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Case Study: The GSI Group

The Customer Challenge
The GSI Group is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of steel farm bins, commercial storage grain bins and grain silos. Its 1.2 million square-foot headquarters in Assumption, IL, serves customers in more than 70 countries and employs anywhere from 800 to 1,800 people.

As the IT Operations Manager, it is Steve Seelbach’s task to ensure that all those employees have access to functioning printers and that the printer fleet is performing in the most efficient manner possible.

The company had traditionally leased printers to reduce capital investment and help manage costs. While this approach ensured that employees would have access to the machines they needed, it did little to analyze printer usage and curb spending.

Although Seelbach realized that a managed print solution could help them address this, he also had some concerns. “I was hesitant about switching to a more managed approach because I didn’t want to lose control over our printer fleet,” said Seelbach. “I wanted to make sure we would work with a partner who would be flexible enough to work with our unique situation.”

He turned to RK Dixon, a market leader when it comes
to copiers, printers and computer networks.

The RK Dixon Solution
RK Dixon routinely works with businesses all across Iowa and Illinois to proactively manage their print services and ensure they are utilizing their equipment in the most effective way.

When Richard Hargrave, senior business consultant with RK Dixon, began working with The GSI Group, he immediately realized that they could benefit from RK Dixon’s ONtrac Managed Print Services.

“Printers are one of the most expensive unmanaged areas in the office. Most businesses know how much they’re spending on toner, but very few realize how much volume they are printing on their printers,” said Hargrave. “Our managed print services give businesses
the tools to uncover data about device usage and print volumes that will allow them to develop an actionable strategy to better control their fleet.”

To help The GSI Group better understand their current usage, Hargrave spent more than 100 hours analyzing existing equipment. He installed software on all machines that allowed him to track usage and print volumes over a 30-day period. The data helped Hargrave understand how printers were being used throughout the facility and truly grasp the impact of those metrics on costs.

The results surprised Seelbach.

“We never had any kind of insight on how much toner
or paper we were using, and it kind of shocked us to
see how much we were spending each year on printing,”
said Seelbach.

The Results
Using this approach, Hargrave and Seelbach together developed a print management strategy that helped The GSI Group gain control of their printer fleet and dramatically reduce costs.

“Our analysis helped GSI realize that the number of printers they had could be reduced,” said Hargrave. They also recognized that they needed to relieve the IT team of servicing printers so they could focus on more pressing IT issues.

Together they were able to determine that The GSI Group could consolidate the number of units in the facility from 320 to 210 by using multi-function devices and turn the servicing of printers over to the RK Dixon service team.

“It’s been awesome. We have a very limited staff on our help desk and to have RK Dixon help us on troubleshooting and service calls for the printer fleet has really freed up our time to work on other projects,” said Seelbach. “Their service is great, and they’re always very prompt and on time.”

With only three full months in program, Seelbach estimates that The GSI Group has already reduced its costs by 25 percent. He expects that number to increase as RK Dixon continues to implement the managed print strategy.

“RK Dixon is more than a typical vendor,” said Seelbach. “Richard is here about once a week, and we’re always talking. They don’t just sell you a product, but they really make sure it’s what’s best for you.”

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