ABOUT THE CUSTOMER
SKF is a leading global supplier of rolling bearings, seals, mechatronics, lubrication systems and services. Founded in 1907, the company has over 200 manufacturing and operational locations and is represented in more than 130 countries. It is headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden and employs more than 40,000 people worldwide. Its products and services are used in a wide variety of markets, including automotive, wind energy, rail, machine tooling, healthcare, paper and more.
CHALLENGE
Unsatisfied with its configuration of multiple manufacturers and providers, beginning in 2009 SKF Group IT chose to work with Ricoh as their primary provider. One of the main reasons why Ricoh won the business was its strong commitment to environmental sustainability. Another was its proven ability to help large organizations streamline their document management fleets, enabling companies to improve productivity using fewer devices.
The pilot project for the global solution was SKF’s North American headquarters, where they identified the perfect opportunity to put these two capabilities to the test. SKF had decided to consolidate three separate eastern Pennsylvania locations into a single new facility in Lansdale, PA. At the same time, the company knew its locations tended to have high device-to-person ratios. As every aspect of the new building would be planned to
meet LEED® standards, in accordance with the SKF Group’s broad-based sustainability initiative called SKF Care, it was a good test ground for Ricoh and SKF to develop a solution that could be rolled out globally.
Moving to a new facility gave SKF and Ricoh a chance to redesign the device fleets in three locations simultaneously, using the new headquarters as proof of concept, to show other SKF sites how an efficient, consolidated multifunctional device environment could not only reduce spending, improve transparency and workflow efficiency, but make a considerable impact on sustainability as well.
Working alongside SKF decision-makers, the Ricoh team began an intensive analysis of the fleets at three locations. What they found were 293 devices, ranging from printers, scanners, and copiers, supporting 400 employees, with multiple providers, supplies and service contracts in the mix. It was, as Mike Durante, Technology Manager for SKF, put it, “a very segregated and complex environment.”