**Smart Lockers ** Coventry City Council Local Government
Case Study | Coventry City Council
Coventry City Council works with Ricoh to provide workers with swift, secure access to vital IT equipment and to streamline support services. Using a Ricoh Smart Locker solution, Coventry City Council transformed distribution and management of valuable IT assets. With a streamlined approach, the council saves time for its skilled ICT team, supports agile hybrid working, and enhances control over IT inventory.
Name
Coventry City Council
Location
Coventry, West Midlands
Size
5,500 staff
Activity
Local Government
Challenges
Solution
Benefits
Coventry City Council is a unitary authority responsible for providing local government services to 360,000 people in the city. It has recently been nominated as the UK City of Culture for 2021.
The council has implemented a digital transformation programme to improve the operation and delivery of services to the community. It is aiming to develop a more agile workforce with innovative technologies like Microsoft Office 365, communication and collaboration tools and giving all staff mobile technology.
One area targeted for improvement was ICT support and asset management. The ICT previously struggled to track equipment usage, especially for small IT peripherals. Furthermore, when new starters joined the council, they would often drop in unannounced to pick up equipment or request help. As a result skilled
ICT teams were drawn into completing unplanned time consuming tasks, preventing them from focusing on strategic work.
The council planned a new approach, shifting to greater self-service and efficient management of IT inventory. The ICT team would continue to support users through recommended channels, though with less reliance on face to face support. To achieve this transformation, users would need to drop off and collect equipment from an accessible, centralised location. Rather than a simple pickup point, the council wanted an innovative solution with secure asset management capabilities, including full tracking of IT assets.
Ricoh was already providing several business services and solutions to the council and, as key partner, held regular strategy meetings to discuss new plans and and challenges. During a session focused on improving IT resource management and productivity, Ricoh introduced smart locker technologies.
Impressed by the concept, the council launched a competitive tender process via a local government purchasing framework agreement, Ricoh won the contract to supply a smart locker solution against two major providers, as the only vendor able to deliver the range and functionality of smart lockers that the council needed.
As part of its Workplace Services offering – aimed at improving work environments and productivity – Ricoh has deployed a Ricoh Smart Locker solution at the main Council House building in Coventry. .
The solution comprises a Ricoh Inventory Management and Smart Asset Management Locker system, and features:
The Ricoh Smart Locker system is an advanced workspace storage solution incorporating the latest connected technology. Management software and an online portal allow the council to control lockers remotely and to monitor usage.
Integration with other council systems means that service requests automatically activate a locker and send a key code to the relevant user, enabling them to access the equipment inside.
Today, new council employees can head to the lockers and pick up an IT equipment pack with everything they need, including a simple, step-by-step set up guide, backed up by phone support.
Furthermore, the lockers contain a stock of emergency loan laptops that employees can take out for 72 hours if their device breaks down. When collecting the loan device, they put their faulty laptop into the locker for the ICT team to repair.
Overall, the council estimates that the project will reduce IT transactions and the need for face-to-face contact by 95 percent. And for every new employee, the council is saving 20 minutes that were previously spent setting up IT equipment.
The Ricoh solution will also help the council to manage IT assets more efficiently and proactively, tracking every item, who has used it, and when – from headsets and keyboards to small items such as USB sticks. In the case of IT peripherals, for instance, the council can use the smart lockers to gain a clear and accurate understanding both of what has been purchased and how items are being used by employees – helping to document and record how the ICT function adds value to the council.
Soon after the Ricoh Smart Locker system went live, the council needed more lockers to meet increasing demand.
Ricoh moved fast to deliver additional lockers, which have helped the council to onboard employees quickly, providing them with the equipment they need to bring care and support to the community.
Moving forward, the council plans to install vending-style lockers at more locations to increase availability of IT equipment to local staff.
The council is also exploring how smart lockers could improve internal parcel distribution: currently, recipients receive an email to collect items stored in the site manager’s office, an approach that carries the risk of loss or damage.
With smart lockers, there is the potential to keep parcels safe and secure at all times, and to allow recipients to retrieve items whenever convenient.
Ricoh Solution/Products
Ricoh Business Services
Ricoh Smart Lockers - Ricoh Inventory Management Locker - Ricoh Smart Asset Management Locker
With the Ricoh Smart Locker solution, the council has successfully transitioned to a more efficient, streamlined model for IT support, asset management and distribution. The smart lockers enable secure drop-off, collection, and storage of IT assets, and eliminate the need for ICT teams to remain available throughout the day to provide assistance. Of the 20-strong ICT support team, only two are needed on site to manage the lockers.
The new approach is supporting more agile hybrid working. With most staff working from home, access to fully functioning laptops, mobile phones, and IT peripherals is essential. Previously, there was churn of around 12 peripherals per week; this is now increasing, especially for items such as headphones for video calls. Whenever workers have a laptop problem or need additional equipment, they simply raise a service ticket, collect new assets
from a Ricoh Smart Locker, or leave their faulty items for repairs – without having to contact anyone. The council expects the Ricoh Smart Lockers to help to improve day-to-day ICT operations. Skilled ICT staff will spend less time handling mundane support requests and focus more on solving complex issues quickly, and supporting other activities that will improve quality of services to the community.
Ricoh is empowering digital workplaces using innovative technologies and services enabling individuals to work smarter. For more than 80 years, Ricoh has been driving innovation and is a leading provider of document management solutions, IT services, communication services, commercial and industrial printing, digital cameras, and industrial systems.
Headquartered in Tokyo, Ricoh Group operates in approximately 200 countries and regions. In the financial year ended March 2020, Ricoh Group had worldwide sales of 19.06 billion USD.
For further information, please visit www.ricoh.co.uk
