Case study: Printing Harmony

One of the largest electrical wholesale groups in Australia, Australian Regional Wholesalers (ARW), views reliable printer technology as
being critical to its business and its 100 national
branch network.
Over its three year relationship with reseller Harmony Business Solutions, over 300 units of Kyocera printers have been deployed in the network, with ARW using them for a range of business documentation purposes including POS invoice and general office report printing.

Meeting environmental criteria
It was not just for commercial reasons that Gary Houston, chief information officer for ARW, thought the Kyocera brand would be a good idea. “The number one reason for purchasing Kyocera was the environmentally friendly nature of their machines.”
The Kyocera charter of “Recycle, Reuse, Reduce” throughout every level of their production process, means the quantity of parts reused and materials recycled is maximised and the use of resources is minimised. The aim is to ‘dispose of less; recycle more’ and reduce the impact of business waste on the environment.
Developing products, which are kind to the environment while being cheaper to run, was the fundamental thinking that led to the development of Kyocera’s ECOSYS long life technology. The amorphous silicon drum inside Kyocera printers, MFPs and
copiers, is made of an exceptionally hard and durable surface that can operate up to 30 times longer than conventional technology.

Tailoring the output to requirements
Houston said the Kyocera solution is also more compatible with their existing network platform – both the hardware architecture and the software.
“We started using some of the ‘prescribe’ programming features, which come standard with the product and allow us to change prints from a portrait to a landscape format, giving a more presentable document.
“It allows us to tailor the output of forms without having to go back to the original software suppliers.”
Houston also refers to the reduced handling and distribution of the product that it now enjoys through its partnership with Harmony Business Solutions. “Prior, we were spending a lot of time freighting the product, so it is great that this concern has been taken away from us. Over the years, delivery times have also really speeded up, so this has been another advantage.”

Easy to install
Houston said the printers are particularly easy to install, having already got a network interface installed in them by Harmony. “It can be as easy as getting them out of the box, plugging them in and away you go,” said Houston.
He admits there has been the odd situation where there have been minor problems concerning faulty network cards or faults within individual branch networks, but that Harmony is efficient in assisting with these, with their “one-stop-shop approach” offering customer service and troubleshooting.
“Overall, the implementation of these printers has been a very painless exercise and we will certainly be looking to extend the technology into other branches,” he said.

Familiar with the solution
A fully accredited Kyocera Mita dealer, with a proven track record in the office equipment field, Hamony Business Solutions has 13 years experience of working with a variety of multi-branch organisations across Australia, so was aware of the issues faced by ARW.
“Like many companies, ARW was faced with the challenge of having to install a large amount of reliable and high quality printers,” said Harmony Business Solutions managing director, Brett McLeod.
“Printers are pretty much mission critical for many companies including ARW who need them on a daily basis for the essential printing of documentation, POS invoices and dispatch notes, so efficiency is always of the utmost importance.”

Need to change with the times
Six years ago, when Harmony first approached ARW, it [Harmony] became acutely aware of the need to change with the times concerning its printing functionality. “At that point in time, ARW were using the old Oki dot matrix printers that worked on impact, with a ribbon, having to produce multiple pages like a typewriter on a continuous feed.
“We came to the conclusion that they needed a full wholesale upgrade of the way they were handling their print to paper output,” said McLeod
Harmony implemented a supply system of low-end Kyocera printers, which today has culminated in a batch roll out to 100 of ARWs branches along the Eastern Seaboard from its Brisbane headquarters.

Making sure of compatibility
Harmony also provides a test unit to ARW each time there is a change in the Kyocera model purchased.
“ARW can then make sure that the model is compatible with the business systems to ensure this is the case,” McLeod explained. He added that ARW has a very good depth of IT infrastructure within its business in order to deal with the integration of the printer systems into their own Wide Area Network.

Providing the right support
Regarding IT support, McLeod said ARW is able to easily call Harmony’s IT division in order to be ‘walked through’ the process of implementing the printer system and discuss any issues or troubleshooting.
“We pride ourselves on being a one-stop shop for our customers in having a dedicated 1800 number on which clients can call us with any issues. We also log the call with Kyocera to further enable solutions quickly.”
As part of its service, Harmony also distributes toner in bulk to its clients many locations, making it more cost effective. He adds that there is also the option, to coordinate face-to-face meetings between ARW and the vendor. “Sometimes it is necessary or just helpful for the relevant management to speak directly with each other so that any specific challenges can be met head on and everyone involved can be brought up to speed.”

Written by Louise Durack