Printer consolidation will save ALC millions Published July 23, 2008 By Joe Carignan Information Technology Directorate TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla., -- Workers may be noticing a lot more space on their desks, or in the hallways due to the disappearance of printers. They weren't stolen, they didn't disappear, it all started with a directive from Air Force Material Command's Vice Commander. To help reduce expenses and better utilize the Air Force's limited funds, AFMC/CV mandated Digital Printing and Imaging Consolidation and the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center's Information Technology Directorate was designated the ALC lead. At the beginning of the fiscal year, the ALC owned a total of 6,068 printers, copiers, scanners, fax machines, digital senders and all-in-one multifunctional devices - at a total purchase price of over $11 million. That's one printing device for every two to three people and is an extremely small ratio compared to private industry. Factoring in the cost of a five-year "tech refresh" on that inventory, plus toner cartridges, paper, warranties and maintenance, and there is over $4 million in annual operating costs. Initially, IT focused on removing the more than 2,000 non-networked, standalone printers, since these are the most expensive devices to operate. Today, they are avoiding new purchases by moving forward with further consolidation of DPI resources and collecting all excess network-capable printers for "realignment" to needy organizations. To further avoid costly purchases, IT is also collecting excess printer cartridges for re-use. OC-ALC/CA tasked IT with collecting and redistributing "consumables" for non-networked printers within the ALC. After completing the collection, IT found approximately 30 percent of the supplies, or $45,000 of inventory, had expired and were useless. By maintaining no more than two cartridges per printer, organizations will have sufficient capacity while not risking overspending on supplies that may never be used. Through these efforts, all Center organizations will improve on the initial ratio of two-and-a-half people for each printer to a ratio of eight to one by Sept. 30. This will meet Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center commander Maj. Gen. Loren Reno's goal and make the center good stewards of Air Force dollars. Additionally, the directorate is "well on track" to hit the final goal of 15 people per printer by fiscal year 20011. Over time, the transition of current printing resources into high-volume devices will result in a cost avoidance of over $1 million annually, and will decrease the number of devices the center manages from over 6,000 to less than 1,000. While consolidation will mean the days of the desktop printer are gone, printers and multifunctional devices will give users the same capabilities as before, plus secure print technology phased in on each new device. With this technology, there is no risk of accidental disclosure of For Official Use Only (FOUO), Privacy Act or other sensitive information. Users can choose to hold documents in the printer until authorizing the print job at the device through a personal identification number, so the user has total control of the process. Defaults on the new networked devices will be set to black and white and duplex, so paper and toner consumption will be decreased significantly. Plus, the new models can print over thirty duplex pages per minute - or 28,000 pages in an eight-hour day. Current desktop and ink jet printers are far slower than the high-volume printers and are much more expensive to operate. Printer consolidation is here. It is mandated by Air Force Materiel Command, but most importantly, it is a simple way for Team Tinker to reduce costs and help place these much needed funds in the hands of those who need them most... the warfighters.