WEEKEND MFP INDUSTRY NOTES
12-7-08
The following is a quick review of copier/MFP industry news from industry publications.
Scientists from Germany’s renowned Fraunhofer Institutes have stated that after testing, they do not believe that toner dust emitted from laser printers or MFPs is of any health hazard. Dr. Michael Wensign, of the Braunschweig based facility stated that it is no more dangerous than using a toaster.
In a recent investors conference in New York, Xerox CEO, Anne Mulcahy stated:
will lay off 3,000 employees in next 6 months
will take a $400 million restructuring cost
hopes to save $200 million per year
suffered a 3% drop in high-end equipment orders
Will drop its spending on research & development from 5% of revenue to only 4%
Stock is selling for $6.25 per share, down 80% from start of 2008
Plans on having a robust portfolio of both A4 and A3 color products
“IKON continues to be our No. 1 competitor in every market we’re in”
Fuji, makers of most Xerox printers and MFPs, announced the following:
President of office equipment division is Tadahito Yamamoto
Building a new research and development facility in a 20 story building in Yokohama, Japan that will employ 5,200 workers
New R&D center will cost 60 billion yen and open in March of 2010
Current design is done in Ebina center in Kanagawa, Japan
Xerox recently held a conference in Rochester, New York, where it invited book publishers from around the U.S. to demonstrate the ability to produce paperback bound books using Xerox production print systems.
Xerox fights to keep its copiers in a school district, even though an auditor found that the bid that Xerox won was void. After a protest by a local competitor, the Office of Public Auditor found that the Guam Public School System had awarded Xerox a $1.5 million per year contract with out properly going out to bid. However, local Xerox GM, Margaret Raftary-Tyquiengco when asked if she would remove the copiers from the school said; “We see no cause to do so at this time.”
Xerox announced it will donate $1 million to the University of South Africa. (the company recently won a bid to supply the university system their with MFPs and printers through its sales agent, Bytes Document Solutions)
Xerox is planning on launching new color MFP models based on technology other than toner and laser. Unofficial details:
will use hot melted wax, called Solid Ink technology
currently used in some (not all) Xerox Phaser desktop models
Wax sticks are inserted and fall into an iron heating tub, and when wax is liquefied, it is sprayed on to paper, where it cools and hardens
Apparently Xerox will launch three floor-standing MFP models
Copy/scan/print/fax
Possible top speed of 45ppm b/w or color (although this may be in low quality mode)
May slow down to 22.5 for highest color quality
Some believe that Xerox will use frame and accessories from the current DocuColor 242
Will be launched with purchase pricing that is market disruptive, and most likely will be promoted with low cost warranty, with wax sticks sold separately
Xerox claims that following in regards to office workers have too much information to handle:
28% of typical workday is wasted by interruptions of unnecessary information
53% of workers believe that half the info they receive is not valuable
42% of people accidentally use wrong information at least once per week
15.2 trillion pages are printed each year worldwide
281 exabytes of info created in 2007 alone
100.9 million pieces of direct mail sent every day in U.S.
$650 billion wasted on productivity due to info overload
3-5% of total revenue spent by average company on managing documents
Canon announced it is opening the Canon Institute for Global Studies in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan will carefully assess the future directions of Japan and the rest of the world. It will be run by former Governor of the Bank of Japan, Toshihiko Fukui.
Canon announced it will spend $63.4 million to build a fourth manufacturing plant in Vietnam. Details:
It will by 110,000 square feet
will be used to build parts for laser printers and MFPs
the company continues to try to reduce its costs and move manufacturing out of Japan
use robot trolleys to deliver parts to workers
the trolleys have a robotic voice that sings a song in Japanese that translates to “be careful or you’ll meet your maker”
company apparently has no debt, but a “yen yama” or a cash mountain of 737 billion yen, that it will use for acquisitions
green floors are marked with white tape into U-shaped areas
each area has 6 workers to assemble a copier
workers all wear a company jacket which is beige with orange and blue stripes
everything is mounted on wheels and workers are encouraged to shave even a few seconds off the process
fastest workers can build a copier from 3,000 parts in three hours
automated cameras check 200 points on the finished copiers for quality control
company founded in 1937 as Precision Optical Industry
Changed its named to Kwanon, which is the 1,000 armed Buddhist god of mercy. Name was then changed to Canon
In 1964, introduced the world’s 10 key digital calculator, the Canola 130
Apparently, even though it originally lost its lawsuit with Nanotechnology of Texas, Canon has supposedly been informed that the company will not fight Canon if the suit goes to the U.S. Supreme Court. The suit stemmed over Canon’s billion dollar attempt to enter the consumer flat screen HDTV market. This now means that Canon is free to finally launch the expensive product, that it originally hoped to advertise during the Chinese Olympics. However, due to economic times, the company has decided not to do at this time, as “people would laugh at them”, as stated by Canon worldwide president, Tsuneji Uchida.
Canon announced it has placed an imagePRESS C7000VP at Northern Oklahoma College.
Canon announced it will shed 1200 contract workers in Japan due to declining sales.
Toshiba announced that it will offer solutions from Access Control Devices Inc. ACD provides:
Coin-op hardware with coin and bill acceptance
Uses PIN codes
Offers separate pricing for b/w and color copies
Dispenses and recharges magnetic cards
Toshiba announced that it will source some of its b/w laser MFPs from Sharp. (as you may recall, Toshiba also relabels products from Lexmark and Ricoh)
More information from Toshiba about its new color laser MFPs which are being positioned as production color systems (attempt to compete against Konica Minolta bizhub PRO C5501/6501 series)
unlike some other high end color units sold by Toshiba, these are not relabeled Ricoh units, and actually made by Toshiba
models are called eSTUDIO 5520C/6520C/6530C
Base MSRP as high as $32,999.00
5520C offers 55ppm b/w or color for base MSRP of $24,999
6520C offers 65ppm color and 65ppm b/w for base MSRP of $30,999
6530C offers 65ppm color and 75ppm b/w for base MSRP of $32,999
Maximum published duty cycle of 275K/month
Apparently are not top to floor steel frame console models, as the units have a choice of paper supply units to build a floor-standing model (similar to bizhub C353)
On the right side of the unit, the door does not open on a hinge. Instead, it is on rails, and moves horizontally to the right, offering a very small space to reach in to remove paper jams. In addition, since the scanner and document feeder extend to the right, end user can not reach in from the top, only from the front.
While paper moves from right to left through the middle of the engine, the transfer section in the middle does not pull out to the front for jam removal. Instead users must reach into small openings behind front door.
The scanner and document feeder are not directly on top of the print engine, but off to the right, so does not look like traditional copier
77opm top scan speed
100 sheet capacity document feeder scans one side at a time
180 second warm up time
4 tandem OPC drum design
Uses pulverized toner infused with wax (called Toshiba eFINE)
Toner can be added while the unit is running
73,000 page yield for black toner based on 5% coverage
Color toners have yield of 26,500 page yields each based on 5%
Advertised as offering 8 bit, but offers 600dpi for copying and up to 1200dpi for printing (4 bits per pixel when using 1200dpi)
As fast as 4.6 seconds first b/w copy out time
6.5 seconds first color copy out time
All models come standard with two 540 sheet paper drawers and 100 sheet stack bypass
End users have choice of either two more 540 sheet drawers, or a 2,320 sheet letter portrait drawer
Side-mount 2,500 sheet deck is $1698
Paper path goes underneath the drums
Uses mylar film transfer belt
Uses induction heat fuser (similar to bizhub C451/550/650, but not same as belt system in C5501/6501 series)
All paper drawers and auto duplex support up to 140lb. index, 12”x18”
Bypass supports up to 110lb. cover stock, up to 13”x19”
Banner printing support for up to 47” long, even if a finisher is installed, using an output tray on top of the main engine
Can change paper while unit is running
Auto paper size detection in drawers, but not in bypass
Toshiba offers special glossy paper called “AquaAce”. This is actually a sheet of plastic, and while it is glossy, the Toshiba unit does not make the toner glossy, so only areas without toner will be glossy. This paper is also very expensive, so it is unlikely customers will actually buy it. (Hewlett Packard offers something similar called “Laser Tough Paper”)
Weighs a total of 573lbs.
Requires 110volt, 20 amp circuit
10.4” touch screen color LCD control panel is on armature (like the C5501/6501)
“My Menu” feature allows customization of control panel
Toshiba new color MFPs details continued:
Comes standard with generic print controller
Called Toshiba eBRIDGE
Unknown who the actual maker is (most likely Wind River Technologies)
1.2GHz RISC processor (does not use Intel)
1GB RAM standard (up to 2GB)
Comes standard with HP PCL, Microsoft XPS and PostScript driver emulations
80GB hard drive with up to 200 storage folders
Comes standard with scan-to-file/FTP/e-mail/USB/LDAP with thumbnail preview
Scan formats include PDF, TIFF, JPEG & XPS
$590 for hard drive data overwrite
$799 for IP security enabler
$750 for Open Platform module allowing embedded software
$499 for Meta Scan enabler to provide eConnect support
10/100/1000BaseT & USB ports
$599 for WiFi & $325 for BlueTooth both of which require $140 antenna
Sometime in the future, Toshiba may offer an optional EFI Fiery
$1205 for single line fax board, and $620 for second fax line, but only offers 400dpi
Optional HID SmartCard authentication kit
Finishing options include stapling, collating, hole-punch and booklet making
$3049 for 50 sheet stapling finisher
$4664 for 50 sheet stapling finisher that can also make 15 sheet booklets
Both require an $80 rail system, as finishers slide to the left for paper jam removal
$772 to add hole punching to either finisher
While the finisher has a door that opens in the front, it only exposes the top half of the parts of the finisher. Since this prohibits the end user from pulling the finisher assembly out of the front for jam removal, end user must reach into small openings instead.
Toshiba now offering eBRIDGE Fleet Management System so that its branches and dealers can track printer and MFP usage on customer’s networks. Software is loaded onto end user’s network, and also send meter reads to copier dealer/branch.
According to The Los Angeles Times, Toshiba is considering making an offer to buy SanDisk of California, which makes memory chips.
Konica Minolta launched the DRYPRO 873 laser imager, which will be used to revolutionize breast cancer detection.
Xeikon, a division of Punch Graphix Corp. of Belgium, announced it has sold a Xeikon 8000 production color system to Advantage Mailing, an Illinois-based variable data printshop. The 8000 can produce 244 color pages per minute.
Ricoh announced the MSRP for the PostScript option for its new color laser MFPs:
Aficio C2800 or C3300 is $1260.00
Aficio C4000 or C5000 is $1530.00
Ricoh announced it will now offer optional Card Authentication Package, offering support for card swipe security on its MFPs.
Brother finalized its contract with Pitney Bowes to provide service on its office products in the U.S. The division of PB, called Multi-Vendor Services, will fulfill the out-of-box warranty and customer-purchased extended warranties on Brother desktop inkjet and laser printers and MFPs. (What is odd about this is that years ago Pitney Bowes sold off its printer and copier business, which eventually became Oce’ imagistics. This service may be performed by the large amount of Pitney Bowes mailing equipment technicians in the U.S.)
Oce’ announced that it will relabel some desktop Okidata-made LED color printers.
Hewlett Packard announced it sold an Indigo 7000 production color system to DataMart Direct, a print for pay in Hanover Park, IL.
Sharp announced that it will recall over 16,000 LCD projectors, as some have overheated and caused fires.
J.D Power & Associates announced the results of a copier users’ satisfaction survey. Xerox won top spot, followed closely by Panasonic. Other details stated:
60% of those surveyed experienced at least one paper jam per month
Users satisfaction drops if they experience one paper jam per month with a color MFP, but goes up to 4 per month with a b/w MFP
4,200 end users participated
End users view b/w MFPs more reliable than color MFP
Kyocera announced their KYOprint Pack managed print services program. This program consists of the customer buying a special toner cartridge for a Kyocera laser printer, and it includes service. As long as the customer continues to but the special KYOprint Pack cartridge, they continue to receive service. (if the customer prints images with more than 5% coverage per page, then this program can be expensive)
MindFireInc. announced that its variable data software was used in October, 2008 to create over 300 direct mail campaigns with over 1,000,000 pieces in the U.S., all using PURLs (personalized web address for response by end users)
A scientist is working on a new technology that may reduce the size and cost of color laser printers and MFPs dramatically. Details:
Lawrence Schein works for Torrey Pines Research of California
Formerly worked for Xerox and IBM
The pending patent will be used to start Aetas Systems, to implement this new technology
Technology uses nonetechnology to completely coat color toner particles with tiny silica balls, as small as 10 nanometers wide, or a thousand times smaller than the toner particles themselves
The silica balls smooth out the rough edges of the toner particles
Mr. Schein claims that this would allow development of a color laser engine that uses one OPC belt, instead of 4 OPC tandem drums
Bitstream Inc. held its annual User Conference in Cambridge, Massachusetts recently. Its main product, PageFlex, is a very popular variable data software package. The event was led by Frank Romano of the Rochester Institute of Technology. The attendees were mainly printshop owners and advertising/marketing directors looking to expand their business through the use of VDP, or personalized marketing. Canon, HP & Xerox had color production gear on display.
Adobe announced it will lay off 600 employees due to declining sales.
A company in Shingle Springs, CA, founded by John Juntunen, is dedicated to wiping memories of trade-in copiers. Digital Copier Security Inc., apparently focuses on digital copiers that companies have returned, or upgraded, that may have sensitive data still left in the memory or hard drive of the copier. The company claims that many used copiers are being wholesales overseas that have not had their memories scrubbed. For more info visit www.copiersecurity.com.
Yannick Amiet was arrested for attempting to buy a Big Mac at a McDonald’s using a fake $10 bill he made on a color copier.
According to the Photizo Group, managed print services will be a $26.7 billion business in 2012 and account for 35% of the total imaging market.
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