Challenge
With a stringent reliance on paper and ongoing resistance towards digitization, the Legal industry seems poised to gain the most from Managed Print Services (MPS.) Currently, law firms spend up to 13.7% of their annual income on document output, with the bulk of it going towards maintenance and supply fees. By utilizing older printers with slower speeds and limited functionality, firms are incurring higher rates per document, while investing more in equipment repairs and replacements. Without any substantial auditing or reporting tools, firms have limited insight into their equipment footprint and viability. Key performance indicators such as, usage, downtime, and volumes cannot be measured accurately, preventing any type of proactive decision-making or preventative maintenance.
In the absence of any coordinated technical support, attorneys are forced to sacrifice billable time to troubleshoot device issues, or replace supplies. Plus, without usage data or an effective audit trail, firms are concerned about elevated risk of data breach and non-compliance with data security legislation.
A New York based Am Law 200 law firm specializing in a wide range of areas including, Litigation, Cyber Security, Employment, and Real Estate, was one of many firms impacted by these issues. Struggling with the high costs associated with managing a large fleet of equipment, outdated devices, inefficient workflows, and low productivity, the firm reached out to an outside provider for assistance. As long-time partner of the firm and well established supplier of MPS services, Exela was uniquely qualified to take over the firm’s on-site operations.
Solution
Recognizing the firm’s immediate and long-term requirements, Exela presented a multi-faceted solution consisting of labor (staffing, onboarding, training, performance reporting), and full management of the firm’s fleet, including equipment replacement, repairs, recommendations for optimization, supply replenishment, and tracking and reporting.
- MPS Services
- Before beginning the implementation process, Exela’s team conducted a complete audit of the firm’s equipment to determine the optimal fleet configuration and size
- Exela replaced the firm’s equipment with new, high-speed multi-functional devices (MFDs)
- Exela helped the Firm reduce its footprint of over eighty printers to a combination of twenty-nine MFD’s and less than fifteen printers—a 45% device reduction
- Exela provided all toner, labor and parts to support the ongoing maintenance of the firm’s fleet
- General Equipment Operation: Exela cleared paper-jams and managed paper stock
- Exela managed the procurement, delivery and inventory of supplies; installed toner and non-toner supplies, and recycled supplies where applicable
- Device Maintenance/Repair Support: Exela’s team responded to ongoing equipment service requests and managed escalations in alignment with pre-established Service Level Agreements
- Daily equipment service checks; paper replenishment; proactive device maintenance and routine cleaning
- Strategic Recommendations—After the solution was fully deployed, Exela continued to work with the firm to identify opportunities for further cost savings and enhanced optimization. This included recommendations for reducing equipment redundancies, as well as unnecessary repairs and replacements. Ongoing efforts were also focused on reducing service interruptions that could disrupt critical case-related activities
- Staffing
Exela on-site staff received rigorous training to ensure adeptness in their respective areas. The team would proactively check and monitor all equipment daily, performing routine key-op services Exela’s staff become first responders for all equipment inquiries, completing minor repairs as necessary to maintain optimum equipment uptime. - Reporting
To provide the firm with more transparency into its operations and facilitate optimization, Exela provided monthly management reports, consisting of the following:- Total volume on each device, separated into copies, prints and scans
- Report showing the total number of print jobs during a given billing cycle and whether those jobs were completed on time
- Total number of binding and assembly jobs
- Detailed listing of equipment service calls, length of calls and response time
- Additional items as requested by the firm
Result
During the past few years, the firm has been able to reduce costs by more than $100,000 annually, due to a combination of labor optimization, solutions training, and equipment reduction, among other things. The firm’s print fleet was significantly reduced through the replacement of inefficient, outdated desk top printers with new multi-purpose office equipment. Efficiencies and savings were gained by tracking and auditing device usage and individual print jobs. In fact, the amount of wasteful printing decreased by 10%. Tighter security controls and enhanced activity monitoring reduced the risk of any data breaches. Employee productivity spiked, as users enjoyed more convenient device configurations and print options. By consolidating individual print queues and reducing fleet size, the firm alleviated the time and resources required by its IT department. Once its fleet was fully optimized, the firm was also able reduce its carbon footprint by 30%.
