Konica Minolta Helps California School District Save $60K Annually

Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. (Konica Minolta) announces that Alvord Unified School District located in Riverside, CA has saved over $60,000 annually leveraging Konica Minolta’s EnvisionIT Education platform of hardware and software solutions. The district, comprised of 22 schools that serve over 20,000 students, has standardized on bizhub MFPs for printing and NSI Autostore and Nuance eCopy PDF Pro to streamline document capture throughout the schools.

Due to tightening budgets, the Alvord Unified School District had an aging printer fleet which was hard to maintain resulting in copiers being out of service for long periods of time.  This placed an unneeded burden on teachers and staff. To compensate, schools across the district were outsourcing more and more of their print jobs to local vendors. Working with Konica Minolta the district was able to replace all its copiers with 114 networked bizhub Multifunctional Printers (MFPs) that provide reliable, high-quality color and black and white printing capabilities. Now the schools can print test booklets, student handbooks, calendars and reading booklets onsite reducing the need for costly outsourcing.

“In talking with teachers, it was clear our schools needed more reliable printing resources, but our School Board was reluctant to make any new equipment investments fearing higher operational costs,” says Herb Calderon, Assistant Superintendent of Business Services, Alvord Unified School District. “Konica Minolta was able to demonstrate how the district could save valuable budget resources while providing our schools advanced printing capabilities. It was a win-win value proposition. We now have easy ordering of supplies, dedicated service technicians and a consistent printer environment. More importantly, teacher feedback has been extremely positive and they are now able to spend more time in the classroom without having to worry about their printed materials.”

To further streamline document capture processes, the district implemented NSI Autostore and Nuance eCopy PDF Pro Office.  Autostore helps the district comply with security requirements regarding student records and Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) by allowing teachers to scan in and IEP test results, tag them and send them directly to a teacher’s computer and iPad. eCopy PDF Pro Office is used to scan in school forms and turn them into fillable PDF forms that are stored online and can be accessed by school administrators. The forms can now be downloaded and filled out electronically without the need for printing.

“Alvord Unified School District is an excellent example for the many schools across the country facing tightening budgets and aging equipment,” says Kevin Kern, senior vice president, Marketing, Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. “In many cases, these schools can significantly reduce costs over the long-term by implementing an efficient and reliable printing and workflow strategy while ensuring that they have latest hardware and software.  Schools can count on Konica Minolta’s EnvisionIT Education platform to simplify and streamline their document management strategy without placing unnecessary burdens on their budget.”

(Source: Konica Minolta)