THE COMPANY
London Southbank University is a dynamic, forward thinking organisation which demands an unparalleled level of quality and service to provide an extremely high level of student satisfaction through its 1700 staff to its 25,000 students.
Prior to M2 being chosen as the preferred supplier what did the university do for printing and copying?
Since first outsourcing print services in 1992 the contract has been given to 3 different companies before M2. All of the previous solutions provided have involved a small on-site managed reprographic print service with a limited capacity. The bulk of printing services were delivered through an off-site print hub. Most print requests were received as “hard copy” with only 10% being received as orders via e-mail. There was little provision for colour work on-site, no poster printing and no capability for edge to edge printing or paper weights over 160gsm. There was an inherent lack of flexibility with this system which precluded interaction with the customer during the production process. Once work was sent off-site it was difficult to control, mistakes could occur, quality issues could not be dealt with easily and turn-around times would be dictated by the transport arrangements. All of which were all concerns for the University. There was also a fleet of stand alone copiers throughout the campus, there were no multi-functional machines.
WHY WE WERE CHOSEN
When choosing a supplier in August 2007 for the following three to five years it was important to the University to choose a supplier with an understanding of the complete print market. Lithographic, screen print, wide format digital, as well as reprographic colour and black and white. It was equally important to be able to supply a well maintained fleet and to have the expertise to work with the University’s IT staff to integrate these devices into their network.
The in-depth analysis of LSBU’s requirements where discovered using the M2 Docu-Audit and allowed the M2 docu-logic team to tailor a solution to fit. The selection committee were particularly impressed by M2’s tender team’s ability to understand the contract and to propose solutions to suit. The willingness and intention to develop the contract was a deciding factor in who to grant the contract to. The university were particularly impressed by M2’s sustainable approach to print services and we were the first company to make a presentation to the University’s sustainable development committee. The company was chosen for its green credentials. The devices are all Energy Star compliant and all components can be recycled..
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M2 SOLUTION
M2 have implemented a M2 Docu-logic solution that provides a central managed print room coupled with a fleet of 160 multi function devices across the campus. These devices are connected to the University’s network and can be used as printers, scanners or fax machines. The whole fleet is monitored from the print room through smart device monitor allowing engineers to respond quickly to any alerts received.
Roughly a quarter of the fleet are in public areas or in shared office spaces, these devices are more closely monitored to check they do not run out of toner or staples and are visited daily to top up with paper.
M2 operate a collection service throughout the University for used toner bottles and parts, which are sent for recycling.
98% of the 6,500 jobs per year are now handled on-site in the M2 Managed Docu-centre where before around half of the jobs were printed outside the University. Our equipment allows now for print variations up to SRA3 to weights of 300gsm, In colour or black and white. We produce over 20 million prints per annum.
The main print room devices run at 135 copies per minute black and white and 65 copies per minute colour. This is more than a 100% increase in capacity in on-site print provision. These have provided the University with lower costs for many items and faster turn around times, lower environmental impact (no transport costs)
Part of the M2 Docu-flow solution includes a unique on-line ordering system, developed in conjunction with the University. Now up to 70% of the work is received online and at peak times may reach 100 jobs per day, which are turned around in a very short time scale. It is important to LSBU that the qualities of the products we supply are extremely high. The quality of a printed document will always be better than that of a photocopy and so we encourage the use of the on-line ordering system and provide a scanning and OCR service for hard copy, returning a word document to the customer for editing.
BENEFITS TO LSBU
M2’s permanent staff of 5 provides advice and service from 7a.m. to 7p.m. within the print room. At busy times of the year this team is expanded to cope with increased demand and additional equipment may be added to that usually on-site. During peak demand the opening times are increased to further expand our capacity
Jobs which need to be done by specialist outsourced suppliers are now handled by our expert staff on-site. Their knowledge of the print industry and links with approved suppliers allow cost effective production of any print related product. Examples include perfect binding, foil blocking, die cutting, eyeleted vinyl banners, screen printing etc.
A monthly management information report is provided which includes robust quality, service level and KPI data. This allows University staff to monitor improvements with the contract and to compare a range of data with established trends from previous years. Customer feedback is included in this report. These reports are showing that all the measures we have introduced are resulting in an increase in performance with customer satisfaction at an all time high whilst costs are being kept down.
A monthly statement is supplied which details all completed print jobs and the performance of each fleet device. This is passed to University staff and any detail is checked before the statement is broken down by cost centre and passed to individual budget holders. Our pricing is based on an agreed structure and is open to scrutiny, bills for any ancillary services work are provided as part of the statement process.
99.8% of jobs in the last year were delivered on-time, a success level we proud of and an improvement on previous contractors.
We have a procedures guide for on-site staff which has been agreed with the University. This ensures that we work seamlessly within the University structure and provide an excellent level of service.
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“By outsourcing to the M2 Managed Print Service program, it allows my IT team to focus on improving our internal and external systems to enhance productivity and improve customer service”
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