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Lucent replaces more than 150 single-purpose devices with less than a tenth the number of MFDs.
At a glance
The Challenge
Tender process
The hardware
Results are key
The Canon difference
At a glance
Lucent
Lucent is a leading global supplier of communications networking equipment, including Internet networking infrastructure for service providers, optical networking, wireless networks and communications networking support and services.
Industry
Communications
Geographies
Worldwide - although the offices covered by this case study are specifically Sydney, Melbourne and Wellington (New Zealand).
Canon Products Used
1x imageRUNNER iR C3100;
8x imageRUNNER iR3320i; 1x imageRUNNER iR2200; 3x imageRUNNER iR3200;
"Between the technology, the price and the overall scope of the recommendation, we could see that Canon was the real leader in this area. There would have been nothing worse than implementing another company's solution and it didn't function properly or have the right support."
Wendy Zito, Assistant Facilities Manager at The Tungsten Group
Telecommunications is big business, and as you'd expect from a leader like Lucent, effective communication between staff and with stakeholders is an integral part of this company's success.
Headquartered in North America with about 31,500 employees worldwide, Lucent is a leading global supplier of communications networking equipment, including Internet networking infrastructure for service providers, optical networking, wireless networks and communications networking support and services. For fiscal 2004, the company reported $US9.05 billion in revenues.
The Challenge
When Lucent reviewed its printing and communication equipment in early 2004, it found that not only were many of its printers, copiers, fax machines and scanners facing obsolescence, but a slow process of acquisitions over the past decade had seen 133 different single-use devices installed into the Sydney office alone. Lucent's facilities management staff knew this number could be reduced with careful management and planning.
"You can imagine what it was like trying to service all these different devices," said Novri Latief, IT Manager at Lucent. "Even just in terms of trying to keep toner cartridges or ink for all the different printers was a nightmare - and that's before you even consider what it was like trying to deal with several different companies for servicing and related issues on all the devices."
On a more environmental note, it was also determined that operating so many devices was costing a lot more in power and consumables than would a handful of more capable and robust devices.
"Certainly, one of the greatest challenges we've ever had was the need to consolidate single-function devices down to multifunction devices at the Sydney, Melbourne and Wellington offices," said Tony Eames, Facilities Manager at The Tungsten Group, which is outsourced to look after all of Lucent's facilities requirements. "When we sat down and looked at this on paper, we could see that our work was cut out for us with 133 devices in the Sydney office, 17 in Melbourne and five in Wellington, all of which all needed to be consolidated."
Tender process
As Lucent had such a broad array of devices, it already had relationships with several printing vendors, including Canon. Accordingly, Canon was one of the four vendors invited to recommend how the business could consolidate its fleet of communication devices.
Canon staff conducted a site audit at Lucent in conjunction with Mr Latief and representatives from The Tungsten Group. Alongside its competitors, Canon presented its findings and recommendations - including that the Sydney office could cut its printing costs by more than 40% per annum - and waited for Lucent to make its decision.
"Between the technology, the price and the overall scope of the recommendation, we could see that Canon was the real leader in this area," said Wendy Zito, Assistant Facilities Manager at The Tungsten Group. "There would have been nothing worse than implementing another company's solution and it didn't function properly or have the right support."
The hardware
Canon replaced the 133 single-function devices in the Sydney office with just nine multifunction devices (MFDs) from it's imageRUNNER family. This was repeated in Melbourne and Auckland where the device fleets went from 17 and five, respectively, to just three in each location.
The devices selected are ideal for the broad range of printing done by Lucent departments. Fast colour machines such as the imageRUNNER iR C3200 have been placed in sales and marketing where the need to produce colour documents, sometimes in booklet form, is important. Colour devices were also required in the IT department, where high-quality colour scanning is a real necessity.
Meanwhile, lower speed and black & white devices were placed in areas such as warehouses. These locations had low print volumes and limited need for colour, but having the full capability of an MFD still enables them to have convenient access to scanning, printing and faxing in a simple integrated device.
"When we implemented the machines at one site - Wellington was first - it became easier to implement at the next," said Mr Eames. "We did Wellington first because it was a small office and relatively straightforward. Then we tackled Sydney, which was the big one, followed by Melbourne, which was simple in comparison. By this time, we had it all under control to the point where we were able to address concerns before they even came up. That definitely made staff feel more at ease during the process."
Results are key
Part of the initial selection process saw Lucent number crunching with Canon to arrive at some quite spectacular figures. In the Sydney office, for example, besides all the practical benefits of implementing the MFDs, approximate cost savings were determined to be a massive 41% per annum. For Melbourne and Wellington, the figures were 19% and 28% per annum, respectively.
In practical terms, the MFD installation has delivered many benefits to users.
"I've noticed a lot of people are now using the scanning function of the MFDs. Rather than using a lot of paper, they just scan things and send them to colleagues," said Mr Eames. "The speed of the devices is great as well, compared to the speeds of the individual printers on people's desks which we were replacing."
Practical benefits of the implementation ranged from a reduction in the office space taken up by devices to it being easier for IT to support them.
"Teaching our staff the ins and outs of a handful of devices is a lot easier than trying to stay on top of the 133 devices we had in Sydney alone!" said Mr Latief. "The flow-on effect of this is, of course, that our technicians can understand the units more intimately than when they were required to be the masters of so many."
The Canon difference
For departments across Lucent, the arrival of the MFDs was initially quite a cultural shift. With the number devices that had previously been operated, many staff were used to having their own personal printer.
When the new imageRUNNERs arrived, one of the issues raised by staff was how they would ensure the security of their documents now that they were sharing printers. This was soon overcome by teaching staff to send their printing to the MFD using it's 'secure print' function, then 'unlocking' the print job once they were physically standing at the device - one of the simplest, yet most effective, methods of document security available.
"We worked a lot with Canon consultants in the early stages of the project to ensure we connected everything to the server correctly and everything was at full capability and functionality," said Mr Latief. "Canon also offered basic and advanced training to all staff, depending on the user's role. This was a great way to reinforce the advanced features of the MFDs, such as security, double-sided printing and booklet making."
Lucent ensured that at least a few people from each business unit went to the advanced training. A result of this has been that Canon rarely has to be consulted regarding the day-to-day operation of the devices.
"Obviously, basic training can't cover everything in an hour, so we made sure enough did advanced training, in addition to Canon providing a CD with video tutorials if anyone needs a little refresher," said Ms Zito. "Even if you want to learn something as basic as photocopying, you can watch the CD and a lady appears onscreen and shows you how to do it all. It's great."
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