MFX-C4000 color laser MFP

Muratec gives out more details on its new Muratec MFX-C4000 color laser MFP:

- Made by Samsung of Korea
- Base MSRP of $8995.00
- 40ppm top speed color or b/w
- 1200x1200dpi (does not offer 8 bits per pixel)
- 4 tandem OPC drum design
- A4 device, meaning up to legal size only (no support for 11”x17”)
- 100 sheet document feeder
- Auto duplex standard (stackless, up to 35opm)
- 10 second first copy out time
- 20 second warmup time
- ID Card Copy feature (for easy copying of driver’s license or insurance card)
- Built-in controller
- PCL & PostScript drivers standard
- Scan to network/FTP/e-mail/LDAP up to 4800dpi
- TWAIN/PDF/TIFF/JPEG scanning
- USB & 10/100BaseT ports
- 80GB hard drive
- Add 128MB RAM for $295.00
- Add 256MB RAM for $395.00
- Add 512MB RAM for $495.00
- Optional Silex wireless server for $249.00
- Comes standard with 100 sheet stack bypass and 520 sheet drawer
- Add single 520 sheet drawer for $575.00
- Add two 520 sheet drawers for $1295.00 plus $175.00 for casters
- Can handle up to 90lb. index paper weight in bypass
- Drawers handle up to 28lb. bond only
- Optional fax kit for $695.00
- Cabinet/stand for $445.00
- 7” full color LCD touch screen control panel
- Black toner yield of 20,000 pages based on 5% toner coverage per page
- Color toners yield 15,000 pages each based on 5%
- Black & color drums yield of 30,000 pages
- Waste toner container yield of 48,000
- Optional stapling finisher for $995.00

How upset are Sharp Copier Dealers?

Sharp finally delivers a home run with their introduction of the MX-C311 and MX-C401, a product that some feel will revolutionize the MFP market. Well, to say the least they gave Sharp Dealers a two month head start, Sharp announced that they will allow computer dealers to sell the new Frontier series of A4 color laser MFPs. The MC-311 and MC-411 will be relabeled to DX-C311 and DX-C401.

My first reaction was WHAT!!!If I were a Sharp dealer, I'd be up in arms right about now. Within 60 days you'll see these boxes all over the Internet. Well, there goes the market for A4.

I would have thought that Sharp would have been smarter about this, or at least give dealers a chance to move these systems, make some profit and prepare for the next series of A4 devices. Alas the decided that they needed to compete with the likes of HP, and Samsung for the A4 market.

It's all about the consumables and it seems like none of the manufacturers give a hoot about dealers.

-=Good Selling=-

Art Post

MFP Weekend Industry Notes

12-28-08

The following is a quick review of copier/MFP industry news from industry publications.


Oce’ gave out more details of its new monochrome production print engines, the 4000 series:- Models are 4110 and 4120
- Base engine price of $50,000.00 for 4110
- 106ppm or 120ppm top speed respectively (or 51 ledger size sheets per minute on either model)
- Up to 2.5 million print per month duty cycle
- Main engine weighs 1,289.7 lbs.
- Based on CopyPress technology used in the Gemini series (6250)
- Uses LED instead of laser technology
- 600x1200dpi with 141lpi printhead
- Optional document feeder has double sheet detection
- 75 original capacity
- Can scan while printing
- Top speed of 56opm
- Can handle paper weights up to 32lb. bond
- Scanning option includes; scan to e-mail, archive
- Large full color LCD touch screen control panel
- Comes standard with 4 paper trays with total paper capacity of 4,600 sheets
- Drawers 1 & 2 each hold up to 600 sheets
- Drawers 3 & 4 each hold up to 1700 sheets
- Optional paper supply pedestal
- Drawer 1 holds up to 600 sheets
- Drawer 2 & 3 each hold up to 1700 sheets of ledger/legal, or up to 3400 sheets of letter-portrait
- Can hold up to 300gsm paper weights
- Up to 12”x18” paper size
- Can place tabs and post-process inserts from any tray due to cold fusion technology (CopyPress)
- On-the-fly paper replenishment
- Air sheet separation in all drawers
- Vacuum paper feed in all drawers
- Finishing options:
- iHCS high capacity stacker holds up to 6000 sheets, can unload while printing
- Stapling Finisher
- 3 bins with total capacity of 4,000 sheets
- 100 sheet stapling
- Multi-format Stapling w/50 sheet multi-position stapling
- iBLM integrated booklet maker
- up to 20 sheet size booklets & can handle up to 80gsm
- iXDP integrated Exchangeable Die Punch& punches at engine speed
- Choice of third party finishing includes; binding, booklet-making, envelope machine, folding
- Built-in controller standard
- Intel Celeron M2.0
- 1GB RAM
- 80GB hard drive
- PCL, PDF, IPDS, PJL & PostScript print drivers
- 10/100/1000BaseT ports
- Optional print controller
- Intel Dual Core 2.2
- 2GB RAM
- 160GB hard drive
- Optional Job SubmitIT for auto submission of PDF, PS, PC & TIFF files with job ticketing and hot folders
- Optional PRISMAaccess provides web-based job submission
- Optional PRISMAprepare provides job building, page programming, accounting


Buyers Labs Inc. awarded Hewlett Packard with “Color Printing Line of the Year” and Lexmark with “Monochrome Printer Line of the Year” awards for 2008.

Ricoh won an appeal in the courts for patent-infringement against Quanta Computer Inc., make or DVD drives. This means that Ricoh will now be able to seek financial damages against the Taiwanese company over the products its makes that are used by many desktop computer makers.

Ricoh announced it will resell the Xythos Enterprise Document Manager solution, which provides web-based document management.

Toshiba announced it will spend $330 million to build a lithium ion battery manufacturing plant outside of Tokyo, Japan. It hopes to ship 10 million per month starting in 2015. Competitors are Sony and the Sanyo division of Panasonic.

Toshiba now shipping an optional embedded EFI Fiery for its new eSTUDIO 4520C, called the Toshiba GA1211 controller.

Epic Products International launched new UV-coating machines that it claims work well with output from color laser MFPs. TheCtI-635 is an in-line unit, while the CT-660 is an off-line model. Xerox will market as options for its iGen4 production color system.

Xerox again won a bid to be the official print service provider for the Buffalo Bills football team. Xerox has had this contract for last 20 years.

The Printing Industries of America predicts that in 2009, printshops will see an increase of 7.9% in digital/toner printing, as compared with a 0.7% drop in offset printing press output.

During conference that Xerox conducted at The Mirage Resort in Las Vegas, on 10/22/08, the following was stated about support from Xerox direct for national accounts(not Global):
- Xerox customers have 50 million “touch points” with Xerox service each year
- Offer live call support 24/7
- Have 14,214 technicians nationwide
- 60% of service calls are completed on-site
- 40% of service calls are remotely resolved
- Over 668,965 support issues are resolved on-line annual
- 5.3 million support issues are resolved over the phone
- 2.6 million support issues are resolved on-site
- Employ “Certified Information System Security Professionals (CISSP)”
- Have employees who are certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belts
- ISO 27001 Code of Practice for Information Security

Riso Kagaku Corp, maker of Riso duplicators, announced that the following about its financials:
- On Jasdaq Securities Exchange in Japan, it dropped to 851 yen
- Will reverse its profit forecast to a loss
- Expects to record a loss of 60 million yen ($663,000) for the year ending 3/31/09.
- Originally forecasted a profit of 1.5 billion yen
- Stock has declined 57% this year

Ricoh announced update on the finishing options it will offer for the new Ricoh C900 production color system:
- Z-folding unit
- Booklet finisher (up to 20 sheets)
- 2 tray cover inserter/imposer (post process insertion)
- Stapling finisher
- Coming later in 2009:
- 5000 sheet stacker with cart
- Plockmatic booklet maker with face trim (third party)
- Perfect binder
- Ring binder (punches three holes, and inserts metal rings automatically)
- GBS StreamPunch unit

Toshiba’s president, Atsutoshi Nishida, in an interview for Kyodo News International, called on the Japanese government to prepare a safety net for unemployed workers as companies are forced to carry out aggressive layoffs to combat the economic downturn. “Assuming a certain degree of downturn in business cycles, the government needs to prepare a safety net in terms of employment. It is very hard for companies alone to protect all workers, including temporary workers. We cannot do it without the power of the government. We have protected jobs in Japan….but losses at the semiconductor business are so huge that we cannot make them up even with profits in the social infrastructure business. I think the deflationary trend of end items will get worse and worse hereafter. It is very painful for us.”

According to InfoTrends, in 2009, 54% of medium-sized businesses are considering a new MFP to replace legacy equipment.

Lyra Research states that 2009 will be a strong year for managed print services:
- Revenue growth of 34% last year
- “Company consolidations and downsizing may leave organizations with too much printer, copier, and MFP hardware that needs to be divested and/or redeployed”
- “IT and facilities managers, often facing downsized staffs and over-stretched demands of their own, are more and more willing to get help from the outside to attain the cost benefits inherent in MPS (managed print services) implementations.”
- “Not too long ago, companies faced user backlash as they implemented printer consolidation and control. Today with employees more compliant and grateful just to employed, there may be less resistance.”
- Predicts that MPS will account for over 32% of hard copy market by 2011



Canon reported its last quarter’s financials:
-Sales of office equipment was down 13.3%
- Operating profit was down 25.8%
- Net income was down 21.1%
- Monochrome copier sales down 17%
- Color copier sales were down 4%
- Company predicts that in first quarter of 2009, color laser engine sales will drop a whopping 37% (most of these are sold under the Hewlett Packard Color LaserJet name)
- Has $8.4 billion cash on hand (many predict it will use this to buy competitors to gain back marketshare lost in 2008)

When Circuit City declared bankruptcy, the company it owed the most money to was Sony Corp, totaling $60 million.

According to Rick Dastin, president of Xerox Office Group (XOG), Xerox products now account for only 55% of the MFPs that Global locations are selling. (now that Xerox is experiencing slower sales in the U.S., will it continue to allow other brands to be sold in its Global subsidiary?)

In an article in The Wall Street Journal, Bill Jordan, president of United Auto Workers Local 599 in Flint, Michigan, where General Motors builds engines, said he has noticed that the copy machines and printers that used to be spread throughout the massive facility have disappeared. “They’re doing their best to combine anything and everything they can to make it through the next few months”.

Competing against the new Toshiba color laser MFPs? (eSTUDIO 5520C, 6520C & 6530C) While these are being advertised as offering 8 bit color, is the print quality really 8 bit? In a recent interview, Toshiba’s President Mark Matthews stated that the company will continue to sell the 4500C and 5500C (relabeled Ricoh products) for “customers in graphic-oriented environments”. When asked about the new Toshiba-made products he stated; “We believe we have a product geared towards the general office”.

HP Could Expand Market Share??

The experts over at Barron's tend to think the current slow down could be a plus for HP and allow them to expand, while the likes of Canon, Ricoh, KonicaMinolta are all revising their forecasts lower it seems like HP is still riding the wave of rising growth and profits.

Article here at Barron's:

"While other tech giants are revising earnings forecasts downwards, Hurd expects HP's earnings to continue growing through next year, albeit modestly. Consensus estimates for FY 2009 EPS come in at $3.84, up from FY 2008 EPS of $3.62. In FQ4, HP beat market expectations with EPS of $1.03 vs. $1.00 consensus and a 19% rise in revenue to $33.6B"

Not selling consumer printers is good for HP? Seems that the consumer printers are a lost leader, meaning that HP will sell the printers at a loss in order to get the ongoing supply revenue.

"Another point of note is HP's revenue from the consumer market. Around 25% of HP's sales come from consumer products, and the firm boasts the third-highest consumer revenue among computer-electronics firms, behind Apple (AAPL) and printer-maker Lexmark (LXK). As such, the downturn in the consumer market has hurt HP. Interestingly, however, a drop in printer sales could mean higher overall margins since printers lose money at retail. Hurd believes a drop in printer sales isn't a bad thing in the short-term, especially considering research that shows people are keeping their printers longer."

Actually, now may be the right time for HP to buy the likes of Canon, Oce, KonicaMinolta or maybe Toshiba or Panasonic's Copier division. Heck, if Ricoh can buy Ikon, and KonicaMinolta can buy Danka, then why can't HP purchase one of these guys. It would be a great move at this time while stock prices and earnings are down.

Are we ready for round three in 2009?

-=Good Selling=-

Art Post

Purchasing a Copier, Printer, Scanner "Selling Copiers"

This was a post I picked up on this message that was posted on two different boards, (Copytechnet & Copiertalk) for someone looking for help on making the right choice for a new MFP all in one.


I've been tasked with purchasing a copier/printer/scanner (MFP) machine for our new office. budget is about $7K.

What they need:

fast machine 30-40ppm (even though we have modest volume)
duplex copy/scan with single pass (front and back at the same time)
100 document feeder
scan to searchable PDF (text PDF i.e. OCR)
scan to USB thumb drive
print from USB thumb drive (PDF/Word/Excel/etc)
collate/sort multiple copies of a document without expensive finisher
network scanning (i.e. scan to our desktop machines)


What they think they need:
Canon ImageRunner C3480i
Ricoh MP C3300
Kyocera TASKalfa c400i

They were also asking for suggestions on items they need to know or what to ask.

Note, since I checked this thread and had time to post my response there were many recommendations. One of my peers actually asked one of the most important questions that I was going to ask the end user, DO YOU NEED 11x17 input and output, the response was NO! Please also note that all of the above systems that the client has priced were color machines and A3 devices (will copy, print or scan upto 11x17)

My recommendation would have been for an A4 (Will NOT copy, print or scan 11x17) Color device. You could take your pick with either the Sharp MX-C311, Samsung C8380DN or the HP CM4730. All of these systems would meet your needs and financially wouldn't break the bank. Not sure with the HP CM4730, but with the others you could have probably purchased or lease the systems for under $5,000 while not sacrificing feed, quality or reliability

There were almost ten posts to this thread, and I was surprised that no one focused in on these points.

• Get dealer references for service, supplies and support


• How long has the dealer been in business and how long have they serviced these products


• Be cautious when looking at a BRAND new model, my father once told me never to buy the first model year of a new car, wait a while to see how they perform.


• Are you buying from an Authorized Dealer, check them out on the web


• How long has the sales person been with the company


• Figure out the cost per page (with service) of each device for a Total Cost of Ownership


• Get an end user reference, someone who has already purchased or leased these systems

Finally, the thought of a cheap price is long forgotten after poor service.

As I read through some of the final posts, the end user had stated that they decided to get a Kyocera TASKalpha 400 ci (40ppm) A3 (11x17) device. My only thought is that I remembered what my father told me........TASKalpha devices were launched were just a few weeks ago.

-=Good Selling=-

Xerox Image Professionals Group Launched on P4P Hotel

Xerox Imaging Professsionals have a new on-line gathering place with the launch of the Xerox P4P Hotel! This site was developed to help Xerox MFP Representatives to share information with their peers in the industry. With Xerox's continued commitment to state of the art technology and the aquisition of Global Industries, now more than ever Xerox Sales and Service need a place on the web they can call home.


The Print4Pay Hotel:

The Imaging Professional’s Resource Center, has announced that it is opening up a new message board devoted to Sales Image Professionals for Xerox products, making it the first independent Web site in the history of the office equipment industry that enables both resellers and technicians to share knowledge about the equipment they sell and service.

“We’re excited about launching this new board. Our success with our Ricoh Family Group, Canon, Kyocera, Sharp and KonicaMinolta boards was overwhelming,” notes Art Post, founder and CEO, and a docusultant with Century Office Products in Middlesex, NJ. “Now all Copier Sales Professional can communicate with each other in a secure environment where they can share information with other successful professionals from all over the world!”

The new message board is dedicated to Xerox Sales Professionals. “By adding this manufacturer, we’re hoping to drive more sales professionals people to the site,” notes Post. “Sales Professionals need real world information for solutions, specifications and what works and what doesn't work in a timely manner. Our site provides a global community for our profession.”

Post emphasizes that the message boards that allow Print4Pay Hotel members to share knowledge ultimately add value to the customer-dealer relationship, and that more knowledgeable representatives have a direct impact on the dealerships they serve as well as the products they service. “This is a rapidly changing industry that’s becoming increasingly complex as manufacturer’s introduce more solutions that integrate with a customer’s network,” says Post. “We’re looking to enhance the service that we provide to customers and the message boards can strengthen a Sales Professionals expertise on specific machines as well as software and solutions issues. We’re all here to serve the customer and any medium that enhances that relationship particularly when it comes to expediting resolutions for specific hardware or software issues, then we all benefit—sales rep, technician, customer and manufacturer.”

The Print4Pay Hotel (http://www.p4photel.org/ ), which debuted in 2001, provides extensive imaging product information—both on the Ricoh family group products and competitive products—and serves as a forum for imaging industry personnel to share knowledge. In addition to the message boards, the site provides its members with the latest press releases and literature on Ricoh, Canon, Sharp, KonicaMinolta and Canon products and competitive products, industry news, and classified ads as well as photos and links to related industry sites.

The site currently has more than 2,000 members and averages 40,000 page views per month. Although most members are from the U.S., the site also serves members from Canada, United Kingdom, Norway and South Africa.

The Print4Pay Hotel was envisioned as a means for imaging industry professionals to satisfy their “Need for Knowledge.” The site, http://www.p4photel.org/, allows digital imaging specialists to share information and find answers quickly. It’s also a place where imaging professionals can store their knowledge, search their knowledge, and share their inspirations, ideas and passion for the industry

To Ricoh "What I Want for Christmas"

In Sweden, a common Christmas decoration is the Julbukk, a small figurine of a goat. It is usually made of straw. Scandinavian Christmas festivities feature a variety of straw decorations in the form of stars, angels, hearts and other shapes, as well as the Julbukk.

The poinsettia is a traditional Christmas flower. In Mexico (its original birthplace), the poinsettia is known as the "Flower of the Holy Night".

Thanx to Holiday Spot for these.

I did a wish list for Ricoh last year, Here's what I want for this Christmas from Ricoh:

• Standard Bookletmakers that will fold cover stock

• Biometric Authentication

• Print files from my USB and SD cards

• A reaL A4 device just like Samsungs or Sharps

• Embeded Fax Server

• Duplexing A3 (11x17)Digital Duplicator

• Gelsprinter Plotter (36x48)

• A Wide Format System that can Color Scan

• High Volume MFPs that will Color Scan (60,70&80ppm)
  

I'm sure there's a few more I could think of however these are on the top of my list!!

-=Good Selling=-

PS I off for the Christmas Holiday and will be back next week!! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!

Selling Copiers "Dealing with the Holidays"

For one, I'm looking forward to have some extra days off over the long holiday week of Christmas and New Years. I'll be able to recharge some, but more importantly I'll be back at work for a few hours on Friday to set things in motion for the new year.

Sales is not a 9-5 job, sales is what you make of it. If you believe no one is going to buy or lease now, then no one will. Always being optomistic is and have the fortitude to never quit is a remarkable trait, and it is one that can be learned. You don't have to be born with it. A "wo is me" person can become a "why not me" person.

Well, here's a short check list that I use every holiday.

• Clean up all of the odds and ends on my desk


• Work on those quotes that take more time than others


• Update my pipeline


• Update my things to do list (everyone has to have one of these)


• Enter data and follow up information to outlook


• Research all leases coming to term in 6 - 12 months

I was speaking with my good friend (John A) in Ganiesville today, he also stated that it will be good to have a few days of down time. We then started to talk about pipelines and told him I had some concern since my pipeline isn't exactly where I want it to be. Too me, the pipeline I achieve for is having at least 50,000 of GP at 70% or greater, meaning that these accounts have a 70% chance or better of closing before the end of the month with someone. After we hung up, I stopped the car and made two more cold calls, one had just bought new equipment and the other had an old wide format (might be good).

Point is, in these tough economic times you need to have the pipeline overflowing with possible sales. If your company is not marketing for you (leads), then you need to get out there and generate your own. I'll be concentrating on the pipeline from now on.

-=Good Selling=-

Scanners "Top Ten Questions to Ask?

Questions to ask customers regarding use of scanners:

- Where does paper enter your organization?
- Does it get moved physically?
- Does it get copied?
- Where does the content on that paper need to reside?
- Does it need to be archived?
- Does image scanned need to be converted?
- Does image need to be OCR’d?
- Does image need to be routed?
- Color Scan or Monochrome?
- Maximum number of pages that would need to be scanned at one pass?

Bonus Question

- Will scanned content need be a search able pdf?

-=Good Selling=-

MFP Weekend Industry Notes

WEEKEND MFP INDUSTRY NOTES
12-21-08

The following is a quick review of copier/MFP industry news from industry publications.

Organizers of IPEX 2010 say that Ricoh may have the largest booth. IPEX is a huge production print tradeshow held in England. The next event is in May, 2010. Over 100,000 visitors are expected, with 40% coming from overseas. Ricoh has signed up for a 1400 square meter booth space to show its production color and b/w equipment.

Equitrac announced version of its cost recovery solution. Equitrac Professional version 5.2.3 offers new features:
- WAN Optimization allows IT personnel to configure caching options and use of locally configured servers
- Pop-up tracking of print processes allows administrators evaluate status of print requests direct from desktop and gives complete view of all steps in print job progression
- Can synchronize with Microsoft Active Directory
- Default network addressable home folder for scanning
- Can convert scanned files into TIFF or PDF file types
- Support for eCopy ScanStation
- Support for EFI DocSend or SendMe


Competing against the new Hewlett Packard Color LaserJet CM6040 MFP? Points to remember:
- does not offer EFI Fiery as an option
- does not produce 8 bits per pixel color
- when using fax, maximum resolution is only 300dpi
- uses pulverization toner infused with wax (does not use Simitri HD toner)
- comes out of box with only 512MB RAM
- maximum paper supply is only 2,100 sheets
- can not feed 10point or 100lb. cover stock
- document feeder can hold a maximum of 50 originals
- first copy out time when using ADF is a slow 19.9 seconds
- top scan speed is only 40opm
- The standard print controller processor is only 835MHz
- Can only spool one print job from the network at a time, as other jobs back up into the network
- Does not offer job program ahead feature
- Does not offer cover or page insertion
- Does not offer glossy mode
- Does not offer mixed original detection
- LCD display is only monochrome (one color)
- While advertised as offering 40ppm for color and b/w, BLI testing revealed it runs as slow as 17.4ppm.


Competing against the new Canon imageRUNNER C3380i? Points to remember:
- does not offer EFI Fiery as an option
- does not produce 8 bits per pixel color
- speed is only 33ppm for b/w and only 30ppm for color
- when using fax, maximum resolution is only 400dpi
- uses pulverization toner infused with wax (does not use Simitri HD toner)
- can not feed 10point or 100lb. cover stock
- bypass can handle a maximum of only 50 sheets
- document feeder can hold a maximum of 50 originals
- first copy out time when using ADF is a slow 11.7 seconds
- top scan speed is only 44opm
- color drums have max yield of only 60,000 impressions
- hard disk over-write does not come standard
- PostScript print driver is an expensive option
- Has limit of job program ahead of only 9 jobs
- Does not automatically detect paper size in the drawers or bypass
- End user must remove and then replace plastic guides when changing paper sizes
- End user must push button to open any drawer, instead of just pulling on handle
- LCD display does not tilt or swivel
- Must take device off-line to use the TWAIN scan mode
- Duplex mode is located under the finishing tab in the print driver
- BLI testing revealed it runs as slow as 17.7ppm.

Competing against the new Ricoh MP C3500? Points to remember:
- does not produce 8 bits per pixel color
- speed is only 35ppm for b/w and only 35ppm for color
- when using fax, maximum resolution is only 400dpi
- can not feed 10point or 100lb. cover stock
- bypass can handle a maximum of only 100 sheets
- maximum paper capacity of only 3,100 sheets
- top color scan speed is only 38 opm
- All drums have max yield of only 80,000 impressions
- PostScript print driver is an expensive option
- Optional PostScript driver does not allow for cover or sheet insertion
- Has limit of job program ahead of only 8 jobs
- offers only 500 user account codes
- Does not automatically detect paper size in the drawers or bypass
- End user must remove and then replace plastic guides when changing paper sizes
- End user must push button to open any drawer, instead of just pulling on handle
- LCD display does not tilt or swivel
- Control panel does not offer a Help key
- no paper or consumables feedback in the print drivers

Ricoh gave out its “Chariman’s Award” for 2008 to COECO. Details:
- Founded in 1921 by Grover Robbins.
- Current owner is Chuck Robbins
- President is Ken Stallings
- Has 11 offices in North Carolina and Virginia with 176 employees
- Headquarters in Rocky Mount, NC
- Besides Ricoh, also carries products from Sharp, Kyocera, Kodak, HP & IBM

In a cost cutting move, Xerox vacated three buildings in the Linden Oak Office Park in Rochester, NY area.

In a possible cost cutting move, Toshiba has yet to schedule a dealer meeting for 2009.


Ricoh hired Curious Digital to produce on-line websites and advertising to boost sales of its MFPs.

IKON officially launched the new Ricoh C900 production color system, and will be on display in many IKON showrooms, as they are now owned by Ricoh.

Commercial Communications Inc., a printshop in Hartland, WI, announced it acquired a Xerox iGen3 production color system.

Selling Copiers "Copier Sales Tips" Xerox, Ricoh, KonicaMinolta

I received this email last week from a Print4Pay Hotel Blog reader. Thought I would share with everyone!

Hi Art,

My name is and I have been working for Konica Minolta since May 2008. I came across your post, and thought you may be a great person to talk to. I have been doing pretty well in this industry, but have been rather frustrated the past few months. I try and learn as much as possible about this industry, and my product of course, but find it hard to get business owners to see the benefit of meeting me (especially in this current economy). It seems as though "copy" sales people are not taken as serious business consultants/professionals. I would like to know what has made you successful over your 23 years in this industry, and how you are able to continually gain people's interest in your product. I'm sure you receive many email's, so any response you give me I would greatly appreciate.

Thank you very much.


Hi :

Gee, don't know where to start. First, are you a member of the P4P Hotel Message Boards (KonicaMinolta).

Here's my thoughts in this type of economy to be successful each and every month and not have any dips:

1. You have to have at least 75 potential clients in your pipeline that are rate 50% or higher to buy this month.
2. You have to focus more about reducing their costs, using statements like spending 15 minutes with me today may say you thousands tomorrow.
3. Learn more about what your clients do to turn a profit. Focus on features or software that will save them time. CEO, CFO are more productivity orientated while SMB's concentrate on hard cost savings.
3. Persistence is your friend, have a story to tell once they are on the phone, maybe a quick story on how you saved xyz company time and money and they are in the same type of business that you are in.
4. Use different methods to contact the right person. Call early, call late, send a letter via fedex instead of regular mail. Do a google search and see what they do socially maybe there is a connection you can make that way.
5. Find Pain, they may want to get new equipment, however they are assuming it is not possible and have not spoken to anyone about their pain.
6. Cold Call, Phone Calls and Cold Calls, nothing still works better than the traditional cold call, when you arrive at the front desk, ask for help in finding the right person to speak to, and then go away.
7. Prove to them that you are committed to your industry, and you are a there to help them rather than take their money. I did this by setting up my own blog for my customers. Here, I will post press releases, articles on how to save time or money in the office, along with articles on new technology.
8. A CEO of large chemical company once said to me that I don't invest in people, I invest in Technology. Take this and run with it, tell this story over and over when you have the CEO, CFO, or CIO on the phone.
9. Learn as much about your industry as possible, ours is not a 9-5 job. Take time in the evening to research, prospect by day and quote by night.
10. In this economy you're not going to get many appointments based on selling new hardware, however you need to talk more about workflow and creative ideas to reduce paper volume, maintenance charges.

If I had more time, I could write more. Oh, one other item you need to talk to your peers and ask questions. Meaning you should be a member of the P4P KM board and pose these same question to the membership. I'm sure someone will take the time to tell what works for them also. www.p4photel.org

Art

-=Good Selling=-

Xerox Posts "For Rent" Sign

Seems Xerox is cutting corners like everyone else, in order to save more,. Xerox has moved workers from leased office space to office space they own.

"Xerox had kept staff at Linden Oaks for more than 15 years. The move came as Xerox has been pursuing a strategy nationwide the past several years of moving people from leased space into real estate the company owns, Baker said. The company still has 100or so workers at leased space on Publishers Parkway in Webster and a smattering of employees at a couple small offices around Monroe County, he said.

Xerox Square now houses 1,670 employees, and is roughly 94 percent full — the highest it has been since the 30-story building opened in 1967, said company spokesman Bill McKee."

Here's the link for the aritcle: Xerox moves hundreds to downtown Rochester, puts up 'for rent' sign

IKON Expands Production Color Portfolio with RICOH Pro C900 Digital Color Printer

Told ya, with the Acquisition of Ikon, Ricoh can now take PPBG (Print Production Business Group) to new heights in the high volume market place. You won't see these machines at low or middle volume Ricoh Dealers, so the stage has been set for Ikon and Ricoh Business Systems (Ricoh Americas Corp) to capture the high end.

Here's the a few snippets of the Press Release for you:

MALVERN, Pa. – December 17, 2008 – IKON Office Solutions, Inc., a Ricoh company, today announced the addition of the RICOH Pro C900 digital color printer to its production portfolio. The RICOH Pro C900 redefines industry standards in the production print marketplace, with consistent 1200 dpi color output coupled with 90 pages-per-minute speed, along with extensive workflow solutions and finishing options, all at an affordable price point.

The RICOH Pro C900 contains new and sophisticated features, including intelligent media handling to maximize high volume printing. A wide range of media, including weight ranges up to 110 lb. cover, can be run through the large capacity trays. The RICOH Pro C900 is built to seamlessly manage mission-critical applications, including trans promotional marketing, variable data printing, direct mailings and high volume, on-demand color output with complex finishing.

Furthermore, the RICOH Pro C900 is backed by IKON’s team of more than 6,000 (hope everyone signs up for a (P4P membership! ) locally based service and support professionals, along with a team of color and production specialists. IKON has many years of experience in meeting and exceeding the demands of commercial print businesses and corporate print centers. IKON customers can maximize their color solutions by engaging with IKON’s color and production specialists and its Professional Services team, who can provide customers with a suite of services and application development, including variable data integration for marketing and personalized communications, advanced color management, forms design, data stream conversion and custom workflow solutions to help improve productivity, reduce turnaround time, and improve effectiveness.

Here's the entire Press Release IKON Expands Production Color Portfolio with RICOH Pro C900 Digital Color Printer

-=Good Selling=-

Competitive Copier Street Pricing

Just wanted to give you all a heads up. I've uploaded two more Xerox quotes, and a Ricoh and Canon. Special kudos to those Print4Pay Hotel members that sent them to me for uploading.


If you're selling MFP's, or still calling them copiers the Print4Pay Hotel currently has 5 active message boards for Ricoh Family Group, Sharp, KonicaMinolta, Kyocera and Canon. We will be relaunching our Xerox board in early 2009, along with new boards for Toshiba and OCE.

The Print4Pay Hotel averages 35,000 page views a month, with over 180,000 hits, and over 50,000 threads, we are the Global Resource on the Web for Copier Sales Professionals.

These quotes were uploaded:

Xerox 700 Digital Color Press
Xerox DocuColor 242
Canon imageRUNNER 7095
Ricoh Aficio PRO 1106EX

Become a member while it's still FREE, talk to your peers, share inspirations, success stories, sales tips, quotes and much more. Start by following the link below.

http://www.p4photel.org/

-=Good Selling=-

TASKalpha MFP Details

- More details on the new color laser MFPs from Kyocera, named TASKalfa 250ci, 300ci, 400ci and 500ci featuring:


- 25ppm, 30ppm, 40ppm and 50ppm top speeds respectively
- Maximum monthly duty cycles of 100K, 130K, 160K and 200K respectively
- Base MSRPs of $8915, $9950, $12,995 & $16,640 respectively
- Optional fax board
- outside is all black plastic with silver accents
- uses 4 tandem amorphous silicon ceramic drums
- each has yield of 300,000 impressions
- advertised as offering “8 bit” (but was not defined if it is per pixel)
- 8.5” color touch screen LCD control panel
- auto duplex standard
- maximum paper supply of 4, 100 sheets
- Can handle up to 120lb. index (this means it can NOT handle 10point stock)
- Built-in print controller:
- Made by Peerless (which Kyocera is in process of acquiring)
- two 160GB hard drives in 400ci and 500ci
- 80GB hard drive in 250ci and 300ci
- PCL and PostScript print drivers standard
- Scanning included offers e-mail, SMB, folder, FTP, USB, WSD and TWAIN
- End users have choice of either traditional document feeder, or one that can scan both sides of original at same time.
- Top scan speed of 50 originals per minute
- Finishing options include stapling, hole-punching and booklet-making

MFP Weekend Industry Notes

12/15/08

- Buyers for large companies discussed their plans for how many MFPs they were going to acquire in 2009. The Print & Imaging Summit in Bonita Springs, FL, had attendees from these large firms:
- Bank of America
- Kaiser Permanente
- The Home Depot (“We’re not looking to spend a lot of money – basically to keep the lights on. We don’t even know what we have, to be honest. Corporate offices are the Wild West, and we’re looking to do a lot more self-assessment” from Greg Malkovich, Strategic Sourcing Manager)
- ConAgra Foods
- Lockheed Martin
- Interior Health Authority
- Deloitte Services (“Our print and image fleet is probably about 4,500 printers or MFPs and about 700 copiers. We’re looking to put more things together and reduce the number of devices. We’ve also done a horrible job of tracking what we print. In terms of spending, our copiers are always leased and our printers are always bought.” from Anna Garrett, Senior Manager)
- American Family Mutual Insurance (“We’ved had all these functions centralized since 2001; all print, all mail, all our IT functions are under one organization, and we’ve seen some real benefits from that. We’re headed for our second generation of MFPs and we partner quite heavily with our finance area and do a lot of tracking of end usage. We used to have 2400 printers and 460 copiers, and have maybe 800 printers and 225 copiers now. We’re seeing reductions because we’re rightsizing – it’s not just for our budget.” from Lawrence McNish, Director of Document Processing Resources)
- Alliant Energy (“Our copier and printer fleet from Xerox are all up for renewal this year. We have less budget to spend like everyone else, but I don’t like leases because of what happens at the end of a lease. I don’t like the lack of flexibility. I’d like to put something in place that allows me to rent. Plus, even beyond putting ink on paper, you have plenty of issues with document management” from Cynthia Meyer, Senior Buyer, IT)
- UPS (“We’re trying to get our arms around that, and trying to figure out our strategic direction.” From Keran O’Reilly, Lead Business Systems Analyst)
- IBM (“On our printer side, we had HP and Lexmark both, and they’re bought from resellers. It’s my observation, though, that HP and Lexmark support the reseller and not necessarily the client.” From Greg Cunningham, Manager of Service Strategies and Optimization)

- IBM announced it will partner with Samsung of Korea to develop software for printers and MFPs.

- DocuWare announced that it won a bid to provide document management to Krispy Kreme in 13 locations in the west.

- DocuLex announced it won a bid to provide document management to Nassau County, Florida.

- Countries in Europe that belong to the EU are considering tacking a 3% to 14% duty on printers and MFPs that are imported into the country. Manufacturers like HP, Lexmark, etc. are fighting this in court in Luxembourg as this would put a major dent in sales.

- Duplo, maker of duplicators, and relabelers of Sharp copiers, announced it will redesign its logo and add the tagline; “From Print To Documents”

- Buyers Labs Inc. gave out more details on the new Frontier series of A4 color laser MFPs from Sharp. The MX-C311 features:
- Base MSRP of $7095
- Maximum monthly duty cycle of 150K/month
- Sharp recommends that it run max average of 6,000 per month
- 8.5” color LCD touch screen
- 31ppm top print speed
- Comes out of box with one 600 sheet paper drawer standard, so if needed, can be placed on a countertop
- 100 sheet stack bypass
- Up to 28lb. bond only in drawers, and up to 110lb. index only in bypass
- Can add more drawers to make unit floor standing, up to 2,100 sheets
- Footprint of only 17.25” back to front
- Maximum paper size of 8.5”x14”
- Supports OSA (optional embedded software)
- Built-in print controller
- Actual maker unknown
- 1GB RAM (expandable to 2GB)
- 80GB hard drive
- 1GHz processor
- 10/100/1000BaseT and USB ports
- PCL and PostScript print drivers standard
- Optional XPS print driver
- Scanning included; TWAIN, FTP, e-mail/LDAP, folder, SMB, URL & HDD
- 1000 copy control codes
- 48 job programs
- Copy resolution is 600x600dpi
- Print resolution of 1200x1200dpi (does not offer 8 bits per pixel)
- Optional fax board (only 400dpi)
- Document feeder holds up to 50 sheets, but only runs at 35opm top speed
- optional attachment allows for business card feeding
- Optional internal finisher can staple up to 30 sheets of 20lb. paper in corner only

- Hewlett Packard announced it is freezing salaries in a cost containment move.

- HP also announced that it now has 140 Elite level dealers in the U.S. selling managed print services with HP MFP devices.

- Ricoh loses executive. Vince Hanson, who was Ricoh’s Manager of Solutions Marketing, has left to become VP of Sales & Marketing for Information Access Systems, Inc., an electronic content management provider.

- According to Ricoh Executive, Nobuski Majima, for every $1 spent on printing by print shops, up to $6 is spent on managing the print workflow.

- JetMobile launched a box that attaches to anyone’s printer of MFP to provide secure printing. The “SecureJet Box” won’t allow the printer or MFP to print out the job until an end user keys in their secret code, set when they send their print job.

- Oce’ announced it will relabel three more Konica Minolta b/w models. The bizhub 361, 421 and 501 will be called the Oce’ VarioLink 3622, 4222 and 5022.

- Xerox makes management change at one of its Global locations. ImageQuest of Wichita, KS, will have former owner Bob Hughey step down to lesser position, and replaced by Paul Black, who was working for competitor, Imaging Office Systems.



- Snapshot of Oce’ offices and personnel:
- Total employment of 24,000
- Total revenue of $4.6 billion
- operates in more than 90 countries
- CEO is Rokus van Iperen
- maintains research and manufacturing centers in Netherlands, United States, Canada, Germany, France, Belgium, Czech Republic, Romania & Singapore
- Oce’ North America is headquartered in Trumbull, CT with additional business units in:
- Chicago, IL
- New York City, NY
- Boca Raton, FL
- Salt Lake City, UT
- Conventry, RI
- Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Total revenue of $2.3 billion
- 11,000 employees

- Samsung of Korea announced that its profit margins of its LCD display business have “vaporized” and that it may slash capital spending by 30% in 2009.

- December 9th marked the 40th anniversary of the computer mouse. It was invented by Bill English, a former employee of Xerox, which never marketed the technology. Logitech, one of the world’s leaders in mouse making, announced it had sold its billionth mouse.

- Fuji of Japan, maker of most Xerox MFPs and printers, announced it is working on new software as options for its products:
- ability to scan to similar documents (like two architectural designs), find the differences, and then output a page showing the differences
- ability to scan a document in one language, and have it translated into another when it is printed out
- making paper that has embedded fibers, so that if printed with confidential data, it will trigger an alarm if an employee tries to remove it from the office
- embedding plant fibers in paper, to distinguish it from unauthorized copies

- The Garaway School District of Ohio awarded a copier bid to COMDOC, a local Ricoh dealer. The contract is $4209 per month, with b/w clicks for $0.005 each.

- A Toshiba dealer in Fresno, CA announced it will give away bicycles to high achieving students in the area who have overcome adversity. Zoom Imaging (aka WOLCO) will have Santa Claus on hand to award the gift to 150 deserving students.

- Sharp announced it will close factories in Mie and Nara, Japan that make low resolution LCD displays due to slow sales. 300 employees will be let go.

- How does Canon make up for the $1 billion in lost sales when Ricoh purchased IKON? Don Dixon of Gartner Group suggests that they hook up with HP. “I’ve advocated some kind of (agreement) between Canon and HP, modeled off the Fuji-Xerox joint venture……………Whether Canon has the temerity for something like that is the question.”

- Kodak announced it would stop 401K matching for its employees as well as a salary freeze in a cost cutting move.

- Kodak announced that it has now placed 30 of its NexPress production color systems within locations of Consolidated Graphics Corp.

- In a recent survey of printshop owners, the two production systems that had the highest amount of copies in between service calls were the Konica Minolta bizhub PRO C6500 and the bizhub PRO 1050.

Xerox, Ricoh, HP & Canon Tops Magic Quadrant for MFPs and Printers

I picked this up over the news wire and found it to be a very good read.

"Gartner's Magic Quadrant for vendors of multifunction products (MFPs) and printers worldwide is a guide for midsize businesses and large companies to identify and evaluate technology providers that deliver MFP and printer products and services."

Instead of focusing on the top four, I'd rather point out who's not on the list at all! No Kyocera, and Panasonic, could it be long before Panasonic just throws in the towel? Kyocera recently launched the TASKalpha (btw, could they have thought of something more creative), technicians love the units, however I don't think they have enough qualified and knowledgeable sales people to make a real go of it.

Some interesting Notes from the article:

Samsung now #3 in MFP Placements in the last four quarters.

"Ricoh completing its purchase of IKON (a major distributor for Canon), it has perhaps the most expansive channel coverage of the leading MFP providers."

"Sharp recently launched a strong line of A4 MFPs and printers to combat competitors that were targeting its A3 base. These products are "clean sheet" designed and developed by Sharp. They were well-received by their dealers and customers and will be a new area of capability to supplement Sharp's A3 MFP/printer strategy."

If you're a MFP/Copier junkie, this article is a great read.

-=Good Selling=-

Top Ten MFP "Browny Awards" for 2008

Print4Pay Hotels Annual Top Ten Picks of 2008.

We are continuing the tradition of giving a Browny Award to those systems or software that best exemplify innovation in our industry.

As 2008 winds to a close, yippee!!, I think most of us will agree that putting 08 behind us is the best think to happen this year.

The Print4Pay Hotels Browny Awards were first introduced in 2007. The use of the word Browny is derived from a Print4Pay Hotel member.

When the P4PHotel was in its infancy back in 2004, and we had 200 or so members, one member stood out among the others. His name is Greg Brown, Greg and I became mentors (and friends) to each other and we often called each other about the business and just to keep in touch. In March of 2004, Greg and I were finally going to met at the AIIM/OnDemand Show in NYC.

Unfortunately and sadly Greg Brown was killed in a car accident on Valentines Day of 2004. Greg loved selling Ricoh Products, along with Water Skiing, and powered down by a dose of Xbox. In less than one year Greg had amassed 285 posts on the P4P and was truly one of the first "Docusultants". So, in his memory and hence forth, when we do our top ten each year we'll call them the Brownys! What makes a Browny? An innovative feature on a system, a system that filled a void for end users or just the style or awesome power of the unit.

Winners of the 2008 Browny Award from the P4PHotel! In no particular order.

1. Samsung SCX 6555N (55 ppm MFP with no 11x17)



2. EIS Supra Series (Wide Format Color MFP)
   
   
3. Print Audit Green (Print Management Software)



4. Sharp Frontier Line Series (MX C301 and MX C411)



5. Muratec C4000 (Coolest Color A4 you ever saw)



6. Okidata 3641 (36ppm Color, Print Shop in a Box)



7. Kyocera TASKalpha 500ci (Coolest Color A3 you ever saw)



8. Ricoh C900 (90ppm Color, Ring Binding, Perfect Binding and much more)



9. Canon introduces imagePRESS 1135/1125/1110 (Suction Feeder and Air Assist)



10. Formax 6202 Series Inserters (The Biggest Little Inserter in the Business)
    

There you have it, my picks for the 2008 Browny Awards. Greg, we didn't forget about you buddy!

-=Good Selling=-

Competitive Copier Proposals

Just wanted to give you all a heads up. I've uploaded three more Xerox quotes in the last few days. Special kudos to those Print4Pay Hotel members that sent them to me for uploading.


If you're selling MFP's, or still calling them copiers the Print4Pay Hotel currently has 5 active message boards for Ricoh Family Group, Sharp, KonicaMinolta, Kyocera and Canon. We will be relaunching our Xerox board in early 2009, along with new boards for Toshiba and OCE.

The Print4Pay Hotel averages 35,000 page views a month, with over 180,000 hits, and over 50,000 threads, we are the Global Resource on the Web for Copier Sales Professionals.

These quotes were uploaded:

Xerox 4112CP
Xerox Docucolor 252
Xerox Docucolor 242
Xerox Docucolor 242 with Embedded Fiery

Become a member while it's still FREE, talk to your peers, share inspirations, success stories, sales tips, quotes and much more. Start by following the link below.

http://www.p4photel.org/

-=Good Selling=-

Twelve Days of Christmas "My Copier Company Gave to Me"

I have two of these, one my wife did and I did another. I got her point of view, typical office worker scenario. Mt wife will be ready this so, thank you for your input dear!!!


We'll see which one is liked best by all of you!

On the 12th day of Christmas, my Copier Company gave to me:

12 Document Management Solutions

On the 11th day of Christmas, my Copier
Company gave to me:

11 Cartridges of Toner

On the 10th day of Christmas, my Copier Company gave to me:

10 Boxes of Staples

On the 9th day of Christmas, my Copier Company gave to me:

9 Ways to Save Paper

On the 8th day of Christmas, my Copier Company gave to me:

8 Boxes of Paper

On the 7th day of Christmas, my Copier Company gave to me:

7 More Invoices

On the 6th day of Christmas, my Copier Company gave to me:

6 New Print Drivers

On the 5th day of Christmas, my Copier Company gave to me:

5 New Proposals

On the 4th day of Christmas, my Copier Company gave to me:

4 Buy it now emails

On the 3rd day of Christmas, my Copier Company gave to me:

3 more phone calls

On the 2nd day of Christmas, my Copier Company gave to me:

2 in person visits

On the 1st day of Christmas, my Copier Company gave to me:

1 Print Management Plan for all

-=Good Selling=-

MFP "Wars" Single click 11x17

Most multifunctional copiers can be programed to count letter size paper as one click of the count meter (they are default from the factory this way), plus they can also be programmed to count 11x17 as one click (not the default program from the factory).

When manufacturers engineer, design and then test these units they then develop "cost fact sheets", these documents spell out what the cost per page is based on x amount of parts, service and supplies needed. All of these "cost fact sheets are based on letter size pages (8 1/2 x 11).

There are suppliers and Direct Branches that are quoting 11x17 as one click of the meter in the Print4Pay Industry, thus the advantage to the end user is that they can print 2 pages up on 11x17 and then cut them in half for the price of one letter size sheet.

When looking the cost per page from the "cost fact sheet" from the manufacturer, your cost for programming the system to count 11x17 as a single meter click then doubles. If the cost is .0020, it will then become .004. Plus there is much more to take into account as this "cost fact sheet" does not include higher labor rates, nor pre-mature parts malfunction.

Listed below are some threads from members of the RFG P4P Hotel, membership if free(for now). Become a member today:

"Over the past few years, I have seen the local Canon direct office proposing single click for 11 x 17 for both black and color, and it has always been somewhat difficult to overcome. This afternoon, I met w/ a current client of mine that has proposals in hand from a Global (Xerox) dealer, an independent Canon dealer, KMBS, Danka, a Sharp dealer and 2 Konica dealers, all of which are proposing single click for 11 x 17."

"How do you all overcome this, and how many of your dealerships have adopted this practice? If you have adopted it, was it a proactive move to gain new business, or was it in response to the competition? " Dallas, TX

"This is rampant all over single click charge for 11 x 17. In the long run the dealer or direct operation loses money on the client especially since most 11 x 17 solid fill is quite high. All anyone is thinking about is the easy way out to sell color. Unfortunatley I do not see it changing anytime soon. It is bad for the industry and drains service department profits." Oxnard, CA

"It is and I see it everywhere and mostly from Direct branches. We can't do it and management will never do it. Too me, this is a deal breaker in most P4P accounts. It's too bad that Dealers subsidize the Direct Branches."

"Maybe emails to top Management at Ricoh, Canon, KonicaMinolta and Xerox will shed light on this. Who knows maybe someone is keeping them in the dark?"

There you it, a small snippet of this conversation. There are some other replies that actually help with selling against the 11x17 click and still get the business.

Time to be a member of the P4P Hotel!

-=Good Selling=-

HP Invented E-Paper

This caught my eye today when skimming my google alerts. I had remembered that I saw this technology somewhere, I remembered it was on a scifi movie.

Can't remember the name, however these three or four astronauts were stuck on Mars, with no food, no water, no air and a robot that went bonkers on them. The one scene in the movie shows one astronaut unrolling a scroll with two ends and in the middle was a plastic film that held and image and you could change the image.

Scifi stuff always comes true, right.

This snippet is from mobilewack:

How will the future touchscreen look like? What about the future paper? HP has an idea about that and more than that, it has a prototype. The e-paper display is said to use less power than the displays available today and, even better, it’s unbreakable. We don’t know when this screen will arrive but we’re sure anxious about using one. HP will surely continue its work with the Arizona State Flexible Display Center to improve the existing prototype.

Then I read this from SFGATE:

Nowadays, many of us read or listen to the news on computers. But there are still some things one simply cannot do with a laptop or a PC -- like stuffing it into your bag or spreading it out on the breakfast table.

That may soon change as companies close in on one of technology's holy grails: a highly flexible computer display that one can roll up the way one would a newspaper or a magazine.
A team of Hewlett-Packard scientists showed off their version of that future one recent morning at HP Labs in Palo Alto, as they stood next to a machine about the size of a large refrigerator. Ironically, it looks very much like a scaled-down version of a typical web press used to print daily newspapers.

"That kind of electric paper is something we have argued about," he said. "There is a question as to what the market is for that kind of reusable paper. We know that people are spending hundreds of dollars for laptop displays or tablet-type computers. We know that people are buying very large displays to hang on their walls or to stand up in their homes. ...

"But the electronic paper is a totally new thing. It has to compete against the economy of real paper, which is quite inexpensive. The question is how much do people need that, versus how much are they going to look at things on their tablet PCs or their laptop or their home 60-inch screen."

Maybe, just maybe, we'll have no more paper! Everyone will have a fancy scroll and be able to write, doodle, draw download and upload images from anywhere.

-=Good Selling-=

Print Audit introduces Customizable Vertical Market Brochures

I took a look at all of these they have separate brochures for Architects/Engineers, Law, Education and Real Estate for Print Audit 5.

Print Audit had a special for the first 30 Dealers that called in they would get free customization. I read that part a little late.

But more importantly for those of us that are out on the street everyday, these brochures can be the difference from you getting a call and not getting a call from a company that needs to reduce costs or is looking for a simple solution to control costs and control billing.

"At Print Audit, our primary goal has always been to help you sell more hardware. We have been looking for ways to help you penetrate vertical markets and as part of this initiative we have created industry specific Print Audit 5 brochures for you to use."

So, if you need to get a leg up on the competition or you're tired of talking about speeds and feeds. Talking solutions may open the right door at the right time.

-=Good Selling=-

New Toshiba MFP News

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.

MFP Weekend Industry Notes

WEEKEND MFP INDUSTRY NOTES
12-7-08

The following is a quick review of copier/MFP industry news from industry publications. This was posted on the RFG Print4Pay Hotel

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

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


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.