City of Edinburgh Case study With Central Government promoting online services across the public sector and a more digitised approach to working at local government level, many Councils are looking to ensure that the IT and office solutions installed will offer them a path to more effective and integrated working in an online environment. This digitised approach extends itself to print solutions and City of Edinburgh Council has moved its printing solutions forward to allow a more integrated, cost-effective approach across its 700 sites in conjunction with Ricoh.
Following the re-organisation of local government in Scotland (April 1996), the City of Edinburgh Council replaced the former City of Edinburgh District Council and Lothian Regional Council. Under the new system of unitary local government, the City of Edinburgh Council assumes responsibility for a wide range of services including Economic Development, Education, Environmental Services, Housing, Planning, Property-related services, Recreation, Social Work and Transportation. In addition, the Council acts as a purchasing partner for Lothian and Borders Fire Brigade, Midlothian Council as well as a number of other authorised bodies.
Within the Council, the Central Purchasing Unit is responsible for the photocopier contract, which is a major task, as they are looking at sourcing equipment for around 700 offices. Support is further complicated by the location of the product installations as they are not just limited to Edinburgh, locations range as far afield as Kingussie in the North and Hawick in the South of Scotland. For some sites, print and copy requirements are limited to a single standalone solution, but for others such as High Schools, the contract can be for several multi-functional products (MFPs), or to re-equip an entire print room.
Procurement for all local government authorities is carried out via a tendering process, which is subject to Government and European rules on competitive tendering. With the existing Xerox photocopying contract set to terminate in October 2001, the new contract was advertised in the Official Journal of the European Communities several months prior to this, for which six tenders were received.
"There are only two criteria for contract award under European law - lowest offer or economically most advantageous. So, although cost is critical, factors such as service and equipment are also considered and ultimately the contract is awarded to the company that can best match the overall council criteria" commented Margaret Lockhart, buyer, Central Purchasing Unit at City of Edinburgh Council and Ricoh was selected.
"The Council are heavy users of print technology. We were able to offer a comprehensive package that met their requirements, but which would also ensure that future increases in demand could be effectively managed," indicated Peter Spiteri, regional sales manager at Ricoh. "Cost is always a key factor in the final decision, although a high level of ongoing support is also important and is an area in which Ricoh and its dealer network excels."
The four year contract, which will expire in October 2005, is set up on a cost per copy basis, with copier ownership retained by Ricoh. This is the simplest and most effective payment method given the size and scope of the contract. The contract is valued at almost £5m on current copying levels. Approximately 13 million copies are taken per month across all sites.
Based on the specifications laid out in the contract document, Ricoh recommended a wide range of solutions. From an Aficio 1013 low-end MFP for scan, print and copy functionality to the Aficio 1105, a high volume digital black and white copy/print solution.
Following the decision to replace the incumbent supplier, Xerox, with Ricoh equipment, a detailed handover procedure ensued. The tripartite process took place over a four month period. Each remove/install process required a ten day notice period, so that installation of the new Ricoh equipment and removal of the Xerox machine could be arranged for the same day.
"Effective planning was an essential component of the installation procedure and we were very happy with the way that the transition took place. Obviously, there were teething problems, but nothing major to impact upon the effectiveness of the service provided to our staff," added Lockhart.
"This was a challenging installation for us, due to the amount of sites and the diversity of locations. The team had to go as far afield as Kingussie with a snow-plough to install two machines at an outward-bound training resort. Another installation required the engineers to travel by ferry with a printer to Dunoon, "said Spiteri.
The installation process involved the deployment of over 1200 machines and included staff training. Due to the demands of this extensive training process, Ricoh employed one full-time executive and three part-time trainers to run on-site training for the council employees at each location. Additional staff were also either seconded from other parts of the company or employed on short term contracts to cover the distribution and installation of the equipment. Training could be on a one-to-one basis, or a 30 person presentation, depending on the installation.
Due to the large number of installations, the training team was carrying out between six and eight demonstrations each day. For low-end machines, these were straightforward ten minute overviews, but for the more complicated, high-end Aficio 1105 multi functional products, training lasted at least 90 minutes. Once the full installation had taken place, the training team has acted as a support to Council users, offering advice and ongoing training for any additional queries. The team is now offering a series of advanced training sessions to users of the higher end machines, such as Aficio 1085 and 1105, where the functionality requires lengthier explanation.
Overall, most users required only basic training to make use of the new machines. The more advanced users were at the High Schools and in the main Council buildings, where requirements were more complicated. Schools were looking to use the more complicated functions, including magazine, image repeat and combined theories keys, which were not part of the basic training package.
"With such a large undertaking, training time was at a premium and there is a lot of information to take in, so it is inevitable that some functionality was not covered in full," commented Angela Cuthbertson, account executive. "We are undertaking a second round of training to respond to the more advanced needs of the council employees. The contract with the council provides ongoing training as often users do not think of questions until they have truly got to grips with the machine."
With any large installation, servicing contracts are of the utmost importance. To ensure that the Council get fast, effective response to its problems, Ricoh tendered in partnership with Capital Solutions, their local and well respected dealer in Edinburgh, to provide the service and networking support. Seven extra engineers have been employed by Capital Solutions to manage the ongoing Council service and maintenance requirements.
The previous tender provided only analogue technology to the Council. By providing digital, networkable solutions, Ricoh has expanded the Council's ability to more effectively manage the printer and copier capabilities at various sites. At present, there are some 81 networked MFPs in use, but plans are in place, over the length of the contract, to increase this number significantly.
"The Ricoh technology has provided us with the digital capabilities to network our systems, which was never previously possible," commented Lockhart. "Moving forward, this will enable us to make more effective use of the solutions in place at relevant sites across the region."
"The move from analogue to digital solutions is the first step on the road to e-Government for many councils. Within Edinburgh, by enabling a migration of printer workload to larger multi-functional products, the Council is able to reduce their overall costs and save money," added Spiteri. "Over the longer term, many local authorities are increasing the scope of their networked activities, which will ultimately lead to the implementation of electronic document management."