CapeMayCountyHerald.com
CREST HAVEN – When someone in county government says "Make a copy," it's on one of 88 copiers. Because of the action taken by freeholders July 12, those copiers will be under one contract and one invoice with a pool of 449,000 copies.
Those copies add up to about $230,000 annually, according to Purchasing Agent Kevin Lare. He was quick to add that does not include desktop printers, whose costs are 15 times greater than regular copiers for toner. They will be phased out as part of the new agreement.
Adding to the former paperwork was that most departments had copiers with contracts ending at various times. Hence renewals were a constant source of work.
Ricoh USA was selected as the best of three vendors, two on state contract, said Bess Dyer, Management Information Systems director. Ricoh was selected because it was "the most efficient and cheapest."
She noted that under the present contract, the county was paying for a set number of copies, regardless whether it printed that amount.
"The administration of the contract will be more fluid, cost efficient, and we expect our hard costs to go down over the contract," she added.
Each employee will have a personal identification number (PIN) that will be entered to make a copy. By using that PIN, departmental and persons using the copiers will be recorded.
Another feature, Dyer noted, was that with software in the system, if a person is heading to another office, they can have prints made at that remote office.
Gone, too, will be the days when copiers will lack toner because no one ordered the right cartridge. The new copiers will "call home to Ricoh" when they need service and supplies...The copier will take care of itself," said Dyer. She anticipates a 30 percent reduction in copying costs.