Operating within the nutrition and food supplement industry, SCI-MX are passionate about offering healthy protein-based alternatives to sugary snacks. By creating products that appeal to both gym-goers and the general health-conscious public, SCI-MX has developed a broad audience, causing their business to grow rapidly. Recently moving to a purpose-built office, their dated technology was not in-keeping with the new look and feel of the business. Old print devices with decreased functionality were taking staff away from their own duties to fix machine issues. By implementing new equipment, SCI-MX hoped to revitalise workspaces in line with growth, with a view to impress clients and increase productivity.
A poor service and dated equipment
With the global sports nutrition market expected to exceed $24 billion by 2025, industry competition will continue to increase. “It’s imperative that businesses invest in tools which help them gain an edge” says Robert Walker, Managing Director of SCI-MX Sports Nutrition. Moving into a new, purpose-built office meant that there was no room for dated boardroom technology, “Which didn’t look all that impressive when we brought in clients” says Robert. “We’d invested so much time and money into our new site, so we saw a significant need to futureproof the office for the foreseeable future by investing in the latest technology.”
Additionally, the cost of print was becoming increasingly difficult to justify. Monika Zablocka, Logistics and Administration Manager at SCI-MX says: “The reason we wanted to change was because of price, the costs were spiralling and we had very little control.” This ongoing expense threatened to slow growth by not allowing finances to be reinvested into other business areas.
Furthermore, the previous supplier’s managed print service was not delivering. Monika reflected: “The service from the previous provider was not satisfactory. When we eventually moved over to Sharp they even forgot to pick up their own printers! It all felt very amateur.
“When working in a fast-paced environment like we do, we needed to be able to rely on our managed print service so that we didn’t have to worry about print. The service we were using was actually increasing our downtime because of frequent breakdowns and late response times. Towards the end it was slowing the turnaround of work, ultimately impacting our output.”
Embracing digital change with intuitive technology
After realising they were overpaying for an inferior product, SCI-MX originally approached Sharp looking to reduce their annual print spend. Sharp’s first proposal was the installation of two best-in-class print devices; the MX-3060 and the MX-4061. Much more reliable, efficient, and economical than their predecessors, these devices would power through everyday print at pace, at a greatly reduced cost.
Not only would the new machines be beneficial financially, they would also provide SCI-MX with an extra layer of print security. Robert says: “We wanted staff to have the ability to authenticate prints when they were at the machine.” Sharp therefore suggested building this into existing staff badges, reducing setup time and only allowing employees to collect their own prints, and not potentially confidential prints from other departments.
Sharp’s second solution was to bring SCI-MX into the digital age. With a view to future-proofing the meeting spaces at their new Gloucestershire head office, Sharp proposed installing a single 80” and two 65” interactive touchscreen BIG PADs. Comprised of award-winning P-CAP touch technology, and immaculate full-HD displays, these devices would assist in delivering more diverse, dynamic boardroom and meeting sessions, ensuring participants are always engaged with content.
Robert states: “SCI-MX has really taken the time to invest in the business. Our new site shows that we’re going from strength to strength which is fantastic, but because we purpose built, we didn’t want to fill the space with dated devices, or machines that would lose their potency in a short space of time. We really wanted a technology refresh that would stand that test of time.” Sharp’s touchscreens would not have been purely for practical, tangible benefit, but also to help elevate the office appearance, helping to portray the organisation in the right way.
Future-proofed office and massive savings
Now, with Sharp’s multifunction devices fully integrated into their head office, SCI-MX have seen a huge fall in print-related spending. Monika says: “For the cost we were paying for one large printer, with Sharp we now have two large printers and one smaller one for the warehouse, at a cheaper cost! We’re making a saving of 35-40% which is just incredible.” The almost 40% in savings can now be strategically reinvested into other business areas, supporting further growth.
When comparing Sharp’s managed print service with that of their previous provider, Monika says: “Their service wasn’t up to our standards. Sharp are very attentive, they book a call and arrive within an hour or so and solve the issues for us very quickly and reliably. We use the machines to print system generated documents, and Sharp’s engineers ensure the devices do everything we need them to, they completely keep up with demand.”
When talking about the BIG PADs, Robert notes: “The functionality is brilliant, it’s brought us into the 21st century. Nowadays as the younger generations are getting into the world of work, they’ve been raised on these devices, so they want to be able to work using them.” He continues, “Our presentations and meetings are much more interactive and engaging. We also use the screens for video conferencing which helps us with internal and external communication. It looks impressive to clients, the picture quality is immaculate, and the touch experience is very natural.”
Furthermore, “The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive” says Robert, “They’re very impressed and it makes us look and feel the part. We used to get everyone gathered around a small screen, now everyone can see and hear displayed content wherever they’re sat in the room.”
Robert concludes: “The technology from Sharp is next level, it just works. Should the need arise for more equipment, then we would absolutely look no further than Sharp.”
If you would like to know more about Sharp solutions and how we can help improve your business reach, please Get In Touch for a demonstration.
