Case Study: Major Agricultural Manufacturer
RICOH CloudStream enables large agricultural manufacturer to cost-effectively manage their print infrastructure
About our customer
A major agricultural manufacturing company that provides farmers with a wide range of fertilizers and other supporting services for agricultural and horticultural applications needed to modernize its print infrastructure and address several pain points in its print management and maintenance.
“Visibility over printer usage has been a huge value-add. We now understand which printers are being used the most and importantly, backed by data, we will be able to further rationalize the fleet moving forward.”
Challenge
No visibility into print use across the organization
No cost-control or optimization measures
Time-consuming manual configuration processes
One of the main challenges for the organization was a lack of visibility into how print was used companywide. Department leaders had very little insight into the true cost of print management, maintenance and usage.
They needed a print solution that would give them transparent and efficient reporting on print volume output while allowing them to easily monitor and control usage in a cost-efficient way.
Solution
“The data is the most powerful part of the solution, the ability to pull off reports and analyze how print is being consumed will help us continue to control the cost of print and shape our decision-making. That’s something we have never had before.”
Migrated entire print infrastructure to RICOH CloudStream
Moved from fixed billing to flexible cost-per-click model
Upgraded legacy, multi-vendor print hardware with 20 new multi-function printers
After evaluating the company’s needs, their legacy, multi-vendor fleet of devices was upgraded to brand-new networked multifunction printers (MFPs). Once upgraded, the print infrastructure was migrated to the cloud with RICOH CloudStream. Devices were configured and deployed from a single, web-based interface featuring a single, full-function print driver.
Taking into consideration the seasonal nature of the company’s print activity spikes, the billing model was adjusted from a fixed committed number of pages per year to a cost-per-click billing model. This affordable and flexible billing model eliminated massive overcharges and unnecessary costs during its peak printing periods.
Results
Simplified print management with new fleet of MFPs centrally managed in the cloud
Provided total visibility into print activity and usage
Enhanced data protection through PIN-authenticated pull printing
With RICOH CloudStream’s easy-to-use platform and secure pull-printing capabilities, the company has been able to strengthen their level of data security on printed information. Employees can quickly and securely access printed documents from any preferred location using PIN authentication instead of manually going into the printer driver settings to select a printer from which to retrieve their documents.
One of the biggest advantages of this new cloud-based print infrastructure has been the ability to set up printer rules to cut down on wasted color printing. The implementation of rules-based printing, restricting color access, and setting mono as default for specific document types, has helped the manufacturer significantly drive down printing expenses.
And as the organization looks to the future, they’re more enabled than ever to make data-driven decisions thanks to RICOH CloudStream’s analytics tools and advanced reporting. Leaders can tap into print data to inform strategy, streamline operations, cut costs and even create a more sustainable business model.