Ricoh being Ricoh "Part Deux"

I tell ya, sometime when you think you've seen all, along comes another jolt that tells me it's time to think about retiring from this business!

I picked this up today off the web from Albany, Georgia.

The second place bid won the day, Oce had the lowest bid, however was disqualified for having 10 YEAR OLD software??? Automated Business was second and won the day with Toshiba brand units. However, take a look at third and fourth place bidders....

"Automated Business had the second-lowest bid, ahead of Ikon’s four-year bid of $1,415,333 and Ricoh’s bid of $1,719,000."

Yeah, Ricoh and Ikon bidding on the same deal, and Ricoh lost! WTF? How can Ricoh lose to it's self. Really, out of everything I've seen over the years, this really makes you wonder whose running the show? Since Ikon had a lower price you'd tend to think that Ikon is now getting preferential treatment from the new IKON leadership at Ricoh. Has the ship sailed leaving all common sense at the dock with these people? Better yet, it never crossed anyone's mind at the school board that Ikon and Ricoh are the same?

Some will say, it doesn't matter neither Ikon or Ricoh got the business, some will say how it's Ricoh being Ricoh, others like me will sit back and have a good laugh at how inept they really are. What really comes to mind here is something my father-in law always says "what do expect from a pig, but a grunt"

-=Good Selling=-

Xerox Gets a Jolt from Meridian School District!

I saw this come across last week, where Meridian School District had awarded a contract to Xerox for 120 copiers with a monthly payment of $43,758 per month. The reason it made the news is that Bosie based Fisher's Document Systems had bid $32,417for 120 copiers ($11,000 lower a month). The initial report I read stated that the school board had rated the bids not only on price but also factors like company history, equipment compatibility and customer service. Fisher's had finished second in the bidding.

I thought, well just another case of Xerox being Xerox. However, Xerox was providing one full time and one part time employee to oversee maintenance of these copiers. The numbers don't lie, the Xerox bid was $11,000 a month higher than Fisher's. Let's see, there are 22 work days a month, so the daily cost was $500 per day. An employee and a half would represent 12 work hours, therefore the hourly rate for these employees was $41.66. That's a tidy some to have someone at your beckoned call! Plus the fact that service was probably figured in to the bid, because Fisher's was offering on-site service as needed and machine replacement in 24 hours!

What were they thinking!! Did anyone do the math here?? I've said this in the past and I have no idea if this is the case, however you've really got to wonder why someone would pay and EXTRA $11,000 per month for service on a fraking copy machine!!

This was the statement from Eric Exline (Distric Spokesman) "In the world of schools, having a machine shut down for 24 hours would be unacceptable," he said. "You have teachers lined up every morning printing materials for their students."

It's my experience that if a machine is going to be down for 24 hours, it's going to need a part. Now, where is the part coming from? Is Xerox providing a parts facility at the location (I didn't read this), what happens if the part is back ordered into Asia? For the most part, if a copier goes down, someone if gonna be there in a few hours, and most times the call can be rectified right away. I can't tell you the last time I had a machine down for more than 24 hours.

So, the real question is, out of the 120 copiers, maybe one goes down a month for a part, and some teachers may have to wait a few hours or go to another machine in the building. Now is this worth $11,000 a month of the tax payers money! Naw, I think not, the fraking copier is broke, due with out and do some creative teaching instead of making copies!! My four cents!

-=Good Selling=-