“That’s why Toshiba was an ideal partner, because they have servicing dealers in each region. They can be (at each dealership) to resolve the issue, instead of remote troubleshooting that often delayed repair times.”

– Art Anderson, IT Manager for DriveTime

Background
DriveTime, which operates 89 dealerships throughout the United States—from the mid-Atlantic to the Southwest— finances and services car loans for 99 percent of its customers. It is part of the company’s distinctive market focus on serving customers who may have poor credit records or no credit records at all. That 19-year market focus is paying off for DriveTime. Over that time, the company has sold more than 500,000 cars and issued more than U.S. $4 billion in loans, and it currently services 145,000 customer loan accounts.

Challenge
With many offices, came many different imaging devices requiring maintenance and service at varying intervals. In fact, the company had approximately 1,000 printers at one time. DriveTime’s six regional technicians were responsible for maintaining not only the company’s computer and phone systems, but their copiers and printers as well, and each covered a territory of 15 or more dealerships. “Dealerships would submit a service request to our internal Help Desk in Phoenix. The ticket would get assigned to a regional support technician. The tech would contact the store, and try to troubleshoot the issue remotely. If he couldn’t troubleshoot over the phone he would arrange a visit to the dealership,”
said Bobbi Polk, MIS coordinator for

DriveTime.

This is where the system began to break down. Sometimes the technician would be hundreds of miles away from the dealership and unable to resolve the printer problem for several days. The technician in Tampa, for example, also covers Orlando and Jacksonville and has 20 dealerships and approximately 80 networked printers in his territory to support at any given time.

Infincom, which has served as DriveTime’s VAR for nearly a decade, concluded that DriveTime was spending about $28,000-$30,000 per month on toner alone. In addition to toner and other consumables, regional technicians incurred the expense of time, travel, and parts to return a printer to service. Too often replacement printers were purchased to sustain business operations.

At the inception of Toshiba’s PageSmart solution, DriveTime managed 1,000 printers with limited onsite support and lengthy SLAs. The $28,000 dollars in toner only covered orders processed through a national supply vendor. They also had dealers who ordered from their local office supply stores. A true TCO was difficult to measure, but there was little doubt that printer related expenses required immediate attention.

Solution
Infincom decided to introduce DriveTime to Toshiba’s PageSmart solution. Through PageSmart, Infincom could support a nationwide fleet of printers, offer a flat-rate cost-per-page, guarantee profitability and recognize revenue – while reducing DriveTime’s cost of printing.
Toshiba’s PageSmart solution is an offering where authorized dealers can purchase an end-to-end MPS system including nationwide on-site service, toner, parts, e-commerce, automated meter collection and help desk services on a cost-per-page basis. Each month, Toshiba bills Infincom based on actual meters and a flat cost-per-page. Infincom then bills DriveTime with guaranteed margins and fully recognized revenues.
By utilizing PageSmart, Infincom was able extend their current capabilities and service coverage, while helping DriveTime achieve significant savings. As the economy struggled, most businesses were looking to cut operational expenses. Infincom signed DriveTime up for a contract of one million pages per month, which came to about $20,000. An immediate monthly savings of $8,000 – $10,000.
Toshiba’s e-commerce system also increased efficiency within DriveTime. “Online ordering is fantastic. The stores just sign in and put in the serial number for the printer; it brings up the type of toner that they need and they order it. Toshiba also has a wonderful recycling program where recycling containers are shipped directly to us with prepaid shipping labels. All we have to do is drop-in the used toner cartridges and send it off without worrying about the shipping expenses,” said Polk.
Toshiba supplies stickers for all the printers that show the serial number as well as a phone number and website for service. But toner is only one part of the savings that DriveTime enjoys with Toshiba and Infincom. As part of the contract, Toshiba dealers across the country now service DriveTime’s printers. Today, when a printer goes down, the DriveTime dealer either calls the Help Desk, or logs the service request online, and the local Toshiba dealer takes it from there.
“That’s why Toshiba was an ideal partner, because they have servicing dealers in each region,” added Art Anderson, IT Manager for DriveTime. “They can be (at each dealership) to resolve the issue, instead of remote troubleshooting that often delayed repair times.” And as a result, DriveTime technicians are now free to focus on client, computer, and server issues which are more easily addressed remotely.”
As DriveTime’s business expands into new markets, print volume has gone up too. Infincom and DriveTime recently completed a review of the PageSmart solution. Significant and ongoing savings have been realized in the cost of toner, consumables, premature equipment EOL, and servicing expenses.
In partnership with DriveTime, Infincom and Toshiba continue to monitor and adjust the PageSmart solution for further cost savings. In addition, DriveTime annually reviews and refreshes their aging MFPs with Toshiba e-STUDIO™ MFPs to maintain their copier fleet in support of business operations and initiatives.