Castle Hill drives print efficiencies and cost savings with Annodata.
Key points
About Castle Hill
Castle Hill Academy is a primary school based in Croydon, London. The school is part of REAch2 Academy Trust (Raising Educational Achievement for Children) the largest primaryonly academy trust in the country currently supporting some 55 primary academies across England.
Castle Hill currently has 474 students and 145 staff and much like many schools, it depends heavily on its printers, which it uses for lesson plans and class materials, communications with parents and to support its back office. However, the school found that it was paying over the odds for its print estate and turned to Annodata to roll out a new solution that would deliver cost savings and better efficiencies
The challenge
Before Annodata, Castle Hill’s print estate consisted of two solutions, comprised of multiple devices, which were being delivered by two different suppliers. As neither of these contracts were being run through a government framework, Castle Hill was encumbered by various contractual issues. This ultimately left the school exposed to a lack of security along with additional bills and charges, such as admin fees, device fees and annual increases.
Stephanie Croucher, Admin Assistant at Castle Hill Academy, explained: “Under our initial contract we found ourselves in a position where we were being hit with a number of unforeseen costs and bills. Considering that we are a small primary school, we would much rather see this money invested in our pupils’ education. We therefore needed a new supplier that would allow us to save and predict costs, while also providing greater support for our print estate.”
Castle Hill was directed to Annodata by REAch2 Academy Trust, which had recently appointed Annodata as the preferred supplier for its entire academy chain, following a competitive bid process. Castle Hill sought to terminate its contracts with its existing suppliers so it could move the management of its print estate over to Annodata, but on doing so, was hit with additional contractual fees, putting the entire project in jeopardy
“We now have a very cost efficient and reliable print estate, along with the guarantee that we are protected from any unnecessary costs.”
Stephanie Croucher, Admin Assistant at Castle Hill Academy
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The solution
Before Annodata initiated the implementation of the new print solution, Castle Hill sent copies of the previous suppliers’ contract to Annodata for review.
Annodata immediately identified errors and discrepancies in the contract and fought this on the school’s behalf. Through negotiation, Annodata was able to get the termination fee removed in full. With the burden of unnecessary fees removed, Castle Hill was free to pursue its new partnership with Annodata, supported by a government backed Central Buying Consortium (CBC) framework.
Stephanie said: “The fact we were struck with further costs upon terminating our contract with our previous suppliers only reinforced our decision to move to a more transparent and trusted provider. The team at Annodata went above and beyond to make sure that we were not being charged any unnecessary fees and even drafted letters for us to send to our former suppliers. We were elated to have these fees removed and this left us free to move the new contract forward with Annodata, who provided us with peace of mind through a new government approved framework.”
Annodata installed a resilient and reliable print solution, providing device consistency through the implementation of a complete Kyocera estate, made up of the three of the latest multifunctional devices (MFDs).
Print management software was also implemented to complement the new devices, enabling Castle Hill to control its print functionality and reduce the print volumes moving forward. The Print and Follow Me software ensures that documents are not printed until users authenticate themselves, meaning that jobs are never left unclaimed, significantly reducing waste. This functionality also provides heightened security, which is an important aspect when it comes to printing confidential documents, such as assessment materials and letters to parents.
What’s more, the Kyocera Fleet Manager software provides remote and automatic diagnostics, which means that Annodata is able to identify and resolve issues rapidly. This, combined with Annodata’s industry-leading SLAs, which specify that in the event of a device fault, an engineer will be dispatched within four hours to rectify it, creates a highly reliable solution with minimal downtime.
The result
Since moving over to Annodata’s new print solution, one of the major benefits achieved is the fact that Castle Hill has complete reliability and predictability when it comes to the anticipated costs.
Additionally, Castle Hill now runs a much more cost-effective print operation, with savings that equate to 35 per cent, when compared to the school’s previous supplier. Annodata also anticipates that Castle Hill’s print outputs will be significantly improved, predicting that the volume reduction, via the Print and Follow solution, will be 181,000 pages per annum.
Stephanie added: “From the moment we engaged with Annodata it was clear that they wanted to work with us to ensure we had a secure framework and solution in place. We now have a very cost efficient and reliable print estate, along with the guarantee that we are protected from any unnecessary costs. Also, as we’ve now got the same devices throughout the school, the overall user experience has been improved. Ultimately, Annodata has proved that they are a trusted supplier and can always be relied on.”
Due to the success achieved with Castle Hill Academy, REAch2 Academy Trust now plans to rollout Annodata’s solutions to other academies in its trust, ensuring they benefit from the most cost-effective and reliable print solutions possible.
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