WEEKEND MFP INDUSTRY NOTES
8-17-08
The following is a quick review of copier/MFP industry news from industry publications.
ICOM (Information and Communications) announced results of a study of 18-34 year olds in relation to full color direct mail:
o Communicate strong preference for receiving offers in mail versus electronic
o Direct mail preferred two to one over other methods
o 57.7% prefer direct mail
o 27.3% prefer e-mail
According to InfoTrends study of those that mail out statements to customers:
o 54.4% of respondants mail out between 1,000 and 99,000 statements monthly
o Most are just black text on paper
o 92% are opened by customer
o 22% are read twice
o Average of 5.6 minutes spent reading document
o TransPromo applications would change these into full color marketing documents to promote new business in addition to fulfilling their original function which is informing customers of their account status
o As the statements are always opened by the recipient, these marketing messages have a better response rate than traditional direct mail marketing
Printable Technology announced a new option for its popular variable data software. TransPromo is now an option for FusionPro, allowing the creation of color transactional statement marketing.
Xerox announced it is now offering an optional embedded EFI Fiery print server for its WorkCentre 7346 color laser MFP:
o Base MSRP of 7246 is $15,199
o 4 tandem OPC drum design
o Polymerized toner technology (called EA)
o 2/4 bits per pixel
o Base MSRP of the Fiery is $4.099
o 40ppm color and 45ppm b/w top speeds
o The generic print controller, that comes standard, offers:
§ 667MHz processor
§ 40GB hard drive
§ 1.5GB RAM
Konica Minolta announced a partnership with Universal Display Corp. to develop organic light emitting diode technology (OLED). This is a revolutionary lighting technology, that can even be used for flexible, bendable lighting. Products are set to launch in 2010.
Hewlett Packard announced that it is willing to help pay salaries of sales reps hired by its dealers to increase sales of its MFP products.
Hewlett Packard announced it will be offering more solution software packages as options for its laser MFPs:
o Troy Check Printing Security Solutions
o Safecom Job Accounting
o Captaris RightFax
o Standard Register Print Optimization
HP announced it has placed an Indigo ws4500 production color system at Vintage 99 Label Manufacturing in Livermore, CA.
In a trade magazine, the following quote was attributed to an un-named IKON sales rep; “At the beginning of the month, we sell solutions (Documentum, Captaris RightFax, Objectif Lune, etc.), but by the end of the month we just sell copiers (Canon & Ricoh)”
According to Photizo Group, 60% of print management decisions are being made by IT departments, over-riding traditional copier buyers (purchasing, facilities management, etc.)
o Of the 4.6 trillion pages printed annually by companies in the U.S., only 3% are covered by a print management program.
o Benefits to customer for managed print services are:
§ Consolidating the approved vendor/provider list
§ Reduce accounting headaches
§ Reduce costs due to volume of business
§ Offer upgrade path to all hardware
§ Maintain less on-hand inventory by ordering only what you need
§ Have all devices under a maintenance agreement
Sharp is now shipping two new color laser MFPs (A3), the MX-2600N and MC-3100N featuring:
o 26ppm and 31ppm top speeds b/w or color respectively
o 8.5” full color LCD touch screen display
o Retractable QWERTY keyboard (for easy data entry)
o OSA capable (for embedded software applications)
o Textured plastic exterior with chrome accents
o Built-in print controller with 800MHz processor with PCL & PostScript drivers
o Uses pulverized toner infused with wax
o Maximum paper capacity with options of 5,600 sheets
o Document feeder holds up to 100 originals
o Auto duplex standard
o Optional CCID swipe card access
A copier dealer in Raleigh, NC is jailed for fraud. Scott Waddell, owner of Modern Office Solutions, was arrested after he was caught forging up to 14 lease documents. Apparently, he forged customer’s signatures on the leases, received funding from the leasing company, but instead of delivering them to the customer, hid them away in a storage facility. The scheme unraveled when customers started receiving calls from the leasing companies demanding payment on copiers they did not have.
Quick copier history trivia:
o 1780 = Copying Press invented by James Watt (who also invented the steam engine), end user created document by writing on a sheet of paper with ink, then pressing another special sheet on top, and some of the ink transferred to the second special sheet, which when turned upside down, showed copy of original image
o 1950 = ThermoFax invented by 3M, was a device that shined infrared light through the original to expose a chemically treated sheet of paper that created a copy of original
o 1959 = Xerox 914 invented by Chester Carlson, uses toner and plain paper.
On August 8th, 1876, Thomas Edison received a patent for “Improvement in Autographic Printing”. This technology was licensed by A.B. Dick Company and launched the Edison Mimeograph.
IKON won a bid to provide equipment to San Joaquin Delta, a community college in Stockton, CA:
o Canon imageRUNNER 7105
o Canon imageRUNNER 7125
o 28 each of the EFI DocSend (aka SendMe, which is very similar to an eCopy station) connected to Canon MFPs
Kodak is providing printing and copying equipment during the Beijing Olympics. This includes several NexPress production color systems.
Okidata announced a new software option for its color LED printers and MFPs. The Color Access Policy Manager, allows end users to control and track their color usage.
Canon wins latest court battle. The U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in Canon’ favor regarding its multi-billion attempt to enter the flat screen HDTV market. Nano-Proprietary Inc. of Texas had originally won the case, in which it was trying to get Canon to pay more to license its SED (silicon emitter diode) technology, however the Appeals court ruled that the original agreement still applied. If this ruling stands, it will allow Canon to finally launch their new SED TV”s later this year.
Ricoh announced it will launch the Aficio C900 production color system at the Graph Expo print for pay trade show in Chicago on 10/26/08 featuring:
o 90ppm top speed
o Runs heavy stock at same speed as plain paper
o Handles up to 300gsm paper weight
o On-the-fly paper and toner add
o 1200x1200dpi (2/4 bits per pixel)
o Optional EFI Fiery print server
o Optional 3,000 sheet capacity finisher with 100 sheet stapling
o Optional GBC hole punching system
o Optional Plockmatic booklet maker
o Optional ring binder finisher
o Optional 10,000 sheet stacker
o 6 minute warm up time
o Up to 13”x19” paper size
o Weighs up to 1,543 lbs.
o Requires 240 volt, 30 amp circuit
o Based on Hitachi technology
According to GATF (Graphic Arts Technical Foundation), the number of print shops in the U.S. has declined from 47,667 in the year 2000, to 38,819 today.
The Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet Company of New York announced a new performance called “The Copier”, and was inspired by a Canadian woman who inspired by a copying machine at her office.
Samsung of Korea announced it is recalling 22,000 laser printers it sold due to a defective part. The part may cause overheating and/or fire in the fusing section.
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