North Sydney CouncilGreening IT

Multi Function Devices

Introduction

• There were 18 MFD’s slowly developed over a 3 year period since 2008

• The current lease with Toshiba was ending on January 14th 2011

• Several printers and fax machines had started to fail

• Colour printers were being over used, adding extreme costs

Review of the fleet

• End users were consulted

• Sustainability visions were being realised through new Council policy

• Joint projects such as the Scanning Project were being introduced

• Meterage/usage, staff levels, map of infrastructure charted

Selecting a group

• Purchasing - for procurement activities

• IT for specialised information and being a large component of the installation and removal process

• Document Management Services - for the largest end user component

• Handy Hint – Select an environmental staff member for next time.

Initial process

• Developing a project plan

• Discussions with end users on capabilities required

• Current hardware fleet for printing, scanning, faxing and copying – 43 devices in total

• Research of the market place for potential vendors

• IT specifications

• Selected staff member in each location selected as a contact for the MFD

Problems and Issues

• Server space

• Costs of maintaining current hardware in time (labour and resources), maintenance and consumables

• Energy consumption of added devices

• Machine downtime

Current Costs

• Approximately $30,000 on toners for colour printers alone

• Approximately $8,000 per year for maintenance on printers

• Unknown quantity of excess paper usage

• Energy consumption

Logistics

• North Sydney Council has several small offices located across the organisation

• This includes the offsite locations such as Function Centre (2 staff), Family Day Care (3 staff), Pool, Oval, etc

• Other locations were not small enough for one machine but not big enough for two

Barriers to move to MFD

• The major barrier to move to MFD’s was the end users concern of only have one machine that could perform all tasks. Effects concerned such as:

-what if the machine breaks down-accumulation of people waiting at the one location-no backup-complicated use and need for training-change in general

Process

• Step One – after research and consultation a recommendation was presented to GM and Directors

• Step Two – documentation with hardware, software and other specifications was developed

• Step Three – meet with vendors to discuss the document and outcome desired

• Step Four – evaluate submissions

Document and Evaluation

• The document was broken up into sections with information on each location such as, staff, meterage, drawers, paper and speed

• The IT specifications were including mandatory requirements and questions pertaining to IT needs with that vendor

• Other information including managed print service opportunities and environmental sustainability initiatives

Document and Evaluation

• The evaluation criteria was:

- Pricing (hardware (purchase or lease) and meterage) All pricing had to include installation, training, maintenance, and toner. Plus other software pricing.

- Machine capabilities – hardware and software

- Company information – terms and conditions

- Environmental sustainability

Demonstration

• The top two vendors selected were visited for a demonstration to confirm the submission evaluation – sample testing.

• It was found a demonstration should have been performed before the submission. It was felt not all vendors grasped the idea for Council in terms of machines selected for each location. At the time it was unavoidable due to time and resources even though the project was started 18 months before.

Lease V Purchase

• The decision to purchase was based on several benefits.• - not limited to the term of the lease with the machine• - no added costs at the end of the life should be lease go over• - machines with limited use could be kept for a longer period of

time to gain cost benefit• - machines do not have to be changed all at once disturbing the

organisation or taking up time with resources (especially IT)• There are of course benefits to leasing but depends on the size

of the fleet and budget capabilities of the organisation

Installation and removal

• Communication was the key to success with the change over of the MFD’s and notification of the removal of the printers and fax machines existing in the organisation. GET A PROJECT PLAN HAPPENING

• Communication also needed to be open and clear with the vendor and IT department

Installation and removal

• There were many challenges particularly as this installation took place in January where staff were limited in each location.

• Removal of machines needed to be scheduled so as not to leave a section without a printer but also needed room to store

Installation and removal

• IT requirements were large and complex.

• IP addresses needed to be set up for each location and other server information for the installation officers of the vendor

• Print drivers set up

• Software complications – the software selected for the secure print option with the machines required a lot of hours from IT and the vendor

• Configuration – meet with I/O officers prior

Training

• Once machines were installed it seemed to work well by delaying the training for about a week.

• Some locations requested earlier training but others left were able to have direct questions for the vendor from their recent experience.

• Need to develop a training schedule and pass around to everyone so they can be there. Also nominate staff to be the sharers of information.

Outcome

Reduction from 43 print devices and 5 fax machines to 25 MFD’s and 4

printers (kept for special circumstances)

See table

LocationMFD

Print B/W

Printer Colour

Fax  

MFD

Print B/W

Printer Colour

Fax

Customer Service 1     1   1      

Finance   2       1      

Executive (Mayor) 1   1     1      

Human Resources   1       1      

Administration 1         1      

Purchasing 1         1      

Wyllie Wing 1   1     2      

PDS 1 4 1 1   2 3    

Rangers 1   1     1      

Works Section 1   1 1   1      

NSOP 1         1      

Oval 1         1      

Function Centre 1   2 1   1      

AHO   1 1     1   1  

Comm Dev 1   1     1      

Library North     1 1   1      

Library South 1         1      

Library Public 2         2      

Library Heritage 1         1      

Commincations   1              

DMS 1 1       2      

FDC 1         1      

Sub Totals 18 10 10 5   25 3 1  

Total         43       29

Secure Print

• In short secure print means that all print activities have to be selected at the machine to be collected.

• Printing will not automatically happen from the PC

• The use of an ID card or pin number

Advantages of Secure Print

• Allows for confidential printing when minimising hardware

• Reduces paper consumption by not printing items accidently selected

• Allows print jobs to be selected from any device – especially if one device is in use or down

• Deletes all unwanted (uncollected) print jobs overnight

Measuring activity

• Most secure print software programs will provide reporting mechanisms

• They will provide information on the print, scan, copy and fax activities

• This includes colour, black and white, duplex and simplex.

• As well as the deleted print jobs

Conclusion

• Reduced overall fleet size by 34%• Reduced overall printing capacity by 13%• Reduced overall energy consumption by 23%

Despite increase in MFD fleet volume by 40%• Reduced energy consumption per page printed by

28% (Advanced models) and 54% (Image Runner)• Increased number of pages able to be printed per

unit of energy by 40% (Advanced models) and 120% (Image Runner)

• Decreased spend by approximately $65,000 over a 3 year period

QBL Reporting

• Environmental – decreased energy consumption by 23% and

reduced paper and toner waste

• Financial – saving of approx $20,000 p.a

• Social – promoting Council image and example to businesses in the community

• Governance – applying Green Purchasing, Procurement and Organisational Sustainability policies alongside Councils 2020 Vision

Handy Hints• Review fleet (functionalities required) & end user advice• Combine projects• Map out infrastructure• Gather data on activity• Vendor research• Maintenance and responsibility plan• What is the desired outcome• Document and evaluation preparation• Team development and commitment• Communication lines (for all)• Administrative responsibilities• Keep records of all meetings with team and vendor• Minimise models in fleet• Calculate projected energy consumption• Have an installation plan in place with recommended timelines• Expect problems

Questions• In addition to the general sustainability effects of reducing hardware in the organisation there are also added sustainability contributors from

each individual vendor. Eg. Toner cartridges are emptied into a resevoir before allowing the change so toners cannot be removed before they are completely empty.

• Automatic toner and meter alerts.