Case Study – Hayward School
Background
Hayward School is a secondary school with over 1000 pupils based in Bolton, Lancashire. The school
recognised the limitations of their current printer fleet and came to the decision that they needed to update
their printing and copying facilities. They were concerned about the spiralling cost of print and copying over
recent years and the future implications of a move to their new school with a new IT infrastructure. Therefore,
they identified a few key objectives that they needed to meet. Their primary goal was to take better control of
their print and copy costs and to provide better functionality for staff and students alike. They also wanted to
reduce waste, remove bottlenecks and conflict areas and have a positive impact on the environment. Whilst
the School wanted to benefit from the solution immediately, it was also important that the solution was
scalable and easily transferable into their new building, which is due to be completed in 2009.
Original Situation
Hayward School had a traditional printer model with a large number of small, dedicated printers dotted
around the School. They had no idea how much they were spending on their printing in terms of consumables
cost and time spent by their IT team fixing and replacing broken devices. They also felt that the functionality of
their printer fleet was, on the whole, very limited and with slow and old printers, printing was without order
and caused conflict when the time came for the students to collect their prints. Lots of output was going
missing, being picked up by the wrong pupils resulting in lots of waste paper at the end of each lesson.
Hayward School asked IOT to carry out its offer of a free of charge Print Audit exercise which would allow them
to obtain a clear understanding of the printer and copier fleet in terms of number of devices, functionality,
volume throughput and annual cost of production.
The print audit exercise was carried out and the findings communicated to the school via a Print Audit
Findings Document and presentation. Some of the key findings were as follows;

The School had in total 54 printers, 45 of which were colour devices and 9 mono devices. The volume
generated by these printers was 693,765 pages per annum. This consisted of 612,533 mono pages and 81,232
colour pages.

The average volume of mono prints going through each printer was 11,343 per annum. The average
number of colour prints going through the colour devices was 1,805

Based on 7.5% toner coverage, the annual cost of printing to the 54 devices was £15,000, of which £7,451
relates to mono printing and £7,549 to colour printing.

The average cost per page for mono prints was 1.2 pence. The average cost per page for colour prints was
9.3 pence

In terms of functionality, only 2 devices had the facility to automatically print on both sides of the paper
as standard and none could print to A3. Paper input supplies were also limited, mostly to between 100 and
150 sheets.

In addition to the printers, there were also 4 Xerox photocopiers, 3 mono and 1 colour which were
located in the reprographics room (2), the library and the admin office
Solution
Once the audit was completed IOT proposed a solution which would allow Hayward School to reduce their
costs for printing and copying. The solution enabled the school to account for all output and associated
expenditure, not to mention develop a revenue stream from those who were printing excessively, should they
choose to do so. In addition it helped to reduce waste and bottlenecks, whilst improving the functionality of
the printing, copying and scanning facilities. The solution also offered clear environmental benefits in terms of
reduced power and paper usage.
Due to the multi-block layout of the current school building, the initial solution mixed a number of strategically
placed Multi Functional Printers (MFPs), soaking up most of the volume, with a number of existing printers for
dedicated rooms, such as the Head Teachers Office, where it was simply not practical for him to walk to the
nearest MFP.
In total IOT supplied 8 MFPs, which included replacing the current Xerox machines, and 19 existing printers
remained in place. The total fleet of output devices has currently reduced from 58 devices to 27 devices, whilst
improving the functionality and user experience. The number of devices will reduce further on the move to the
new school.
The MFP’s and traditional printers have been incorporated into a “Follow-You” copy and print control solution.
With the Follow You Solution, staff and pupils can collect their prints from any of the devices in the building, at
any time of day, by identifying themselves at the device using their proximity card. They can also manage all of
their print jobs from the device, deleting ones they don’t need or print them all out in one go. Each pupil was
given a printing & copying quota and once this has been used they are forced to approach their teacher and
justify why they should have their balance replenished.
Benefits of Solution
Cost
The print and copy output is charged to the school on a cost per copy/print basis based upon the actual
number of copies and prints taken. Unlike the traditional print model the cost per copy/print does not alter
depending on the amount of toner used on each page and is significantly lower than the average page costs of
traditional printers. In addition to the cost benefit this allows the School to account and budget for future print
costs with confidence.
The new annual cost of their printing and copying is £5562 compared to £15,001 on the traditional fleet.. This
represents an annual saving of £9438, but in reality the savings will be larger. This is because the cost per
copy/print charged for service on the MFPs not only includes all toner, parts and consumables, but also
includes the services of a highly qualified engineering and IT support department, which was not accounted for
within the cost figure for the traditional fleet. Service of the new fleet is taken care of by IOT and therefore
valuable time has been freed up for the school’s IT department – another hidden cost saving.
Increased Functionality
With the ability to print, copy and scan from each MFP, functionality has been greatly increased for all users.
Print speeds of up to 110 pages per minute are now available compared to a maximum of 29 ppm previously.
All users can print double sided and on A3 as standard and colour output is more widely available, but is
closely controlled and monitored.
Environmental
The significantly reduced number of devices, within the new solution, use far less power than the old fleet and
automatic double siding as standard has produced significant paper savings. Both of these factors resulting in
economic and environmental benefits. The School has also signed up to our “Seeds for Africa” initiative where
a new fruit tree will be planted in Africa for every 100,000 pages they produce.
Reduced Bottlenecks & Waste
With the implementation of the “Follow-You” solution, any pupil or member of staff can now collect their
prints from any machine whenever they want. This greatly reduces bottlenecks that occurred at the end of
each lesson when many pupils queue to obtain their prints. This process could often cause conflict and
flashpoints with pupils not finding their prints, or collecting incorrect prints resulting in large amounts of waste
being left at each device after every lesson.
In addition, pupils can now select only the jobs they require, and any jobs printed in error can be deleted
before they are produced. This, coupled with a set balance assigned to each pupil, ensures that abuse and
waste is kept to a minimum, saving money and paper and providing a much more palatable printing
environment.
Cost recovery
The set balance assigned to each pupil not only limits their printing but also defines boundaries, and gives
them responsibility over their own actions. Once this balance runs out the pupil is forced to speak to their
teacher to replenish their balance. As every print and copy is closely monitored, this will ensure that abuse is
minimised. One choice the School has is to charge the pupils for any top up balance that they require. This is
currently not in operation but they are due to review the process before the 2008/2009 school year begins.
This will allow the School to fix its print budget and to recover costs above this.
Solution Transfer
As there are only 8 MFPs within the new solution, it can be very easily transferred into the new building with
the new open plan layout complimenting the solution further. The School’s plan is to remove all remaining
traditional printers when they move, which will further reduce costs.
Conclusion
By combining low cost multifunctional printers and traditional printers, with a practical and workable print and
copy control solution, Hayward School has comprehensively met all of its objectives in a very short space of
time. They have immediately recognised significant cost savings and enjoyed multiple environmental
advantages, whilst improving the functionality and overall printing experience for every pupil and member of
staff in the school.