Sheffield rationalises printing with Xerox

Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has signed a £6m agreement with Xerox, which will take control of its printing processes.

The trust is one of the largest in the country and has more than 3,200 output devices for printing, faxing, copying and scanning. Xerox analysed the trust’s usage of these devices and found that it was “costly and inefficient” with a ratio of workers to devices of 3:1.

It will install a fully outsourced printing infrastructure, with the aim of reducing this to 5:1 and eventually 10:1. Xerox anticipates that this will save the trust £1.3m – £3m over a seven year period. David Whitham, the trust’s informatics director said it would also gain greater control over its printing operation.

“We will know what is being printed, how much it costs and be able to provide our employees with the tools they need to work more productively,” he said. “We will also improve our recycling process by more effectively managing our devices, consumables and disposables.”

Systems at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals will be fully managed by Xerox, which will install its own staff on site as part of the deal.

A utility pricing model will be put in place, meaning that a single invoice will be generated each month. Staff will have web portal access to printers from their desktops. The web portal will also include user guides and online toner ordering facilities.

Peter Romaine, director and general manager for Xerox Global Services, Xerox UK, said: “We fully understand the relentless pressure put on NHS organisations to meet operational and financial targets.

“Rather than installing all Xerox products, our role is to optimise and then manage the existing fleet of devices. The trust will see significant sustainability and cost improvements.”