Digitec’s single source solution helps keeps HoustonWorks busy.

HoustonWorks needed to streamline their printing management system to improve response, service and productivity in their offices across Houston, so they took a page from Digitec’s operational playbook.

When former Houston Mayor Kathy Whitmire sought to transition federal employment and training funds from the City of Houston into a private, non-profit organization, the HoustonWorks USA seed was planted. Founded in 1984 as the Houston Job Training Partnership Council, the agency has grown rapidly into one of the largest workforce development organizations in the nation. Managing and controlling its growth is no small task. And keeping up with the paper load involved in job training and placement, scholarships, consulting services, as well as technical initiatives focusing on sorely needed Science, Technology, Engineering and Math skills, can be downright overwhelming. That’s where Digitec proved to be a strategic and valued partner to HoustonWorks.

Working to Find Work

HoustonWorks has 12 locations, operates nine workforce development offices in Houston and employs approximately 350 people. But they “see” or interact with between 8,500 and 10,000 customers daily. Job-seekers, mostly, who come to HoustonWorks to access the resources and advice they need for letter writing, résumé development and copying, interview training, among other services, many of which require document generation and printing. According to Ron Rodriguez, HoustonWorks’ Director of Operations and Facilities, their purpose is to help these customers use the resources that will help them find jobs.

“That’s how we came in contact with Digitec about seven or eight years ago,” Rodriguez remembered. “We had two vendors that were servicing our copying needs, but we had a much better relationship with Digitec. They were more involved in our processes, communicated more, and really just out-competed a much larger, international company with the level of service they provided.”

“We found that we had a number of HP standalone printers that required service our IT department could no longer provide, so we put those under service maintenance contracts with Digitec to keep them operating,” Rodriguez explained. There was a time where almost everyone in the HoustonWorks offices had a printer on their desk, plus numerous fax machines and bunch of copiers that were all over the place and nothing was networked. “It was just a big mess,” Rodriguez understated.

But even with Digitec handling the service and maintenance on all this equipment, costs were still increasing, although they were experiencing considerably less downtime. That’s when HoustonWorks decided to talk to Digitec about streamlining their operations — actual printing, copying, faxing, scanning — with multifunctional equipment into a managed print services system.

Assessing the Workload and Needs

Digitec came in and looked carefully and critically at HoustonWorks’ status quo. They assessed the agency’s equipment needs, usage and volume levels, both for their public centers and their back offices, and discovered that the agency was stocking between 10 and 15 different consumables such as inks, toner and paper stock — some for equipment that had long since been retired or warehoused. The amount of waste alone was staggering. What HoustonWorks needed was a solution that could accommodate past and projected usage volumes by customers ranging from first-time job-seekers to experienced professionals, blue collar to white collar, and all levels of education.

“We were a little worried at first that some of this new Kyocera equipment that Digitec proposed installing and networking was too high tech for our customers,” Rodriguez admitted. “But Digitec provided our staff with training and placed signage around the equipment so our customers became familiar with the new systems very quickly.” Additionally, Digitec maintained a high level of personal contact throughout the entire transition.

“We see the same service techs from Digitec and that helps make our relationship solid,” Rodriguez said. “We deal with people every day where service techs deal with machines, so we told Digitec that we wanted to make sure that our service techs really understand what the situation is.” Rodriguez explained that they wanted Digitec’s techs to check in with the supervisors at the centers so they could be informed what and where the problem was, discuss the fix, have it completed in a reasonable amount of time, and then have the tech confirm the repair and answer any questions. Not an unreasonable request when jobs depend on it.

Decreased Costs, Increased Volumes

Over all, Rodriguez estimates that it took between 12 and 18 months to make the full transition to Digitec’s solution and that the most obvious benefit is decreased costs despite increased volume, a point that Digitec brought to their attention by working out a cost per image solution. “Now we know our exact cost when we’re making a copy or a scan or sending a fax, because we know what our real volumes are and the actual usage of each piece of equipment” Rodriguez said.

A second, less obvious benefit, but a significant one nonetheless, is the consulting, advice and support Digitec has provided and continues to provide. “They alert us when work levels shift the usage levels in certain areas or on certain pieces of equipment and recommend when it’s time to upgrade or downgrade capacity.” In effect, Digitec modifies the solution per HoustonWorks’ needs — it’s scalable.

“People will usually come in an try to sell you what they have rather than what you need,” Rodriguez related. “But not Digitec. They said let’s start with a solution that meets your immediate needs, but then can grow as you grow.”

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About Digitec

Digitec offers customers a single source for their imaging and information technology needs, including copier products, digital imaging solutions, and enhanced document workflow and management technology. The company provides a balance of technical expertise, professional approach, quality service and consultation to help customers better negotiate the future. Digitec prides itself on its customer-centric focus and delivery of the best and most appropriate solutions possible, backed by knowledgeable service-minded customer representatives. Digitec serves the greater Houston metropolitan area from its offices in Sugar Land, Texas. For more information about document management and printing solutions for the legal market, please contact us today.