National Museum of the Royal Navy Consolidates Printing Across Seven Sites with Toshiba

The National Museum of the Royal Navy manages eleven heritage attractions across the United Kingdom, reflecting the Royal Navy’s operations on the sea, under the sea, on land, and in the air. With such a geographically dispersed estate — including naval bases, museums, and historic ships — maintaining a consistent and cost-effective print infrastructure presents a unique logistical challenge.

The Challenge

The museum’s printer fleet had grown organically across its sites, resulting in an inconsistent mix of devices from different suppliers. Reliability varied, costs were difficult to control, and there was no unified approach to service and support. The decision was taken to consolidate the entire fleet under a single supplier to drive down costs, improve reliability, and simplify day-to-day management.

A formal tender process was launched, and the museum required a partner capable of working across seven very different environments — from climate-controlled offices to the decks of historic vessels.

The Solution

Toshiba won the tender and began with a detailed discovery audit across the museum’s main sites. This was followed by a thorough analysis of the overall IT architecture, conducted in partnership with the museum’s IT department.

Based on the findings, Toshiba installed 21 new e-STUDIO multifunction printers across the seven sites, carefully tailored to the requirements of each location. The same service technicians were assigned to all sites to maintain continuity, and a highly detailed deployment schedule was developed to account for the practicalities of removing old equipment and installing replacements across environments as varied as a naval base and a warship.

The fleet is remotely monitored and supported by Toshiba’s dedicated help desk and its network of 150 directly employed engineers across the UK.

The Results

The consolidation reduced the museum’s hardware by 26% while increasing reliability and print quality at every location. Annual print costs are projected to fall by at least £35,000, driven primarily by Toshiba’s competitive cost-per-copy pricing.

Each site now benefits from consistent, high-quality output backed by a single point of contact for service and support. Remote monitoring means that issues are often identified and resolved before they affect users.

The museum also gained enhanced environmental credentials through Toshiba’s Carbon Zero scheme, which offsets the carbon footprint of every device in the fleet. The investment in carbon-offsetting projects effectively makes each printer carbon neutral — supporting the museum’s own environmental policies without requiring any additional effort from the team.