Service Level Agreements are crucial for Commercial/Production Printers
What is an SLA?
A Service Level Agreement or SLA is the paramount importance document in the relationship between you and your Client. It is defined by Wikipedia as “a commitment between a service provider and a customer. Particular aspects of the service — quality, availability, certifications, compliance, responsibilities — are agreed between the service provider and the service user.”
What does an SLA consist of?
The Scope of the Service
This defines what is included, what is excluded or what the limitations are. It clearly sets out your and the Clients expectations.
Guaranteed Uptime
This is your commitment to uptime, setting maintenance schedules, and how you will handle unexpected disruptions.
Printer and Client Responsibilities
This delineates the clear responsibility of both parties, for you as the Printer to deliver to the Client, and for the Client to deliver to you the information, data, or images that you need to fulfil this obligation.
Response and Issue Resolution Time Frames
Set out in clear terms how you will respond to Service Requests, and how you will resolve problem issues, thus minimising downtime.
Escalation
Set out how unsolved issues are escalated so that resolution can be speedily found.
Performance Metrics and Reporting
Define with the Client an agreed framework of metrics and the frequency of your reporting on those KPI’s.
Dispute Resolution
In the unfortunate event that both you and your Client cannot agree a resolution to a problem set out in the SLA how you would refer this to a 3rd Party such as a Mediator or Independent Arbitrator. Refer in this section to any laws that might be applicable.
Shield from 3rd Party Litigation
This is where you as the Printer give the assurances that any Client will need in the unforeseen event that disaster occurs, and you as the Provider become involved in litigation. Set out how your Client is shielded from any repercussions arising from this action. This gives reassurance to your Client of your commitment to them.
Service Level Agreement Amendments
From time to time it will be necessary to revisit an existing SLA, use this area to define the process that needs to be undertaken. Include approval procedures, notice period , and conditions.
At RISO we are sure that you agree that SLA’s are the cornerstone to successful long term Client relations.
How RISO help and support your SLA’s
When you, as a Printer, invest in high-speed inkjet technology, you naturally expect top performance from your supplier. Typically, agreed KPIs from your supplier outline key expectations and performance standards. The equipment you purchase plays a significant role in the service commitments you make to your own clients, where reliability is essential. You need to avoid downtime and resolve any issues quickly. For example, if the specified KPI is 330 ppm, that is the performance you expect. In the event of an issue, timely support is crucial.
RISO has some of the highest reliability ratings in the Industry today. We hit our agreed KPIs for you. We have an average 4 hour onsite response time. Our technical support team provides a 95% first time fix to issues raised. We have a range of comprehensive support guides for all our equipment.
BUT you don’t have to take our word for this, here is Elizabeth Glasper Managing Director of Ciconi talking about RISO and how our printers enable them to meet their Client SLAs.
The RISOs are also incredibly reliable devices which helps our scheduling and therefore our ability to meet client SLA’s”, further she expands “RISOs are easy to operate and because they use a cold process, there’s no waiting for them to warm up. Also, because the paper doesn’t curl, it can seamlessly ease into the post-finishing process. This is ideal when you need a quick turnaround and have tight SLAs to meet.”
“By using RISO printers Ciconi is also able to position itself as an eco-driven company, due to their low energy usage, zero emissions and few replacement parts. This is important to us.”
To hear more about RISO and to book an onsite demonstration click here.