Transforming Print Operations with a Unified, Cost-Efficient Fleet
North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust
North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust is a statutory, not-for-profit, public benefit corporation. It delivers acute care services to a growing catchment of approximately 850,000 residents living in Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire and the neighbouring counties of Norfolk and Bedfordshire. Konica Minolta has had a productive print partnership with North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust for over 10 years.
Challenges
North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust was looking to refresh its multifunctional print fleet with the assistance of its long-term partner Konica Minolta Business Solutions (UK) Ltd. Previously, North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust had over 100 multifunctional devices with separate print contracts across its fleet. Each contract was set for five years, and the overlap of contracts made it a complex challenge to manage the operational needs and lifespan fleet as a whole.
With a departmental cross-charge for print, it was also difficult to accurately calculate the costs for print and rental of the applicable print device for billing to the appropriate department. Additionally, having so many concurrent contracts also made it a challenge to process and manage invoices. The Trust had also reached the stage where many of the devices had reached end-of-life and needed replacing and refreshing.
The Trust wanted to use an all-inclusive cost-per-copy model instead to rationalise its print spending, reduce wastage, and significantly simplify its billing procedures.
Solution
In close consultation with Konica Minolta Business Solutions (UK) Ltd, and with expert advice from its account team, North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust explored the options to renew its print fleet whilst reducing costs and operational complexity. Following a Direct Award that was signed in October 2023, Konica Minolta installed a new fleet of 235 multifunctional devices, predominately at Peterborough City Hospital and Hinchingbrooke Hospital, but also at the Ely and Stamford sites. Crucially, this features a single all-inclusive cost per-copy model for billing, with a uniform cost for each device, that has provided a flexible and scalable solution to the Trust’s needs.
As well as installing the new multifunctional print devices, Konica Minolta has also supplied the latest SafeQ Print Management Software which provides effective and efficient management of printing and scanning and includes options for pull printing, mobile printing, guest printing, scan management, and accounting/cost recovery.
Benefits, Results, ROI, Future
North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust now has a single all-inclusive print contract with Konica Minolta. Previously, the Trust had been billed four times a year, which had generated 800 invoices annually over the 100 contracts. This has now been reduced to eight annual invoices overall – saving considerable processing time and resources for the finance team.
Additionally, the new contract’s cost-per-copy model includes rental costs, so the fees are transparent and accountable, enabling the Trust to accurately cross-charge departments for the costs of copies they use. With the same set cost for each print device and every department just paying the price per copy, the devices can also be located wherever they are required with no concerns about additional costs for the department hosting it. The cost-per-copy model features cost bands which are reviewed annually to ensure the Trust is paying the appropriate cost in relation to print output and to cover rental charges. With a single contract in place, the Trust can also easily scale its print fleet to meet increasing or reducing needs for improved flexibility of print and costs.
With print service reliability and availability being key factors, North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust enjoys demonstrably high levels of support. Konica Minolta provides Quarterly Reviews with a Customer Excellence Manager who compares performance with the stipulated SLAs, and the latest results showed:
- A highly impressive Uptime of 99.6% (with an SLA stipulation of 95%)
- A Restore Time average of 5.46 hours (with an SLA stipulation of 6 hours)
- A First Time Fix rate of 95% (with an SLA stipulation of 95%)
Such has been the success of Konica Minolta’s revised managed print contract and technical support, North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust has also asked it to audit the Trust’s wider print fleet to look for further potential service improvements and cost rationalisation as well.
Enhancing Professional Print
Konica Minolta empowers producers of high-volume print and communications through innovation and cutting-edge technologies, combining our global heritage and expertise to deliver our customers’ vision for a sustainable and brighter future. We use our Ignite Discovery consultative discovery approach to build trust with our customers and to accurately discover their business challenges. From these insights, Konica Minolta’s team of subject matter experts collaborates with a network of industry-leading and trusted partners to create bespoke solutions to meet our customers’ goals. Our highly reliable and effective hardware and software print solutions aid greater productivity by automating repetitive production tasks, saving time and money, and delivering real value that addresses real-world business challenges – all whilst fully enabling our customers to embrace and exploit commercial opportunities and print possibilities.