Leeds Metropolitan

About Leeds Metropolitan University

Leeds Metropolitan University is already one of the largest universities in the UK. With around 30,000 students and 3,000 staff, it occupies one campus in the world-famous sporting area of Headingley and a second in the city's civic quarter.

The University had an ageing fleet of 2,000 copiers and printers and outdated charging and management systems for student print and copy. "It was an inefficient and complex mix of different machines and technologies and the cost involved in supporting and maintaining all these various printers were high," says Gavin Weiner, deputy networked Systems manager at Leeds Met. "We needed to consolidate and come up with a system that would run to defined standards and meet the needs of everyone in the University.

DTP, HP & SafeCom

To source a single consolidated fleet, Leeds Met awarded the contract to HP Preferred Partner, The DTP Group which has enjoyed a 20 year relationship with the University. After considering all approved hardware on the UK's higher education purchasing framework, Leeds Met chose HP multifunction printers (MFP) because they met its criteria more accurately than the rest.

The University contacted The DTP Group for a compatible software solution and after a successful trial selected SafeCom. Factors for this decision were SafeCom's reliability and its ease of integration with HP MFP devices which allows it to use the HP MFP control panel and not a separate release station. Also, Leeds Met was in the process of introducing a common campus Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) card that students and staff would use not only for print and copy charging but also library, catering and other on-campus purchases. This would link to an ‘electronic purse' and integrating the whole system was easier with SafeCom.

"Students were charged for print using an Integrated Card Solutions (ICS) magnetic card system but it was outdated and ready for replacement. "The systems and printers were getting tired and we decided that if we were going to do something about it, we would go down one route with a single, integrated solution that would work with Netware and complement it, not complicate it. Our main criteria were reliability, cost, software efficiency and compatibility with drivers. We were also concerned about the look and feel which is why we wanted an embedded solution," states Weiner.

Approach:

Leeds Met entered into a Managed Print Services (MPS) contract with HP Preferred Partner, The DTP Group. Over 2,000 old machines will be replaced by approximately 450 HP multifunction devices that print, copy, scan and fax. The solution includes SafeCom print management software.

Business benefits:

The University forecasts a total saving of £200,000 a year from the new system while still improving its print service provision. Paper wastage is set to drop by over 30 percent, improving the University's environmental credentials. Savings have enabled the University to cut student print charges by up to 50 per cent.

IT improvements:

Energy bills are expected to fall by £20,000 a year. Students and staff can collect print jobs from any machine in the University by using their Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) campus card.

Student payment is automatically deducted from their electronic purse, supporting the University's aim to become a cashless campus. Printer logs enable the University to build up a print profile to streamline the deployment of printers.

When the two-year consolidation project is complete, Leeds Metropolitan's 2,000 print, copy and fax machines will have been replaced by just 450 HP MFPs - a mix of HP Colour LaserJet CM6040 and HP LaserJet M5035 models, leased under a Managed Print Service contract which includes support and automatic replenishment of consumables. This all inclusive service eliminates much of the administrative burden Leeds Met used to carry and reducing the fleet will also result in significant power savings.

"The electricity to run our old fleet cost us £40,000 a year and we expect that to be halved because not only are we using fewer devices but they are also more energy efficient," says Weiner.

"Although we have not worked out the Co2 emissions so far, we will be doing that as the project matures and we expect a corresponding reduction. "Students have welcomed the increased functionality offered by the reliable HP MFPs, particularly the higher availability of colour and the general overall print quality. Further good news for students is that cost savings have enabled Leeds Met to reduce print charges by up to 50 per cent.

"We did a very broad calculation on potential savings when we started the project and based on things like reduced paper volumes, new machines, power, toner and administrative savings we will save about £200,000 a year," concludes Weiner.

Card system: In line with the University's aim to become a ‘cashless campus', students put money into their electronic purse either by using kiosks around the University or through Web payments. They then use their campus card to pay for print. Members of staff also use cards but their print is automatically set against departmental costs and a useful advantage is that printer logs enable a print profile to be built up and used to refine printer deployment.

Print jobs can be collected from any printer but users must present their cards to action the print on collection. Jobs that have remained uncollected for three days are automatically deleted from the print queue and this is expected to significantly reduce paper wastage caused by forgotten or unwanted jobs left stacked on printers.

Paper saving: The importance of these savings is underlined by early figures from Leeds Met. Over an initial seven month period, 3,263,714 pages were put into the print system and of that, 967,840 pages were automatically deleted by SafeCom because they remained uncollected. On top of that users themselves deleted a further 427,056 pages printed in error. These figures were collated with just 50 new machines on the system and represented a 43 per cent reduction in wasted paper, enhancing the University's environmental credentials.