Rohm and Haas Company
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Issues and Solutions
Due to consolidation of company assets from multiple bases to a single site, Rohm and Haas Company in China had been encountering increased time and labor issues dealing with 100 OA equipments. Konica Minolta conducted its original Assessment Surveys* for Rohm and Haas Company in China to help visualize the state of allocation, running and other costs of all their OA equipments. As a result, improvements were made by introducing Konica Minolta solutions, including reduced time and labor required for management, simplified cost management, and improved security.
Issues
- Inability to fully grasp conditions for use and running costs for OA equipment
- Approx.100 OA equipments of different types increasingly time-consuming and burdensome to manage
- Risk of removal and loss of important output documents through neglect
Solutions
- Enabled the visualization of conditions for use and running costs of OA equipment by conducting Assessment Surveys*
- Reduced to 1/3 of the time and labor needed for troubleshooting through the use of management software
- Improved security through authentication printing function using IC cards
* The “Assessment Surveys” by Konica Minolta are the first step in the “Assessment Service,” a one-stop consulting service for establishing an optimal OA equipment setup.This service covers every aspect from survey and analysis of current state to suggestions for improvement, introduction, regular monitoring, maintenance and management of OA equipment.
Solution Key Components
Introduced Solution
- bizhub C452 × 2sets
- bizhub 501 × 2sets
- IC card Authorization Kit × 4sets
Application Software
- PageScope Account Manager × 1set
- PageScope Authentication Manager × 1set
- PageScope Net Care Device Manager (no charge)
- CS Remote Care (no charge)
Customer
Rohm and Haas Company
Ming Li
IT Infrastructure Coordinator
Asia Pacific Region
Rohm and Haas Company has been acquired by The Dow Chemical Company, and the name of the company has been changed.
Specialty materials manufacturer established 1909, headquartered in Philadelphia, U.S.A. It continues to create technology to develop and design premium products in wide-ranging fields from construction, electronics, industrial processing, packaging and transport to daily use products, water, and food items. Its annual sales is around 9 billion dollars.
| Company Name | Rohm and Haas (China) Investment Holding Co., Ltd. |
| Address | No. 1077 Zhang Heng Road Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Shanghai, China |
| Established | 1979 |
| Capital | 210,000,000 Chinese Yuan |
| No. of Employees | Over 1000 |
| Industry Affiliation | Chemistry and Chemical Engineering |
Approx. 100 OA equipments with diverse model years and manufacturers results in time and labor-intensive management
Rohm & Haas Company is proud of the scope and results of its business as the global No. 2 specialty chemical maker. It boasts the largest research and development center in Asia, Rohm and Haas (China) Investment Holding Co., Ltd. The current office was established in August 2006, with branch offices and functions distributed throughout China in multiple bases, which have since been gradually consolidated and integrated. The current R&D workforce comprises 800 employees, making it second in size only to the research and development center at the corporate headquarters in the U.S. This research and development center controls the entire Asia Pacific region.
Initially, the center operated approx.100 OA equipments due to the consolidation of assets from multiple bases in China. The IT, procurement and management departments are in charge of these OA equipments. Mr. Ming Li, APR IT Infrastructure Coordinator of Rohm and Haas Company in China reflected on that period: “The OA equipments back then only had simple functions like printers and FAX machines. Moreover, the manufacturers and the year of purchase differed for each device.”
Due to this environment with different devices co-existing, many issues came up relating to the operation and management of OA equipments. “Frequent replacement of supplies and troubleshooting required the IT Department to spend considerable effort and time just to respond to the many repair requests from every company department. Additionally, the difficulty in grasping running costs for all our OA equipments posed another significant problem.”
Implement Assessment Surveys to visualize conditions of use and cost
This center asked multiple manufacturers for ideas on addressing these issues, and after comparison and deliberation, the Konica Minolta solution was chosen.
One major reason for the selection of Konica Minolta was its Assessment Service. As part of this service, Konica Minolta surveyed and analyzed their current state of usage conditions and maintenance costs, starting with the allocation status of all OA equipments, performance data such as the cost of consumable supplies and number of output documents over the past one year by existing devices, and through questionnaires to administrators and users.
“Until that time, the overall situation such as types of OA equipments existing in the company, the ways they were being used, and the precise amount of running costs were all difficult to grasp given the sheet number of machines and devices. The assessment helped clarify them.” (Mr. Li)
The assessment revealed hidden issues: Since so many simple function OA equipments from different manufacturers were being used, departments ordered certain supplies directly from manufacturers and had no centralized order contact point. Furthermore, the number of administrators was also insufficient for the number of OA equipments.
A specific route for addressing these issues became clear from the survey and analysis of the current state. Mr. Li cited one example: “The basics for reducing running costs are visualizing of survey results and ensuring the status of use for coping and printing remains constantly clear. We understood the need to show employees the survey results in order to raise cost reduction awareness.”
Konica Minolta proposed a multi-faceted optimization solution, addressing operating efficiency, cost, and security, using MFPs with an optional IC card containing authentication printing function, software, and services based on survey and analysis results. Mr. Li emphasized the following: “It was significant that results after the improvement were clearly expressed numerically.” As well as considerable cost performance, its adoption was decided on with the bigger picture in mind.
Troubleshooting support response time reduced to1/3 Improved security with IC cards
This center asked multiple manufacturers for ideas on addressing these issues, and after comparison and deliberation, the Konica Minolta solution was chosen.
One major reason for the selection of Konica Minolta was its Assessment Service. As part of this service, Konica Minolta surveyed and analyzed their current state of usage conditions and maintenance costs, starting with the allocation status of all OA equipments, performance data such as the cost of consumable supplies and number of output documents over the past one year by existing devices, and through questionnaires to administrators and users.
As well as reduced device and paper-jamming problems, management efficiency improved as a result. Previously, device trouble required the administrator had to visit the actual location to confirm the situation but now, the Net Care Manager automatically detects problem and notifies the administrator via email or mobile phone.
“Since we can grasp the current situation immediately, including the location of the device and the types of trouble, we can respond appropriately and quickly. Troubleshooting response time in our finance center, which uses multiple MFPs decreased to 1/3, reducing time and effort required for management.” (Mr. Li)
Authenticated printing was introduced at the same time via existing IC cards, further bolstering security.
Other benefits were improved operational efficiency including simplified cost management by tracking the number of output documents from copiers and printers per user, and through the speed of colour scanners. Mr. Li also expressed appreciation for support following the introduction: “We need never worry, as service staff respond so quickly.”
In light of the success of solutions by Konica Minolta, Rohm and Hass Company is considering the possibility of introducing this method to its entire Research and Development Center in China from now on.
Konica Minolta will continue to support the business of Rohm and Haas Company in China.
