Background
Ysgol Cwm Brombil is a new combined school – with secondary and primary pupils on one site – based in Margam, which opened in November 2018. The school has more than 1200 pupils.
The Problem and Requirements
As a new school, it was important for them from the outset to have a managed print service and products that enable the school to be cost effective and sustainable, as it is attempting to be as carbon neutral as possible.
The school also wanted to provide enough printers for staff and pupils to access across the site, as well as maintaining secure print functionality and ability to track usage by department.
Their previous reprographics had been outsourced, but as part of the school’s construction, this was also brought in-house, so they wanted to have an appropriate large-scale printer that would handle this level of workload.
The Solution
Blue Sky recommended the installation of the HP PageWide hardware throughout the school, which would be strategically placed to provide accessibility across both the primary and secondary areas of the school. The PageWide printers would ensure energy efficiency, but without impacting on quality of the print. The security software enabled print release with secure follow-me-print, as well as providing the tracking ability for senior school staff to monitor usage per department.
• The school is set to see a 20% cost saving in cost per copy (CPC) per department in its first year
• One touch point for all members of staff
• There is complete accountability and no wasted print
• Reduction in the school’s carbon footprint by approximately 55% per printer, as well as using up to 73% less energy consumed
“It was great to work with the Blue Sky team as they know their printers and they were able to provide us with the best options that would suit the school, but also take into consideration our commitment to be sustainable. The HP printers that they installed have been fantastic, they use less energy, but it doesn’t diminish the quality of the printed pages.”
Eurig Thomas, Deputy Headteacher
Solution Components in Summary
• MPS Software: PaperCut MF Managed Print software
• HP hardware: Hewlett Packard e77650dns managed MFD
• Device Management: Blue Sky proprietary managing and reporting software with professional personable account management.
Installation
Blue Sky received the full schematics of and in consultation with the site developers, Bouygues UK and school staff, card readers were installed on the devices, which were then also used for security ID and door access. This enabled us to provide full training to superusers in IT and key members of staff. All document transactions are audited, and internal billing set up for pupils, guests, departments and teachers. If a job is not collected it is automatically deleted and a message is sent to the user stating “due to the ecological policy of the school, your print has been deleted as it has not been collected.”
