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PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING
Canon Fax/Printer Distribution
Prepared by Judith Lewis
CIT115 Information Technology: Hardware and Software
June 8, 2007
Summary of Case Study Canon Fax/Printer Distribution
The Corporate purchasing department and the IT department were upgrading the printer and fax capabilities nationwide. The objective was to provide single source access to all printer install downloads for all company printers nationwide. This accessibility would be through the company portal site. This would permit employees who travel to have printer access at any branch without waste of production time searching for proper downloads or utilizing IT help desk personnel to complete the downloads.
A survey was completed by all functions within each location which included: pages printed per day in black and white, pages printed per day in color, sizes of paper used, faxes received per day and faxes sent per day. This data was analyzed, equipment selected based on the analysis of the survey, however, a budget freeze was implemented and the purchase did not get completed.
Two years later the objective was initiated and the final purchase was made without updating the survey information. During the two year period major changes occurred within the Graphics Print Department, which I worked. The building was renovated and we absorbed 10 creative artist positions and added a second shift of desktop artists.
The original setup consisted of:
2 HP laser 4200tn / Print Coordination team2 HP laser 4200tn / Desktop team
1 Canon Fax 5000 / Primary incoming fax
2 Canon Fax 2650 / Secondary incoming fax
Primary outgoing fax
The department had just received 2 HP Laser Jet 9050n, which was purchased from the department’s local MAC technician’s capital IT budget. The MAC technician was not a participant on the Corporate IT department team working on the printer/fax upgrade project. Unannounced a truck with an IKON installation team arrived at the Pittsburgh Graphics Print Department with:
2 Canon Imagerunner 50002 Canon Imagerunner 3220 (Color)
2 Canon Imagerunner 3550 (B & W)
1 Canon Fax 2650
The MAC technician and I received the project to analyze, determine placement and networking for the new equipment within the Graphics Print department.
Summary of References and Materials Used
Corporate Purchasing and IT Project Representatives
Conference calls were held to identify the current setup of the department, need to delay installation until appropriate analysis and networking decisions were identified. Additional discussions of need to reallocate equipment, add accessories to meet graphics printing needs. Then budgetary meetings to cover construction costs to remove counter area installed for previous counter top models being replaced by free-standing floor units and relocation of file cabinets from underneath the countertop units.
Corporate Survey
The format from the prior survey was used to complete a survey based on current usage due to the changes within the department.
Office floor plan
The floor plan was used to identify where equipment could be placed. Old equipment was countertop and the new equipment was free standing. This required the purchase order requisition to remove existing cabinetry to install vertical files to free up floor space for the equipment. Removal of printer counter tops to provide floor space for new equipment. Installation of new outlets and an upgrade to existing electrical outlets to handle the power supply to the new equipment.
Functional Meetings
Meetings were held with the three functions within the department, since needs vary by function. The print coordination team needed to print black and white copies, used 8 ½ x11 paper and had high volume of faxes. The desktop production artist team required both black and white along with color print capabilities. Paper needs were 8 ½ x 11, 8 ½ x 14 and 11 x 17 paper. The speculative artist team had the same needs as the desktop artist with the addition of specialty coated papers and 12 x 18 paper.
IKON Support Team
IKON support team was used to provide the equipment sizes, specifications to evaluate equipment networking and floor space and construction needs. IKON support team also provided the MAC version of the printer download for the department and to the IT team project for national printer downloads available through the corporate portal.
All resources used were pertinent in the decision-making process resulting in the final floor layout, network setup, and addressing construction and budgetary concerns.
Solutions derived from applying the PBL Model
After analysis of production needs and evaluating the features of the equipment the following decisions were made:
Printers
The Canon Imagerunner 5000 printer was located in the desktop artist area of the office. The survey indicated having two of these units was not justifiable. The one unit would be sufficient to handle future increases in production, but would necessitate the addition of a RIP unit. The additional Canon Imagerunner 5000 was reallocated to the production department with their increased need due to automation of the production reporting processes.
The two Canon Imagerunner 3220 (Color) printers were located in the rear of the office by the spec artist team. The one printer contained 8 ½ x 11 paper and 11 x 17 while the other printer contained 8 ½ x 11 paper and 12 x 20 paper. This saved loading and unloading of paper increasing production time. The desktop team prints to this unit when color changes are being made within a client’s ad.
The two Canon Imagerunner 3550 (B & W) units were assigned to the print coordination team area. One was identified as a dedicated printer for 12 personnel and the other unit became the departmental copier. This eliminated production job jackets from being picked up accidentally by those using the copier feature. Also, when either unit goes down, the other unit remains as a backup until the 48-hour service call can be completed.
Faxes
The current equipment setup was determined to be appropriate and was kept. The new Canon fax 2650 was reallocated to the human resource department. This decision was based on the current volume of incoming faxes required using the Canon 5000 fax as the primary incoming fax rolling to the secondary Canon 2650 fax to avoid busy lines for the clients on tight deadlines. The outgoing Canon 2650 fax would be kept for when the primary or secondary fax goes down it can also be the backup fax until the 48-hour service call is completed.
Service Contract
The decision was made to change the same-day service contract to a 48-hour service contract. When in production, downtime is not an option. The equipment needs to be running or have an alternative plan when it goes down.
Observations, Team Interactions, and Personal Comments
The lack of user involvement in the purchasing decision and the use of outdated information reduced the anticipated savings with this rollout. The equipment was leased for two months without being used. The needs-analysis and construction project bid process was completed during this time. There was additional cost in construction, resources to complete the needs-analysis, locating MAC compatible downloads for the printers, training fifty-one associates on printer assignment, features and usage of the system and how to download print drivers. The decrease in service contract was critical for a production department. This required the use of additional equipment, which would be used during the 48-hour downtime, should equipment break. There are two HP LaserJet 9050n which were newly purchased and unable to be returned that are not being used by any area of the department.
The departmental savings came with the toner usage being included in the lease agreement. This made approximately $2,000 per month available within the departmental budget. However, the lease amount is paid out of a corporate cost center so we cannot evaluate if this decision resulted in savings on a national basis or not.
The department is proud to have the new high-quality equipment, but could function just as efficiently with fewer units of less expensive equipment. However, with the downgrade of the service contract, it became necessary to ensure there would be equipment available to redirect production if it goes down. This forced us to have equipment which exceeded our needs as indicated by current production needs with future growth included.
The objective to download printer drivers for any printer in the country has been realized.
24 locations nationally now have printer downloads easily accessible.
Associates simply click Install and print driver is downloaded and ready for printing.
Thoughts in Applying the PBL Model
Step 1 – Understand the problem
In the Canon printer/fax project I first needed to contact the associate who ordered the units and learn how they derived at the quantity and units provided. Once this was identified, I was informed the units could not be returned, but could be reallocated to other departments. This provided the limitation of needing to find use for existing equipment within the branch.
Step 2 – Gathering information resources to develop hypothesis
The associate, who purchased the units, forwarded the original survey which provided the tool to re-evaluate the decision to solve the problem. This actually identified production increase ratios. Information gathering was completed by holding functional meetings. Brainstorming with each of the groups provided production enhancement ideas such as, assigning paper sizes to specific units. The new data analysis took into consideration the expanded workforce, building changes, future production forecasts and service agreement downgrade.
There were two different hypotheses provided:
- Units would be centralized on opposite ends of the department.
- Placing the units within functional areas within the department.
Step 3 – Studying of information resources
IKON provided the technical specifications for each of the units. Studying the differences between the units, cross-referencing current volume to unit capabilities and aligning their features to the needs of the three different functions within the department was time consuming.
Current and Prior Usage study analysis – These studies provided the data to decide what units to keep and which to allocate to other departments based on current usage and forecasted future growth.
Two floor plans were drawn up showing the centralized and decentralized placements of the units with construction and electrical needs identified. This minimized the construction requirements limiting department disruption.
The technical specifications, survey analysis, production forecast and floor plans were critical in identifying equipment to use, placement, and purpose for each unit.
Step 4 – Applying research to the case study
Placing the units within functional areas in the department, provided ready-access to the printouts, traffic flow was lessened and less disruptions to other functional areas.
Identifying paper size to specific printers permitted less production time loading and unloading paper and less damaged paper. Should an artist need to use a paper size outside his assigned printers, he/she would simply download the print driver for the unit with the needed paper size and print.
The change in the service agreement was key in the decision of having units that could be interchangeable should a unit require repair. The 48-hour service agreement drove the decision to keep equipment above our need to avoid production downtime.
Step 5 –
The printers were functionally located (decentralized) and a department meeting was held to educate each associate on how to install print drivers from the portal, features of their units, provided the reasoning for selection of printers to each function. The backup plan has worked efficiently. There has been no lost production time due to printer repair needs.
Investing the 2 months to follow the problem-based learning model of identifying the problem, gather information, establish a hypothesis, study and apply the research to the problem and re-evaluate the results once implemented is invaluable. Planning for both the department’s current need, but also planning for system failure has resulted in not the most cost-effective solution, but a satisfactory solution. Also the realization of national print driver download access was also realized.