New energy for the digital age

Enabling more flexible, agile and cost-effective print management: Formed in 2019 by the split of former company Innogy into three separate units – GasNet, RWE and Innogy – natural gas distributor, GasNet is responsible for the Czech Republic’s largest gas network. As a new company, GasNet has sought to build on the foundations of past strengths but with a progressive and agile ethos, which was also reflected in its approach to IT infrastructure. By engaging Konica Minolta and implementing its Dispatcher Paragon software, GasNet has created a modern printing infrastructure designed for the digital age.

Partnering with Konica Minolta from day one

GasNet’s relationship with Konica Minolta actually predates the formation of the company itself: Konica Minolta had already been a supplier to Czech energy giant Innogy for seven years and, when GasNet was formed in 2019 by the split of Innogy into three separate units – GasNet, RWE and Innogy – this successful partnership continued.

“Konica Minolta was a recommended partner from Innogy, where we have had Konica Minolta print environment for more than seven years. This included service, with which we were very satisfied. This made them the natural choice of supplier for GasNet too,” explains Pavel Voříšek, IT Delivery Manager, GasNet.

As the existing supplier of printers and services to Innogy it made perfect sense to build on the positive and trusting relationship – not just by continuing as before, but by creating an even more efficient approach to printing and print management. Hence, GasNet elected Konica Minolta to design a new print infrastructure that would help them better understand, control and optimise its use of print.

The solution would be built around Dispatcher Paragon from Konica Minolta. The powerful print management solution provides organisations with real-time tracking capabilities and rich reporting features for a clear view of all print, scan, and copy activities. The solution also provides robust security and access control, with features such as secure pull print to prevent unauthorised usage and protect sensitive information. By delivering unprecedented transparency and control, GasNet would also be able to track and control costs and ensure the most cost-effective and sustainable use of print facilities - for example by ensuring higher use of the most economical devices.

A fast, efficient implementation built on years’ experience and expertise

Konica Minolta proposed Dispatcher Paragon as a solution to operate GasNet’s print centre, with the aim of bringing the system live by October 2020.

The preparation started roughly before the beginning of 2020 in March. The priority was speed of deployment as everything had to be done as quickly as possible. For GasNet, there would be the added advantage of bringing everything under one roof. Konica Minolta designed the print management software in addition to the devices, so they would now have a single supplier for the software and MFPs.

GasNet has a fleet of 310 printers and MFPs, including 210 Konica Minolta MFPs and printers and one hundred devices from another vendor – all of which could be effectively managed via Dispatcher Paragon. The 6-month project brought together stakeholders from Innogy, the GasNet IT department with a dedicated team from Konica Minolta that supported GasNet at every step. This included solutions consultants, architects, technical support, a project manager, and 15 local technicians from around the Czech Republic who installed the solution.

Empowered to drive greater sustainability

“Our world is changing dynamically and we want to meet the diverse challenges of the future. With partners like Konica Minolta, GasNet is embracing digitalisation. For us, digitalisation means a desire to change andnimprove. Information technology willnhelp us automate and simplify routine activities and will give us more time and space to do what is really important – ensuring a safe and reliable gas supply. With Dispatcher Paragon we can now make the most of what we have in terms of printing – and become more efficient as a result”, explains Voříšek, GasNet.

With the new print infrastructure managed by Dispatcher Paragon, GasNet now aims to make full use of the rich data and insights delivered by the solution. In particular, the reports from the devices will enable optimisation of how the fleet of devices is used. “For example, by reducing printing on our legacy A4 devices and making more use of the newer Konica Minolta A3 devices. Our goal is to go digital as much as possible and boost efficiency. Paragon‘s Dispatcher will help us achieve this.”