Case Study: Big Four Consulting Firm
Modernizing enterprise mail services improves regulatory compliance and security.
About our customer
Ricoh and a global commercial real estate services company worked together to improve outdated, costly and potentially risky processes for their mutual customer, a multinational professional services company — considered one of the Big Four consulting firms. The professional services organization helps its clients find new solutions to complex issues, adding value and insights around business functions such as assurance, consulting, law, strategy, tax, transactions, IT and cybersecurity, among others. Enabled by data and technology, the Big Four firm works in over 150 countries to help customers grow, transform and operate efficiently.
“We partnered with Ricoh to help our customer, a Big Four firm, fix its legacy mail and shipping processes and systems, which were negatively affecting their business. With managed mail services and process automation, the impressive results speak for themselves — simplified and secured workflows and guaranteed compliance.”
— Sr. Contract Administrator
Global Commercial Real Estate Services Company
Challenge
Remote workers had trouble accessing mail and shipping outbound packages
Mail access issues resulted in missing critical and sensitive timelines and jeopardized compliance
Outdated software did not optimize savings for heavier pieces over 13 ounces or packages
High retail postage and shipping costs due to no access to commercial mailing and shipping rate options
Inconsistent internal processing system lacked functionality for enterprise visibility, control and oversight
The Big Four firm faced multiple challenges with its inbound chain of custody for piece tracking/reporting and outbound mail and parcel shipping optimization, threatening potential non-compliance. In short, receiving and sending mail and parcels was problematic. When remote workers noticed they were missing critical deadlines due to issues with the organization’s legacy mail and shipping processes, management knew something had to change, and fast. The firm needed to modernize its inbound and outbound mail/shipping with a data-driven, cost-effective, end-to-end managed services technology program.
Solution
“Together with Ricoh, we went above and beyond for our client by implementing new digital processes. Now, the client’s remote and hybrid employees have the confidence and peace of mind they need to allow them to focus on elevating their customer experience and creating better business outcomes.”
— Sr. Contract Administrator, Global Commercial Real Estate Services Company
Provided accountability and visibility for all mail and shipping processes with SendPro Enterprise and PitneyShip Pro
Supplied the firm access to a dedicated team of experts both on-site and off-site
Created a postal/freight ticketing system and hotline that provided postal/shipping guidance
Initiated ongoing scheduled consultative meetings to notify customer management of changing requirements and regulations
The Ricoh team set up an enterprise solution to manage mail services and modernize the firm’s 11 hubs and 103 locations in the U.S. with over 665,000 end users. The team monitored various types of mail and parcel spend, including metered, Certified, stamped, USPS, and FedEx, which was often driven by tax cycles. Based on their findings, they used PitneyShip Pro to streamline and cut costs for certified mail pieces weighing 13 ounces or more. Implementation was fast, only taking 1.5 weeks with SendPro Enterprise already in place.
The teams also embedded a digital accountability workflow with action alerts for mail, which sped up the time-to-act and allowed for easy integration and automation in the future. Operationally, the Ricoh team made program adjustments by leveraging the on-site mail center infrastructure as well as an off-site strategy.
Ricoh’s dedicated team is led by a Field Implementation Manager, who delivers exceptional insight and service while serving as the firm’s advocate. This partnership included industry-specific subject matter experts and analysts who worked closely with the firm’s organization to ensure service consistency among its distributed on-site staff with small mail services responsibilities.
Results
Reduced mail and shipping rates
Simplified workflows and guaranteed USPS compliance
Customized, enterprise postage meter optimization
Cloud-based, anytime, anywhere accessibility
Achieved compliance ahead of scheduled industry deadlines
This new managed mail services program provides the firm with a scaled and cohesive strategy for all mail and shipping. Through co-innovation and quick implementation, the consulting firm was able to maintain compliance for its mail and shipping, reduce associated costs on services and hardware, and ensure oversight, management and transparency across the enterprise related to secured information and delivery. The firm can also access the cloud-based solution anywhere, anytime with a simplified workflow and user-friendly interface.
Employees now have access to a postal mail/parcel shipping ticketing system and hotline utilizing a Ricoh third-party postal company. Ricoh also provides the firm with mandatory training and notifies management of changing requirements and regulations at a scheduled cadence.
Learn more about automating workflows associated with mail and shipping services, or contact us to discuss your specific needs.