We've had some discussions on this and just thought that I would put together a few points in an article about 11x17's. Please feel free to comment!
Who Needs 11 x17??
by Art Post
How many companies really have the need to copy 11 x 17? Doctors? No, Mortgage Companies? Not Really, Title Companies, Almost Never, Financial Institutions, Hardly, the list could on and on. Construction, Architects, Engineers and Manufacturing will all use 11x17 however 12x18 would be a better fit for them especially when printing half size CAD. Companies that have their own Marketing Departments would benefit from printing 11x17’s for catalogs, and brochures. Take not that I mentioned printing 11x17’s and not copying 11x17’s.
After being in the field for 26 years, think… how many of your clients actually copy onto 11x17? My own experience tells me that about five percent of my customers copy to 11x17. So why are 90 percent of all copiers capable of copying 11x17’s. I wish I had the answer to that, it seems like it is a hold over feature from some of the very first analog devices!
I’ve always thought that wouldn’t it be great if I could sell a copier that could scan 11x17, and only print letter and legal. Then the customer could save on space, and the cost of the system. Here’s my idea for the manufacturers, create another line of MFP’s that will scan 11x17 but will only print letter and legal. These machines can either be color or monochrome devices. If the client needed 11x17 copying we would have a few choices for them with an MFP that can print or copy in color or monochrome, or how a bout just having a few printers that can print 11x17. As long as they can scan 11x17, they can then print the scans to their printer!
HP touts their m4345xm MPF; this system is capable of copying and printing letter at upto 45 pages per minute. The m4345xm MFP also supports legal size printing and copying. The m4345xm MPF can be outfitted with an optional stapler stacker and features scanning, three paper tray, hard drive, faxing and printing as standard features. HP’s list for the m4345xm MFP is under $5,000. When comparing this to a Ricoh 3045MFP, the list price for the Ricoh is $14,795. That’s a $10,000 savings for each 45ppm MFP purchased!
Lexmark offers the X646ef MFP that has a print and copy speed of upto 50 page per minute. The X646ef MFP also supports legal size copying and printing. There is no optional stapler/stacker feature for this device and the device is only available with two paper trays and a by-pass. However, the unit can still copy, scan and fax and has the 50 ppm speed all for $4,495.00. In reviewing the products on Lexmark’s site, Lexmark does offer the traditional MFP with 11x17 capability; the MSRP for this product is $10,799 and only has a speed of 35ppm, more in line with the likes of Ricoh and Canon.
I know there are many arguments when it comes to matching the HP or the Lexmark against their Ricoh or Canon counterparts, however if the need is speed, volume and a multifunctional device, which would you choose?
The way I figure it, is that the knowledgeable buyer sooner or later is going to figure out that they can get the same reliability, quality and performance from an HP system like the 4345 and spend a thousands less per machine. What if they needed 100 machines, they could save $1,000,000 or more just on the acquisition costs of the hardware.
So when you hear the saying that all manufacturers care about is moving a box, that’s absolutely correct. So, if the objective is to capture pages, why not develop systems that have a smaller footprint and allow the client to have the speed and volume that they require.
My belief is it may just be a matter of time before Ricoh, Canon or Xerox or maybe one of the smaller guys exploits this huge market potential. Keep in mind that the manufacturers do not care how much we (sales people and dealers) make, all it comes down to is how much consumables they sell or how many pages are captured on their devices (Total Document Volume)
Would it be too far fetched to think of developing a system just for attorneys, one for doctors, another for realtors. Some of the re-positioning can be done with current models and others could come from "out of the box" marketing.
Lee Kirkby from Leppert in Burlington, Ontario responded with this when the quest was presented on the P4P Hotel Message Forum. “Interesting idea. I personally think the copier manufacturer's myopia with the 11x17 format has a lot more to do with inertia than with market demand. Look at how well HP and Lexmark have done in the printer market with very limited tabloid product. Why does speed and high capacity paper handling have to equate to tabloid format. If the traditional vendors don't pick up this ball, then you can be sure someone beyond HP will...they won't ache forever figuring out how to build (or buy) a decent document feeder.
Personally, I think the hand writing is on the wall for the 35, 45, 50 + page per minute fully functional letter, legal and ledger MFP.”
Who Needs 11x17? Not many when the cost can be over a $1,000,000 when purchasing 100 machines or when a client can save $10,000 on every system purchased. Who do you think falls into this category? Probable some of the largest producers or copies and prints, such as Universities, Hospitals, Health Care Organizations, Financial Institutions and Schools and there are probable a few more that I am missing.
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