printing, copying, faxing and scanning facilities that they required. This alone improved reliability, as devices were no longer being under or overused. Kyocera has also put in place strict SLAs for device uptime and fault resolution, with defined paths of escalation that ensure that no device is out of action for more than 8 hours. The fleet is constantly monitored by software which delivers real-time information on device status and performance. This enables the continuous optimisation of the system, which in turn promotes ongoing reliability.
The comprehensive management information also gives RSA absolute control over and visibility of consumables costs, allowing for accurate budgeting and financial management of the fleet. Commenting on the level of management information now available, James de Watteville says: “The information we now have allows us full visibility of the expenditure associated with the network, and allows us to budget accurately for future spend taking into account any changes in print volume or in the configuration of the system.”
The Challenge of Change
When undertaking a project of this magnitude, there is an important human factor to consider. RSA was changing the ratio of printers to people from 1:8 to 1:21, and the company knew that this could not be accomplished without the support of those who would be affected by the changes. Kyocera Mita’s RSA account director Stewart Dudding explains: “Users can react very strongly on hearing that they are being asked to change the way they work. The removal of someone’s personal printer is an oddly emotive issue, so we knew that for the project to be successful, we would need everyone to understand the major benefits that RSA would realise following the implementation of the project.”
Employee engagement started at a very early stage, as Stewart explains: “We knew that some staff members would be more affected than others, so we took care to identify these “power users” at an early stage and involve them in the design process. We also worked with RSA and their technology partner Accenture to put in place a communications plan that would ensure that users were fully aware of the project’s implementation schedule. We wanted RSA’s staff to feel very positive about the benefits that the new system would bring in terms of reliability, and also the environmental improvements.”
Kyocera carried out a series of roadshows at each of RSA’s locations which allowed users to ask any questions of the project team and to try out the new hardware. A series of posters was also created highlighting the top line benefits that RSA employees would see in terms of functionality, reliability and reduced paper consumption.
“The regular flow of information regarding the project, its benefits, and the operational aspects of the deployment helped to minimise negative reactions to the changes,” explains Stewart. “The overall reaction has been very positive.”
James de Watteville concurs: “This wasn’t just an IT project, it was a whole business project, and as such every stakeholder needed to be kept informed. Running a communications programme alongside the deployment undoubtedly contributed to the overall success of the initiative.”
From the corporate responsibility viewpoint, Paul Pritchard is pleased with the opportunity provided to inform staff of the green elements of the project: “We wanted staff to understand that the environmental and business benefits of this project went hand-in-hand, and that focusing on sustainability brings its own efficiency gains to the organisation.”
Results
The results of the MDS project have so far been dramatic, with major reductions in print volumes, energy and paper consumption. Reliability has also markedly improved, with more than 99% uptime in the year since deployment and average time to fault resolution of only 5.4 hours. “We have more than achieved our ambitions for improving productivity and efficiency with this project,” says James. “Our focus now is to work with Kyocera to continue optimising the system to ensure that cost savings and efficiency gains continue.”
Pre-SPEC Post-SPEC
Number of devices 3,000+ 282
Colour print volume (5yrs) 12,620,880 4,718,912
B&W print volume (5yrs) 268,626,840 153,746,271
Average fix time Up to 3 weeks 5.4 hours
Ongoing relationship
A key element of a Kyocera Managed Document Service is the ongoing relationship between supplier and client. In the case of RSA there is a strong internal commitment to supplier relationship management and this complements Kyocera’s own focus on delivering detailed monthly reports and consultancy. Kyocera also plays an active part in RSA’s Green Supplier Relationship Management programme and is a member of the company’s Supplier CR Forum, which aims to help RSA’s suppliers improve their own sustainability performance while in turn contributing to a stronger CR performance for RSA. Paul Pritchard explains: “Through our Green SRM programme and sustainability forum, suppliers such as Kyocera commit to delivering environmental performance improvements to their products or services supplied to RSA. Kyocera plays an active part in the programme, committing its own longstanding expertise in sustainability to help other RSA partners make advances in their sustainability journeys.”
Summary
RSA’s managed print project has been an unqualified success. “The cost, productivity and environmental benefits have met or exceeded all of our expectations,” confirms James de Watteville. “We are now at the stage where we can look beyond the initial deployment to identify other print-related efficiency opportunities, such as expanding the deployment to include home-based workers and mainframe printing. The strong delivery partnership that we have engendered with Kyocera means that we can be confident that our print network will improve continuously as we move forward.”
Paul Pritchard adds: “The success of this project from a corporate responsibility standpoint is down to the excellent cultural fit between Kyocera and RSA. Kyocera’s willingness to engage at a level beyond that usually seen from a supplier has enabled both organisations to benefit from the relationship.”
