Why didn’t FIU have any printers last summer?

Magali Zoghaib | Staff Writer

Since June 1, 2024, FIU has been without on-campus printing services due to the permanent closure of Ricoh which operated at the main printing store in Graham Center and provided printing kiosks around campus.

With the fall semester approaching, this leaves over 56,000 students without a vital resource. 

As a top ranked university, according to the America’s Best Colleges 2024 rankings, FIU provides reliable on-campus printing and mailing services to prevent students from facing the inconvenience of off-campus alternatives. 

“We wanted a more professional environment with stocked merchandise, more services, quick turnaround and an overall positive experience,” said Jeff Krablin, former associate vice president of business services , according to Ricoh’s case study in 2015. “That’s what we got. I have nothing but praise for Ricoh.” 

So, what went wrong?

In an interview with PantherNOW, Roger Clegg, assistant vice president of Business Services at FIU explained that immense reliance on online services led to a decline for printing services, particularly after the pandemic. 

“The business in Ricoh went from a pretty high point pre-COVID to an extreme low point in terms of transactions and revenue coming into the business,” said Clegg. “After noticing that Ricoh’s business was low, we decided to look elsewhere.” 

As Ricoh’s contract came to an end following several extensions the previous years, FIU initiated a competitive solicitation for new vendors, attracting interest from companies like UPS and FedEx. 

The solicitation process began late 2023 with the intention of completing it by mid-spring of 2024.

However, throughout the process, Ricoh notified FIU that they would not be taking part in the solicitation and declared their withdrawal as of May 31, 2024. 

“They basically told us that the business wasn’t enough to be on-campus anymore and they gave us a May 31 date that they were leaving, however we still felt comfortable because we had the solicitation and all these interested parties,” Clegg said.

Nonetheless, by mid-March it became evident that none of the submitted proposals met the university’s contract requirements set by the office.

This led to issues since it caused a delay in securing a suitable replacement vendor, leaving FIU without printing services with no immediate solution in sight.

“We know this is a service the students need, so we had to pivot and we had to scramble really quick,” remarked Clegg. 

“The Office of Business Services suggested a few alternatives, shown in this graphic below.”

Upon engagement with local printers that some departments at the university already utilize, FIU secured two new vendors to replace Ricoh’s services. The university will soon have both student print stations distributed throughout campus such as at the Green Library and a print center in Graham Center. 

Toshiba, which already has a contract with the university to provide the offices of staff and faculty, agreed to set up accessible print kiosks for students on-campus. 

“Toshiba has hundreds of machines on campus, and they have technicians available all day, every day, which is great because, unlike Ricoh, if they didn’t have someone free to fill paper or check the ink, the printer would be down,” explained Clegg. “So I think not only are we going to get higher quality machines, but we’ll also have better service, and the printers will be in working condition much more often than they used to be.”

Additionally, Quality Print Service will take over the retail space in the Graham Center previously operated by Ricoh. In the meantime, the company has set up a dedicated website for anyone needing on-campus printing services, guaranteeing delivery within 24 hours at no extra fee.

“They offer many more print services that Ricoh didn’t provide in the past. Since they have a store near campus capable of handling large-format and bulk printing, they can better serve students,” he added.

The store in Graham Center is currently undergoing construction and is expected to open in early September.