Apr 20, 2007
Moen Praises HP’s New Centralized International Printing Solution
“We wanted to handle our SAP printing in China just like we do in the US, Canada, and Mexico. The HP International Printing for HP Output Server add-on module let us do just that. Now it doesn’t matter what brand or model of printer is in place. We can manage SAP output in China—including swapping out printers—remotely, from Ohio.”
– Jim Stachowiak, Senior Technical Consultant, IT Infrastructure Team, Moen, Incorporated.
Improving their international printing capabilities became a high priority after North America-based Moen extended operations to facilities in China. Jim Stachowiak and his IT team added the new functionally—via the HP International Printing for HP Output Server module—to their existing HP Output Management solution. The results were immediate and impressive—in any language.
Moen and HP Output Management Go Way Back
Founded in 1937, Moen is one of the world's largest manufacturers of plumbing supplies, including kitchen and bathroom faucets, kitchen sinks, and innovative bath accessories.
Moen was one of HP’s first output management customers. “The HP Output Management solution has been rock steady for the past eight years,” reports Stachowiak, “consistently reducing our communications and consumed-materials costs.”
A Brief Introduction to HP Output Management Solutions
HP Output Management solutions combine information delivery software with expert integration, implementation, support, and training services. These solutions deliver business-critical information across a distributed enterprise from virtually any source to virtually any destination—including printers, fax machines, e-mail, Web, and file destinations.
Every HP Output Management solution is built around HP Output Server software, which enables enterprises to reliably, efficiently, and cost-effectively manage high-volume business document distribution. There are several modules available to enhance functionality, including HP Output Web Delivery, HP Output Manager for SAP, and the recently released HP International Printing for HP Output Server.
Expanding into China Changed Everything
For years Moen operated primarily out of Canada, Mexico, and the US. But in 2006 Moen Incorporated extended its operations to facilities in China as well. The expansion required the sharing of business-critical SAP output between North America and China—documents that include a mixture of English, simplified Chinese, and barcodes, often on the same page.
The Old Ways Aren’t Always Enough
“We had been using only a single-byte Latin-1 character set, but doing business in China required a multi-byte character set,” explains Stachowiak. Although SAP could produce output that is compliant with the Unicode™ Standard, it did not attach the actual symbols for each language. Thus, the Unicode instructions were sent to devices that were typically incapable of completing the translation.
Moen tried adding a plug-in chip to each printer to handle the translation. But reconfiguring every output device was an awkward and labor-intensive solution. Typically, the required chip was only available in China and wouldn’t fit US printers, which prevented headquarters staff from developing the multi-language forms they needed.
Enter HP International Printing for HP Output Server
Moen turned to its trusted output management provider for help. HP had, in fact, already begun developing what would become the HP International Printing for HP Output Server module. And Moen’s input was invaluable.
The module utilizes HP Output Server’s role as the centralized print jobs assigner. Without the new module, print jobs are sent with little more than general printer configuration information (such as paper size). With the new Unicode-compliant module, print jobs also contain vital character data—such as character encodings; fonts plus character encodings; or (as a last resort) bit maps. And because HP Output Server already knows the configuration of each output device, it saves bandwidth and CPU resources by sending only the information each device needs—no more, no less.
A Challenge becomes a Strength
Moen deployed the HP International Printing for HP Output Server module in August 2006 with great success. “Our entire output environment can be managed from our headquarters in Ohio. Now our plants in North Carolina and China can easily and reliably share documents containing English, simplified Chinese, and barcodes on the same page,” said Stachowiak.
“We routinely re-evaluate our infrastructure to make sure we’re using the latest technology wherever it makes sense. The HP Output Management solution delivers so much value that we’ve never wanted to replace it. It works reliably without intervention, and now that efficiency includes printing in Asian character sets as well, which saves us money—it remains the perfect solution for Moen,” concluded Stachowiak.
To learn more, please visit: www.hp.com/go/outputmanagement