EDS cuts carbon emissions from printing operations

EDS has launched a set of service offerings to support customers seeking to improve their impact on the environment by reducing carbon emissions.

EDS is already actively involved in reducing its carbon footprint with its Go For Green program in Australia.

The program targets energy use across the business and addresses three key areas including mechanisms to minimize employee carbon usage; internal initiatives to increase productivity and efficiency whilst reducing EDS' carbon footprint; and implementation of a set of service offerings that allow EDS and its customers to reduce their impact on the environment.

The company's local managing director, Chris Mitchell, said EDS took an initial inventory of emissions in areas such as travel, technology and power use, and analyzed where savings could be made and waste cut.

Through the Go For Green Program, EDS Australia aims to slash its greenhouse emissions in Australia and New Zealand by 25 per cent by 2010. One of the first changes made toward the realization of this goal was to cut EDS' printer footprint by 72 per cent using its green friendly Managed Document Output Services offering, developed with Agility Alliance partner Fuji Xerox.

Fuji Xerox Australia managing director, Andy Lambert, said the print company was an early adopter of sustainability principles and practices.

"We are committed to reduce the environmental impact of our own activities and help our customers do the same. For EDS, this has translated into a consolidated and optimized energy efficient fleet with sophisticated software and services that enable environmentally efficient document management across their business," Lambert said.

To begin the transformation, EDS installed the latest fleet of Fuji Xerox networked multifunction devices to reduce the number of personal printers in use.

EDS had previously been operating on various document platforms supplied by different vendors.

Next, Fuji Xerox's Global Services division created a new print infrastructure for each business unit within EDS, enabling the company to pro-actively manage all its document devices with detailed use analysis and reporting, integrated help-desk support and on-site technical services for machines requiring maintenance.

Finally, EDS has also reduced its paper consumption with a print policy that includes duplex printing, usage tracking and direct billing, as well as added device functionality through scanning and secure printing on Fuji Xerox devices.

The consolidation effort has cut carbon emissions from its printing operations by 79 per cent.

As an added bonus, EDS has seen major print cost savings of over 20 per cent due to its ability to better measure, control and manage printing throughout the organization.