VALLEY FORGE, Pa.--Oct. 7, 2003-- IKON Office Solutions, the world's largest independent distributor of document management products and services, today announced that San Diego City Schools (SDCS) has selected IKON to revamp its document management strategy and increase document efficiency throughout the school district. With implementation of new equipment and services underway, SDCS anticipates annual savings in excess of $500,000. SDCS is the second largest school district in California with more than 140,000 students, 17,000 employees and 200 educational facilities. Relying on a decentralized and non-uniform process for reproducing and managing documents, the school district found itself working with old equipment and outdated techniques as well as over 40 vendors delivering various levels of service. Now, based on a rigorous study and bidding process conducted by the school district, IKON has been selected to modernize and standardize the SDCS' entire document management strategy. "IKON is enabling us to consolidate efforts within a single document management strategy that replaces aging equipment and broken processes with a more efficient, lower cost system," said Dennis Yeatman, executive director of Logistics for SDCS. "With IKON, we are also gaining back nearly 200 hours per month spent in administration of the old system, freeing teachers and staff to focus on our students' education." By employing state-of-the-art digital equipment, networked printing capabilities and web-based document repositories, IKON is able to reduce SDCS' overall document management costs, while also eliminating the need for roughly 12,000 square feet of warehouse space previously taken up by 700 district forms and seldom-used printed materials. IKON is updating SDCS's equipment with new multi-function (print, scan and copy) devices at each school, which will replace costly fax machines and end the district's dependency on a patchwork of desktop printers. Networking multi-function devices will enable teachers and staff to print from their offices and classrooms, and new scanning technology will allow for the electronic distribution of documents and sharing of materials between locations throughout the district. As a result, teachers and staff will be able to more easily share information with their peers and access via the Web a redesigned Printing Services Center. "Our work with San Diego City Schools reflects the tremendous opportunity for public education to reduce long-term costs through effective document management," said Cathy Lewis, Senior Vice President of Marketing for IKON. "IKON is committed to delivering a unique consultative approach and tailored, best-in-class document management services that meet SDCS and other organizations' document efficiency needs." At completion, IKON anticipates that it will have converted all SDCS facilities into modern document management sites, putting in place nearly 800 devices that will handle an estimated 200 to 250 million impressions per year. This effort will include training and ongoing technical support provided by IKON service representatives.