Concern Galnaftogaz (the OKKO filling stations network) is one of the larg¬est filling networks in Ukraine. The company operates more than 400 filling stations under the OKKO brand. The company’s structure includes Ukraine’s largest network of roadside catering establishments: 400 cafés (at every filling station) and 41 restaurants operating under the A La Minute, Pasta Mia and Meiwei brands. The filling stations host 400 mini-markets with a range of about 2000 items. In addition, OKKO network divisions sell petroleum products to corporate customers in retail, in small batches and in wholesale, and provide fuel quality examination services, as well as petroleum storage and transporta¬tion services. The OKKO network operates 10 petroleum storage depots and 19 stationary and mobile laboratories for petroleum quality control.
Before choosing a solution for the office printing, the company set two key goals: to have uninterrupted printing services, and to be able to use printing equipment regardless of the office or employee location.
“Printing processes are not essential to the company, since we are on the way to complete digitalisation of our business. However, certain processes require mandatory printing of the accompanying documents due to legislative and other restrictions”, says Mykola Horak, Head of Technical Support at Concern Galnaftogaz. “Our petroleum storage depots work 24/7, and it’s impossible for fuel trucks to depart without the prior printing of consignment notes. That is why uninterrupted printing services are extremely important to us.”
Moreover, the company follows the concept of a “network without borders”. According to this concept, all employees should have unimpeded access to all information services regardless of their location. Printing services are not an exception and are covered by this concept.
Prior to their collaboration with Konica Minolta, Concern Galnaftogaz used the services of other providers. “Frequent breakdowns of printing equipment caused downtimes for fuel trucks, and lack of software for printing process management led to excessive use of paper and violation of information security rules”, Mykola Horak explains. “Employees sent print jobs to a shared printer which started printing immediately. Anyone could see or pick up a printed document with confidential information.”
Device integration with a LDAP directory and access management system was also important to the company.
Konica Minolta solutions are implemented in 29 offices distributed throughout Ukraine. 87 bizhub multifunctional devices from Konica Minolta are currently installed and serviced at Concern Galnaftogaz. The company has chosen YSoft SafeQ to manage the printing processes. All Konica Minolta devices are equipped with built-in terminals and card readers.
Thanks to YSoft SafeQ, Concern Galnaftogaz has the benefits of enhanced security when printing corporate documents. All Konica Minolta devices are interconnected, and employees can provide authentication to access multifunctional devices in any office using their personal code or magnetic card, which is also a pass to the office. The authentication system controls access to the data and allows us to set different types of access to the equipment.
When a user sends a print job, it is directed to the YSoft SafeQ server. The user can provide authentication as described above and print the job at any time on any printer inside or outside the office. As part of this solution, the finance department receives all the necessary reports to allocate printing costs inside the company and among individual projects. By analysing the print, copy, and scan jobs, YSoft SafeQ also helps to identify potential bottlenecks in some operating processes.
In 2019, Concern Galnaftogaz required an ugrade from YSoft SafeQ 4 to a newer version (YSoft SafeQ 6) and announced a tender to purchase the licences. Along with the common licences, Konica Minolta Ukraine offered a comprehensive service for installation, consulting and staff training. As a result of this, the company won the tender once again, proving to be an expert in the field of paper document flow management.
“I believe that we have 100% achieved our goals. After transitioning to outsourcing the printing with Konica Minolta, the number of equipment malfunctions decreased from 700 to 20 per year. At the same time, printing services continued to be available without interruption”, Mykola Horak says about the results. “There was a short period of adaptation and training. However, our employees subsequently no longer needed to consult the IT support specialists regarding how to operate the multifunctional devices. They can print, copy, scan, and recognise documents from anywhere with no need for unnecessary questions or actions.”
According to Mykola, one of the positive results of this collaboration is just how highly it has relieved the burden on IT specialists. They no longer spend large amounts of time on servicing the printing devices, ordering the toner and calling the service engineers. The remote monitoring system allows Konica Minolta to anticipate equipment failures, respond to them in advance and ensure a steady supply of consumables. The cost of a full-colour print has also decreased significantly due to the fill factors.
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