Toshiba are proud to continue to deliver printing solutions reliably, cost effectively and with total peace of mind for Richard Rose Central Academy & Richard Rose Morton Academies
Richard Rose Central Academy and Richard Rose Morton Academy based in Carlisle are community schools where children are valued and encouraged to achieve excellence in their own terms. Their students benefit from state-of-the-art facilities, excellent outdoor space and a broad curriculum which focuses on ensuring that students master skills and acquire a deep understanding of a range of subjects, topics and ideas.
The test of time
As a long-standing customer of Toshiba, Central and Morton academies have been using Toshiba MFP’s (Multi-functional products) and printers for over 10 years. Mark Wood, Network Manager for both sites commented on the relationship, “We’ve been very happy with the products and service over the duration of our contracts with Toshiba; in excess of 10 years. The MFP’s and printers are reliable work horses, easy to use and robust for both students and staff. If and when we do have an issue, we have the peace of mind of a quick and efficient response from a local Toshiba engineer.”
When the contract was due for renewal, the academies acted with due diligence throughout the process and as the incumbent supplier Toshiba were invited to take part. Stephen Miller, National Account Manager for 13 years at Toshiba commented on the tender process, “We’ve developed a strong relationship with the academies over many years now, but modern buying processes meant we could not take anything for granted, even as the existing supplier. We listened and acted by involving our specialist bid team, took on board new challenges and changes to the Academies requirements, then ensured we tailored our response accurately based on feedback.”
Following the tender process Toshiba were awarded the contract, Mark Wood commented on the reasons why Toshiba were chosen, “We take the tender process very seriously, we benchmark the suppliers based on a scoring system which helps us identify the strength of any bid, it’s breadth and understanding of the tender response, cost of ownership and service levels. The quality of the Toshiba response was very impressive; their bid team had taken a lot time to focus on what was important to us, rather than just a standard response.”
Improving efficiency
The Toshiba printers and MFP’s are an integral part of the academies day to day activities, offering flexibility to both staff and students for all their printing requirements; whilst at the same time managing student quotas, departmental budgets and minimising essential overall costs. “The PaperCut software’s functionality is perfect for a busy Academy environment,” commented Stephen, “It reduces waste and provides essential security with on-demand, “follow-me” printing from any of the MFP’s across the two sites. The students also have the flexibility to print from their own mobile phones with cloud-based printing.”
PaperCut has a whole host of features and rules that can help to reduce costs, encourage responsible printing and make departments accountable for their paper usage. It is also crucial for tracking, collecting data and managing all of the printers and MFP’s across the entire estate.
Impressive service
An important part of the relationship has grown through the responsiveness and professionalism of the Toshiba service team and engineers. Together with our Technical Helpdesk and Support Centre, Toshiba has a fleet of fully trained engineers throughout the UK, armed with the tools and knowledge ready to respond to calls.
“We have a competent technical team on-site to manage issues and problems,” explained Mark, “But with the Toshiba devices, we have the added re-assurance that if we experience a problem we cannot sort ourselves, we can get straight through to the Support Centre, log a call, and know that one of the local engineers will be on their way.”
Green credentials too
The savings on paper not only impact on cost efficiencies for the Academies, but also help to support environmental strategies. Toshiba helps in this area too by working with carbon offsetting experts, CO2balance. This allows for the total footprint of a Toshiba device, from parts procurement, manufacture and transportation, to be calculated and offset; providing a complete carbon neutral product upon delivery.
