Toshiba America Business Solutions employees celebrated the arrival of nearly 40 Patriot Pack riders and their supporters to the company's Lake Forest, California, headquarters on Sept. 15, while supporting the motorcycle group's worthy cause.

The Patriot Pack — a group of office technology professionals — holds its annual motorcycle event in collaboration with the Business Technology Association (BTA), securing thousands of dollars for the Patriot Pack Scholarship Fund.

Amid a sea of red-, white- and blue-shirt-clad and stars-and-stripes-waving Toshiba staff members, Toshiba America Business Solutions President and Chief Executive Officer Larry White presented Patriot Pack Founder and U.S. Navy veteran Mike Stramaglio a $10,000 check to help fund scholarships for U.S. military veterans.

After the presentation, Toshiba staff members, along with Anaheim Ducks mascot Wild Wing, socialized with the group while enjoying a mix of smoothies, muffins and fresh fruit. The motorcyclists and their team are currently on an eight-day, 1,525-mile trek raising money for the Patriot Pack Scholarship Fund.

Last year's Patriot Pack Ride generated more than $100,000 for scholarships providing educational funding for U.S. military veterans in the office technology industry, their children and grandchildren. This year's event began Sept. 12 in Scottsdale, Arizona, and will finish on Sept. 19 in Beaverton, Oregon, with seven stops in between.

An ardent advocate of U.S. armed service members and their families, Toshiba additionally supports the Defense Department Spouse Education and Career Opportunities program and Military Spouse Employment Partnership (MSEP). MSEP connects military spouses with hundreds of partner employers who commit to recruiting, hiring, promoting and retaining military spouses.

"Toshiba is a proud supporter of U.S. military veterans, their spouses and families," White said. "We're thrilled to participate in this year's Patriot Pack Ride while partnering with others in our industry to unlock higher education opportunities for many U.S. military members and their families."

In other news, Toshiba America Business Solutions is simplifying the often tedious asset tag process by introducing its mobile and QR-enabled Encompass Tag & Assessment Generator (eTAG). Ushering print fleets online is now a breeze when using eTAG, the industry's first and currently only mobile, remote, self-service, printer registration technology.

Toshiba's patented innovation works by intelligently cataloging every printer's make, model and location in an organization's fleet while facilitating remote and QR-generated supply and service requests. eTAG further provides professionals with a clear and comprehensive look at their organization's printer landscape that's viewable via their mobile devices.

"With more than 100 printers across our locations, the logistics to identify each one would have been daunting for our IT department," said Graeme Bloor, vice president of digital and information technology, ERIK'S Bike Board & Ski. "Instead, we leveraged Toshiba's eTAG solution to identify each printer remotely. Toshiba's solution provides simple instructions for our store staff to tag 100% of our printers quickly and efficiently. Beyond finding value in the accuracy of the process, the work, time and cost savings are far greater than we expected. I would highly recommend Toshiba's eTAG for any organization."

ERIK'S Bike Board & Ski employs more than 450 people with 35 locations across seven states in the Midwest. The company's selection of products and services includes bicycles, snowboards, downhill skis, skateboards, pro scooters and all the gear that goes with them. Erik Saltvold's original workshop was in the barn in his parents' backyard. A homemade sign brought business to his doorstep.

Self-Service Support

eTAG delivers asset tag labels directly to printers to quickly manage organizations' fleets online without the need for costly and time-consuming on-site visits.

Toshiba's latest innovation's simplicity is its strength, as eTAG asset tag labels contain a QR code with instructions for enrolling each device. This means personnel may register print devices themselves at their convenience. Upon scanning eTAG's QR code, staff may also order supplies or schedule service when needed.

Real-Time Asset Management

eTAG additionally helps ensure real-time, round-the-clock operations by delivering up-to-the-minute supply and service updates. Providing such a centralized view better enables organizations' IT teams to track and manage their print fleets while ensuring maintenance and servicing are always up to date.

"Toshiba's eTAG technology is already helping many of our clients, including Graeme at ERIK'S Bike Board & Ski, save time and money when registering, managing, as well as servicing their print fleet," said Scott Robinson, vice president of managed print services, Toshiba America Business Solutions. "As the first and currently only manufacturer of remote asset management technology, we're looking forward to helping businesses facilitate this process."