Post Office chooses TM-J7100

The user-friendly, Epson TM-J7100 inkjet printer offers quiet, single-insertion printing. Combining speed and superior quality, it produces high-resolution, permanent and instant-drying 2-colour printing

Part of the Royal Mail Group, the PostOffice is an integral part of the social fabric of the nation and is cherished by local communities that rely on many of its 170 value-added products and services. It serves 24 million customers each week from around 14,300 branches nationwide - more than all of the UK’s banks and building societies put together. To process in excess of £900 billion a year in over 2.4 billion transactions, at a rate of up to 3,500 transactions per second, the Post Office relies on Horizon. Developed, installed and maintained by Fujitsu, Horizon connects its national network, providing maximum efficiency and security.

As part of its relentless drive to deliver improved customer service, the Post Office embarked on an initiative to replace outdated counter printers at all of its branches. To successfully accomplish the critical task of deploying more reliable, highquality printers that provided fast and quiet printing, the Post Office approached Fujitsu. Ease of use and integration with their existing host application were significant prerequisites. They also wanted to make the most of colour printing to enhance customer perception and maximise the opportunity for product promotion on 600 million receipts. In addition to addressing spiraling maintenance costs associated with the old printers, a cost-neutral solution was sought.

Fujitsu invited Epson to discuss alternative counter printer solutions that would comply with the Post Office’s criteria for an efficient, flexible and future-proof printing solution. Following a series of discussions, Epson and Fujitsu presented the Epson TM-J7100 inkjet printer to meet the Post Office’s demand for user-friendly, operationally-reliable hardware. To accommodate their stringent requirements for seamless integration and the provision of a cost-neutral solution, Epson embarked on a challenging project to customise the TM-J7100 and support its business case by presenting a compelling TCO model.

Critical to the success of the project was seamless integration with the Post Office’s Horizon application. To achieve this, Epson developed new printer firmware that partially emulated previous printer commands. Taking advantage of the TM-J7100 printer’s additional functionality, a comprehensive set of utilities were developed and manufactured to enable Fujitsu to remotely access individual printers. This involved several modifications, including changes to the printer speed, baud rate emulation mode, and the provision for promotional messages (for example) to be remotely downloaded overnight onto all printers without any user intervention.

To fulfil the Post Office’s requirement for secure printing on vital items such as postal orders and gift vouchers, Epson developed a new cartridge and a unique security ink for the TM-J7100 printer. To fully utilise its colour printing capability, a customised set of software tools were developed to facilitate the creation of logos and footers for marketing purposes.

“By helping streamline operations, the bespoke Epson TM-J7100 aptly caters to our diverse range of requirements,” commented David Smith, Head of Change and Information Systems. “More importantly, the new printers offer a reliable, secure printing solution, providing optimum protection to prevent fraud.”
 

As the Post Office insisted on a cost-neutral solution, Epson created a TCO model that allowed for existing paper rolls to be used with an allowance for logos and footers. From all trace data gathered by Epson, all printed matter was defined as head shots and ink usage assessed accordingly. “With our old printers, we were constantly battling to keep costs down. The Epson TM-J7100 has changed that by successfully delivering a reliable and significantly cost-effective solution to meet all our printing requirements,” said David.

After a series of modifications and developments, the TM-J7100 was enhanced to deliver a custom-built printing solution that precisely met the Post Office’s unique requirements. In November 2006, the Post Office awarded Epson and Fujitsu with a contract for the installation of 35,000 printers at its branches nationwide.

Following a successful three-month pilot that involved the installation of 94 TM-J7100 inkjet printers at 21 Post Office branches, Epson and Fujitsu began the extensive roll out of all 35,000 printers. Spread over a seven-month period, the roll out covered the Post Office’s branches across all of the UK, including outlying islands.
 

As part of the seven-year service contract awarded to Epson, which includes all misuse and abuse, printers can be swapped on site and be sent for servicing as and when required, allowing for a total refurbishment of products. The refurbishment procedure involves a strip-down process, followed by a complete rebuild, replacement and cleaning of parts as necessary, with all refurbished units eventually being sent back to the field engineers’ swap stock.

Impressed with the implementation of Epson’s TM-J7100 printers, Andy McLean, Head of Service Delivery at the Post Office concluded, “Epson have risen to the challenge to equip the Post Office’s 14,000-strong network with customised, world-class printing technology. In terms of functionality and performance, the TM-J7100 printer has more than lived up to our expectations, helping us deliver outstanding customer service.”
 

New printer firmware
• Partial emulation of previous printer commands
Future-proofing
• Dual interface USB and serial connectivity
• Suite of software utilities to facilitate remote access
• Added functionality to migrate from emulation to ESC/POS*
• Reliable printing of 1 and 2D barcodes
Security
• New cartridge and unique security ink
Additional enhancements
• Head office software tools for generation of headers and footers