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As the Government department
responsible for the environment,
Defra (The Department for
Environment Food and Rural Affairs)
has an interest in reducing the
environmental impact of its operations
and finding ways to save money.
On the advice of IBM, its IT managed
services provider, Defra recently replaced
the ad hoc procurement of printers and
consumables with a managed print service
(MPS) delivered by Oki. In doing so, it has
cut costs and reduced CO
2
emissions from
office printing by 47%.
Covering 120 of more than 170 Defra
sites across the UK, the solution devised
Reduced greenhouse gas
emissions are a major selling
point for MPS, as new
implementations by HP and Oki
demonstrate
by Oki is a classic MPS implementation
featuring printer rationalisation; automatic
just-in-time consumables delivery; remote
monitoring; agreed service level agreements
(SLAs); telephone and engineer support; and
an all-inclusive fixed cost per page.
Site visits
Before devising a solution, Oki analysed
printer deployments and business processes
at Defra sites throughout the UK, from
large central London offices to small remote
buildings in the Shetlands and Orkneys.
“We audited 170 sites nationwide,
noting the devices and site requirements,”
explained Rob Brown, business manager for
Oki Managed Print Services. “Just because
an environment has A3 colour MFPs doesn’t
mean they use A3 or the advanced features
such machines offer: they might just need an
A4 mono device.”
Based on its observations, Oki suggested
a reduction in the number of print devices
from 1,384 to 548, standardisation on a
balanced selection of Oki models and the
introduction of paper-saving measures.
“Reducing the fleet on such a scale
brings big savings in power consumption,
and the machines have deep sleep mode
that delivers further cost reductions and CO
2
savings, which in total amount to nearly
50%,” Brown said.
He added that Oki is also encouraging
more responsible and efficient printing
practices. “Defra itself had some simple
requirements like using default duplex
and mono output, but we also integrated
secure release functions, which improves
document security because a document isn’t
released until the user enters a PIN number,
and made the move to MFPs and scan-
to-email and scan-to-network to improve
document processes. In the future, we aim to
consolidate and remove fax machines.”
As part of its service, Oki provides
quarterly reviews and continuous
assessments of how processes can be
improved, based in part on Oki’s on-going
monitoring of print activity. Although Defra
sites are far-flung, they are connected to
the main central network, which allows
data collection agents to monitor printers
remotely, check consumables levels and
pick up on any problems as they happen
or, in some cases, pre-empt them. Data on
printer usage also makes it possible for Oki
to fine-tune printer deployments in line with
changing printing habits.
HP and Logica
Business and technology services company
Logica is another organisation eager to
reduce its carbon footprint.
“We first measured our carbon footprint
in 2006 and started a universal campaign
called Stamp Down our Carbon Footprint,”
explained Logica’s UK head of health, safety
and environment Arlette Anderson. “Having
set a base line, we are now two years into
a long-term goal to reduce our carbon
emissions by 50% by 2020.”
As part of this programme, Logica has
enlisted HP to help reduce the environmental
impact of printing by almost 6,000 users at
23 UK locations.
An independent white paper,
Alternative
Thinking About Printing
, produced jointly by
HP and Newfield IT calculated that 5,000
print users generate 560 tonnes of CO
2
a
year and use over 200 Megawatt-hours of
electricity.
To reduce power usage, cut costs
and streamline its print, Logica signed a
Managed Print Services (MPS) contract with
HP. As part of the MPS, HP shrank Logica’s
printer fleet by replacing many personal
printers with MFPs that print, copy, scan
and fax.
The current landscape includes 83
mono and colour HP MFPs and HP LaserJet
printers. Fleet rationalisation combined
with the greater overall efficiency of new
HP print technology and the use of remote
management to set economical ‘sleep’
and ‘wakeup’ times has enabled Logica to
achieve a 32% reduction in energy usage for
document printing.
The main culprit
HP and Newfield IT’s White Paper revealed
that the electricity needed to power a fleet
of printers for 5,000 people accounted for
14.5% of CO
2
emissions, with toner and
ink usage responsible for 6.5%. By far the
biggest source of CO
2
emissions was paper.
“Our total annual footprint was some
30,000 tonnes of CO
2
. Paper contributed
between 300 and 400 tonnes of that total,
or over 1%,” Anderson said. “To reduce
paper usage we introduced various print
reduction initiatives like poster campaigns, a
‘No Print Day’ and a ‘Think Green – Keep it
on the Screen’ initiative for email. We have
made duplex printing the default and have
implemented a Follow Me solution.”
As a result of these measures, Logica has
reduced the number of prints output from
16 million in 2006 to 9.7 million in 2011
and cut carbon emissions relating to paper
use from 407 tonnes in 2006 to 254 tonnes
in 2011.
Logica is well on track to achieving its
overall target of a 50% emissions reduction
by 2020, based on annual reductions of
6%. It achieved the 6% figure in 2009, but
increased savings to 10% in 2010 and 23%
in 2011.
managed print services
Up and
away
Oki suggested
a reduction in
the number of
print devices
from 1,384 to
548...
www.printitreseller.co.uk
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