Leading engineering and construction group, Murray & Roberts, relies on its Oc'e printroom to get those all-important tenders out on time.
A member of the Bombela Consortium, awarded the Gautrain Rapid Rail Link project, it is more vital now than ever before for Murray & Roberts to have access to reliable, fast and high quality printing.
The Murray & Roberts printroom at the company`s head office in Bedfordview boasts four Oc'e machines: a TDS 860 and a TDS 600 - technical document systems that run ReproDesk software - and two 3165s. This is one of two printrooms in South Africa running the ReproDesk software, allowing users to proof their own jobs before submitting them online.
Printroom manager Radhan Chinnasamy says: "The printroom caters for all projects within this building as well as some printing for our Construction and MEI divisions. We can accommodate requests for bulk and specialised print jobs including tender documents, engineering drawings, departmental billing, scanning and archiving."
The TDS 860 and 600 printers ensure efficient and productive document distribution, while the 3165s give Murray & Roberts the flexibility of scanning its documents so that they can be digitally archived.
A company like Murray & Roberts generates a vast amount of drawings and if it were not for digital archiving, the company would require a huge space dedicated to archives.
Radhan adds: "The Oc'e machines ensure we can offer the quality and fast turnaround times that our customers demand. This, combined with the ReproDesk software, makes our printroom operation both cost- and time-effective."
"The ReproDesk software," explains Jaco Smit, software product manager for Oc'e South Africa, "allows the person who generates the print job to check it on their computer and to see it exactly as it will eventually print out. This eliminates printroom error and places the onus on the document`s creator to ensure that the document is correct in every way before it arrives at the printroom. This reduces the number of `wrong prints` generated and maximises printroom productivity."
An Oc'e printroom since 2000, the Murray & Roberts printroom was recently upgraded to enable it to offer a wider range of services and to cater for bigger print volumes. On occasion, the printroom can turn out 500 drawings in the space of one afternoon. Radhan promises a 24-hour turnaround on all print jobs, bearing in mind that the printroom isn`t a 24/7 operation. He cites a recent example, when the printroom averaged 1 941 A0, 4 567 A1, 2 395 A2 and 2 502 A3 drawings in the space of four weeks.
Giving an indication of just how busy the printroom is, Radhan says he goes through two tons - or 800 reams - of paper every two-and-a-half weeks. That`s a huge amount of paper, underlining the importance of the digital archiving capability of the Oc'e 3165 machines. Radhan points out, however, that a printroom is only as good as its operators, and all of the Murray & Roberts printroom operators have been with the company since the printroom`s inception. The printroom supervisor, Isaac Bosega, is enthusiastic about the printroom`s capabilities and says that even though he is 57 years` old, he has no problem operating the advanced Oc'e technology, thanks to Oc'e`s simple green button operation.
Looking to the future, Radhan says he would like to see the printroom go Web-based, offering its services to Murray & Roberts companies countrywide.
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