When it came time to retire its aging printers, Penn National Insurance took the same methodical approach deciding on a new printing system as it does with all business matters: with meticulous research. "We knew this was a printing system we'd be relying on for years to come, so we needed to make an informed decision," explains Kathy Madar, who has computer services manager for the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania-based company.
Penn National Insurance was established in 1919 by a farmers' association that was dissatisfied with the high cost of insurance. Today, the firm provides a full suite of business and personal policies through more than 1,000 independent agents in nine states. Not surprisingly, hand-in-hand with this business success comes the need for generating mountains of critical documents such as policies, ID cards, invoices, labels and reports through the company's computer services group. As the group considered its options for upgrading its print system, it became clear that the solution had to be very easy to use, reduce costs and provide the capacity for future applications.
Seamless Conversion
"When we began discussing a proof of concept with IBM, we told the company there were two requirements that were critical," says Mader. "One, the solution had to be seamless and two, there would be no conversion programming involved. We just couldn't afford to go there from a budget or a staffing standpoint." The answer: two IBM Infoprint 2000 printers utilizing RSA's M.I.S. Print software for automatic data conversion of legacy applications. Although M.I.S. Print is usually installed as an integrated solution on the print controller of the Infoprint 2000, RSA configured the solution to run M.I.S. Print on a standalone Sun-based Channel Server, which is capable of driving both printers. LCDS data streams are received by M.I.S. Print from the company's OS390 host and automatically converted to PostScript for production on the Infoprint 2000s. Since M.I.S. Print processes between 1,000 and 10,000 pages per minute, it can drive both production printers simultaneously.
Penn National liked the solution so much that it kept the equipment brought in for proof of concept and later brought in a second Infoprint 2000 printer. "The IBM/RSA team has been top-notch," says Mader. "There was some work around involved in the installation process, but all in all, everything went very smoothly." It only took RSA's technical staff two days to get us up and running. "If there was an issue, RSA took care of it immediately. And since the IBM representatives knew RSA's technology as well, we never heard 'that's not our problem.' Everyone knew what the system could do and worked effectively to ensure we were up and running. RSA even automated our backups for us."
Saving on Print Costs
According to Mader, her group has saved time and money with the · new system. "We print just under 2.6 million images per month on the two Infoprint 2000s. In the past, if we had to reprint a particular policy, it could mean regenerating the entire report. Now, using M.I.S. Print, we're able to retrieve individual policies on demand, which saves us a considerable amount of time and money," says Mader. Penn National also saved money in paper costs. "We no longer discard several boxes of paper a week due to the high incidence of jams we encountered with our previous printers. And when the rare paper jam occurs, th topside paper path makes it easy to clear," explains Mader.
The company also saves money by encouraging the organization to send its print jobs to the Infoprint 2000 printers. The jobs are queued up and managed through M.I.S. Print instead of using more expensive desktop printers for larger jobs. "Employees would find themselves printing a 400-page manual on a 12-page-per- minute printer," says Mader. "Those desktop printers operate at five times the click charge of our new system. Today, for these larger jobs, they just route them to the data center. It's faster and less expensive than printing out documents on the smaller printers."
Another important feature is M.I.S. Print's RIP speed, which completely beat the previous system's controller. "The new RIP rate is great compared to what we experienced before," says Mader. And the new equipment is more user friendly. "The system is pretty easy to use, but even after the training, our operators couldn't really believe it was going to be that straightforward to operate. For example, managing the queue of mainframe and network jobs takes only a couple of clicks of the mouse."
M.I.S. Print's resource management interface makes it a pleasure for users to edit, print or view existing printer resources such as forms, fonts, job setups, logos and images. Customers can modify and manage resources before jobs are printed as well as view or sample resources on the screen or to the printer.
More than a Print Jockey
While many improvements were found that pleased corporate executives, M.I.S. Print's paper tray mapping feature captured the hearts of Penn National Insurance's system operators. "Before, our operators would have to physically verify the right paper was loaded in each tray prior to starting each new print job," says Mader. "Now, M.I.S. Print automates the paper stock process, which means if the paper is loaded in the printer, the job gets done without operator intervention. If different paper is required, the printer prompts the operator. It's that simple. As a result, operator error in loading wrong forms has been virtually eliminated."
These types of enhancements to the operating environment make Mader's staff very happy. "After the first week, one of my operators told me this system had redefined his job," Mader recalls. "He said, 'We're not just print jockeys anymore.' And it's true. Now we can actually walk away from the printer when it's running a job and do other work. That's made all our lives easier."
Tim Kelly is senior vice president of RSA. For more information, please visit RSA's Web site at www.rocsoft.com.
