There is a great post on this topic on the Ricoh Family Group P4P Hotel Message Boards. The question asked "Does anyone have any data on copier life expectancy?"Here's what our members answered with:
I would say as long as they have parts available, whether new parts or from old trade ins. One of the conversations that I have with people is that unlike before, our systems now have two lives to consider.Indiana
Because our systems are now an integral part of the overall technology of a business or organization, they need to not only realize that there are both a mechanical and a functional lifespan to their system.
As I said earlier, as long as there are parts available, we can keep a copier going, however, because they are asking these systems to be a huge part of their technology they must consider when that unit ceases to be a productive part of the business. When does it functionally become a part of the problem rather than a part of the solution. Just as a business doesn't want to use 5,6 or 7 or older computers because of their becoming obsolete, do they really want a vital piece of their technology to become a drag on productivity. Just my two cents worth.
Yes, I agree, most companies outgrow their copier. Obviously, the most important change was in connectivity. Digital technology and modular technology added to reliability and total uptime for productivity. Whereas with analog machines, they are older, cheaper and they can be rebuilt until the cows come home.DC
Ricoh use to claim that they would guarantee parts availability for 7 years after a product was discontinued. Not sure if that still holds true but that was the standard.USA
It is actually the law that any manufacturer must maintain parts for 7 years after the last date that the product is sold new.Texas
What kind of law? How would that be enforced on overseas manufacturers?DC
It appears that is a legend. I couldn't find any federal law covering that, but here are some state laws covering it...TN
Parts Availability Laws
Can your item be repaired? If parts are required, are they available to a servicer? In some states, the answer may be "no."
California:
7 years after date of manufacture for goods with a wholesale value of $100 or more, 3years for items valued at $50 to $99.99. This law covers functional parts only.
Connecticut:
4 years after the date of final sale.
Indiana:
7 years after the date of final sale.
Rhode Island:
4 years after final sale.
New Hampshire:
For goods valued at over $100, parts and service info for the period of time covered by the warranty.
BTW, these are enforced on overseas manufacturers because they cover any product "sold within the state".
Is this site great or what? Thanks! I guess if you are an overseas manufacturer wanting to do business in every state, you would probably adopt a policy that would cover the laws of every one. No telling how much the rest of the country is paying for laws passed in the state of California. I bought a stud finder the other day. It came with instructions to wash my hands after every use because the State of California has determined that lead in the plastic may be hazardous to my health.TX
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That's just a few of the threads on the topic, in my 28 years in the field, I would have to say that we are still servicing some machines that are over 10 years old! It all depends on how long the manufacturer will keep parts on hand for. The average life span of a copier will vary greatly and is dependent upon usage, technical expertise and environment.
-=Good Selling=-
4 comments:
ahem...the other day, and as with most of my assessments, I ran into half a dozen, fully functional, 15 year old HP's.
Granted, 4ppm, no duplex, single function power hungry - but still chugging.
The prospect seemed to be somewhat "copier centric" so I asked him to show me all his 15 year old copiers - which he did, down in the basement.
They were unplugged hadn't been used in ten years.
I wonder how many 4345's will be alive in 2024...I wonder how many Konica's will be stuck in a basement somewhere in 2024.
:-)
As was said before, the first consideration is the quality of the build. Back in 1999 I visited a printer who needed connection help with a CLC300. Across the room from that CLC was an Ektaprint 100. Not to date myself but that was the first copier I was trained on as a technician. The customer had bought the machine in 1979. I walked across the room, powered it up and made some copies. It could have used a developer change, but on those machines that only made them produce better text copies. An even more amazing fact, 22 years after they bought it Kodak would probably still have put that machine under service contract if they wanted.
Todays MFP's cannot stand up to that standard, so the next thing to consider is how fast the market is changing. Sales reps may not like to hear it, but I've told customers before that if they have a good quality B&W MFP that does what they need it to do, if the dealer will renew the service contract, there may be no driving factor to upgrade that unit. Color technology is changing too fast for a 60 month contract, but the B&W market is 80% bells and whistles these days. Lets admit (if only to ourselves) that almost every MFP you pull off contract these days hits a wholesaler and moves to a south american country where it is no where near the end of life we quote in the disposable economy of "I gotta sell more THIS month".
I'll admit here that I keep my cars for an average of 9 years, so I'm obviously not a fan of the 36 month lease with early upgrades just because you can make a buck by rolling the last 12 months of the customers lease into the new lease. A hardware sale base is nice top line, but the long term health of a dealership depends on service annuity, not churning the base. Service margins are way bigger than hardware margins.
cahtmyle:
How true the machines of days gone past could last forever making copies, however the auto document feeder, finishers, duplexers would bring the entire system down.
Service is a money maker, however if you don't have new customers and replace old boxes that are breaking down more often than not, you need to get new boxes in the field. BTW most customers don't upgrade because they want a lower price, moverover its because of a feature or solution that will save them time or increase productivity.
Agreed we find that software solutions that can be built in to the control panel of a modern multi functional photocopier is the reason clients consider upgrading, at present most of our equipment supplied to schools has software embedded so users can release print jobs or access copying functions with their id or door entry card . The technology which creates the image is pretty stable and print quality has been good for years. The Konica bizhub range we sell copylogic.co.uk has good build quality and we are seeing them run for 7-8 years no problem.
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