Austin Health

Austin Health is the major provider of tertiary health services, health professional education and research in the northeast of Melbourne. Austin Health comprises Austin Hospital, Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital and the Royal Talbot Rehabilitation Centre.

By choosing Kyocera we were able to cut our copy cost by 25 per cent

- Tom Holessis, Purchasing Officer, Austin Health

Challenges and Solutions

	Simplify To simplify the MFD technology and make is easy for the staff to use			Device management Single vendor for all printer and MFD needs which means less different consumables and fewer drivers to load on the network
	Cost To reduce the running costs of the machines			IT infrastructure Greatly simplified fleet with fewer models
	Customer support To receive the right technical support			Cost control Automatic meter reading for tracking overall usage and costs
	Implementation To adjust the technological package to the requirements of Austin Hospital IT system			Usability Training of all employees to ensure comfort with the new solution

The challenge

It is a busy environment at Austin Health and medical staff do not have time to learn how to use different equipment as they move through the hospital and work in different wards and divisions. That and the need to reduce hefty equipment running costs was the impetus to go to tender and select a single multi-function device (MFD) supplier in 2005.

At Austin Health the use of different vendors’ MFD technology was not only causing confusion among staff who didn’t have time to work out how to use each device as they moved from wing to wing in the hospital, it was also costing Austin a lot more than it had to in running costs.

After 4 years with multiple vendors and individual users purchasing their own equipment, Austin Health went to tender to select one MFD vendor to simplify the experience for their staff using the equipment, simplify service and support for their IT department and make significant savings in running costs.

Tom Holessis says of the tender process; “There were two main factors in choosing a vendor – running costs and the technology package. Up against Hewlett Packard, Panasonic, Toshiba and Canon - Kyocera came up as the clear winner in running costs. On the technology side Kyocera offered a better package too. It was more complete and it was proven technology. Kyocera were able to show us another customer in the health sector who was up and running. This customer had similar needs, but was running a network across Australia. If they could do it across Australia successfully, we couldn’t see any reason Kyocera couldn’t do it for us across three suburbs!”

The solution

Kyocera came out the clear winner against four competitors when it came to selecting a single MFD vendor. Initially providing MFD products only, the team at Austin Health was soon won over by the ease of use, lower running costs and great back up support from Kyocera. Today they use Kyocera to supply all MFD and printer equipment to their staff over three locations in Melbourne. Austin’s Purchasing Officer Tom Holessis relates how the IT department took some winning over by Kyocera. “Like most IT departments, they are suspicious of the unknown. So initially our IT team was very hesitant to try Kyocera. Kyocera won the tender to supply MFDs and once they worked with the technology and the team at Kyocera, they were happy. They were keen to stick with one vendor and expand to Kyocera printers as well. So now we have one single vendor for all our printer and MFD needs. It makes it so much simpler for the IT department as they have only about two or three different models to maintain. That means less different consumables and fewer drivers to load on the network, not to mention less user error. As everyone becomes more familiar with the technology it just gets easier.”

Tom says; “It’s been a good partnership between our IT department and Kyocera; we share software and ideas and learn from each other. Kyocera are a really good company at responding and trying new things. For instance we tried out the Kyocera software for electronic meter reading for MFDs when they introduced it. Our IT department worked on it and gave Kyocera feedback which they incorporated into the software which was great. Similarly Kyocera have tried out software for us and we have learned a lot of things from their team, so it’s a strong partnership which has worked both ways.”

Kyocera's service has been really good which helps build up the IT department's trust too. We've been really impressed.

- Tom Holessis, Purchasing Officer, Austin Health

The result

Implementing the Kyocera solution delivered several measurable improvements and big results for Austin Health:

• 25% reduction on copy costs

• By simplifying to just one vendor, it not only makes it easier for staff and the IT department, they are now saving over $150,000 per annum in running costs on MFD print costs alone.

• Simplified the charging process with electronic meter reading. Kyocera machines are simply plugged into Austin’s IT network and their usage added to the electronic meter charges. Tom says “This is so much easier than 150 different people calling Kyocera with a meter reading for their MFD.”

• Machine systems are adjusted to the requirements of Austin Health system