Leading pharmacist cuts costs and improves printing efficiencies with RIPS

Jhoots Pharmacy is an independent, community pharmacy. It currently has 49 stores nationwide, from Redcar to Great Yarmouth and Exmouth, but with a concentration of branches in the Midlands. Jhoots Pharmacy is always looking to enhance operational efficiencies and drive innovation within the business.

Jhoots Pharmacy is an independent, community pharmacy. It currently has 49 stores nationwide, from Redcar to Great Yarmouth and Exmouth, but with a concentration of branches in the Midlands. Jhoots Pharmacy prides itself on offering an efficient and reliable service to its clients. Manjit Jhooty, CEO, comments: “When a customer comes through the door, our staff will give them the time and attention they deserve, tailoring our services to meet their requirements. Customers are at the heart of all we do.”

Jhoots Pharmacy is expanding and plans to open more branches – three in the near future.  It has recently invested in new £3-million headquarters in Walsall City Centre.

Jhoots Pharmacy is always looking to enhance operational efficiencies and drive innovation within the business. As such, it was open to an approach from Automated Systems Group Ltd (ASL) to review its in-store photocopiers.  ASL is one of the largest independent reprographic and print solutions suppliers in the UK. The planned review led to a full audit of faxing, printing and copying devices used at its branches.

Jhoots Pharmacy’s stores have been using a mixture of printers, fax machines and photocopiers from a range of suppliers. This inevitably led to high cartridge replacement and maintenance costs, as an engineer would have to be called out in case of any issues. ASL saw an opportunity to cut costs and streamline processes for the pharmacies.

Following a full analysis of Jhoots Pharmacy’s requirements, including printing and copy volumes, historical costs, functionality, IT support and user experience, ASL recommended two devices to Jhoots Pharmacy. These were then trialled in-store by branch staff, who unanimously selected Epson’s Workforce Pro WF-R5690 multifunction printers, specifically for their small footprint, ease of use and functionality; staff are able to scan, fax and photocopy on the same device and, most importantly, information can be sent directly from the Workforce Pro to the Walsall head office network.  One Epson Workforce Pro is now deployed in each branch.

In line with Jhoots Pharmacy’s environmental policies and its drive to improve operational and cost efficiencies, head office was keen to follow ASL’s recommendation of installing Epson’s Replaceable Ink Pack System (RIPS), which enables branches to print up to 50,000 pages in both black and colour before needing to replace the ink. End-user intervention, transport and logistics are therefore all kept to a minimum, with no need to recycle empty cartridges. The Workforce Pro RIPS is simple to use and offers predictable print costs, with up to 80 per cent consumable cost savings and up to 70 per cent lower energy consumption than other comparable colour laser printers.

As none of their in-store devices had been connected previously, branches had been printing important documents in-store and posting them once a month to the head office, where they then had to be processed. This caused delays in information availability, bottlenecks and increased administration and did not conform to Jhoots Pharmacy’s goal of being a technologically advanced and digitally focused business.

Using the Workforce Pro, branch staff can now scan documents to folders set up on the printer and email them directly into various different departmental files – such as HR – located on the server at head office. The increased security in data transfer that the solution provides is also important, as some data is highly confidential.

Document management at the branches has significantly improved, workflows are smoother and real-time information facilitates operational efficiencies and cost savings across the business.

ASL is one of a carefully selected number of print service partners in the UK offering the latest Epson Workforce Pro RIPS range of business inkjet multifunction printers. Jhoots Pharmacy has signed a five-year managed print service agreement with ASL, leasing the Epson Workforce Pro RIPS series printers and paying on a cost per page basis. The solution gives ASL the added benefit of cutting-edge, remote monitoring to keep the printers fully operational and a managed service for ink pack ordering and meter readings.

Manjit Jhooty explains: “Having invested in hardware in the past, we are aware of just how quickly technology is advancing. So it made perfect sense for us to lease the printers from ASL and pay per usage. The solution affords us more flexibility and frees up capital expenditure for our expansion plans. ASL has provided excellent consultancy, a timely and organised implementation and excellent service support. And if we do ever have an issue – which is extremely rare, as the printers are very reliable and robust – ASL provides the hardware support we need.”

The Workforce Pro WF-R5690 multifunction printers are mostly positioned front of counter in the pharmacies. The printers have been programmed with two user codes – one for internal use and one for public use, for ease of auditing and charging. The printers are used by staff to print, scan, fax or copy documents, invoices, letters, instructions, HR documents and photos, in both black and white and colour; print speeds are fast, up to 20 ISO ppm (for both black and white and colour).

The printers are remotely monitored by Jhoots Pharmacy’s IT team, which saves branch staff trying to troubleshoot. The head office team can dial in to remotely update software or access the devices – to reinstall any addresses accidentally removed, for example

The deployment has led to improved real-time data flow across the company, improved efficiencies, cost savings and a reduction in environmental impact and IT support.

Manjit Jhooty summarises: “The faster information flow between branches and HQ since installing the Epson printers has significantly improved communication and operational efficiencies across the business. The printers produce high quality prints, are reliable and robust, and we haven’t had to replace an ink pack yet. Staff can concentrate on our core value of dispensing quality healthcare rather than managing printers and printer supplies.”

In the future Jhoots Pharmacy will look at further usability, such as the printing of prescriptions. The Epson Workforce Pros with RIPS will be deployed at all new branches opening across the UK.