Allied Express was facing rising printing costs and inefficiencies due to an aging fleet of 100 printers and MFPs with no centralized management. Lexmark and AOMIT provided a managed print service, standardizing Allied Express on a range of Lexmark devices with a consistent interface. This reduced costs by 38% through fleet optimization, improved reliability, and proactive management.

1. AUSTRALIA
Allied Express Success Story
Services & Other Industries
SUMMARY
Lexmark and AOMIT provide Managed Print Service to Allied Express, improving the visibility of device management, contract terms, reducing costs and paper
wastage, and improving user experience.
Allied Express moving forward with cost reductions and business improvements from new
Managed Print Service
The Customer
Allied Express is the largest, independently owned courier and express
freight company in Australia. With offices in all major mainland capitals and “At the time, we didn’t really understand how much
a fleet of over 1,000 vehicles, as long as there’s a road, Allied Express can print was costing us, but we were aware that we were
deliver. It’s the additional value beyond the traditional courier service that
frequently spending unnecessary dollars fixing printers.”
differentiates Allied Express, and this is why many of Australia’s leading
organisations trust Allied Express to move their precious goods across the
country. – Michelle McDowell,
Managing Director,
Allied Express
The Challenge
When Allied Express approached AOMIT nearly four years ago, they
had no visibility over their 100-device printer and MFP fleet. As a
result, they were working with an inefficient, disparate and ageing In addition to rising maintenance costs, there was little to no direction
fleet of printers and MFPs which were underperforming and costing or control over the printing behaviour of the users. A large number
the business more than it realised. of internal documents were being printed in colour (when colour was
not required), significantly inflating costs. And despite the business
“At the time, we didn’t really understand how much print was costing acquiring devices to enable the in-house printing of marketing
us, but we were aware that we were frequently spending unnecessary collateral, some materials were still being outsourced to external
dollars fixing printers,” said Michelle McDowell, Managing Director, printers.
Allied Express.
Furthermore, many users were not utilising features of the existing
Costs were on the rise as recurrent maintenance was required on the technology such as two-sided printing and multi-page printing, and
ageing technology. Many devices were overused while others were there was limited take up of scanning, with outdated technologies
significantly under-utilised. Some were constantly in need of repair such as faxing and copying being used instead.
and others were always out of toner.
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2. Allied Express Success Story 2
Allied Express standardised on a range of Lexmark business printers and
“We felt that the best way to achieve the optimum smart MFPs. The entire range shares the same customisable and easy-to-
use interface across the entire fleet of A3, A4, mono and colour-capable
outcome for our business was to have our
devices.
environment managed by a company that specialises
in print management.” To ensure the fleet was truly optimised at all times and that future cost
– Michelle McDowell saving opportunities would be identified, Allied Express engaged in a
Managed Print Service with AOMIT. Through the managed service, AOMIT
provides premium device maintenance and management; automated just-
Cost, however was not the only focus for Allied Express. Of equal in-time toner delivery and continuous measurement of the environment – a
importance was a reliable fleet of printers and MFPs that could ensure service that identifies ongoing opportunities for improvement across the
the business operated at the pace required by an industry-leading fleet.
logistics business.
“We felt that the best way to achieve the optimum outcome for our business
“The nature of our business demands that we have to be operational was to have our environment managed by a company that specialises in
at all times,” said Michelle McDowell. “We simply cannot afford lost print management,” Michelle McDowell said.
productivity associated with a machine fault or a device without toner.
We were committed to finding a print solution that would provide The Results & Benefits
use with the performance we required to execute on behalf of our Allied Express has realised overall savings of 38% to its bottom line by
customers.” standardising and rationalising its fleet and implementing AOMIT’s Managed
Print Service. The original fleet size of 102 devices has been reduced by
The Solution more than 50% to around 45 devices, and aged devices have been replaced
AOMIT’s first step was to better understand how Allied Express was actually with new, fit-for-purpose technology from Lexmark. User satisfaction has
using its print technology. It became apparent through this discovery also improved significantly as the technology is now uniform throughout the
process that Allied Express would benefit greatly from a standardised fleet business and much easier to use.
of devices that all shared the same user interface. This familiarity would
be a productivity benefit for all employees regardless of which building or Ensuring that the right technology has been deployed in the appropriate
department they were printing from, because it would mean learning only environments has also helped to improve how the devices are used, leading
one interface that could be used across any device in the business. to a 25% reduction in colour printing and removing a largely redundant
fleet of more expensive A3 devices. Maintenance costs have reduced
Additionally, AOMIT identified a number of cost saving opportunities dramatically due to the improved reliability of the new devices and the
by simply deploying more effective and appropriate devices for specific proactive management of the environment by AOMIT.
departments across the business. This included the use of A4 printers
and MFPs where users had little or no requirement for A3 printing and by The nature of the ‘managed’ relationship provides Allied Express with
replacing colour devices with mono devices in departments that did not complete transparency across all costs associated with printing, enabling
require colour. It also involved replacing standalone faxes and scanners the company to make educated decisions that will continue to improve its
with MFPs to reduce the total number of devices, with the objective of return on investment in the future.
saving money and providing more relevant functionality for the users of
each device. “Overall we are extremely pleased with the performance of the Lexmark
devices as well as the proactive management provided by AOMIT,” said
Michelle McDowell. “We have already realised significant costs savings and
productivity benefits in our business and are encouraged by the persistence
of AOMIT to help us further discover more areas for improvement.”
AOMIT is an authorised partner of Lexmark.
As a 100% Australian owned business solutions provider, AOMIT specialises in
providing integrated business solutions, cost reduction strategies and services.
Lexmark and Lexmark with the diamond design are trademarks of Lexmark International, Inc., registered in the United States and / or other countries.
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All other trademarks are the properties of their respective owners.