The Challenge

In 2020, as its small fleet of four printers was coming to the end of lease, WAIS’ priority was, as always, “to find the latest, cost effective tech that works to help us support our athletes and their Olympic and Paralympic dreams,” said Lien Stewart, Business Analyst & Project Manager at the Western Australian Institute of Sport (WAIS).

Lien was looking for reliable, fit for purpose machines to meet the organisation’s low volume but quality printing needs. “We don’t do much at professional printing levels, it’s largely for internal use. Value for money is always right at the top, so we can keep channelling funds to our athletes. It’s about what the latest capabilities cost over the lifecycle of our machines,” Lien says.

WAIS was ready to renew its print contract with the incumbent supplier. At the same time, it was in discussions with Compnow in another area of its technology infrastructure. “The Compnow rep thought they had a better, cheaper print solution to throw into the mix,” Lien says.

The suggestion was for Epson Workforce Pro machines. “These were a relatively new set of printers coming onto the Australian market. And Compnow came up with competitive pricing for us,” she says.

The Solution

Compnow’s proposal was for four different Workforce Pro models, to be purchased under a 5-year lease arrangement negotiated with assistance from Compnow. These were to be the first of the new Epson Workforce range to be sold into Western Australia.

In making its purchase decision, WAIS’ financial analysis compared the equipment costs and warranty/service packs, as well as the consumables and any extras such as pay per page. Lien calculated an average annual use of consumables from actual ink usage and printing volumes.
Lien says, “The Epsons have great, more intuitive touch screen functionality, with a clean look and feel. And they run much cooler”.

Compnow proved its ongoing value in assisting WAIS incorporate the new equipment into the institute’s technology mix.

The Benefits

The timing of the purchase and the length of the lease were critical in highlighting the advantages of both the Epson printers and the fleet’s finance terms.

In its assessment exercise, WAIS discovered that over 3 years, the previous and Epson comparison was similar but over 5 years there was a significant difference. “The machines themselves were roughly equivalent but it was in the efficiency of the Epson ink and much lower maintenance requirements, over the long term, where the differences are. We’re looking at between $6,000-$8,000 saving over the lease time – the final amount will depend on our actual use of consumables,” Lien says.

During 2020, when COVID-19 shut down WAIS, the Epson deal meant the organisation was not additionally out of pocket. WAIS was not paying the monthly fee for minimum print usage as with some other providers – that continue even if not using the machines.

As WAIS prioritises resource allocation to support athlete performance at the international level, with the Compnow/Epson combination “we’re reducing our corporate services spending while maintaining a high quality. The decision is real value for money,” Lien says.

“We were also very grateful for the help Compnow provided as we moved the new printers. And since then, their account servicing is always very responsive. We just phone or email with ‘we need this’ and it happens. We’re not a huge account but they treat us as though we are,” she says.