University of Regina

Challenge

Taking stock of a cluttered printing environment

Universities consume a lot of paper, toner and electricity. But, the University of Regina set a goal that it would “Make the University a leader in environmental responsibility. Put sustainability at the core of our teaching, research, and campus life.” In support of this objective, the University decided that its IT organization could have a tremendous impact toward meeting the University’s strategic initiatives around sustainability.

A proactive team took aim at its printing environment and set out to dramatically reduce the number of printers operating on the campus, thereby reducing electrical consumption, toner and paper in the process. The initiative was also designed to upgrade the output experience for staff and students alike. The project turned out to be a tremendous success, not only in support of its environmental philosophy but also toward reducing the overall cost of output as well.

The project started by understanding the landscape of the current output environment at the University. Often, it is an organization’s facilities department that acquires and maintains printers and copiers. At the University of Regina, the task fell instead to its ancillary services group, which also oversees campus food services and facilities.

Rising to the challenge of saving money and paper

A device inventory yielded a surprising result: the campus had more than 1,200 printers and copiers. Devices priced less than $500 were not included in previous tallies. Charged with cutting costs and achieving the aggressive sustainability goals set by the University’s new president, Konecsni knew these non-networked personal desktop printers needed to be replaced by a far smaller number of workgroup units.

Even as its output costs rose, quality suffered and complaints from users increased. With leases for 98 copiers about to expire, one University official believed the time was right to study the situation. An independent print optimization consultancy, not affiliated with any printer manufacturer, noted that in the absence of a standardization policy, the number of printer makes and models on campus had soared to 173 with only 5 percent network-connected. In one academic department, printers outnumbered staff and faculty by 20 percent.

The process led to the issuance of a formal Request for Proposal, followed by a multi-round assessment in which nine initial responses were culled to three and then a final two. Both finalists were invited to a University-wide open house to install equipment as a proof of concept and to demonstrate compatibility with the school’s Banner™ student information system from SunGuard® Higher Education.

Solution

Rethinking output technology

Following an extended evaluation, the University of Regina awarded a five-year contract for output technology and services to Lexmark and WBM Office Systems, one of Canada’s most experienced print infrastructure optimization IT solution providers. Having implemented dozens of projects across Canada and the northern United States, WBM utilizes advanced optimization processes and technologies that deliver end user satisfaction and support the specific workflow requirements of each department and end user. This philosophy empowers large organizations to realize the cost savings and environmental results that print optimization can bring, while significantly increasing end user satisfaction.

Working together, the University, Lexmark and WBM, developed a plan to retire existing printers and copiers, replacing them with Lexmark products carefully chosen and optimally located to match departmental demands with device capabilities. The deployment strategy discussions with individual end users during the design stage allowed WBM and Lexmark to provide job specific training that greatly improved the adoption and understanding of the new technology.

Moving fast to meet an unexpected need

As the phased one-year deployment plan began, the University’s copier vendor refused a temporary extension of expiring copier leases, demanding their removal of the new technology. As the phased one-year deployment plan began, the University’s copier vendor refused a temporary extension of expiring copier leases, demanding their removal within 30 days. Lexmark was able to replace the leased copiers on short notice with Lexmark workgroup multifunction products and then resume the phased implementation. “Lexmark’s quick response to our situation confirmed that we chose the right output partner,” said Konecsni.

The University also implemented several key Lexmark services to oversee its new printer fleet including Asset Lifecycle Services to track, monitor, and manage the output assets in its distributed environment; IMAC (Install, Move, Add, Change) Reporting, a secure Web portal that enables the University to take a systematic approach to managing the output environment at an individual, departmental, or global level; and Lexmark MarkVision™ Professional, a powerful network-based administration tool that tracks the health of individual devices and generates service alerts when necessary

To enhance security, the University also incorporated Lexmark’s secure Print Release. Now, University employees authenticate themselves at the Lexmark devices and print jobs are released when the owner is physically present at the printer to retrieve them.

Avoiding paper and toner waste

That physical presence eliminates the time gap between printing and pickup, ensuring that forgotten print jobs do not pile up, avoiding paper and toner waste. Jobs not printed within a specified timeframe are deleted from the queue automatically, and therefore never printed.

According to Lexmark’s “Paper Waste Study,” May 2006: “The process of milling and manufacturing a sheet of paper consumes 10 times the energy required to actually print on it. The study revealed that it takes 5.5 million glasses of drinking water just to produce the paper wasted on uncollected print and copy jobs each year within an organization of the University’s size.”

For controlling student print quotas and to track and budget printing by staff and faculty, the University installed PaperCut™ from PaperCut Software of Australia. Students’ accounts are charged as they print, with settlement required before convocation. For faculty that charge back printing to multiple accounts for different classes, for example, their collections of access cards has been replaced. Now, faculty access their accounts through the eTask™ touch screen operator panel on each Lexmark device.

Results

Safeguarding the environment with reduced CO2 emissions & electricity consumption

With the deployment well under way, device headcount has already been slashed by 30 percent and the University is on track for a 60 percent reduction in devices. “The new approach is prodding users to rethink their need to print,” said Konecsni. “When they do, Lexmark Print Release reduces waste by eliminating abandoned or forgotten print jobs. We know this is reducing printing University wide.” The total reduction in devices by 60 percent carries with it further reductions in both carbon emissions and electrical consumption. In fact, the University expects to reduce CO2 emissions by 138,719 kgs and electrical consumption by 147,359 kilowatt hours.

Ensuring confidentiality in HR

Removing printers from individual users’ desktops represents a challenging culture change for any business or institution. The University of Regina is no different and overcame initial resistance by offering improved quality and new functionality. “We now have strong supporters,” said Konecsni. In its human resources department, Lexmark Print Release helps to ensure confidentiality.

Users need to be at the printer to retrieve their jobs and any job in the queue for more than four hours is deleted. “It forces people to rethink printing, and that is reducing paper consumption. The University president chose the printer-replacement project as the University’s primary example of its sustainability efforts,” said Konecsni.

For Konecsni, the Lexmark experience has been a refreshing change. “We have been impressed with Lexmark’s quick response to any question—technical, financial or features,” he said.

Celebrating 2011 as its centennial year, the University of Regina continues to be guided by its motto, “as one who serves.” Today, this respected institution is serving the environment by reducing paper consumption, and serving its own students and staff through new printing capabilities, security, and quality.