Weekend MFP Industry Notes Newsletter
8-30-09
Toshiba’s copier division in the U.S., called Toshiba America Business Solutions (TABS) announced it has hired Jive Software of Portland, Oregon to develop a social business network to connect its sales, service, admin and corp. professionals. Cost not announced. Will be called Toshiba eXCHANGE and include:
- Detailed profiles of members allowing users to connect directly with Toshiba employees
- Blogs that will keep members aware of ongoing product and program updates
- Video clips that will provide product info
- Content ratings
- RSS feeds that mark key interest areas
- Intelligent searches
IKON, a division of Ricoh, will have a booth at the upcoming ILTA Conference, for the legal community, and be showing Ricoh MFPs bundled with document management solutions from OmTool AccuRoute, according to IKON’s VP of Legal Enterprise Solutions, Mark Davey.
Ricoh announced it won a bid to supply MFPs and DocuLex Archive Studio document management software to Lake County Water Authority in Orlando, FL.
Ricoh Product Manager, Frank Elchert, launched the Personal Paperless Document Manager optional solution software for its MFPs:
- Allows users to combine scanned documents with MS Word, Excel or PowerPoint content
- Based on Nuance Communications OmniPage OCR software
- Can customize scanning menus on the copier’s LCD panel
- PDF data compression
- 5 seat license for $1499.95, 25 seats for $7124.76, 50 seats for $13,499.55
- price does not include annual software maintenance fees
Printable Technologies announced that its variable data software, FusionPro, will now support the AFP print file format from IBM. It also is now compatible with DirectSmile personalization software.
Hewlett Packard won a bid from the City of Langford, Canada for an undisclosed number of HP LaserJet MFPs. This was to change a situation of; “a printer next to a copier next to a fax machine”. The new contract will supposedly save the city $375,000 per year, and included Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server and Notable Solutions Inc.’s AutoStore software.
Xerox won a bid from Fayetteville-Perry Elementary School district in Ohio. Revenue and total units not announced, but it is a 5 year cost per copy lease.
More details on the bid that Xerox won from Methodist Healthcare in San Antonio, Texas:
- facilities management contract
- covers 23 different facilities
- claims it will save the healthcare facilities “millions per year”.
- decision maker was Geoff Crabtree, Senior VP
- reduced forms used from 1,200 to 300
- 25,000,000 impressions total per year
- 2 million b/w forms used monthly
- 1 million color brochures printed annually
- Includes an iGen4 production color system, Nuvera 120MX production b/w system and
Nuvera 120EA DPS production b/w system with booklet maker
Xerox announced it has sold three of its new 700 Digital Color Press production color system to three different printshops in South Africa. The buyers were Copy Wizards, Hot Ink and Top Copy.
Fuji, maker of most Xerox MFPs, announced that it will launch a slew of new models that incorporate a new design and color them. Tentative details on the new Xerox Document Centre models:
- main body is still off-white plastic, but center of unit, including shell around keyboard and paper output area will be in dark blue, called the “3D Box” design
- large full color LCD, with large buttons and icons for functions
- entire LCD turns red when a problem occurs
- motion video on LCD to guide end user in paper jam removal
- access Internet from LCD
- will incorporate the new Xerox “ball with X on it” logo
- Models numbers now being used in Japan for new color MFPs are C2270, C3370, C4470 and C5570 :
- 22ppm, 33ppm, 44ppm and 55ppm top speeds respectively
- All use LED printhead instead of Laser
- 4 tandem OPC drum design
- Emulsion Aggregate (EA) polymerized toner
- some models have built-in LCD, others have LCD on armature to left side
- All have “hole in the middle” design
- Advertised as offering 1200x2400 dpi (actual is 600x600dpi for top speed, and then 1200x1200dpi in half speed mode)
- only 600x600dpi in copy mode
- Does NOT offer true 8 bits per pixel image quality
- Built-in print controller
- PCL & PostScript print drivers
- 1.5GB RAM
- 40GB hard drive
- USB and 10/100/1000BaseT ports
- USB port is located on front control panel for easy access for end user to print from thumb drive, or scan to thumb drive
- Optional fax board
- Fuser uses induction heating instead of fuser heat lamps
- auto duplex standard
- Comes standard with two paper drawers
- User can add two more paper drawers, and/or side mount LCT (letter size only)
- paper path is up the left side of the unit, and output to the right
- maximum paper size of 12”x18” from bypass
- Up to 256gsm from paper drawers, and up to 280gsm from bypass
- Document feeder holds up to 100 originals and scans up to 70opm
- Finishing options include:
- internal stapling finisher
- side-mounted stapling finisher
- hole punch
- booklet making with tractor feed output
Amcom Office Systems announced it won a 5 year contract to supply MFPs to the City of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County in Pennsylvania. Details:
- The contract will supposedly save county tax payers $2.3 million.
- County will take delivery of 406 units
- Is a 5 year cost per copy lease
- Based on minimum volume of 3.2 million copies per month
- Total value of contract of $2.6 million, or 47% less than prior contract
- County will remove many, but not all, of its desktop printers
- The City will take delivery of 105 units, and supposedly will save $38,000 per year
- The Allegheny County Airport Authority will take delivery of 18 units
Sappi Fine Papers North America announced it is closing its paper mill in Muskegon, Michigan due to declining sales.
Sharp announced that it will offer DocuLex software, made in Winter Haven, FL, as an optional embedded application for its MFPs.
Sharp will hold its annual dealer meeting in Washington DC from 8/31 to 9/2/09.
Sharp dealer, Advanced Business Systems of Molina, Iowa, is growing. Its new 11,000 square foot facility will be at 4631 44th Street. Owner Jim Soucinek started the company in 1970, and now has 23 employees, and also sells and services Lexmark & HP products.
Gartner Research reports that shipments of MFPs are down 25% in 2009, versus 2008. “In the worst case scenario could hit 30%” stated senior analyst Todd Prabhakar.
Apple releases its new operating system, Snow Leopard, and went on sale on 8/28/09 as a $29 upgrade. The new system uses far less memory than its predecessors, but must be run on an Intel based Macintosh computer.
Epson Corp. pleaded guilty to price fixing when it sold LCDs to Motorola for its Razr cell phone, and will pay a fine of $26 million
Hewlett Packard has been hit with a patent infringement suit by Acacia Research Corp., over videoconferencing technology.
Toshiba & Hitachi are supposedly planning on jointly making hard disk drives, using new nanotechnology to boost recording density. The Japanese government supposedly will invest $48 million in the new venture, which will ship new products in 2012.
The Equipment Leasing & Finance Association’s (ELFA) Monthly Leasing and Finance Index reported that new business volume of declined by 35.1% as compared to same period in 2008. Other data:
- receivable over 30 days increased by 18.2%
- charge-offs increased by 56.1%
- credit approvals now at 65.5% as compared with 73.3% last year
- 47% of leasing companies reported decrease in transactions
Global Graphics & Conexant announced that they will jointly develop print controllers for printer and MFP makers.:
- Global Graphics purchased Harlequin PostScript technology in 1999
- Harlequin acquired JAWS PDF technology in 2000
- Conexant purchased Freescale print controller technology for just $16.1 million in 2008
- Freescale acquired this technology from SigmaTel in 2008 for $110 million
- SigmaTel acquired this technology in 2007 for $57 million.
Canon releases more information on its upcoming new production color systems, called the imageRUNNER ADVANCE C9065 & C9075:
- All models still use the off-white plastic design
- None apparently offer true 8 bits per pixel imaging
- both advertised as light production color systems
- Designed to compete against the Konica Minolta bizhub PRO C5501 & C6501
- Base MSRP for C9065 will be $40,000
- Small engine footprint (appears to be designed on a workgroup engine format)
- Tandem 4 drum OPC design
- uses pulverized toner infused with wax
- Console design with two large letter size drawers and two 11”x17” drawers
- Optional side mount paper decks for a total paper capacity of 9,300 sheets
- Up to 13”x19” paper handling
- maximum paper weight handling of 300gsm
- will support coated stock and tab stocks
- Uses 200v/15 amp circuit
- 60ppm color and 65ppm b/w for C9065
- 70ppm color and 75ppm b/w for C9075
- Document feeder can scan both sides at same time
- scans b/w originals at 100opm top speed (at 200dpi)
- scan color originals at 70opm top speed
- 10.4” touch screen color LCD panel on an armature
- can be customized by end user
- Comes standard with generic PCL controller with optional PostScript
- Optional embedded or external Fiery controllers
- Optional external Creo controller
- actual copy resolution of 600x600dpi and 1200x1200dpi print resolution
- advertised as offering up to 9600dpi with interpolation
Canon bought a stake in an Austrian document management software company named ADOS, and changed its name to Therefore Inc.
According to the Riverhead News Review newspaper of Riverhead, NY, Canon could get up to a $50 million tax break for building a new U.S. headquarters on Long Island.
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