SHL Group chooses WorkForce Pro WP-4525 DNF

SHL Versicherungsmakler was founded in 2000 by partners Günther Schwob, Florian Haas and Frank Liepner. In the years that followed, the company grew and today has many divisions: SHL Insurance Brokers, SHL Property, SHL Consulting & Management and SHL Credit Insurance Brokers. In addition the group also founded the German Association for the Protection of Construction Financiers and the German Rent Deposit Federation, which is of particular interest for tenants, as it provides a liquidity-protecting alternative to any rent deposits that may be required when renting commercial premises or a private dwelling.

Concentrated in SHL is expert knowledge of investment, insurance and property, demonstrated by its success: today the group employs more than 30 staff at the Munich, Hamburg and Langensalza sites.

The commercial development and growth in size of the company comes from some simple rules.  Open and honest dealings with customers and one another, a collaborative approach to problems and demands, as well as highly motivated staff, from the basis for the success of the company that, contrary to all market trends, has continued to grow and develop. The philosophy that SHL Group has always applied is very simple: every piece of advice given must be totally individual and suit the requirements of the customer. For this the group develops tailor-made solutions and is therefore able to guarantee the very best care for each individual customer. On top of this, they are not bound by the portfolio of a financial institute or insurer.

Until now, the Munich office operated with one high-performance printer for the whole team.

"It was soon apparent that there were substantial disadvantages, that we had not paid sufficient attention to in the past," explains Sebastian Kink, an authorised signatory of the SHL Group. "One printer for the whole team meant that each person must get up, fetch their paperwork from the printer and then return to their position. The time involved was not really the fundamental problem. Much more irritating was staff being disturbed by the constant noise in the open-plan office from the never-ending comings and goings. And now prints do not get left lying around or mixed up with other print jobs. With a print-out total of around 15,000 - 20,000 pages a month, this is a significant factor."

In 2012, the management of the group agreed to ask various manufacturers for a printing solution for the office. Epson's Workforce Pro business inkjet printer was chosen because, in addition to the excellent cost-per-page, unequalled by any competitor, the very simple operation was the deciding factor.

"In addition to all the advantages of the Epson printer, there was one more point," adds Kink. "The success of our company is based on the competence and engagement of our staff. So it is normal for us that they too should be involved in the equipping of the office. Many were uneasy about the current running debate about dust generated by laser printers, and so felt that the location of laser printers adjacent to desks was unacceptable."

Thanks to the changed printing policy introduced as a result, using Epson's WorkForce printer, SHL Group has achieved a cost-per-page of around one cent (0.01EUR) per black and white page and around four cents (0.04EUR) per colour page. Along with these outstanding costs, a further factor in achieving such excellent figures is double-sided printing. In the Munich office, a total of ten WorkForce Pro WP-4525DNF printers have been installed, to which workgroups of up to five staff have access.

Typically, in every office dealing with insurance, property and consulting there is, in addition to everyday printing, the need for high-quality presentations. For this application, too, the WorkForce printers are in their element, as thanks to the ink, processing coated paper to produce professional presentations is child's play. Even document-quality printing on certified paper used, for example, for guarantee certificates, can be delivered by Epson's business inkjet printers without any problem.”
 

"We would buy Epson printers again, any time," sums up Kink. "My advice to companies with workgroups of our size would be to consider inkjet printers as a high-value, professional and cost-effective printing solution."

The next SHL Group project is already imminent. "As a result of this experience we have great faith in the Epson brand and will soon be examining the company's interactive projection solutions," said Kink.