Dairy Farm Singapore

About Dairy Farm 

Dairy Farm International Holdings Limited is a leading pan-Asian retail group operating more than 10,000 supermarkets, hypermarkets, convenience stores, health and beauty stores, as well as home furnishings stores world-wide, including retail brands such as Cold Storage, Giant, Guardian, 7-Eleven and Jasons. The Group employs more than 230,000 employees with a revenue exceeding US$27 billion in 2019. The Group provides quality and value to Asian consumers by offering leading brands, a compelling retail experience and great service; all delivered through a strong store network supported by efficient supply chains. In Singapore, Dairy Farm Singapore is a leading retailer with over 6,500 employees and 800 stores. 

Experiencing Low Productivity Levels

Outsourcing to multiple vendors simultaneously is a tedious process. With each of its offices and outlets using its own printer supplier, Dairy Farm Singapore was facing the administrative burden of managing multi-vendor service agreements and contracts. Whenever a breakdown occurred, it was a hassle to trace and identify the corresponding vendor. Tabulating the group’s monthly operating costs was also a struggle due to varying rental charges and printing costs. Besides the challenge in tracking the leasing status of printers, the lack of visibility over the group’s print activities and spending posed a problem for management, who was unable to make informed decisions. Managing print equipment for all its offices and outlets was thus a labour-intensive and costly affair. 

The response times for machine servicing and repairing were generally slow. Whenever technical issues were not resolved or attended to within the day, employees would have to put their print jobs on hold. This affected their work performance. Staff productivity was also further hampered by manual filing methods. For instance, the Finance and Accounting division’s search for paperwork such as invoices and contracts was time-consuming due to the decentralised storage of documents among staff. Besides being inundated by missing records and misplaced files or documents, business-critical information and confidential data were usually left exposed due to the lack of secured printing capabilities.

- Sally Loo, Financial Controller (Projects), Dairy Farm Singapore

Industry-leading Solutions

As a one-stop shop for printing technology, infrastructure deployment and management, FUJIFILM Business Innovation Singapore was able to provide a seamless and hassle-free customer experience with its end-to-end solutioning capabilities and service excellence. Besides being able to offer an effective suite of multi-function devices (MFDs) and digital solutions, FUJIFILM Business Innovation Singapore possesses a committed group of technical services engineers who has earned a reputation for resolving technical issues promptly. In 2018 and 2019, a total of 60 FUJIFILM Business Innovation Singapore employees were conferred the Singapore Excellence Service Award, a national award for those who have gone beyond the call of duty in delivering exceptional customer service.

Dairy Farm Singapore immediately recognised the benefit of having just a single point of contact. With a firm grasp of the socialisation and integration of digital solutions for multinational companies, FUJIFILM Business Innovation Singapore studied the group's print environment before suggesting replacements or additions of devices that could better optimise the organisation’s document workflows. The number of MFDs at the group’s headquarters, for instance, could be right-sized from 30 to 20. This would give Dairy Farm Singapore tighter control over its printer fleet while meeting its daily printing needs.

For smaller retail outlets such as 7-Eleven, all-in-one compact desktop printers would suffice for their daily scanning and printing activities. DocuPrint M455 df and DocuPrint M355 df AP combine speed and functionality in delivering superior image clarity and outstanding network capabilities. With a print speed of up to 45 pages per minute, the DocuPrint series produces sharp and accurate images with a print resolution of 1200 x 1200 dpi. The fast-churning models also enabled users to schedule print timings, which would effectively prevent confidential documents from being left uncollected. 

In a bid to restructure Dairy Farm Singapore’s print environment, FUJIFILM Business Innovation Singapore recommended Managed Print Services (MPS) through FUJIFILM Device Manager (FDM), a print management solution that helps the business effectively monitor the usage of its devices. This centralised web-based management system enables complete visibility and control from a single platform. The print management solution generates one-click usage reports and features a personalised user interface that displays real-time information about the status of devices. Notifications will be instantly sent for printer issues such as paper jams, thereby allowing malfunctions to be resolved in a timely manner, as well as whenever toner levels are low. With this all-encompassing management system, Dairy Farm Singapore would be able to save on administrative costs and minimise downtime.

In resolving the issue of disorganised information, SharePoint Online, a cloud-based service and collaborative tool, was introduced. A powerful communication and information exchange system with the promise of better security and reliability, it enables employees to efficiently access information and collaborate. Coupled with the use of Kodak Capture Pro, an optical character recognition (OCR) and a third-party robotics process automation (RPA) software, Dairy Farm Singapore would now be able to organise, sort and register documents to increase the efficiency of their workflow. 

Empowering Teams

Since revamping Dairy Farm Singapore’s print environment, employees have experienced higher reliability and printing speeds. The reduction of devices and paper usage has also resulted in 20% cost savings for the group. Specifically, the Finance and Accounting division benefitted from clearer accountability and predictability of print charges due to the standardisation of printer models. Furthermore, it only needed to manage a single contract instead of engaging multiple vendors. FUJIFILM Business Innovation Singapore’s role as a centralised helpdesk for all print-related issues has also resulted in efficient on-site maintenance, service and remote technical support. Inventory stocking and handling have since been eliminated, and technical problems were resolved within the day.

No longer weighed down by time-consuming IT administration, Dairy Farm Singapore was now able to focus on meeting productivity targets and expanding its business. This enabled print usage and activity to be monitored by department and outlet, making it easy to account and optimise print costs. Smaller outlets installed with DocuPrint printers have experienced less disruption with the use of high-yield toners, which reduced the frequency of cartridge replacements. They also enjoyed cost savings due to toner-saving features, the use of fewer consumables and sleep mode, an automatic energy-saving feature on all FUJIFILM Business Innovation devices.

In its headquarters, the secured networking and printing functions of the new MFD fleet has offered greater flexibility and efficiency through the use of the ApeosWare Management Suite (AWMS). Where employees previously had to print from designated MFDs, they could now print at any available device within the building as all MFDs are connected to a secured centralised network. This is particularly useful when employees collaborate and attend meetings on different floors. Document confidentiality is also ensured as print jobs are now released only upon authentication.

As PDF files are automatically captured and indexed on SharePoint Online in a searchable format, employees can simply search for documents using keywords. Its powerful search engine also ranks search results based on user interactions. Besides serving as a repository for content, the cloud-based service offers employees an internet-based cross collaboration experience, allowing them to simultaneously view and edit documents across departments. SharePoint Online also enabled teams to effortlessly share, manage and archive critical information, thereby driving employee productivity, communication and collaboration.

- Sally Loo, Financial Controller (Projects), Dairy Farm Singapore