CASE STUDY: COMFORTDELGRO CABCHARGE

BACKGROUND

In 2005, ComfortDelgro and Cabcharge (CDC) acquired the businesses and assets of the largest bus operator, the Westbus group in Australia’s most populous state, New South Wales. This venture marked ComfortDelgro’s entry into the Australian market and since this time CDC has grown its business throughout Australia.

In New South Wales, CDC is the largest private bus operator with a fleet of 1,273 buses (as of October 2012). It operates the Hillsbus, Westbus, Deane’s bus lines and Hunter Valley bus services with 15 depots and over 2,400 employees across Australia. . ..............................

CASE STUDY: COMFORTDELGRO

CABCHARGE

“BY SWITCHING TO KYOCERA’S TECHNOLOGY WE HAVE SAVED 40 PER CENT ON OUR TOTAL MONTHLY COST PER COPY FEE”John Mouawad, Information Technology Manager, ComfortDelGro Cabcharge

THE CHALLENGE

Prior to 2010, CDC had deployed other vendors’ equipment throughout their facilities in New South Wales. CDC decided to evaluate their print requirements and replace their existing fleet with the latest print devices and technologies, as they were nearing obsolescence and too costly to run and maintain.

CDC had many different models across 15 separate locations which were proving difficult to manage. In addition, CDC did not have the right mix of equipment to meet their needs; with numerous devices rarely utilised, in particular their costly A3 devices.

The main objective was to reduce the total cost of ownership (TCO) of their equipment and gain better control of document devices. Due to the busy work environment at CDC, it was essential the chosen vendor implement the solution quickly - over five days - with as little disruption to employees and business operations as possible.

THE SOLUTION

Kyocera’s straightforward approach and professional account management was a key attraction for CDC.

As John Mouawad, Information Technology Manager, CDC explains, “It was like a breath of fresh air dealing with Kyocera with their ‘can do’ attitude. From the outset they listened and understood us as a customer and catered to what we needed. Not only did they do what they said they’d do, they were always willing to go that extra mile, like helping us responsibly dispose of our obsolete document technology. We’ve worked together as a team and they’ve created a lot of goodwill.”

“IT WAS LIKE A BREATH OF FRESH AIR DEALING WITH KYOCERA WITH THEIR ‘CAN DO’ ATTITUDE. FROM THE OUTSET THEY LISTENED AND UNDERSTOOD US”

After a six month evaluation process, from a short list of six vendors, Kyocera was selected to provide a Managed Print Solution (MPS) for CDC across their 15 sites in New South Wales. CDC was looking for a vendor with strong green credentials, in view of that, Kyocera’s long drum life and ECOSYS® technology, which sets the standard in sustainability, were distinct advantages.

Kyocera’s intuitive control panel and pre-programming, for an out-of-the-box solution, fulfilled the paramount requirement for equipment that was easy to use so CDC’s IT department didn’t have to spend extensive time training staff.

In recommending the tailored solution to CDC, Kyocera also conducted an audit of their document equipment and its usage, Kyocera identified that CDC had a large number of A3 devices, even though A3 printing was not actually required by many users. The results of this audit enabled Kyocera to propose the right solution to CDC that would both meet the organisations needs and be the most cost effective.

Kyocera’s solution greatly simplified operations for CDC, taking them from a 15 site company with 13 different printer and copier models to a standardised platform with one model A4 mono MFP and an A3 colour MFD - the TASKalfa colour series for use in the larger depots that had a greater need for A3 printing, higher volume output and document finishing features such as hole punching and stapling.

“Our employees move around from site to site so it’s made it so easy for them to have the same machines at every location and the same easy to use control panels,” says John. To facilitate the change to the new technology, throughout the implementation, Kyocera ran training seminars to all departments across the 15 sites. This training gave employees the opportunity to use and ask questions about the new Kyocera devices, giving them a good understanding of how to work with them. Further in-depth hardware and software training was also provided to the CDC IT team to enable them to provide first level support of the Kyocera equipment.

Kyocera’s net admin software was a feature CDC’s IT department really liked. The web-based platform allows easy management of MFDs and printers, providing a summary of all devices, alerting them to when toner or paper needs replacing and producing a simple usage report at the end of each month. The same software notifies Kyocera when the device is low on toner, prompting Kyocera to send out a replacement toner to the relevant location within the next few days. This functionality was positively received by CDC, as previously toner deliveries were invariably delayed causing frustration to employees and loss of productivity.

As John notes, “The beauty of the Kyocera solution was it eliminated the need for us to do manual meter reading. This had been taking up an enormous amount of our time, calling each site and getting a reading for each individual machine. Now we just get emailed a monthly report showing our usage and get billed accordingly. It couldn’t be easier.”

THE RESULTS

Over a period of five days, Kyocera delivered and installed all 55 devices to the 15 locations. All machines were up and tested

prior to delivery and were ready for plug and play at the point of installation. For CDC the most impressive aspect of the Managed Print Services (MPS) solution from Kyocera is that it provides the same cost per copy charge (CPC) across all devices, regardless of whether they are printing on the smaller A4 MFP or printing to their workgroup MFD - the cost is the same. This solution simplifies CDC’s billing and decreases costs significantly.

“THE BEAUTY OF THE KYOCERA SOLUTION WAS IT ELIMINATED THE NEED FOR US TO DO MANUAL METER READING. THIS HAD BEEN TAKING UP AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF OUR TIME... NOW WE JUST GET EMAILED A MONTHLY REPORT SHOWING OUR USAGE AND GET BILLED ACCORDINGLY. IT COULDN’T BE EASIER.”

Through streamlining their fleet and the lower TCO - otherwise known as running costs, CDC has reduced document costs by thousands of dollars every month. They are now enjoying a toner yield of around 15,000 pages per toner compared to 2,000 pages with their previous vendor. All Kyocera devices supplied have a preventative maintenance interval of 300,000 prints, saving significant costs and down time for CDC. CDC’s previous MFD technology required maintenance after approximately 100,000 prints. At this time a service technician is required to replace certain parts rendering the device inoperable for around an hour. With Kyocera’s longer life drum and components, this cycle is up to three times longer than competitors making it far more cost effective and efficient.

“The obvious immediate savings on copy cost assured me we had made the right decision. By switching to Kyocera’s technology we have saved 40 per cent on our total monthly cost per copy fee. We’ve simplified the fleet, have more reliable technology and it’s costing us less to run, we couldn’t have asked for a better result,” John says.

CDC made the decision not to have any colour printers and selected a monochrome printer from Kyocera - the ECOSYS FS-3140MFP. This MFP has been fitted in every office and workshop throughout New South Wales and Newcastle. Delighted with its performance, John concludes, “if I could rate a machine I’d give Kyocera’s 3140 a ten out of ten. It remains dependable in our depots and workshop environments, often getting covered in dust and grime and they just keep on going - day-in, day-out - without a glitch! “

CASE STUDY SNAPSHOT

THE CHALLENGE

> To lower maintenance costs

> To reduce the Total Cost of Ownership of docu-

ment equipment

> To deliver a solution to a tight time line with

minimal disruption

> To select the optimum mix of correct devices.

THE SOLUTION

> MPS solution with single, highly competetive cost

per copy charge (CPC) across entire fleet that

reduced TCO significantly

> Kyocera’s net admin software streamlining meter

reading and toner fulfilment

> Training of all employees on a simplified fleet with

uniform operations and control panels

THE RESULTS

> Single cost-per-click charge across all devices

> Reduction of 40 per cent on their total monthly

printing and copying costs

> Reduced service calls and costs due to long life

drum technology

> Less waste and environmental cost due to

ECOSYS and long component life technology

> A fleet that is easy to operate by all employees

> KM-Net Document Solutions software streamlining

meter reading

Phone 13 KYOCERA kyoceradocumentsolutions.com.au