Sri Lanka’s leading provider of office automation solutions, John Keells Office Automation (Pvt) Ltd. (JKOA), announced a landmark agreement to introduce Toshiba’s sophisticated new PaperCut print management solution at the country’s leading private design educator- AOD.

The fully integrated new print management solution will completely revamp the printing experience for AOD students while driving substantial cost-savings to the institute. The introduction of PaperCut is in line with AOD’s vision for continuous innovation as it will be the first implementation of this revolutionary system in any Sri Lankan academic institution.

Prior to the introduction of PaperCut, students were required to email a staff member solely dedicated towards the management of printing and copying coursework, and thereafter collect printouts at a central office in exchange for over-the-counter cash payments.

"JKOA's innovative solutions allow us to completely automate printing and reprography, giving both staff and students autonomous access. AOD takes pride in being the first university to implement this innovative solution in Sri Lanka raising the bar for technology in education institutes in the country as a whole. With JKOA's reliability, quick response time and unparalleled support, implementation of new technology has never been easier," Siraj Hanes, Head-Learning Resources, AOD said.

“Given the highly specialized nature of AOD’s curriculum, we believe that the implementation of our PaperCut solution will serve as a powerful example of the kind of impact and adaptability that it is capable of delivering,” Malik Edwin, Head of Marketing and Business Development, JKOA and Assistant Vice President, JKH said.

After the implementation of PaperCut, students and staff members will now be able to seamlessly connect with the very latest Toshiba Multi-Function Printers (MFPs), installed at three locations around the design campus at any time, without having to work around office opening and closing hours.

Using a specially designed identification card, students will be able to remotely print from their laptops or tabs, with each card linking to a student account that can be topped up by the students as required. Both the institute and its students will be allowed to quickly and conveniently access their account information. This will enable them to easily track their usage and spending during the semester while giving each student a much greater degree of flexibility over the printing of coursework.

The PaperCut system also comes with in-built cloud support, enabling students to access the cloud, even from the printer. Both the MFPs and the PaperCut system also feature in-built systems and protocols designed to ensure improved cost control and significantly reduced wastage.

The MFPs come with a customizable Intel® powered tablet-style user interface with Embedded Application Platforms to facilitate a more intuitive user experience. The printers - comprised of Toshiba’s new e-STUDIO™ eBN series e-2000AC, e-3505AC machines and one Toshiba e-STUDIO 257 machine, will also be capable of handling complex tasks like embedded optical character recognition (OCR) applications, significantly expanding on the printing functionality available to students.

Toshiba’s latest MFPs are all designed to meet the stringent criteria of major environmental programs and standards, such as EPEAT® Gold and ENERGY STAR®.

About John Keells Office Automation (Pvt) Ltd: JKOA is a subsidiary within the Information Technology sector of John Keells Holdings PLC, one of the country’s most respected conglomerates. The sole distributor for Toshiba Copiers since its inception in 1992, it is also the authorised distributor for a range of reputed global office automation brands and the leading technology provider to the local market. JKOA is renowned for its unmatched product support, warranty services, and repair and maintenance. Its industry-best after-sales service program guarantees a two-hour response to service calls at minimum, six days a week, a one-year warranty, and a backup machine or unit free of charge in case of workshop repair –  a service aptly coined “2 6 1+1”.

About AOD: AOD is Sri Lanka’s celebrated design campus and the most widely recognised private design educator. AOD extends a series of design degrees that complement Sri Lanka’s major industries, in partnership with Northumbria University UK. AOD is a trusted educator creating design graduates and innovative solutions for industries like apparel, tourism, fashion, advertising, graphic design, contemporary craft and interior architecture, as well as the government of Sri Lanka. AOD believes in design education that addresses the real demands of society and empowers businesses and industries with creative innovation.

Photo caption: (From left) Brendon Perera (Sales Executive - JKOA), Sanjeewa De Saram (Senior Product Manager - JKOA), Siraj Hanes (Head of Learning Resources - AOD), Malik Edwin (Head of Marketing and Business Development - JKOA, AVP- John Keells Group) and Ranjan Paulpillai (Sales Manager - JKOA)