The Challenge

When we first started working together, King’s College London had an annual expenditure of approximately £850k and produced printed products via the following methods:

• In-house using desktop devices
• A diverse range of digital and litho printed products procured by external graphic designers and individuals across the college’s departments and faculties
• Marketing materials, design services, core corporate publications and the prospectus, procured by the college’s departments and faculties

The college was experiencing a number of challenges, including a lack of:

• Governance around supplier selection, resulting in a highly fragmented supply chain
• Purchasing order processing standardisation, causing unnecessary downstream administration
• Visibility of spend and cost avoidance practices as a result of verbal orders and a lack of detail
• A unified category and supplier relationship management approach

The Solutions

In 2012, King’s set out to appoint a new consolidated framework of print suppliers, for a period of 4 years, across 6 lots, or print categories, including: stationery, digital print, short run litho, long run litho, wide format and print management.

The objectives of the new print supplier framework were to:

• Deliver savings by amalgamating spend through a consolidated supply chain of selected printers
• Benefit from increased pricing reach, competitiveness and flexibility through the introduction of a print management supply chain capability
• Reduce internal costs of supplier sourcing and administration as well as project management

King’s also set out to procure a software system capable of managing the new framework according to the college’s new standardised policies and processes.

Webmart, a print management agency, specialising in the procurement and management of print services and with experience in the higher education sector, along with its sister company, Printelligence, a provider of print procurement and management software, were approached by King’s procurement team to respond to these objectives.

Following a competitive tendering exercise, Webmart was appointed to King’s new print supplier framework as the incumbent print management supplier alongside a range of best-in-class printing companies.

Printelligence worked with King’s procurement team on a separate basis, to establish a dedicated browser based hosted software solution which connected King’s staff with the new supplier roster via a secure portal.

The Results

The combination of the new print supplier framework, Webmart’s appointment on the framework, as well as the implementation of the new software, branded by King’s as LeanPrint, delivered the following benefits:

• A systemised cost avoidance methodology and reporting mechanism
• Annualised cost avoidance of £160k
• Greater brand compliance from standardisation of product and materials specifications
• Increased flexibility in product design, materials and schedules
• Demonstrable product and materials innovation
• Significant time savings for staff and suppliers from process streamlining and automation
• Supply chain flexibility from being in a possession of a product specifications and spend database

We have a more detailed version of this case study that includes information about planning, roll-out, implementation, training and support. It’s particularly useful if you’re considering consolidating and controlling your spend through a digital platform in a similar way and would like to understand the challenges and pitfalls to avoid.

If you would like a copy, please fill out the form below or give our print procurement experts a call on 01869 321321.