Case Studies

Biomedical Device Makers Reshape Heads - and Lives - With Volumetric Software

When defect, deformity, or injury alters cranial bones, surgeons need a unique blend of engineering and artistry to return the human face to its former aesthetics. Advances in volumetric CAD technology are allowing traditional CAD manufacturing principles to meet complex medical modeling needs that formerly couldn’t be handled digitally — like reshaping the human skull. These advances let biomedical engineers digitally sculpt a custom cranial implant or surgical guide with the best fit and function for each patient.

A new breed of rapid-product-development firms provides doctors and patients with such surgical guides and custom implants faster and more cost effectively, thanks to advances in rapid manufacturing techniques and biocompatible materials.

Despite readily available digital medical imaging files such as CT scans and MRIs, patient-specific implants and surgical guides are still primarily made by hand by small labs. Organizations usually can’t support volume demand for digital fabrication devices to justify their cost. Labs cut, grind and manually shape surgical guides and implants that must be iteratively fitted to the patient, despite the fact that there are precise digital files that represent the perfect template for the desired human form. In the case of a cranial implant, time is often of the essence, minimizing the patient’s risk for further injury or infection.

Aerospace Company Profits from Breakthrough Handheld Scanning Technology from 3D Systems

When a 30-year-old aircraft arrives in the hangar for retrofitting or repair, the more information you have the better. Yet engineering-quality design data can be elusive. The original plans, wherever they are, are often on paper and by definition in 2D form. Moreover, the same plane model varies from aircraft to aircraft because of manufacturing variations, modifications, damage or wear and tear. So from an engineering perspective, you don’t always know exactly what you’re looking at.

This information gap has always been a reality and a cost of doing business for companies like M7 Aerospace, a Texas, U.S.-based aviation services firm that provides a full range of maintenance, repair and overhaul services for civilians, military and foreign governments.

CHALLENGE

Flying blind
Without precise engineering data, modifications can be time-consuming and expensive. Fitting parts and installing aftermarket equipment can be a case of trial and error. Anomalies can cause delays.

Yet the need for service on older aircraft is pressing. Older, viable aircraft are often called upon to perform modern roles that may require modification such as avionics upgrades, cosmetic work, ballistic blankets, external sensor installations for missile defense systems, or all of the above.

Office Assessment Get More From Your IT Budget

How do you find the low hanging fruit? Start with your output.

Today's output devices (printers and multifuncial systems) are an integral part of the information work dominating today's business environment. But too often they are overlooked and under-managed. That should raise a giant, lost-productivity red flag to CIOs and IT managers, especially in light of the new scan-to-workflow capabilities of these new devices, which can be used to automate and streamline important do cuemnt-intenisve business processes.

Then there's the whole cost-side of the equation. Let's do some simple math. According to InfoTrend's, if you're a medium-size business doing $10 millian a year, you could be spending anywhere from $200,000 to $300,000 a year on document and document related issues.

We know from experience with our clients that if you do a good job actively managing your nfleet, you could save as much as 30 percent in costs. In our example ab ove, that would be as much as $90,000 returned to the bottom line. If you're a large business, just add the appropriate number of zieroes at the end. In other wordes, a $1 billion-a-year company could save up to $9 million! That's real money added to bottom-line profit.

Staples Business Depot Makes an Offer Its Business Customers Can't Refuse with Xerox 1:1 Lab Marketing Solution

The Challenge

Traditionally, direct mail pieces from STAPLES to its business customers included addressing a single coupon offer, regardless of the customer’s  relationship with STAPLES. The coupon was attached to a single-sided form letter from the vice-president of STAPLES’ loyalty programs. 

STAPLES wanted to re-engage its customers who had either made minimal or no purchases within the past six months. It also aimed to increase the amount of money each customer spent on a purchase by cross-selling and up-selling to the customer based on past purchase history.

The company also wanted to leverage the customer information it had obtained through its Enterprise Credit Card and Dividends Loyalty customer programs.

Seeking to increase the amount of money its business customers spent in its stores, and to re-engage customers who had not placed an order with STAPLES within the previous six months, STAPLES became a participant in Xerox Canada’s unique 1:1 Lab.

Xerox’s 1:1 Lab, a veritable testing ground for Xerox customers, demonstrates the power and accessibility of data-driven one-to-one marketing and has accelerated its adoption by the marketing community.

Ricoh Generates New Ideas with Lateral Communication on a Global Scale

Conducting business in more than 200 countries, the Ricoh Group generates more than half of its sales from outside Japan. The company provides a wide variety of electronic products and services ranging from copiers, cameras and printers to IT solutions. Ricoh has become a highly trusted name by helping customers improve productivity and create knowledge. It aims to continue growing and seeks at least 25 percent of its fiscal year 2013 sales from new business areas.

Improving Ricoh solution scope, quality and time to market

Since its founding in 1936, Ricoh has been an industry leader in the fields
of optics and office equipment. Today, the company seeks to expand its
range of business offerings into document solutions and other corporate
solutions and services. The company’s Business Development Center
(BDC) plans, develops and markets these solutions and services.
It communicates with Ricoh Japan and four other global Ricoh sales
companies—covering the United States, Europe, the Asia-Pacific region
and China—to provide sales and support activities closely tailored to each
region’s needs.

Because Ricoh started as a hardware manufacturer, it already had processes for maintaining high product quality. However, the BDC faced
challenges in developing solutions and services. “The old rules used for hardware development resulted in unwieldy processes, making it difficult
to compete against more nimble software service vendors. We looked
to rebuild work processes designed for the things we were developing,
such as software and services. When providing solutions to clients, we
wanted to propose total solutions tailored to the client’s environment and
operations,” says Takao Fujii, specialist, Business Management Section,
Service Business Planning Department, BDC, Global Marketing
Division, Ricoh Group.

Freedman & Co. CPA, P.C. Achieves Completely Paperless Service to Financial Clientele with DocuShare

Background

Freedman & Co. CPA, P.C., a boutique certified public accountant firm in New York City, serves an impressive roster of customers who are part of the financial world themselves. "Our clients are regularly mentioned in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Financial Times,” says Paul Freedman, owner of Freedman & Co., CPA, P.C.

These high net-worth, high profile individuals typically have very complex financial lives and extremely high expectations. Thanks in large part to Xerox® DocuShare®, Freedman & Co. is able not only to exceed those expectations but also to provide a wealth of information, instantly and securely, that keeps clients and peers happy and satisfied.

The Challenge

Freedman & Co. is a regional firm, with several regular DocuShare users, but its workflow is colossal. 

Imagine a huge volume of original, highly-sensitive document flowing into the company’s files every month. The problem was not storage; thankfully the company’s office building provided ample space. Rather, the challenge was organizing and retrieving paper documents in a timely manner without a small army of file clerks. The company’s files were becoming unmanageable; the risk of lost documents unavoidable.

Real Talk With An International Hotel Chain

The Challenge

Lindner Hotels AG owns 34 city and resort hotels throughout Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Like many established hotel chains, they are aware that travelers have a wide range of choices. To set themselves apart, Lindner Hotels was looking to add new, innovative communications solutions—specifically for business travelers.

One area that they knew could be improved was making it more convenient for guests to print documents. As things stood, printing documents could only be done by connecting a USB memory device directly to a printer or a networked laptop/desktop. Without one, guests weren’t able to easily print, which led to problems and customer dissatisfaction.

The Solution

While replacing their old multifunction printers with Xerox® MFPs, Lindner Hotels decided to implement the Xerox® Mobile Print Solution. This innovative technology made it easy for guests to print documents from mobile devices, without having to physically connect to a printer.

This solution works on any of the hotels’ Xerox® WorkCentre® 7775,  Xerox® WorkCentre 7545 or Xerox® ColorQube® Multifunction Printers. What’s more, since many Lindner Hotels employees work in different locations, this made printing more flexible for their workforce. To date, the Xerox® Mobile Print Solution is available at the Lindner Hotels headquarters in Düsseldorf and in their Nuremberg hotel. The other 27 hotels are scheduled to receive the installation over the next few months.

Henkel AG & Co. KGaA

the impact of growth

At Henkel the development of the group and the strong global growth had impacted operations, particulary in the field of office communication. As is the case in many other companies, this area has grown over the years and with it the whole printing infrastructure.

Whether in the case of copiers, printers, fax machines or scanners, over the course of time many different output systems from many different manufacturers have been acquired in the entire group. Material buying and service were in various hands and were done worldwide through different suppliers and contracts. Because of the lack of transparency high total operating costs arose. In addition, the administration of this infrastructure became increasingly complex and expensive considering the worldwide diversity of products and services. This is reflected in the increased expenditure at Henkel IT and Procurement.

Dirk Wilhelms, Project Manager Henkel IT, describes the starting situation in the company. “We were confronted with a series of questions to which we had no suitable answers - a situation that is certainly familiar to many large companies. How high are the printing costs? How can these be better structured? And how can we migrate worldwide to a higher degree of standardization? We had no clear overview of our system status, because all the printers, scanners, copiers and fax machines had been acquired over a long period at the different geographical locations of the group. Diverse suppliers and service contracts were associated with them. The consequences were not only high total costs for the operation of all output systems, but also a significant cost on the part of IT, who are responsible for the installation and the operation of the apparatus“.

Greening Your Business Through Technology

GENERAL OVERVIEW

Comfort and service are among the most important features that make a hotel stay enjoyable for guests. The hospitality industry is intently focused on this and strives to develop new and unique amenities for their patrons. Whether a small bed and breakfast or a grand-scale international resort, such details can make all the difference in fostering loyalty. In fact, ancillary sales of in-room products have become vital to the bottom line for nearly any facility.

In-Room Plus is the top manufacturer and distributor of snacks, custom logo products, and convenience items dedicated to the hotel minibar market. For 25 years, the company, based in Buffalo, New York, maintains a global presence, with over 350 of the largest and most respected names in hospitality. Quality, innovation, and responsiveness top the list of its enviable clientele, and the company’s ability to fulfill any size order within days has been the hallmark of its success.

CUSTOMER ISSUES

In-Room Plus is continually coming up with new packaging designs for its clients and prospects. Much of its success in creating eye-popping materials has been attributed to the use of glossy spot varnish, which instantly appeals to guests. While long a part of traditional offset printing, such treatment isn’t cost effective for short runs or prepress proofs. To overcome this, the company’s design team would attempt to simulate the effect of a glossy varnish prior to print runs by using varying tints of color and outputting them on color printers in-house. But in the end, the noticeable absence of sheen resulted in lackluster enthusiasm among its customers.

Ricoh Production Print & Minuteman Press

Challenges

With operationsin the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, South Africa and the United States, Minuteman Press International has been rated more than once as the number one Printing Franchise by Entrepreneur Magazine. Graham Moody is the Managing Director of Minuteman Press Coventry Limited, a franchise that serves the print needs of the West Midlands and beyond.

As a commercial printer Minuteman Pressis alwayslooking at how it can deliver more high quality products and services. With increasing customer requirements such as colour printing, personalisation and demanding timescales, printers are under pressure to modernise. Indeed,traditional printing methods have dropped in recent years as part of a wider shift towards digital communications, as Moody points out, “Print still plays a major partin our customers’ communications, but we needed to find a way of helping them with as many new, added-value services as possible.”

Providing such services at competitive pricesis a challenge for most printers.“Smallerprintruns andfasterturnaroundtimes are typical of jobsthat now flow through the printshop, but offering flexibility should not come at the expense of quality, high volume printruns,” says Moody. 

As a forward-thinking printer, Minuteman Press chose to focus on digital production printing and consultancy, enlisting the help of Ricoh to source and support their investment in new technology.

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