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PRINT.IT
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OKI MPS
MPS implementations often focus on device
consolidation but, as this OKI MPS for the
Aut Even hospital shows, it is possible to
achieve big cost savings without significantly
reducing the number of printers deployed
A stitch in time
Managing printers is one of
those responsibilities that
often gets tagged onto the end
of a job description. Yet, it can
be extremely time-consuming.
Just ask Yvonne Kehoe of
Aut Even private hospital in
Kilkenny. She is the hospital
IT manager, but instead of
addressing complex IT issues,
she found that she was
spending more and more time
ordering new toners and fixing
paper jams on the hospital’s
52 printing devices.
Aut Even Hospital has 71
patient beds and around 50
consultants specialising in a
wide range of medical and
surgical services, including
general surgery, gynaecology,
orthopaedics, cardiology,
diabetes care and direct
access endoscopy. Doctors
are supported by a dedicated,
highly-skilled nursing team and
excellent facilities.
For Kehoe, print was the
one area of operations that
wasn’t working as efficiently
as it should have been. The
hospital had a variety of inkjet
and laser printers, MFPs and
fax machines from seven
different manufacturers, which
were used to print hospital
documentation, including
patient labels; wristbands and
care plans for new admissions;
patient information leaflets; and
exercise sheets for physiotherapy
patients. With no maintenance
support agreements for any of
the devices, if something went
wrong it was more than just
inconvenient.
“Take the admissions printer,”
says Kehoe. “It’s a very busy
area and if the printers ceased
to function, firstly the patient’s
experience would be affected
and secondly we wouldn’t have
the information to give to the
nursing staff or to the theatre.
There could be serious delays.
We are talking about people’s
lives here, after all.”
Another problem was the
amount of time spent managing
consumables for such a diverse
mix of devices. “I was ordering
new stock from so many different
places, just trying to manage
everything was taking a lot of my
time. And then there was the job
of chasing invoices and making
sure everything was up to date
on that side,” Kehoe explains.
So when Kilkenny-based IT
solutions company Business IT
Solutions (BITS) suggested to
Kehoe that the hospital try OKI’s
Managed Print Services (MPS), it
seemed like a lifeline.
Print audit
OKI’s first step was to assess the
volume of printing the hospital
did in a month. “We’d never
investigated this before: we just
did what we did so we had no
idea what we really needed,”
says Kehoe.
Based on its findings, OKI
reduced the hospital’s printer
stock from 52 to 47 devices. This
is a smaller reduction than many
MPS engagements because it was
decided to keep a mono A4 device
in consultants’ private offices and
consulting rooms in the interests
of patient confidentiality, with
device consolidation limited to
reception and admin areas. Even
so, by standardising on energy-
efficient devices from a single
manufacturer, the hospital has
still been able to cut print costs
by 23%.
One of the main benefits
of the MPS is the fact that
consumables are now replaced
as and when they are needed.
“There’s no consumable
management needed from
my side now,” Kehoe says.
“The majority of machines are
networked and we have the
option of remote monitoring and
management. When the printer
detects that a toner is down to,
say, 20%, it automatically orders
a new one and this is sent out
straightaway.”
She adds: “All I do now is
make sure deliveries go to the
correct department, so this
has really freed up my time. We
have also been able to set up a
standing order for payment so all
the tracking down of purchase
orders and matching up of
invoices from seven different
suppliers is now finished.”
There are other benefits that
might seem small individually
but which over time can add
up. For example, Kehoe recalls
that with the old printers staff
would replace toners before they
had run out because warning
signals were being shown. “Now
consumables are monitored
more carefully,” she says. “Also,
where possible, all printing is
double sided which is saving a
good deal of paper. Altogether
we have shaved off almost
a quarter of our printing and
consumables bill.”
In addition, the MPS has
brought greater peace of mind,
not just from the secure print
option that makes printing
confidential material on some
machines very simple, but also
from improved support.
“Recognising how critical
some of the printers are, OKI
has included spare devices
in its service, so if something
goes wrong with the admissions
printer we can replace it
immediately, without having to
wait for an engineer to arrive.
It’s great to know that there
won’t be a problem that could
have serious repercussions,”
says Kehoe.
While getting the MPS up
and running, OKI and hospital
staff met monthly. Now it is
established they meet every six
months to adapt products and
services in line with any changes
in the hospital’s business
requirements.
“OKI is always very responsive
whenever I need to talk to them
and it’s good to know they are
there,” says Kehoe. “I used to
spend my working life fire-
fighting. Now I can go back to
being an IT manager.”
www.oki.co.uk