MUSD cuts copy costs by $14500 a month

Manteca Unified will soon be using the services of another vendor for printing and copying.

Last week, the school board opted for IKON to handle the copying load for the next 60 months effective when the current pact with Xerox expires in the coming months.

MUSD has been paying an estimated $70,000 a month for this service, according to Superintendent Jason Messer.

“We will be saving money,” he said.

IKON – selected over Xerox and Ray Morgan – offered $45,535 per month for 60 months and continued use of the current print shop and copy machines located in the district office.

Ray Morgan’s proposal came in lower at $40,978 per month but, according to MUSD director of operation Steve Trantham, apparently was lacking in experience of operating in the kindergarten- through 12th- grade environment.

Xerox offered to re-up while dropping cost for services to $50,233 per month.

District officials noted that while Xerox had a proven record and was already well established, however, the cost here was still substantially higher than IKON.

They went with a selection process that relied on a committee made up of elementary and high school office managers, and those in industrial technology, Special Education, and the purchasing and operation staff.

Prior to that, the district conducted a survey back in February to evaluate the current program and to check if the one in place met the needs of teachers and staff.

The survey results indicated that most were pleased with the services while agreeing that the cost should be a major factor in the decision-making process when the current contract expires on Nov. 8.

Pacific / Delta Systems ($38,427) and Office Max ($47,714) also offered to do the job only with different copiers and off-site printing centers, for example, in Stockton, Sacramento and Pleasanton.

Messer said that the committee favored local control of print jobs, with deliveries and timeliness as possible logistical problems.

Smile Business Products ($39,560) and Mo-Cal ($21,862) submitted copiers-only proposals.

The district recently purchased Ricoh copy machines for print shop along with district office and the school sites.

IKON not only had the necessary K-12 experience, but was adaptable at using the existing copiers along with the same software, operating with three employees in the print shop.

Those were among the criteria used by the committee in selecting IKON.

Trustee Vern Gebhardt was still the athletic director at Sierra High about five years ago.

He’s familiar with the problem of getting materials from the print shop to the classrooms in an appropriate and timely manner.

“Back then, it was a big issue,” he said.

Gebhardt added:  “What’s important (in selecting a vendor) is that our teachers get what they need.”