THOUSANDS of pounds are expected to be saved by Herefordshire Council following an overhaul its print and document IT infrastructure.

The council was spending thousands of pounds in wasted print and paper while its ageing print fleet of desktop printers and single-function photocopiers were unreliable and prone to breaking down.

It has been working closely with Altodigital to conduct a detailed site audit across all of its locations, identifying which devices were unnecessary and inefficient, and highlighting opportunities to save costs across the fleet.

The council was also provided with SafeCom which has enabled secure printing across the network. It also has the potential to reduce the overall volumes of wasted toners and paper.

The changes have already brought significant cost savings for the council and all devices now operate under single contract, providing simplified billing with complete transparency around operating costs.

The Hereford Times has reported previously how Herefordshire Council spent almost £1 million on stationery and printing in one year.

Between 2013 and 2014, the council spent £969,734 on stationery and printing costs, equating to about £80,811 per month.

At that time the council said it had entered into a shared service initiative with Birmingham City Council, which has dramatically reduced its printing costs by limiting the number of printers it uses and installing ones which are more economic and environmentally friendly.

Since the partnership with Altodigital, the council has benefitted from a 40% reduction in print and document costs.

Paul Nicholas, directorate change manager at Herefordshire Council, said: "It was obvious that we needed a complete overhaul of our print and document infrastructure; our old devices were outdated and costing us an excessive amount of money and man hours.

"We utilised a Compliant Public Sector Framework, which provided a quick, legally compatible route to produce a solution and having worked with Altodigital before, we knew they were well placed to help us."