- Reduced costs
- Increased control
- Brought outsourced printing activities in-house
- Improved document security
Customer Profile
- Financial services
- Offices worldwide
- More than 120 staff
About Direct Insurance Group
With five offices worldwide and more than 120 staff, Direct Insurance Group prides itself on its service driven ethos, retained from the core family values inherent in its humble beginnings.
Uniquely amongst insurance providers, the organisation operates both broking and underwriting divisions, allowing them to produce client work quickly.
However, dated technology was threatening to derail growth by impacting their ability to transact business efficiently, and the outsourcing bill was mounting.
Furthermore, the business wanted to impress clients and staff by elevating the appearance of their offices with innovative visual solutions, which they also hoped would serve as an effective cross-office communication tool.
Challenges
A primary challenge within the insurance industry is a slow move towards innovation. With customers looking to save even more, brokers are keen to automate processes to meet that demand.
Direct Insurance takes professionally printed proposals to the finance market, and were entirely reliant on expensive outsourcing, estimating that they were spending between £10,000 – £20,000 annually on outsourcing client proposals and exhibition brochures. Furthermore, the basic printers being used company-wide were exasperating the print issue, being very slow and cumbersome to use.
As well as being eager to automate and streamline, another consideration for Direct Insurance is security. They needed technology that protected documents from potential external or internal threats.
Lastly, it was important that staff had the tools to communicate effectively. They needed a solution that would allow employees to collaborate and deliver on time-sensitive projects.
The solution”We’ve definitely seen huge cost savings by reinvesting. Being able to print our typically outsourced documents in-house has also given us more control.
Group Operations Director, Direct Insurance
How we helped
Yielding results with a consultative approach
Direct Insurance first approached us simply looking to switch provider for a better service. “We were initially looking to replace our two standard printers, but out the corner of my eye I noticed the larger brochure-capable machine”, says Neil Milner, Group Operations Director at Direct Insurance. We then suggested we look at the device and the requirement changed to a light production machine that could handle 70% of their outsourced work.
Our first solution was then to overhaul the print process. By installing an MX-7090 light production device, Direct Insurance would no longer need to worry about spiralling outsourcing costs. Neil says: “During our demonstration I was genuinely shocked with the quality that came out of the device, it was print shop quality! After discussions, it was decided that if we reinvest those outsourcing costs we’ll make huge savings, not only on our overheads but also on outsourcing.”
Furthermore, we delivered time efficiencies and water-tight security by replacing the firm’s basic office machines. Neil says:
“We’re really busy and growing so much, no one has the time to manage a print job or remove jams from an inept machine. We wanted the ability to print quality everyday materials at pace.” Cloud, mobile, and USB ready, it was decided that two MX-3070 multifunction devices, an MX-2651, and an MX-2630 would be a cost-effective solution, enabling users to print upwards of 26 full colour ppm. Additionally, secure print release fail-safes built into each machine would future proof documents, requiring a unique pin before the user specifies which machine to print to.
Our final solution was to bring Direct Insurance into the digital age by integrating next-generation Sharp visual solutions into its London Lime Street head office. An interactive BIG PAD touch screen was proposed to provide an immersive inter-office communication medium, and to make presentations more impressive and engaging. Two strategically placed immaculate professional display screens were also selected to help elevate the office appearance.
Customer-centric service, driven by technology
Now utilising Sharp’s Pro Series Colour Light Production Printing System for all their client proposal brochures, Neil says: “We’ve definitely seen huge cost savings by reinvesting. Being able to print our typically outsourced documents in-house has given us more control.”
Staff now have the capability of print on demand; if they need 20 they can print 20; if the content changes they can make those changes without having to worry about an entire brochure order.
By replacing their standard office machines with a light production device better-equipped to support the business, Oral says: “Everything’s so much quicker. The device has more storage which means I’m not interrupting what I’m doing every 5 minutes to refill paper or change ink. We can even customise the interface dependant on what we need, again streamlining everything.”
Furthermore, the devices are now secure. “What’s great about our new Sharp devices is being able to store print jobs on the device until we’re ready to release them” says Oral. “We don’t want anyone having access to confidential prints, so by having pin authentication on our machines our documents are more protected.”
Lastly, Oral says: “We have two professional displays, one in reception for clients and one in our kitchen and communal area for staff, both look sleek during meetings and client visits.” Neil also says: “The BIG PAD we have in our boardroom can be accessed from any of our global offices, we can deliver impressive presentations, you can make changes on screen and as you type they’re getting a live feed on the other end. It’s definitely improved communication and collaboration.” He concludes: “Agilico have been fantastic, we came out of each meeting feeling refreshed and thinking there was actually a lot more we could be doing to take our business to the next level.”
