Liverpool John Moores University
Innovative solution combines Managed Print Services with Outsourced Print Services
Company Profile
- Company Name: Liverpool John Moores University
- Sector: Education
- Solutions Provided: Managed Print Services & Outsource Document Services
The Background
LJMU needed their print infrastructure reviewing to support their aim of delivering excellence in teaching, learning, and the development of scholarly activity. They wanted to drive down the volume of photocopied and printed material whilst not having a detrimental impact on academic delivery.
Delivering an excellent student experience is central to the university’s core strategy and it is paramount that the three campuses and 44 buildings provide robust and resilient connectivity for students and staff.
The university was looking to drive cost efficiencies, whilst expanding the range of print facilities available to staff and students. This included replacing the existing print room facility which was taking up prime floor space which could be utilised as additional teaching space.
The Solution
Following consultation with the university’s key stakeholders, Apogee’s in-house team of Business Analysts conducted a print audit and assessment of the existing print equipment. This exercise included holding fact finding interviews with key users to fully understand their individual requirements.
Additionally, Apogee held a series of road-show events on campus to showcase the capabilities and additional services available from the Outsourced Document Services (ODS) division. We used these events as scoping exercises to find out, directly from end users, how they wanted to submit print jobs and what functionality was important to them. We were able to discover what they disliked about the old process for submitting work, which helped the development team when designing the new and vastly improved submission process.
The Outcome
Transforming user experience, Apogee deployed a fleet of 196 fast and energy efficient HP LaserJet devices with PaperCut print management software to allow “follow-me” printing and print job submission to Apogee’s ODS Salford-based print facility.
Initially, Apogee’s project team set up a ‘model office’ test environment for both the hardware and print management software. This included adding selected products to the portal catalogue to test order processing and handling at ODS. It was determined that the Law department were the heaviest users of the print room so they tested the new solution by ordering their printed materials required for the new academic year. The test covered all aspects of the process, including delivery to site and the agreed Service Level Agreements (SLAs) around lead times.
Following the successful completion of the model office, Apogee planned a deployment schedule, working with the exiting incumbent supplier, that ensured any disruption to students and staff was kept to an absolute minimum.
“Apogee provided us with an Outsourced Print solution where our documents are uploaded via a job ticketing portal. The jobs are printed at Apogee premises where their staff are happy to go the extra mile to ensure quality and timeliness. The jobs are returned within SLA agreed timelines to our post room.”
