Customer Success Story: Boehringer Ingelheim
Boehringer Ingelheim is a global, research-driven pharmaceutical company founded in 1885 in Germany. The family-owned company makes innovative medicines for people and animals. It is one of the pharmaceutical industry’s top 20 companies, employing almost 50,000 people around the world. Boehringer Ingelheim is a global, research-driven pharmaceutical company founded in 1885 in Germany. The family-owned company makes innovative medicines for people and animals. It is one of the pharmaceutical industry’s top 20 companies, employing almost 50,000 people around the world.
Summary
“With the new solution, we’re not having to do much recycling and we’ve reduced the print amount by as much as 90 per cent. We’re ordering less paper. And, because the printers send an alert when toner is low, a new toner is automatically delivered, so we don’t run out.”
– Mary Coogan, facilities manager, Boehringer Ingelheim Australia
The Challenge
- Global agreement to provide full service print management solution
- Consolidate ageing multifunction devices with faster, new devices
- Improve document security with fewer printouts left uncollected
Boehringer Ingelheim (BI) embarked on a global project to reduce and consolidate the number of multifunction devices in its offices around the world, including its Australian office with 230 users. As a healthcare-focused business, BI is subject to stringent security and privacy requirements so it needs to keep all documents secure. This includes not leaving printed documents sitting on the printer, open to unauthorised access.
The company’s German headquarters chose to work with Konica Minolta to implement a print management solution that includes the provision and maintenance of multifunction devices (MFDs). This global decision was rolled out to all of BI’s subsidiaries around the world.
Mary Coogan, facilities manager, Boehringer Ingelheim Australia, said, “A decision made at the global level can be risky for local offices because there is no existing relationship with the provider. The Australian team was therefore sceptical about how the decision would play out. However, there was no need to worry; the solution is excellent and the team at Konica Minolta is supportive so we know we’re in good hands.”
The Solution
- Konica Minolta print management solution
- Konica Minolta bizhub C654e
- Konica Minolta bizhub C3350
- Konica Minolta bizhub 3300P
Konica Minolta reviewed BI Australia’s MFD requirements and recommended reducing the existing number of MFDs from 17 to 11. This included the Konica Minolta bizhub C654e for office use, bizhub C3350 for reception and bizhub 3300P for specialised department printing.
Mary Coogan said, “People were understandably apprehensive about reducing the number of MFDs because they were comfortable with the status quo. However, the Konica Minolta machines were faster and more up to date, and people learned quickly that they could more than cope with the reduced number of MFDs. The print management solution includes pull printing so people can collect their documents from whatever printer is closest rather than having to print to a specific device. With that in mind, people adjusted to the lower number of MFDs without a problem.”
The print management solution includes the devices and their consumables, on-call support, and ongoing print monitoring. The flexibility, security, and convenience of the solution were key drivers of the decision to choose Konica Minolta, along with Konica Minolta’s ability to solve issues and provide reliable support.
Customer Benefits
- Better quality printers are user-friendly and fast for improved efficiency
- Pull printing delivers improved document security
- Full support offers peace of mind and limited downtime
As part of the agreement, Konica Minolta provides print monitoring, proactively supplies consumables, and sends out technicians to resolve any issues with the fleet. The solution requires fewer print servers and lets BI leverage its private cloud infrastructure while reducing IT costs.
The solution has also reduced the cost of consumables through the pull printing functionality, which only prints out pages once the user has released them. If the user forgets to retrieve their printouts, the system deletes them so there is far less wasted paper. Sensitive documents no longer sit on the printer waiting to be picked up by a user who may have forgotten about them.
Mary Coogan said, “With the new solution, we’re not having to do much recycling and we’ve reduced the print amount by as much as 90 per cent. We’re ordering less paper. And, because the printers send an alert when toner is low, a new toner is automatically delivered, so we don’t run out.”
The support provided by Konica Minolta has also been impressive, with team members going out of their way to be helpful.
Mary Coogan and Allanah Meincke, Office Services Assistant, “The Konica Minolta team is the most helpful we’ve come across in a long time. The team demonstrates a strong commitment to this partnership and the team members are all passionate, educated, and informed about how to help us get the most out of our machines.”
The machines themselves are delivering efficiencies such as faster scanning, better colour quality, and improved user-friendliness.
Mary Coogan said, “When you scan a document, by the time you get back to your desk, it’s already done, which is much faster than the previous machines could do it. We don’t have a lot of problems with the machines and the users are all very happy. We can’t fault them. Boehringer Ingelheim head office has just renewed the global contract with Konica Minolta and we think it’s a great decision.”
– Mary Coogan, facilities manager, Boehringer Ingelheim Australia
