North Sydney Council
Greening 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
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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
Location
Customer
Service
MF
D
Printer
Colour
1
Finance
Executive
(Mayor)
Print
B/W
F
ax
MF
D
1
1
2
1
Human
Resources
1
Administration
1
1
Purchasing
1
1
Wyllie Wing
1
PDS
1
Rangers
1
1
Works Section
1
1
NSOP
1
1
Oval
1
1
Function Centre
1
Comm Dev
1
1
2
1
1
Library North
2
1
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
Library Public
2
2
Library Heritage
1
1
1
DMS
1
FDC
1
Total
1
1
Library South
Sub Totals
3
1
1
1
Commincations
F
ax
1
1
AHO
Printer
Colour
1
1
4
Print
B/W
18
1
2
1
10
10
5
25
43
3
1
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
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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
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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.