BMW Vines Group Case Study

THE CHALLENGE

Expensive running costs for print devices and consumables were an issue that busy dealership Vines BMW faced across their sites. The purchasing of printers was often driven by choosing the lowest cost in terms of outright purchase. However, whilst they were cheap to buy, they were very expensive to run.

Each site had a mix of multi-functional printers (MFDs) and desktop printers. Vines BMW desired a solution which streamlined their print infrastructure, offering affordable printing to the business, whilst reducing their overall total cost of ownership.

Being part of a chain, dealerships quite often have to adhere to recommendations from the head office manufacturer when it comes to their IT infrastructure.

As part of this Vines needed to install a solution with HP or Lexmark hardware, so they needed a flexible partner who could work with their preferences.

THE SOLUTION

IT Document Solutions was introduced to Vines BMW through their strategic alliance partner, an IT-managed service provider, that manages their IT infrastructure. The first stage of the process was to assess the devices, their current spending and output volumes, to ascertain usage levels and actual costs. Following this, a detailed report was put forward with several recommendations.

IT Document Solutions instantly recognised that there was a more attractive and commercially viable solution available to Vines BMW when it came to their office printing. Changing from a distribution style of procurement, essentially searching for devices based on price and buying consumables ad-hoc, to moving to a Managed Print Service would drive efficiencies across the business.

Taking a more structured approach under a Managed Services provision, Vines would benefit from a fully supported service with devices, consumables, servicing and maintenance, all covered in one affordable monthly cost. To make even greater financial returns for Vines, ITDS bought back existing devices under their trade-in scheme.

Consequently, a fleet of Lexmark mono and colour MFDs and printers were installed across Vines’ sites, offering smarter technology that could easily integrate with their ERP software, CDK Drive.

Alongside the new devices, Lifecycle Manager was installed to monitor all the devices on the network to ensure they were running at optimum efficiency and providing the tools to manage the fleet effectively 24 x 7.

Vines Head of IT commented:

“ITDS professional services took control of the rollout and the engineers and logistics teams worked well together across each site. It has proven a worthwhile exercise and an easier way for us to manage the printer fleet across our wide area network.”

The ITDS team worked closely with the internal IT team at Vines and seamlessly deployed a managed print provision across each site, ensuring thorough project management, with minimal disruption for a smooth transition to the new print solution.

THE BENEFITS

The number of devices has been rationalised across the business. Switching to shared workgroup devices and putting desktop printers in place for specific departments, as required, this has meant that considerable savings have been made, not just financially, but in terms of environmental sustainability, lowering their carbon footprint.

Steyn Muller, Group Financial Controller, at Vines BMW commented:

“We have seen considerable savings from the new print solution. We have reduced the number of printers and improved the service and support we receive across the group, delivering impressive results.”

Running costs have been reduced by more than half with more cost-effective devices that are cheaper to run, and the consumables are replenished as part of the Managed Print solution offering even greater savings. As part of the solution, consumables are replaced just as needed, ensuring that Vines never run out of toner and no longer need to stockpile for multiple devices.

The new devices provide uniformity across the fleet, so irrespective of site, the interface is the same, making it easy for user adoption and offering smarter technology and greater functionality for staff.