Ricoh helps Clemson University overhaul print and mail - and generate $2.5M in new revenue

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Apr 03, 2018, 09:32 ET

MALVERN, Pa., April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Highlights:

Renowned university benefits from paper-reducing print program and streamlined mail handling using Ricoh services to lead digital transformation.
New mail and print center and managed document services program, which serves approximately 21,000 students and more than 5,000 faculty and staff members, has reduced reliance on paper and brought services back to campus, generating more than $500,000 in documented savings and more than $2.5 million in new revenue.
This new revenue has offset nearly 90 percent of the print and mail services.
Updated student post office technology, which allows price comparisons and takes virtually all payment methods, plus new electronic kiosks, have slashed wait time from more than 40 minutes to an average of just over 1 minute.

Clemson University has worked with Ricoh USA, Inc. to revitalize its campus mail and print centers and implement a managed document services program. This collaboration has generated more than $500,000 in documented savings and uncovered more than $2.5 million in new revenue, which has offset nearly 90 percent of the cost of print and mail services. By leveraging Ricoh's Student, Departmental and Bulk Mail Services, Production Print Services and Managed Document Services, Clemson has reduced their reliance on paper, increased electronic communication, upgraded the student mail center and equipped it with advanced Ricoh technology, ultimately helping students and faculty work smarter.

Nearly a decade ago, Clemson discontinued their print center, enabling students and faculty to choose their own off-campus print providers on a project-by-project basis. This approach ultimately totaled nearly 100 different print providers, with no overarching strategy, resulting in a variance in quality and cost. Clemson decision makers realized it was time to modernize.

"A few of the providers we evaluated didn't seem to understand what we were going for with our print policy or align with our sustainability values," said Mike Nebesky, Procurement Director, Clemson University. "We even got one proposal that included the caveat that we would only realize cost savings if we continued to print at the same volumes. That's not what we wanted. We wanted to reduce our reliance on paper. Ricoh took that idea and ran with it, making it possible to track and manage usage by device and department. While others took our RFP as an opportunity to give a presentation, Ricoh saw it as a chance for dialogue."

That dialogue led to a growing collaboration that was able to meet Clemson's goals, modernize facilities and streamline services.

With Ricoh's help, Clemson has implemented electronic kiosks that allow students to retrieve their packages, quickly and easily. The point of sale terminals also enable students who are shipping outbound mail to compare prices across FedEx, UPS and the USPS, and to make postal purchases via student card, credit card, check or cash. The streamlined approach under Ricoh's management has significantly cut down on lines in the mail center, which serves approximately 21,000 students and more than 5,000 faculty and staff members. The average student wait time has been slashed from 40-plus minutes to an average of one minute and eleven seconds, putting valuable time back in students' days. The center's new expanded hours have also helped, with availability tailored to students' busy schedules – including staying open during lunch and in the early evening, when classes are often wrapping up.

With its new on-campus print center, Ricoh expanded the print capabilities with twin RICOH Pro C7110Xs, affordable, powerful five-color digital presses. The 90-ppm, 1,200 x 4,800 dpi digital presses allow for quick turnarounds of eye-catching collateral on a wide variety of media and inline finishing. As part of the university's commitment to sustainability, the Ricoh team works to produce the majority of jobs on recycled substrates.

Clemson also had a need for overall fleet monitoring and management. When they began working with Ricoh, they had a fleet of more than 3,000 devices of nearly 500 different models, all randomly dispersed between departments. Ricoh worked with Clemson to implement centralized management of their fleet, which also includes an incentive program focused on migrating printing to less expensive devices. This collaboration supports Clemson's commitment to reduce overall energy consumption by 20 percent by 2020.

These improvements are just the beginning. Clemson and Ricoh plan to remove the mail center's banks of 8,000 P.O. boxes in favor of a time- and space-saving mail solution, completing the mail center's digital transformation. Ricoh has even helped improve bulk mail cost containment by training Clemson employees with USPS best practices and utilizing new mailing technologies.

"Clemson recognizes that flatmail, like paper, still has a role to play in the lives of today's students, but that other things – namely, packages and electronic communications – are a much bigger part of how people now work and learn," said Renaud Rodrigue, Partner Executive, Client Strategy, Ricoh USA, Inc. "By embracing these modern approaches to empowering digital workplaces, Clemson is better serving its community and environment, driving cost savings and ultimately delivering exciting improvements to tout to prospective students. We are proud that our services have helped them along this journey."

Clemson decision makers sought to get the most out of its new print and mail methods, both for its bottom line and its community. As a result, the two organizations unveiled a change management program to help. The pair leveraged multi-media campaigns and open houses to highlight the newly opened print and mail centers' capabilities and show campus community members how to work with the new centers. Ricoh and Clemson also helped educate students in using the mail kiosks. They engaged department heads in discussions to identify ways to cut back on day-to-day print volume and costs, building on the successes of centralized monitoring and management software.

To read more about Clemson and Ricoh's collaboration, visit this site: https://www.ricoh-usa.com/en/insights/library/articles/how-clemson-overhauled-print-and-mail-to-generate-revenue.

For details on Ricoh's full line of products, services and solutions for the production print market, please visit www.ricoh -usa.com/rpp , @RicohProPrint on Twitter and Ricoh USA Production Print on LinkedIn. For Ricoh's higher education portfolio, please visit https://www.ricoh https://www.ricoh-usa.com/en/industries/higher-education usa.com/en/industries/higher -education and follow @RicohHigherEd on Twitter.

| About Ricoh |

Ricoh is empowering digital workplaces using innovative technologies and services enabling individuals to work smarter. For more than 80 years, Ricoh has been driving innovation and is a leading provider of document management solutions, IT services, commercial and industrial printing, digital cameras, and industrial systems.

Headquartered in Tokyo, Ricoh Group operates in approximately 200 countries and regions. In the financial year ended March 2017, Ricoh Group had worldwide sales of 2,028 billion yen (approx. 18.2 billion USD).

For further information, please visit www.ricoh.com

Contact:

John Greco
Ricoh USA, Inc. (973) 882-2023
[email protected]

Tracey Sheehy
Breakaway Communications
(212) 616-6003
[email protected]

SOURCE Ricoh USA, Inc.