Kyocera printers are a driving force at ATS Euromaster

ATS Euromaster is the UK arm of the Euromaster Group, which operates in ten European countries with over 13,000 employees and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Michelin group.With 530 workshops in locations across the UK and 4,300 employees, ATS Euromaster provides truly national coverage. The company offers a comprehensive range of products and services including: tyres; brakes; batteries; shock absorbers; oil; exhausts; and MOT testing.

The company was looking for a way to produce company invoices cost-effectively within the servicing workshops. At the time the workshops were using dot matrix printers which require expensive three-part stationery. Andrew Smith explains exactly what was required: "It was essential that we chose a printer that was reliable, robust, and capable of operating effectively in the harsh environment of the workshops with minimal maintenance." ATS also needed a remote monitoring solution that would enable all the printers to be monitored from a central location, as Andrew explains: "With branches situated throughout the UK, it's not feasible to have a technician in each one, nor can each be physically checked if a problem arises. We needed a remote monitoring system that would allow our network managers to pinpoint any problems and resolve them as far as possible from a central location. Additionally, we planned to move to an outsourced IT support service, and it was therefore important that we had a common hardware solution to facilitate easy support." Finally, ATS was keen to identify a printer with a low cost of ownership that could reduce its operating costs.

Andrew had previous experience of Kyocera printers in a former role, and decided to add them to the evaluation list alongside products from Lexmark and Epson. "We needed printers with a fairly fast engine, and a short warm up time, to minimise the amount of time a customer has to wait for an invoice. It was also essential that the printers had twin paper trays, so that we could print two part invoices. At the end of the trial, the Kyocera and Lexmark machines were neck and neck," says Andrew. "We were impressed with the robust build quality of the machines and the fact that they had enclosed paper trays was a plus as this minimises the amount of dust that can get into the printer - and our workshops can be dusty places!" The final decision came down to account management: "Our Kyocera account manager had provided good support throughout the evaluation process, and as we knew that we would need strong support during the rollout period, this is what clinched the deal for Kyocera,"

Kyocera could also supply an advanced network monitoring system in the shape of its KM-Netviewer software. KM-Netviewer allows a network manager to remotely monitor the status of every printer on the network - even those from other manufacturers. With a clear, graphical representation of each printer, KM-Netviewer can advise on toner levels, paper jams and driver problems should these occur. KM-Netviewer can also be configured to alert the network manager remotely via text message should a problem arise. This leads to minimal downtime and swift fault resolution.

Kyocera was able to provide detailed cost of ownership figures based on the page coverage of a standard ATS invoice. Kyocera Corporate Account Manager Pauric Surlis explains the importance of determining printer running costs before purchasing a machine: "A standard printer will cost approximately three times as much as its purchase price in toner during its lifetime. As the cost of toner can vary enormously from manufacturer to manufacturer, it is essential that buyers examine the running costs of the machine they have selected before signing on the dotted line, as what looks like a bargain hardware price at the outset can prove a costly machine to run. The difference in cost can add up to thousands of pounds over the life of the machine so it's worth getting the decision right at the outset."

Andrew Smith adds, "Upon investigation it was clear that Kyocera offered the lowest running costs for our invoices, and the availability of KM-Netviewer to enable us to monitor the printers remotely was an added bonus."

ATS Euromaster installed 550 Kyocera machines in its workshops and has since found them to be reliable and suited to their purpose: "We have had very few problems since the installation." says Andrew Smith, "Some people in the organisation felt that laser printers wouldn't be robust enough to stand up to the incredibly harsh workshop environment, but I have been vindicated!" Because of the straightforward design of the machines,  engineers in the workshops have been easily able to maintain them, and even carry out more advanced tasks: "When we have needed to change network cards, for example, we have been able to send out the pre-configured card to the
workshop with simple instructions and the engineer has been able to install the card."

Future plans…

ATS Euromaster will be rolling out an advanced POS system in the coming months and moving to a Citrix-based thin client platform. Andrew believes that Kyocera's experience of developing thin-client solutions will come in useful: "As the new system rolls out we'll be looking to partners like Kyocera to lend their expertise and help us to ensure a smooth deployment," says Andrew. He is also keen to look at the potential of e-forms for adding value to invoices: "The FS-1010TN has a compact flash slot that can store electronic forms," explains Pauric Surlis. "This means that ATS will be able to easily modify the look and feel of its invoices where previously any change in design or content would have necessitated ordering new stationery and throwing away out of date paper. Because the form is stored on the printer, it doesn't cause network traffic each time a page is printed."

Kyocera works with a solutions partner, Planetpress, which specialises in forms solutions. The Planetpress system can even be configured to save and archive a PDF of each invoice as it is printed for record purposes. "It's all about getting our technology investment to do more for us," says Andrew. "We chose the FS-1010TN because it met our initial requirements - not just for invoice production, but for plain paper printing too - and I'm pleased that it has the flexibility to integrate into new solutions such as e-forms in the future."