Case Study: Midwest community school district
School district’s print transformation leads to operational efficiency, enhanced quality, increased volume and faster delivery times.
About our customer
A large, midwestern, public community school district operates nearly 20 schools and is one of the largest employers in the city with over 1,800 employees and growing due to the expansion of existing schools. The district currently serves as a staple in its community, with a total of about 10,000 students in its elementary, middle and high schools.
“I cannot count the times that our Ricoh partners have come to us with innovative products, services, solutions and most importantly, out-of-the-box thinking. As a result, we’re currently in the process of evaluating game-changing technologies that will truly take our print operation to the next level.”
— Chief Communications Officer, School District
Challenge
Expense of current equipment with mediocre quality
Decentralized infrastructure
Difficult to meet delivery dates and volume demands
Reliance on tech support for maintenance and repair
Evolving material-type demands
The relationship between Ricoh and the district began about 10 years ago when its Chief Communication Officer (CCO) began managing the print center. The CCO recognized that the district needed a complete print transformation; it had become a real challenge to print the required volume on time, meet end-user quality standards, run reliably without disruptive downtime, and most importantly, do so in a cost-efficient way.
Solution
“We’ve got lots of pressures coming from many directions and working with Ricoh and implementing their technology solutions takes some of that pressure off us. That allows us to make sure that, first and foremost, we're doing the best we can for the educators and students in our district.”
— Director of Technology, School District
Increased quality, productivity and scalability with new printers
Trained staff in operations, maintenance and repair of equipment
Created opportunities for meeting evolving materials needs
Deployed BullWall Ransomware Containment
The first step was to replace the district’s inefficient equipment with several RICOH Pro 8120s and a RICOH Pro C5100. As the print center expanded, they added several RICOH 8320 B&W high-production multifunction printers and a RICOH Pro C7210SX Graphic Arts color production printer, enabling faster jobs with higher volumes. They added Plockmatic technology, an advanced booklet-making finisher and binding services that resulted in higher quality materials, as well as expedited production.
“Equipment and cost-savings are certainly important,” said the Director of Technology. “But with Ricoh, we also receive the continual training and support that are so critical to running this type of operation. Thanks to that training — in operating, maintaining and repairing our equipment — we have truly exceeded our expectations in terms of reliable running time, product quality and meeting delivery dates.”
Lastly, given that the district handles tremendous volumes of personal data across multiple systems, every possible precaution must be taken to secure their data. For this reason, the district strengthened its security with BullWall Ransomware Containment. “A data breach would be a complete disaster. Adding ransomware containment was a simple decision to make,” stated the Director of Technology.
Results
Operational efficiency lowers costs and improves speed to market
Enhanced finished materials quality
Reduced equipment maintenance and repair times after training
Presented opportunities for future growth and expansion
With faster, more capable and more reliable equipment, the district is meeting the printed material demands of its schools and operating the print center much more cost-effectively. The relationship is a true partnership, which aligns well with the district’s mission to utilize the latest technologies and provide their educators and students with high-quality printed materials. To that end, they’ve invested nearly $20 million in technology over the last five years, with Ricoh continuing to play an instrumental role in helping the district achieve its operational, security and growth goals.
The Director of Technology says how truly appreciative he is of the co-innovation approach Ricoh takes and considers it the driving force behind the district’s print transformation. “Working together in a real partnership puts a lot of brain power behind the decisions we make for today, and tomorrow, and that’s been key to our evolution.”
To learn more about our cybersecurity solution, visit Ransomware Containment. For a case study on Plockmatic implementation, visit PC Creative Services.