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posted by janrinok on Thursday November 28 2019, @04:47AM   Printer-friendly
from the can-it-print-money? dept.

Irish parliament counts cost of €1m printer error

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-50563977

An inquiry has begun into how staff at the Irish parliament spent more than €1m (£857,000) on a printer that was too big to fit into the building.

The printer, measuring 2.1m (6ft 8in) high and 1.9m (6ft 2 in) wide, was bought last year at a cost of €808,000.

When officials realised it would not fit, they spent an additional €236,000 tearing down walls and embedding structural steel to house the machine.

The printer was placed in storage at a cost of €2,000 a month during the work.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/works-of-at-least-230-000-required-to-fit-printer-in-oireachtas-1.4092366

Irish Govt Blows €1M On Mega-Printer Too Big For Parliament's Doors

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

Officials failed to ensure there was at least 3.1 metres in height clearance to get the thing in, according to the Irish Times. In reality, there just wasn't enough space. The state-of-the-art printer is described in press reports as being 2.1 metres high and 1.9 metres wide, so either there's confusion over the measurements or you need more than 3 metres to negotiate it in.

By the time the government realized its mistake, it was too late to return the printer as the contract had already been signed. So instead, officials had to "tear down walls and embed structural steel" to fit the contraption, according to RTE on Tuesday.

But that’s not the only havoc the printer has caused. Some employees are refusing to be trained on how to use the machine, sticking a metaphorical middle finger to the government in a bid to negotiate a pay rise for using the new equipment.

What’s more, the IT department is hesitant to grant access to the printer, making it difficult to print documents from official government computers.


Original Submission #1Original Submission #2

 
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  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by deimtee on Thursday November 28 2019, @05:55AM (11 children)

    by deimtee (3272) on Thursday November 28 2019, @05:55AM (#925567) Journal

    It wouldn't be a little shed. They don't give the length or the model number, but a 4-colour Komori would be upwards of 10 to 15 metres long, and would need plenty of space all round.

    That's also the reason for:

    The state-of-the-art printer is described in press reports as being 2.1 metres high and 1.9 metres wide, so either there's confusion over the measurements or you need more than 3 metres to negotiate it in.

    You need a lot of space above it too. There will be ~1m high walkway along both sides so that printers can reach the top. I am surprised they consider 3m high or wide to be enough space to operate it, (unless that is just the hallway dimensions for getting it to the print room, they're not clear on that)

    This isn't a little copier, it would be printing A0 (841 x 1189 mm) at more than 20,000 sheets an hour. Which also means many pallets of paper per day in and out of the little shed.

    The whole thing sounds like a PHB got the measurements and never considered that the operators would need to work around and over the machine.

    --
    If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.
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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by driverless on Thursday November 28 2019, @06:26AM (8 children)

    by driverless (4770) on Thursday November 28 2019, @06:26AM (#925572)

    The whole thing sounds like a PHB got the measurements and never considered that the operators would need to work around and over the machine.

    More like a "WTF are they fitting something that sounds like a full-scale four-colour offset printing press (they never say what it is, but that's what it sounds like) in Leinster House?". Did they think they were buying an office printer/copier? Conversely, were they planning to start a publishing business inside the Irish parliament?

    • (Score: 3, Informative) by deimtee on Thursday November 28 2019, @08:48AM (7 children)

      by deimtee (3272) on Thursday November 28 2019, @08:48AM (#925594) Journal

      It doesn't just sound like it, it is a full scale 4-colour offset press. Deimos says below that "A plate-making machine cost over €100,000". You don't need one of those unless it is offset.

      Conversely, were they planning to start a publishing business inside the Irish parliament?

      To paraphrase the great RAW, the primary purpose of government is to emit ink excretions on pieces of paper.

      --
      If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.
      • (Score: 3, Funny) by PiMuNu on Thursday November 28 2019, @09:46AM

        by PiMuNu (3823) on Thursday November 28 2019, @09:46AM (#925605)

        Frederick William I, king in Brandenburg Prussia, used to call his bureaucrats ink-sh*tters.

        That was the country that invented (literally) "red tape".

      • (Score: 4, Informative) by driverless on Thursday November 28 2019, @11:01AM (3 children)

        by driverless (4770) on Thursday November 28 2019, @11:01AM (#925608)

        Wow. Just wow.

        Found this link [thejournal.ie] which gives the details, it's a Komori GL-429, 7.3 metres long, 2.68 wide, 2.1 high, with minimum space requirements 12m long, 5.8m wide, and 2.5m high.

        Many governments have an official government printing/publishing office, typically located in purpose-built warehouse-scale premises - it's not just a case of housing the press, you also need to feed it and do things with its output - the one here is the width of a city block and a cavernous great structure, with truck access and forklifts to move things around. Trying to stuff all of that into some corner of Leinster House would have been quite a feat.

        • (Score: 2) by deimtee on Thursday November 28 2019, @07:30PM (1 child)

          by deimtee (3272) on Thursday November 28 2019, @07:30PM (#925741) Journal

          I think you misread that. The size is the Komori but the space requirement was from the tender specs, not the press. There is no way you could run a press like that with only 40cm of headroom, and that's not enough space around it either.

          --
          If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.
          • (Score: 2) by driverless on Thursday November 28 2019, @08:11PM

            by driverless (4770) on Thursday November 28 2019, @08:11PM (#925747)

            Yeah, it did seem a bit... optimistic, thus the comment that I'd expect to see one in a warehouse-sized space.

            The report from the inquiry will make interesting reading :-).

        • (Score: 3, Interesting) by PartTimeZombie on Friday November 29 2019, @01:54AM

          by PartTimeZombie (4827) on Friday November 29 2019, @01:54AM (#925849)

          oh.

          I have just finished a comment detailing how it couldn't possibly be on of those, because it seemed a bit mad.

          Nobody is training to use that either, printing is a skilled trade, not something some office person picks up.

      • (Score: 3, Informative) by PartTimeZombie on Friday November 29 2019, @02:02AM (1 child)

        by PartTimeZombie (4827) on Friday November 29 2019, @02:02AM (#925851)

        Yes, it is. I worked for the agents for Komori in my country many years ago, and if the cheapest A2 machine we sold cost $5,000,000 new, without any of the extras they have detailed there.

        Also, nobody buys a 4-colour machine, and haven't for more than 25 years. Everyone buys 5-colour machines, due to the speed of modern presses.

        At high speeds you get a thing called "set-off" where the ink doesn't dry quickly enough, and winds up on the back of the sheet above, so the 5th unit has a coating in it to aid drying.

        Smart people leave printing to people who know how to do printing.

        • (Score: 2) by Bot on Friday November 29 2019, @12:53PM

          by Bot (3902) on Friday November 29 2019, @12:53PM (#925994) Journal

          >Smart people leave printing to people who know how to do printing.
          >Smart people
          >Parliament
          Your remark was OT

          --
          Account abandoned.
  • (Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Friday November 29 2019, @01:52AM (1 child)

    by PartTimeZombie (4827) on Friday November 29 2019, @01:52AM (#925847)

    I don't think they're talking about the 4 colour Komori you're meaning here, although your point about the space is a good one.

    The IT department is not going to be giving people access to an offset press, and training is usually an 8,000 apprenticeship.

    • (Score: 2) by deimtee on Friday November 29 2019, @03:06AM

      by deimtee (3272) on Friday November 29 2019, @03:06AM (#925885) Journal

      Bit more digging, and many places are saying its a rebadged GL29, which is a half sheet (720x540mm) press. Most pictures of that though show five stations, so either they are not counting the UV or the GL429 loses one, which might explain the extra 4 in the model no.

      Offset presses have changed a lot in the last decade or two. Competition from digital presses has forced them to be faster, cleaner and easier to use. The last big 10-colour I was watching run monitored every sheet as it went through. So much as a blemish on the paper and that sheet was diverted to the waste stack without slowing the printing at all. A few in series and the machine would stop and call for help. Colour was continuously monitored, the machine compared what was coming out with the PDF and adjusted itself to match. Washup is push a button. Plate change is load them in a holder and push a button. The plates are coded so the machine knows if you put the plates in the wrong station.

      You still need to be a trade printer to use one, but IT absolutely needs to be involved in the setup.

      --
      If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.