Weekend MFP Industry Notes for 8/15/10

Weekend MFP Industry Notes
8-15-2010


- The U.S. Commerce Department stated that businesses have boosted their spending on equipment and software by 21.9% in the second quarter of 2010. Related:
o KPMG stated its survey showed that 35% of manufacturing executives expect to increase spending on equipment/software in 2010
o 27% of service company executives will increase spending

- According to InfoTrends, color printing will gain share of revenue (equipment, supplies and service) from 65% to 77% in 2014.

- Muratec launches the MFX-2590 featuring:
o A4 b/w laser desktop MFP
o Actually made by Muratec
o 8.5” color LCD control panel
o Base MSRP of $3995
o 25ppm top speed
o 600x600dpi
o Copy/scan/print/fax standard

- Oce’, a division of Canon, announced it would relabel a Brother A4 b/w laser MFP, and call it the Oce’ VarioLink 3200x with top speed of 32ppm.

- Oce’ announced that it won a facilities management contract from Rolls-Royce Aerospace. Oce’ claims it is saving the firm up to 735,000 euros, and reduced the fleet by 100 machines.

- Office Products Analyst announced the results of its annual Color MFP End User survey. Details:
o based on respondents from survey sent to businesses across the U.S.
o users were ask to rate the performance and effectiveness of their color laser MFP in the following categories:
 total cost of operation
 operability/functionality
 image quality
 workstation/network compatibility
o The manufacturer that received the greatest number of first place ratings was
= Konica Minolta
o The manufacturer that received the highest overall average rating was
= Konica Minolta

- Toshiba announced a new product called “Wipe for Toshiba Self-Encrypting Drive (SED) models”.
o Ability for sensitive user data to be securely erased when a system is powered-down or when drive is removed from system
o Can be used to securely erase data prior to returning a leased system
o Toshiba hopes to sell these HDDs to MFP and printer manufacturers

- Toshiba announced a new agreement with Uranium One Inc. of Canada to secure long-term uranium purchase rights.
- Toshiba announced it will lay off 60 people in September from its Consumer Products division due to declining sales.

- Toshiba recent held its LEAD (lead, engage, act, deliver) Conference for its dealer in Irvine, CA. Details:
o to promote its managed print services program to its dealers
o no hardware shown
o covered training for sales, service and consulting
o consultants from Strategy Development (Tom Callinan) provided content
o claims that only 5% of all pages in U.S. are under an MPS program
o Toshiba only has 7% of the A3 MFP market in the U.S.
o claims to have 80,000 devices under MPS management currently
o on display was solution software from PREO, Capella, Drivve, Fasoo & Pharos

- Toshiba now offers a Microsoft SharePoint Connector for its MFPs. Customers must order for each MFP, a $500 connector and a $750 enabler for eBRIDGE Open Platform.

- Fuji announced it sold a Color 1000 Press (made by Fuji but also sold by Xerox in U.S.) to Dashing Print of Sydney, Australia. It also sold a Color 1000 Press to Western Mailing of New Zealand.

- Xerox announced following production print system sales:
o Xerox Color 1000 Press and two Nuvera 144 b/w systems to Conlin’s Digital Print & Copy Center in Pennsylvania
o Xerox Color 800 Press to Alphagraphics of Cherry Creek, Denver, Colorado.
o Xerox Nuvera 288 to CMP of Dorsett, England
o All made by Fuji

- Xerox announced it will relabel a Samsung-made b/w laser A4 MFP and call it the WorkCentre 3550 featuring:
o 35ppm top speed
o Base MSRP of $1099
o Toner yield of 5,000 pages based on 5% coverage for $129.99 each
o 75K/month maximum duty cycle
o Comes standard with analog fax board
o 4 line b/w LCD display (not a touch screen)
o 50 sheet bypass and 500 sheet drawer
 Second 500 sheet drawer for $249
o Auto duplex
o 50 sheet recirculating document feeder
 35opm b/w and 24opm color scan speeds
o Built-in print controller
 Actual maker unknown (most likely Marvell)
 360MHz processor
 256MB RAM (can upgrade to 512MB for $499) but no hard drive
 10/100BaseT & USB port
 Includes single license of Scan to PC/OCR from Nuance
 Scan to FTP/SMB/network/email/LDAP
 PCL and PostScript print drivers standard
• No XPS print driver available
 No accounting features
- Panasonic announced that its desktop scanners can now scan directly into DocuLex document management software (DMS).

- A survey conducted by WhatTheyThink of printshop owners, when asked “What’s Your Next Big Equipment Investment?”
o 16% = bindery
o 35% = digital press
o 10% = mailing
o 29% = production inkjet
o 10% = wide format
o 0% = offset press

- Ricoh apparently will be relabeling a Brother made desktop unit, and call it the FAX1190L for $595 MSRP. (manufacturer’s suggested retail price)

- Kyocera (aka Kyoto Ceramic Company), announced two new A4 b/w MFPs, called the FS-3040MFP and FS-3140MFP offering:
o Actually made by Kyocera
o 42ppm top speed
o Base MSRPs of $2649 and $2979
 Models are identical, except 3140 includes analog fax
o RADF holds up to 50 sheets and has top speed of 42opm b/w and 25opm for color
o Toner yield of 15,000 pages based on 5% coverage per page and sells for $81
o $268 for maintenance kit with yield of 300,000 pages
o ASi (amorphous silicon or ceramic drum)
o 200K/month maximum duty cycle
o 22 second warmup time
 7 second first copy out time
o 100 sheet bypass and 500 sheet drawer standard
 Can add up to three more 500 sheet drawers for $249 each
 Optional envelope feeder
o Auto duplex
o Built-in print controller:
 Made by Peerless
 667MHz IBM PowerPC processor
 256MB RAM (can upgrade to 768MB)
 No hard drive
 10/100BaseT & USB ports
 PCL, PostScript & XPS print drivers standard
 Scan to PC/network/FTP/email (no LDAP)
 No secure print or accounting

- XMPie, maker of variable data software, announced it will have its annual Users Group Conference on 9/12-15/2010 in Orlando, Florida.

- A scientist from Argonne National Laboratory, named Mr. Vilas G. Pol, claims that he has invented a way to make toner from discarded plastic grocery bags.



- According to a study conducted by Kodak about the print for pay industry:
o Total print revenues grew from 2006 to 2007 by 1.7%
o Offset press revenue grew from 2006 to 2007 by 1.7%
o From 2007 to 2008, offset press shipments declined by 1.5%
o Total print shipments were down 13% in 2009, and 5% down in 2010
o Profit from digital print averages 20-40%
o Profit from offset press is 1-4%
o Average run length is less than 10,000 pieces per job
o Run lengths have decreased by 30% in last 5 years
o Average time to run a 1,000 piece job on offset press is 30 minutes for makeready plus 15 minutes for actual printing for a total average of 45 minutes
o Average selling price for offset press prints is 6-10 cents per page with profit of 1-4%
o Average cost per page for high speed digital is 10-14 cents per page
o Average cost per page for offset press job for 500-1000 run length is 35-45 cents per page

- Hewlett Packard announced it sold two Indigo 5500 digital color systems to L&L Printers of San Diego, CA. It also sold an Indigo 7500 system to ORWO Net of Germany.

- The Japanese government fined Hewlett Packard $270 million for underreporting its taxable income.

- A group of investors is suing former HP CEO, Mark Hurd, claiming his disclosures surrounding his resignation led to a drop in share value.

- According to Howie Fenton of the Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (GATF), paper for digital color presses:
o when made have moisture content of 4-6% of its total weight
o in best conditions, paper is designed to be stable in a 45-55% relative humidity at 72 degrees Farenheit
o moisture content affects toner adhesion, paper jams and fuser roller temperature
o if paper is left unwrapped, it absorbs more moisture

- Street pricing seen in the print for pay market:
o Xerox 4112 b/w system with Fiery/booklet maker for $31,000 with clicks @ $0.0061 each for first 125K/month, and $0.004 overages. 11”x17” billed as one click.
o Xerox 4127 b/w system with bookletmaker/generic print controller/LCT/z-fold for $25,500 with clicks @ 0.0043 each. 11”x17” billed as one click.
o Ricoh PRO C720S color system (slowed down version of C900) with Fiery/LCTs/bookletmaker/punch kit for $57,300 with color clicks @ $0.042 each. 11”x17” billed as one click.

- Microsoft announced it will release a record number of patches for its operating systems next week. All told, Microsoft will release 14 security update bulletins, fixing 34 vulnerabilities.

- Offset press maker, Heidelberg of Germany, reported a net loss of 52 million euros and announced that it will lay off an additional 278 workers.



- Better Buys For Business magazine gave out its annual “Editor’s Choice” awards for high speed b/w systems to:
o Konica Minolta bizhub PRO 950
o Konica Minolta bizhub PRO 1051
o Konica Minolta bizhub PRO 1200
o Kodak DigiMaster EX series
o Canon imageRUNNER 7095
o Canon imagePRESS 1100 series
o Ricoh PRO 907/1101/1357
o Oce’ VarioPrint 4110/4120
o Xerox 4127
o Xerox Nuvera series

- ABBYY of Moscow, Russia, maker of OCR (optical character recognition) software, celebrated its 21st anniversary. It also celebrated its 10th anniversary of marketing its products in the U.S. (currently in court battle with Nuance and Iris of Belgium over validity of OCR patents)

- Kofax, maker of middleware software to connect MFPs and scanners to document management applications, announced it won a $2.3 contract from the U.S. military, for use in HR department. (Kofax competes with Nuance eCopy and NSi AutoStore)

- Sharp launched the “Portal Connector” for its OSA (open source architecture) equipped MFPs. Details:
o enables network scanning directly from MFP to key corporate applications
o scan to Microsoft SharePoint
o available to Sharp dealers who belong to the Sharp AIP (authorized integrator program)
o free for M283N, M363N, M453N, M503N, M623N and M753N models
o $349 for other models

- Sharp makes an executive change. John Herrington, formerly of LG Electronics, was named President of the consumer electronics division of Sharp USA, reporting to Toshihiko Tanimoto.

- Anvik, a Hawthorne, N.Y.-based maker of lithography systems, won a patent case against Sharp Corp., which could cost Sharp billions in damages.
o Originally filed in 2007, the suit said Sharp had infringed on Anvik's patents by importing liquid crystal display televisions that were manufactured using a method Anvik had invented.
o Sharp tried to get the case dismissed in 2009, saying that Anvik's patents did not apply because they were methods of use rather than manufacture. But Judge Stephen C. Robinson of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York disagreed.



- Sharp gave out more details on its new digital b/w A3 copiers, the MX-M623 and MX-M753:
o Replace the M620 and M700
o Base MSRPs of $19,500 and $23,900
o 62ppm and 75ppm top speeds respectively
o Unlike competitive models in this speed ranges, these models have the “hole-in-the-middle” design, so do not look like true “console” designs that customer prefer in this speed range due to copy volumes
o Code name for this engine is the Sharp “Dragon” engine, which was originally launched in 2004
o Models have the textured light gray plastic design of slower speed Sharp models
o 8.5” full color LCD touch screen control panel
o Uses second generation “microfine” pulverized toner
o Optional retractable keyboard
o Optional common access card (CAC) reader
o OPC drum and developer have yield of 300,000
o Toner yield of 83,000 pages based on 5% per page coverage
o 300K/month maximum duty cycle
o 1200x1200dpi print output, 600x600dpi copier output & 600x600dpi scan resolution
o Comes standard with 3,100 sheet paper supply
 Maximum paper capacity with options of 6,600 sheets
 Letter size LCT for $1425, Tabloid size LCT for $2900
o Document feeder can:
 Hold up to 150 originals with top scan speed of 75opm
 Can scan both sides of original at same time
o Finishing options include:
 $3450 for 50 sheet staple or $6550 for 100 sheet staple
 $5000 for 50 sheet staple and 80 sheet booklet maker
 $715 for punch kit
 $2275 for cover inserter
o Built-in print controller features:
 Actual maker unknown (most likely Zoran)
 Uses 800MHz processor from Freescale (not Intel)
 1GB RAM (can be increased to 2GB)
 80GB hard drive
 $399 for hard drive security kit
 Comes standard only with USB port for “host” based printing, meaning that the customers computer has to do the processing of the print jobs
 Optional onboard processing (included on the “N” models)
 $3400 for PCL print driver
• $745 for PostScript print driver
• $595 for barcode printing
• $625 for XPS print driver (for Microsoft Windows 7)
• All require extra 1GB RAM for $500
 $1095 for network scanning
• color scanning
• scan to email/desktop/FTP/SMB/USB (no scan to WebDAV)
• $1230 for compressed PDFs
 Can scan to or print from a USB thumb drive
 Open Systems Architecture (OSA) allows for optional embedded applications but requires $349 Application Integration Module
o $1295 for analog fax board and $545 for Internet fax
- Canon claims that it new imageRUNNER ADVANCE MFP models are environmentally friendly. That it emits 20% less CO2 when compared to previous models. The machine’s plastic exteriors also are made partly by plant-based materials. (company did not explain why it has not switched to dark plastic instead of off-white plastic which requires bleaching)

- More details on new Canon imageRUNNER ADVANCE A3 b/w models:
o 6055, 6065 and 6075 models offer 55ppm, 65ppm and 75ppm speeds
 Base MSRPs of $13,200, $17,700 and $24,200
o 8085, 8095 and 8105 models offer 85, 95 and 105ppm
 Base MSRPs of $29,200, $35,200 and $46,200
o 7086, 7095 and 7015 modes are now discontinued
o All use ASi drums (amorphous silicon or ceramic drums, most likely sourced from Kyocera)
o Uses separate toner and developer (which is odd, as one of Canon’s big marketing pitches is their use of monocomponent technology, which they claim is superior)
o Warmup times of 30-38 seconds
o $2400 for letter size LCT, $3000 for tabloid sized LCT
o $160 kit allows for feeding of tabs
o Comes standard with document feeder that can:
 Hold up to 300 originals
 Can scan both sides of original at same time
 In single sided mode, top b/w scan speed of 120opm, or 85opm for color
 In double-sided mode, top b/w scan speed of 200ipm or 100ipm for color
o 6000 series finishing option include:
 $3000 for stapling finisher
 $5300 for bookletmaking & stapling finisher
 $850 for punch kit
 $2800 for cover inserter
 $8000 for cover inserter/fold unit
o 8000 series finishing options include:
 $6000 for stapling finisher
 $9000 for bookletmaking & stapling finisher
 $800 for punch kit
 Face trimmer unit for $6000
 $15,000 for GBC punch unit (punches are $2800 each)
 $5300 for cover inserter
 $12,000 for multi-fold unit
o 8000 series can feed up to 13”x19” paper
o 8.4” color touchscreen LCD on 6000 series
o 10.4” color touchscreen LCD on armature on 8000 series
o Optional USB keyboard for $110 plus $60 mount tray
o $3800 option adds print controller and color scanning
 Uses Canon ImageCHIP architecture
 Actual manufacturer unknown (most likely NetSilicon)
 Has dual processors to handle copy and print operations
• (for some reason, Canon does not publish the speed of the processors)
 1.5GB RAM standard (can upgrade to 2GB for $250)
 80GB hard drive standard (can upgrade to 250GB for $750)
 PCL print driver is $1000 option
 XPS print driver is $550 option
 PostScript print driver is $1400 option
 Secure watermark is $450 option
 $800 for barcode printing
 Scan to email/LDAP/FTP/HDD standard
 OCR kit for $550
 $1000 for secure watermark
 Encrypted scan $450 option
 Support for MEAP (multi-function embedded application protocol using Java OS)
 10/100/1000BaseT and USB ports standard
• Can scan to and print from USB memory sticks
• $900 for scan to MS SharePoint
 $600 card reader option
 $325 for hard drive data erase kit
 $550 for hard drive encryption kit
 $1000 for removable hard drive
o Optional EFI Fiery controller, called Canon imagePASS U1, for $9500
o $2400 option adds Essentials software
 Tools for creating and managing complex print jobs
 Tracking machine usage
 Create macros to replace scan steps
o All are off-white plastic design, called “cashmere beige”
o $800 for analog fax board ($500 for second fax line)

- Canon will most likely preview two new A3 color laser MFPs at its upcoming annual Digital Solutions Forum convention in September, the imageRUNNER ADVANCE C2020 and C2030 offering:
o 4 tandem OPC design
o 20ppm and 30ppm respectively, for both color and b/w
o 44opm top scan speed with optional RADF
o Will replace the IR-C2550 and C3080 models
o Built-in print/scan controller
o Optional hard drive

- Samsung of Korea launched the world’s lowest priced A4 desktop b/w laser MFP, called the SCX-4623W, which will offer 23ppm for $249. Toner cartridge has yield of 1,500 pages (based on 5% per page coverage) and sell for $62.99. Dell announced it will relabel it and call it the Dell 1135N.

- Samsung announced a new option for its laser MFPs, called the SCM SCR3310, which provides a Common Access Card reader for $299.99.

- The State of Washington announced that an audit found that Office Depot overcharged taxpayers $306,017 over three months for office supplies.

- Nuance, owner of eCopy, announced its last quarter’s financials:
o net loss of $1.5 million
o net income grew to $91.3 million from $73.3 million
o operating margin rose to 32.9% from 32.6%
o revenue up 13.4% to $273.2 million
o revenue from healthcare and dictation solutions rose 16.5%
o eCopy division revenue up 102% to $35.8 million

- IBM announced it acquired Datacap Inc., maker of document capture software, and headquartered in Tarrytown, NY.
- More details on the PREO Printelligence software being offered as an option by both Xerox and Toshiba:
o used in conjunction with a managed print services program
o made in Calgary, Canada
o software claims it can predict toner usage/coverage per page for each color before end user actually prints the page
 it can only predict, as it does not actually measure the amount of toner applied, instead counts pixels
o software delivers balloon messages to end users’ PC to drive behavior, so end user is not guaranteed that the toner coverage stated is accurate
o collects data on printing behavior

- Adobe Corp. announced it has promoted David Wahhwani to Senior VP and GM of Creative & Interactive Solutions, reporting directly to COR, Shantanu Narayen. Senior CP John Loiacono has been appointed to lead the new Digital Media Solutions division, also reporting to Narayen.

- Long Island University announced it is giving all incoming freshman free Apple iPad computers. The same offer was also made by the School of Medicine at the University of California – Irvine.

- Legal vertical workload increases. According to Cowen Group, litigation support departments at law firms are experiencing double digit growth in workload during 2010. Data includes:
o work hours are up
o increases in eDiscovery workloads
o increase in litigation support
o many plan to add staff
o increases in budget for technology purchases

- IBM announced it will offer healthcare IT in the cloud working with Aetna Insurance through its ActiveHealth unit. It will compete with similar offerings from Practice Fusion, AthenaHealth and eClinicalWorks.

- Prompted by the CBS report in April on copier data security, a newspaper in Europe, called News of the World, did its own investigation of copier hard drives. The newspaper purchased a number of trade-in copiers and found:
o NATO briefing notes
o Details of a bank account belonging to BAE systems (a large defense contractor)
o The information was found on the hard drive of a Canon imageRUNNER

- Fujitsu launched a free service that lets individuals use their mobile phones to keep personal health records. The cell phones have sensors to record weight, body fat and blood pressure.

- Fujitsu and the University of Tokyo announced that they have jointly built a supercomputer system that can development drugs to treat cancer and metastasis.

- The Forrester Group reported that its survey of healthcare IT professionals revealed that 75% had their systems go down over the last year. 61% stated it took more than 1 hour to recover from the crash.

- Epson announced a new print driver, called ESC/P-R, that will allow some of its color inkjet printers to print from Royal Phillips ultrasound equipment in the healthcare industry

- Recent data on healthcare reveals:
o currently there are roughly 750,000 healthcare establishments in the U.S.
 6,013 hospitals
 918,000 physicians
• 67% affiliated with hospital
• 60% have no HER
• Less than 25% of doctors prescribe drugs electronically
o In addition to medical records and forms, the most common paper documents per department are:
 Customer Records include contracts, forms, authorizations, contact reports and email
 Human Resources include resumes, contracts, expense reports, vacation requests and reviews
 Legal includes contracts, e-discovery and auditing
 Purchasing includes purchase orders, receiving slips, invoices and confirmations
 Product management includes designs, drawings, data sheets and contacts
o The most common reasons why they will invest in technology:
 81.5% want to increase productivity
 67.7% want to lower costs
 60% want to address security requirements
o Only 40% of those surveyed had some type of document management system

- Recent AMA survey shows that it is not uncommon for medical practices to report a gross collection rate of only 60% or less. This means that for every $1.00 of medical services billed, the physician may only receive 60 cents. Other findings:
o gross charges denied by payers has grown to 14-18%
o denied, rejected, resubmitted and underpaid claims can costs as much as $100,000 per month
o practice can lose as much as $75,000 per year in denied claims that are never resubmitted
o many practices do not resubmit up to 50% of their claims
o underpayment of claims is as much as 35% lower than contracted amount

- In a recent healthcare industry trade magazine, in section titled “The Healthcare IT Guy”, recent reminders were given for doctors to qualify for federal funds for implementation of an electronic health records (EHR) system: (of which MFPs, scanners, document management and middleware can play a role)
o If starting implementation in 2012, will be eligible for full payments from Medicare ($44K over 5 years)
o Can start as late as 201 to get full payments from Medicaid ($63K+ over 6 years)
o For hospitals, payments include a base amount of $2 million, plus $200 per patient, starting with the hospital’s 1,150th patient discharged and ending with No. 23,000, beginning in 2011 fiscal year.
 Both doctors and hospitals that cannot “demonstrate meaningful use of EHR” by beginning of the 2015 fiscal year will be penalized



- As the healthcare industry “digitizes”, one of the concerns is the amount of data storage that will be required. In a recent article in “Healthcare Technology”, the data collected by medical imaging (radiology) equipment was detailed:
o “Prior to the mid-90s, most of the scanning was only two slices. Now 3D visualization is a must-have application and a primary diagnostic tool. This has had a significant impact on the medical imaging industry. For example, if you took a head and neck scan in 1994, it was about 21 slices. Today, a single head and neck scan is 240 slices.”
o Formats/acronyms used in radiology are; PACS (picture archiving and communication system) and DICOM (digital imaging and communications in medicine)

- Four different insurance companies announced that they will offer financial incentives to physicians and hospitals for meeting federal EHR meaningful use rules:
o Aetna
o Highmark
o UnitedHealth
o WellPoint

- EHR provider, Epic, announced contracts with:
o Tucson Medical Center
o Kaiser

- Two senators attempt to expand who can get the HITECH subsidies from Medicare and Medicaid:
o Sheldon Whitehouse & Jack Reed of Rhode Island introduced bill
o Want monies to be available for EHR implementation by mental health, behavioral health and substance abuse treatment professionals
o Currently, psychiatrists are eligible, but not psych hospitals, clinical social workers and substance abuse programs

- Another healthcare data security issue. Someone broke into a Texas allergy clinic and stole four PCs containing personal health information (PHI). It cost the clinic $15,000 to send the mandatory breach notifications letters to its 25,000 patients, far more than the cost of replacing the computers.

- And another. Four Massachusetts community hospitals are investigating how thousands of patient records ended up in a pile at a local dump site that was 20 feet wide and 20 feet long. A newspaper photographer discovered the records when he was dumping his own trash, and notified the 4 hospitals; Milford, Holyoke, Carney and Milton.

- The Department of Health & Human Services announced that in 2007, Medicare overpaid physicians by $13.8 million for incorrectly coded claims.

- Eclipsys (which was just acquired by Allscripts) announced it won an EHR contract from Isabel Healthcare of Falls Church, VA.

- Allscripts, maker of EHR software, announced it has hired former U.S. Attorney, Ken Alexander, as its new Executive VP and General Counsel. It also announced it won a contract from the Iowa Health System.

- According to an Institute of Medicine study, 1.5 million Americans are injured each year and 7,000 die from preventable medication errors.