Efficient technology management is particularly important to Matthias Wochner, Managing Director at HSM. As he is responsible for finance, sales, and marketing he considers it essential to the company’s continued business success and growth. The extensive range of inhouse technologies relating to IT and production is one of the main pillars of HSM’s unique selling proposition.

“Our manufacturing depth, with extensive machinery and equipment available inhouse, is what distinguishes us from most of our competitors. This means we are very flexible when dealing with our customers’ requirements, something that is very important with regard not only to large-scale equipment but also to specialized devices. Public-sector customers – such as government authorities – are a good example because they always stipulate very specific requirements.”

One of the elements of this strategy is the restructuring of output solutions at HSM in the Managed Print Services project, which focused on all of the printers, photocopiers, scanners, and fax machines used in the company. The overarching aim was to increase their efficiency in terms of environmental impact and financial cost. This is where the independent experts from CHG-MERIDIAN came in, as partners for efficient technology management. Beforehand, HSM’s IT department had analyzed the company’s needs so that its future printing infrastructure requirements could be defined in detail.

CHG-MERIDIAN helped to plan the new infrastructure and prepare the subsequent call for tenders. The defined requirements were demanding. For example, the devices and a 24-hour support service have to be available at all times, not only in Germany but also at HSM’s subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, France, Poland, and the USA. The list of requirements included a 20 percent decrease in running costs, greater energy efficiency for the devices, and automated transmission of information to enable the replacement and billing of consumables.

TESMA® technology and service management system. The system has been customized so that specially defined shopping carts containing the necessary IT assets are available for each HSM location – with uniform terms and conditions worldwide and the same high quality and service level.

This is where economies of scale and far greater transparency really come to bear: “This has a direct monetary effect for us but also makes the administration much more straightforward,” says Thorsten Schäfer, IT manager at HSM. “Such structures are entirely normal in a large company but not so in a medium-sized business like HSM. CHG-MERIDIAN was the ideal partner for us because it doesn’t just cover the funding; it’s also a single source of support for the entire technology lifecycle. What’s more, it provides the international structures that are so important to us, i.e. global availability without international billing.”

The Managed Print Services project is just the first step in further cooperation with CHG-MERIDIAN on the restructuring of IT and technology management at HSM. Other initiatives will have the same aim: reducing complexity and using the company’s resources even more efficiently so that they can be targeted in areas where they will harness potential for growth in relation to customers, markets, and products.

Für das Management des gesamten Lebenszyklus der Endgeräte setzt HSM auf das Technologie- und Service-Management-System TESMA® von CHG-MERIDIAN. Dank der individuellen Anpassung sind im System eigens definierte Warenkörbe der benötigten IT-Assets für alle HSM-Standorte hinterlegt – zu weltweit einheitlichen Konditionen und mit derselben hohen Qualität von Dienstleistung und Service-Level.

Dadurch kommen Skaleneffekte und eine stark erhöhte Transparenz deutlich zum Tragen: „Für uns bedeutet das einen direkten monetären Effekt und macht zugleich die Administration sehr viel einfacher“, sagt Thorsten Schäfer, IT-Leiter bei HSM. „Das sind Strukturen, wie sie in einem großen Konzern absolut üblich sind, aber nicht unbedingt bei einem Mittelständler wie HSM. CHG-MERIDIAN war dabei für uns der optimale Partner, der nicht nur die reine Finanzierung abdeckt, sondern auch den gesamten Technologie-Lifecycle aus einer Hand – und dazu noch das für uns so wichtige Thema der Internationalität, das heißt weltweite Verfügbarkeit ohne grenzüberschreitende Abrechnung.“

Das Projekt „Managed Print Services“ ist dabei nur der Auftakt zur weiteren Zusammenarbeit mit CHG-MERIDIAN bei der Neustrukturierung des IT- und Technologie-Managements bei HSM. Weitere Initiativen verfolgen dasselbe Ziel: die Komplexitäten zu verringern und mit den Ressourcen des Unternehmens noch effizienter umzugehen, um sie verstärkt dort einsetzen zu können, wo sie weitere Wachstumspotenziale erschließen – bei Kunden, Märkten und Produkten.