This Week in Ricoh "TWIR Notes"

Gathered from Print4Pay Hotel Members from around the world and a few moles in very good places!

IKON, a division of Ricoh, announced it has sold a Ricoh Aficio PRO C900 production color laser system to an AlphaGraphics location in Fort Worth, Texas.

Ricoh has filed a lawsuit against Okidata. Apparently, the two have been negotiating since 2006 in regards to use of patents that Ricoh claims are used in Okidata MFPs and printers. Ricoh claims that 8 of its patents are involved, and the lawsuit seeks to stop sales of Okidata MFPs and printers in the U.S., unless Okidata pays the license fees.

Ricoh announced it has certified, and will offer an embedded software solution from Notable Solutions Inc. (NSI)
- Offering the new NSI AutoStore 5.0
- Allows documents scanned into Ricoh Aficio MFPs to be automatically routed
- OCR on the fly

Ricoh’s CEO, Shiro Kondo, announced the company’s support of the Copenhagen Communique on Climate Change (i.e. global warming prevention)

Ricoh’s InfoPrint division (formerly a division of IBM) announced it now offers a full line of variable data, and transpromo solutions to bundle with its printers and MFPs, including products from following software firms:

- Enfocus
- GMC
- IoFlex
- Objectif Lune
- Press-Sense
- Rochester Software Associates (RSA)
- Ultimate

Ricoh now shipping the BK5010e Production Booklet Maker option for its production print devices featuring:

- Actually made by Plockmatic Corp.
- Can be on-line or off-line
- Can make booklets for up to 30 sheets (20lb. bond)
- Optional BF5010e Book Fold Unit provides a square fold to booklet
- Staples are 5000 per cartridge for $102.00
- Handles up to 12”x18” paper
- Optional TR5010e Trimmer has air jets to assist with trim waste

-=Good Selling=-

Ricoh Introduces New Production Printers

This was posted on the Print4Pay Hotel Message Boards today. I added a few items for everyone. Enjoy!

The Ricoh Pro 907/1107/1307 series was officially released last week. This is the new, print only version of the Katana series and it's targeted at Data Centers. It's co-developed with both Ricoh and Hitachi technology.

With it's release, the Pro 1357 becomes Ricoh's flagship monochrome printer. Effective immediately, the Pro 907 and the Pro 1107 replace the DDP 92. The DDP 70e is now discontinued.

In comparison to the DDP models, these new products offer stacker options. These stacker options lend themselves very well to the Data Center marketplace.

Although the print only version of the Pro 907/1107/1357 is very similar to the copy version, there are some notable differences. Here's a brief summary of the major differences:

*New DC (Data Center) Print Controller for the print only series (features dual CPUs to drive the engines at rated speeds)
*MICR Printing will be supported by the end of the year on the Pro 1357 (MICR Printing on the Pro 907/1107 will be available 30-60 days later)
*The Ring Binder and Perfect Binder options are not available for the print only series
*The Fiery and MicroPress options are not available for the printer series

What's New!

There's a new Multi-folding Unit (FD 5000, which will accomdate six different folding patterns, locking paper tray and stacking trays, MICR Toner, standard De-Curl Unit, DC (Data Center) Conntroller, and IPDS.

Want more it's all on the Print4Pay Hotel!

-=Good Selling=-

Copier Sales "Polling Copier Sales People"

We've go three new polls posted on the Print4Pay Hotel's message boards. Take a trip the polls and cast your vote for:

Poll #1: Soup to Nuts, low end, high end, MFP's, Printers, Scanners, Fax (has anyone sold a fax in the last year, not me) Wide Format! Who has the BEST product line?

Poll #2: It's GO time for finding business, you've got everything ready, business cards, pressed shirt, tie, shined shoes, breath mints and then........What do you do? When you see the NO SOLICITING SIGN?

Poll #3: Survey Says, when getting new business what works best for you? When getting new business what works best for you?

Poll #4: Closing Skills Poll!

In order to take the polls you need to be a member, it's free, take a trip here p4photel to the largest group of copier professionals in the world!

-=Good Selling=-

This Week in Canon "TWIC Notes"

Gathered from Print4Pay Hotel Members from around the world and a few moles in very good places!

Another Canon attempt to diversify from copiers and cameras has failed? Apparently, Canon attempted to enter the high end lithography business for use in LCD and computer chip production. The company installed a $90 million 193nm immersion tool in 2007, and is reported to be having technical problems with the machine. It is trying to enter a market dominated by Nikon of Japan, and ASML of the Netherlands.

More details emerge about the new Canon imageRUNNER ADVANCE MFPs:
- apparently end users can change the wallpaper of the MFP’s touch screen LCD display
- can personalize their printing workflows
- new Advanced imageCHIP system means that copiers have two processors inside, one for image processing and one for information processing
- full color 8.4” SVGA TFT LCD touch screen control panel on some models and 10.4” on others
- support up to 300gsm on some models
- Advanced Box allows jobs to be stored on hard drive
- Software options that are part of the imageRUNNER ADVANCE Essentials package:
- “Desktop” is a client based device dashboard application to manage print operations
- “Tracker” is a cost recovery tool
- “Composer” allows customizing multi-step workflow functions into a single button
- integration with Microsoft SharePoint
- “Remote” allows for auto submission of meter reads and service call submission
- “Enterprise Management Console” to monitor activity of fleet
- 1200x1200dpi
- use “pQ” toner without need of fuser oil
- PostScript will be an option for the built-in generic controllers, and offer Fiery as alternative
- C9075 has base MSRP of $50,000
- C9065 has base MSRP of $40,000
- C7065 has base MSRP of $35,000
- C7055 has base MSRP of $28,000
- C5051 has base MSRP of $18,500
- C5045 has base MSRP of $17,000
- C5035 has base MSRP of $12,400
- C5030 has base MSRP of $11,400

Canon launched imageWARE Document Server offering:- Check In/Check Out
- Version Control
- Full Text Search
- Audit Trail
- User Index Search
- Developed using Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services

Canon launched uniFLOW 4.0 Output Manager featuring:- Universal print driver
- Interactive rule based print job routing
- Authorization workflow
- eCopy Secure Print Client
- web job submission/ticketing
- comprehensive queue management
- prepress make ready
- document security options

Canon announced it will spend $270 million to steamline design and product data systems throughout the company in 2010, by consolidating its two 3D CAD systems and standardize those for managing product data.

Note from Art: This is reposted from the P4P Hotel, sometimes it dead on and sometimes not. If you see something thats not correct shoot a comment to me, otherwise as always my mother always told "believe nothing of what you read and only half of what you see" LOL


-=Good Selling=-

Xerox to Acquire Affiliated Computer Services

NORWALK, Conn. and DALLAS, Sept. 28, 2009 -- Xerox Corporation (NYSE: XRX) and Affiliated Computer Services, Inc. (NYSE: ACS) today announced a definitive agreement for Xerox to acquire ACS in a cash and stock transaction valued at $63.11 per share or $6.4 billion as of the closing price of Xerox stock on Sept. 25. This acquisition will transform Xerox into the leading global enterprise for document and business process management, and will accelerate its growth in an expanding market.
The world's largest diversified business process outsourcing (BPO) firm, ACS is a $6.5 billion company with revenue growth of 6 percent and new business signings of $1 billion in annual recurring revenue during its fiscal 2009.

"By combining Xerox's strengths in document technology with ACS's expertise in managing and automating work processes, we're creating a new class of solution provider," said Ursula M. Burns, Xerox chief executive officer. "A game-changer for Xerox, acquiring ACS helps us expand our business and benefit from stronger revenue and earnings growth.

"Xerox becomes a $22 billion global company, of which $17 billion is recurring revenue - a significant boost to our profitable annuity stream," she added. "The revenue we generate from services will triple from $3.5 billion in 2008 to an estimated $10 billion next year."

Under the terms of the agreement, go here for rest of press release


-=good selling=-

This Week in Xerox "TWIC"

Two former members of the famed Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) were honored guests recently at the University of Texas (UT) in Austin, TX. UT alumnus, Bob Taylor, spoke to students about his work at PARC and how his team developed computer networking in 1970. UT President Bill Powers announced that one of Bob’s former employees had created a $100,000 graduate scholarship in his honor. The former employee, Charles Simonyi, took his work at PARC, and left to help Microsoft develop MS Word & Excel.


When Xerox launched the ColorQube color wax copier, it engaged 30 employees to visit blogs to drive interest in the product. They also monitor negative comments about the device, and respond back on the web to counter the negative info.

In an effort to cut costs, Xerox announced it is switching its auto fleet from 6 cylinder to 4 cylinder company cars for its technicians. It also will be giving them all GPS, as it found that using GPS resulted in another service call per day, and up to 30% increase in work volume, due to the knowledge that they were being monitored.

-=Good Selling=-

MFP Weekend Indsutry Notes 9/25/09

Gathered from Print4Pay Hotel Members from around the world and a few moles in very good places!

- Hewlett Packard, responding to customer complaints, announced it will offer print drivers for its printers and MFPs so they will work with the new Apple Macintosh Snow Leopard operating system.

- Hewlett Packard claims it now has 5,000 Indigo production color systems in operation worldwide. It will also offer white liquid toner as an option in selected models.

- Hewlett Packard claims that its “Printing Payback Guarantee” promotion (where it guarantees the savings advertised after conducting a managed print services assessment) is a success, and resulted in 100 new contracts within 2 weeks of the promo launch.

- Hewlett Packard’s EDS division announced that it won an $8.1 million bid from the Department of Defense to upgrade their Health Information Management System.

- Hewlett Packard reported its last quarter’s financials for its printer/MFP division, known as IPG:
- consumer hardware units sales down 16%
- LaserJet unit sales down 42%
- Total hardware unit sales down 23%
- Color LaserJet units sales down 41%
- MFP sales down 38%
- Printer supply revenue down 13%
- Indigo page volumes up 16%

- Samsung of Korea captured 23.4% of the market for A4 sized machines in the second quarter of 2009, according to IDC. This makes Samsung the largest maker of devices that print on letter/legal size paper. Note from Art: Told ya so!, I've been harping on this for years and now Sammy has a strong foot in the door, whose business are they going to take? If the big guns dont't bring out A4 45,55,65 & 75ppm systems, Samsung will all but own this segment of the market.
Details:
- Regained the top position for first time since first quarter of 2006
- In Europe, had 35.1% marketshare for color laser MFPs and 26.9% for b/w MFPs
- Dominated Italy for b/w laser printers was 39.7%
- b/w laser MFPs = 47.7%
- color laser printers = 45.6%
- color laser MFPs = 52.3%
- IDC projects that laser engines will outperform inkjet worldwide
- Samsung plans to produce lineup of high speed, mid-to-large scale industrial printers
- Samsung’s printer/MFP division led by Y.H. Park, Senior VP

- The National Association of Quick Printers (NAQP) has selected Konica Minolta as winner of the 2009 Association Hall of Fame Award. In order to win this award:
- Demonstrated consistent customer service
- Professionalism and integrity
- Quality of products that benefit the industry (print for pay)
- Innovative products that meet current and evolving needs of customers
- Problem solving sales, service and support staff members who consistently exceed the needs and expectations of customers
- Consistently sought to advance the competitiveness of quick and small commercial printer
- “Konica Minolta Business Solutions USA has stepped up in a big way this past year to offer high quality, very competitive digital printing solutions” “Equally important, they have backed their products with first rate service.”

- Oce’ won “Must See ‘Em” awards at the PRINT 09 trade show in Chicago for the Oce’ JetStream production color inkjet system and the Oce’ VarioPrint b/w production LED system.

- Oce’ announced it will relabel a Creo print servce, and call it the Oce’ PRISMAcolorworks” for the Oce’ ColorTream 10000 rollfed production color system. Pricing unannounced.

- Barclays Capital predicts that Xerox will “make significant share repurchases next year” to boost its stock value.

- Google Corp. announced it has purchased an Expresso Book Machine for its headquarters in Mountain View, CA. Details:
- Can manufacture a paperback-bound books inline
- Top speed of 5 minutes per 300 page book
- Made by OnDemand Books, and uses a Xerox MFP as its print engine
- Google will sell the OnDemand books for $8 each

- Okidata now shipping three new desktop A4 b/w MFPs, the MB260mfp, MB280mfp and MB290mfp. Details:
- Actual maker unknown
- 100MHz processor
- 600x600dpi
- MB260mfp & MB280mfp offer GDI printing only
- MF290mfp offers PCL & PostScript print drivers
- MB280mfp and MB290mfp both have a document feeder
- All can copy/scan/fax/print
- MSRPs of $249.99, $299.99 & $399.99

- Kodak announced it has sold three NexPress S3000 production color systems to Lifetouch National School Studios in Chicago, IL. They will be used to produce school yearbooks nationwide.

- MindFireInc., maker of variable data software, announced a new option called “MarketFire”, which will allow printshops to create, track, analyze and improve cross-media marketing campaigns. Pricing unannounced.
- microsite authoring tools
- flexible rules and trigger based events
- prospect centric data view
- analytical dashboard for reporting and tracking
- Mac and PC compatible

- CPS Printing of Carlsbad, CA announced it has invested in Pageflex Storefront web-to-print software to expand its offerings.

- Xante’ of Alabama announced it received a Pantone license for its Ilumina desktop color LED printer, which is actually made by Okidata.

- Agfa of Germany announced the otrix Modular color inkjet UV production system. Details:
- top speed of 6,300 feet per hour
- rollfed system
- can supposedly match 90% of all Pantone colors
- pricing not announced

- In order to attract attention to its large booth at the recent PRINT 09 show in Chicago, Agfa setup full color, cardboard cutouts of people, to make it look like its booth was busy.

- The Illinois Attorney General’s office has agreed to join the FBI into investigating how a school in Belleville, IL ended up being sued by 7 lease companies, when it thought it only had a lease for two copiers from one leasing company. Governor French Academy claims that it leased two copiers from Kevin Welch, and now the lease companies claim it has a total of 14 copiers on lease.

- XMPie won a “Encore Worth-a-look” award at the PRINT 09 show for its uStore 3.5 web to print software solution.

- Epson is suing a company in Portland, OR, named Green Project, which collects old Epson ink cartridges, takes them to China, cracks-off their tops, refills them with ink, and brings them back to the U.S. to sell for less than new Epson cartridges.

- Cartridge World, a business headquartered in Emeryville, CA, announced that its toner and ink cartridge refilling business is up 16.3% in the poor economy. It claims that its store across the U.S. have refilled 9 million cartridges last year.

- At a recent conference of IT executives, a presenter, Robert DeMarzo of Everything Channel, asked for those in the large audience if they planned to upgrade to Microsoft Windows 7 by end of 2010, only one third raised their hands.

- UPS announced that it will launch a new web portal to allow end users to place print orders that are fulfilled by one of its 4,000 UPS Store locations. This will be the largest on-line printing network in the U.S. when up and running. For more info, visit www.theupsstore.com/print

- Adobe reported its last quarter’s financials:
- Revenue of $697 million, down from $887 million last year
- Operating income of $167 million compared with $219 million last year
- Net income of $136 million compared with $191 million last year

- Adobe announced it will acquire Omniture for $1.8 billion. The company makes Web analytics and measurement tools, so it can analyze how Website visitors interact with a site’s content.

- Kyocera announced that it has developed the world’s fastest inkjet printhead. Details:
- Named “KJ4 Series”
- Ejects up to 60,000 dots per second per nozzle
- 2,656 nozzles per head
- Up to 150 million dots ejected per printhead
- 60kHz drive frequency
- Up to 1200x1200dpi
- Printhead width of 4.25”
- unknown what inkjet printer maker will use this printhead

- Punch Graphix of Belgium announced that it has sold five of its Xeikon 8000 production color systems to Strategic Content Imaging, Inc., of Itasca, IL. Details of the 8000:
- Uses LED instead of laser
- Has 8 drums and images both sides of paper at same time (CMYK times two)
- 1200x1200dpi
- 4 bits per pixel
- 244ppm top speed full color
- 8.5 million pages per month max duty cycle
- Handles up to 16point stock
- Rollfed, up to 20.1” wide paper
- Uses PA toner technology
- SCI will use the systems for its digital book printing

- Lexmark announced it will offer an embedded version of FollowMe Printing software from Ringdale Inc. for some of its laser MFPs.

- Toshiba launched the VP-P450 color printer. Details:
- desktop device that prints passports
- laminates after printing
- uses thermal printing technology
- uses the ePassport software
- encodes IC-chips with the passport holder’s biometric data
- pricing not announced

- Polek & Polek of Fairfield, NJ announced that they are now offering generic toner that works in the Toshiba eSTUDIO 523, 603, 723 and 853 b/w MFPs.

- Document Network Technology won a copier bid from Litchfield School District in the Hillsboro, Illinois area. Details:
- Includes 3.2 million b/w copiers per year
- Winning price was $34.476 per year
- 5 year cpc lease
- 30 day cancellation clause

- Kodak announced that it sold $400 million worth of secured notes to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR) in exchange for two seats on Kodak’s board of directors. Kodak also agreed to issue KKR warrants to purchase up to 53 million shares. The company also plans on offer $300 million of notes due in 2017 to institutional buyers.

- 5 men in Toronto, Canada were arrested by police after they were found with more than $1 million worth of inkjet and laser cartridges that were stolen from a local Lexmark warehouse. The product was on 32 skids in two separate locations.

- Two local school children, ages 10 and 11, were caught making fake $20 bills on a color copier in Pratt, West Virginia, near Charleston. The U.S. Secret Service let the boys off with a stern warning.

- Nukote International, maker of refilled printer cartridges, is suing Office Depot for $217 million for breach of contract.

-=Good Selling=-

Top Ten Blog Countries for P4P Hotel

It blew me away when I saw this, in order are all of the countries where the Print4Pay Hotel has members as well as readers!!! Thank You!!


Listed in order of Top to bottom:

United States
Canada
United Kingdom
Japan
Australia
India
Germany
Netherlands
Singapore
South Africa
France
Italy
Spain
Thailand
Korea, Republic of (KR)
Belgium
Poland
Sweden
Malaysia
New Zealand
Brazil
Philippines
China
Mexico
Greece
Portugal
Ireland
United Arab Emirates
Russian Federation
Romania
Turkey
Hong Kong
Switzerland
Indonesia
Asia/Pacific Region
Finland
Denmark
Norway
Macedonia
Israel
Argentina
Taiwan
Hungary
Pakistan
Bulgaria
Austria
Egypt
Colombia
Croatia
Czech Republic
Slovakia
Iran, Islamic Republic of
Serbia
Jordan
Saudi Arabia
Peru
Vietnam
Cyprus
Slovenia
Puerto Rico
Jamaica
Ukraine
Malta
Lithuania
Nigeria
Chile
Venezuela
Morocco
Algeria
Kuwait
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Latvia
Estonia
Qatar
Sri Lanka
Barbados
Yemen
Panama
Trinidad and Tobago
Kenya
Bangladesh
Palestinian Territory
Dominican Republic
Honduras
Lebanon
Bahrain
Costa Rica
Moldova, Republic of
Belarus
Luxembourg
Ecuador
Brunei Darussalam
Uganda
Guatemala
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
Mongolia
Albania
Sudan
Montenegro
El Salvador
Oman
Bermuda
Zambia
Maldives
Djibouti
Bolivia
Macau
Tunisia
Cayman Islands
Mauritius
Nepal
Bahamas
Haiti
Aruba
Angola
Iceland
Uruguay
Virgin Islands, British
Netherlands Antilles
Grenada
Iraq
Cote D'Ivoire
Namibia
Cambodia
Azerbaijan
Reunion
Virgin Islands, U.S.
Armenia
Comoros
Seychelles
French Guiana
Fiji
Botswana
Antigua and Barbuda
Lao People's Democratic Republic
Georgia
Saint Lucia
Mali
Paraguay
Aland Islands
Tonga
Greenland
Faroe Islands
Bhutan
Syrian Arab Republic
Ghana
San Marino
Gambia
Dominica
Kazakstan
Anguilla
Guam
Uzbekistan
French Polynesia
Tanzania, United Republic of
Suriname
Ethiopia
Zimbabwe

-=Good Selling=-

Xerox Monitors Social Media with ColorQube Launch

It's what I do, every night instead of watching the tube, I'll cruise through my google alerts and then do some searching with google.

It had been a few months since I did a google on the Print4Pay Hotel (I can remember a few years ago there would only be 3 pages of links and now there too many to count!), anyway I ran across this document from Xerox called " Xerox ColorQube Public and Analyst Relations Debrief Dashboard" dated from June 9th of 2009.

Here's some info from that document:

Prior to the launch Xerox had engaged 30 Xerox employee bloggers were pre-disclosed to help drive buzz about the launch, however they were also there to monitor negative tweets, blog posts and comments. Once a negative comment or blog post was found marketing people at Xerox would post fast responses to the negative information. I for one can attest that the Print4Pay Hotel's "MFP Solutions" blog on the ColorQube had the rapid responses, what I didn't know, but I had a suspicion is that the commenter's were actually Xerox marketing people. Now, I don't have a problem with them touting their stuff, however it seemed to me like they were pretending to be normal "joes" commenting on the subject matter. With Blogger you can click on a profile, I did just that with two of the commenter's and their wasn't any profile on either of them, turns out document I picked up was actually created by one of the commenter's on this blog. Yea never know who's reading your stuff!

Comments were made on a number of blogs such as Technologizer, WSJ Blog, Print4Pay Hotel's MFP Solutions Blog, Gizmodo and BoingBoing.

The most sited sites were:

WSJ Digits Blog, Oh Gizmo!, InHabitat, Tech Chee, BoingBoing, Green Biz and Print4Pay Hotel's "MFP Solutions Blog"

Stories/Post with the Most Comments:

Digg: InHabitat (May 14, 2009)
Gizmodo (May 9, 2009)
BoingBoing (May 7, 2009)
WSJ Digits Blog (May 6, 2009)
ZDNet Green Blog (May 11, 2009)
BetaNews.com (May 7, 2009)
The Death of the Copier (May 11, 2009)
Print4Pay Hotel’s “MFP Solutions Blog” (May 11, 2009)
InHabitat (May 14, 2009)

Total Coverage:

100 plus blogs and articles

52% Positive Reaction
20% Neutral
19% Balanced
9% Negative (Guess that was me and a few others not believing the hype)

Plus Xerox claims that they tracked over 300 tweets during the launch period.

All in all it seems Xerox went to a lot of effort to monitor what social media is saying, more and more it seems social media is becoming the "go to place". Social Media outlets give you the down and dirty, the good the bad and the ugly and more and more people want to read "what everyone is talking about"

Well, I had alot of fun with the document and if you would like a copy please email me at art@p4photel.com, btw you'll have to become a member of the Print4Pay Hotel, don't worry it's free and their is some awesome information for all!

-=Good Selling=-

This Week in Xerox 9/20/09

Gathered from Print4Pay Hotel Members from around the world and a few moles in very good places!

- Xerox announced it will offer MICR (magnetic image character recognition) toner versions of the Nuvera 200 and 288MX production b/w laser systems for high volume check printing applications.

- Xerox won several awards at the PRINT 09 show:
- “Worth-a-look” for a Xerox iGen4 production color system bundled with a Stora Enso Gallop to produce color packaging
- “Encore Must See Em” for iGen4/Fiery system
- “Worth-a-look” for DocuColor 7002/8002 systems
- “Encore Worth-a-look” for Xerox 700 color system
- “Must See ‘Em” for Xerox 1300 Continuous Feed b/w system
- Must See ‘Em” for Xerox Nuvera 288EA
- “Worth-a-look” for Xerox 490/980 Continuous Feed color systems

- Xerox launched the Continuous Feed 4-over-1 Solution featuring:
- Bundles a Xerox 490 Color Continuous Feed Printer and a Xerox 650 B/W Continuous Feed Printer
- High speed printing of 4 color on one side and b/w on other
- Aimed at the transpromo market for high speed, high volume customer invoice printing
- According to Xerox, already has its first system sold to a large financial services company
- Uses proprietary flash fusing (instead of a heather fuser roller, uses a micro-burst of light to heat and melt toner to paper)
- No fuser oil needed (unlike Xerox DocuColor 8002 or the iGen4)
- Pricing not announced

- Xerox has expanded the options it offers to instruct its print for pay customers on how to sell and market the output from its production color systems. Details:
- Called the “Xerox ProfitAccelerator” solution packages
- Either sold separately, or bundled in with a Xerox production print system
- New options include:
- “Ad Agency Market Guide” to help printshops target ad agencies and design service providers
- “Profiting Through Personalization Kit” demonstrates the features of optional XMPie variable data software with templates
- “PODi (print on demand initiatives) Digital Print Case Studies” is a 5 year collection of best practices using variable data, with examples from 15 different industries

- Xerox announced that its FreeFlow Process Manager system for its production print systems are now compatible with products from Solimar Systems, Inc., including the Rubika, SOLfusion and SOLindexer systems.

- Street pricing seen on the Xerox color wax copier, the ColorQube 9201:
- $20,485.00 selling price
- $0.0055 for b/w prints (and those with a little bit of color)
- $0.0428 for color prints (prints that have some color)
- Excess usage of wax sticks results in customer getting charged for wax sticks consumed

- Former Xerox executive, Chris Bondy, has left to join InfoTrends as Group Director, Cross-Media Workflow Solutions.

- Xerox announced that it sold the third iGen3 production color system to Dialogue Solutoins, a printshop in Kent, England.

- Barclays Capital predicts that Xerox will “make significant share repurchases next year” to boost its stock value.

- Xerox has hired SalesQuest of Andover, MA to provide its copier sales people with “deep dive company profile reports” on Fortune 1000 prospects. The “CRUSH” alerts and reports provide info to build sales pipelines.

- Xerox now shipping version 6.5 of its DocuShare document management solution featuring:
- ability to store more than 50 million documents
- performs complex search queries in under three seconds
- supports sustained imaging of 12 documents per second or over 1 million per day
- Company claims it won bid to supply DocuShare to:
- Chelmsford Public Schools in Massuchusetts
- Niagara Catholic School District in Canada
- University of Peru
- Manteca Unified School District in California

Note from Art: This is reposted from the P4P Hotel, sometimes it dead on and sometimes not. If you see something thats not correct shoot a comment to me, otherwise as always my mother always told "believe nothing of what you read and only half of what you see" LOL

-=Good Selling=-

This Week in Ricoh "TWIR Notes" 9/21/09

Gathered from Print4Pay Hotel Members from around the world and a few moles in very good places!

- Ricoh donated a fully loaded Ricoh Aficio PRO C900S production color laser system to the Graphic Communications Department of California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly).

- Ricoh announced it is offering a new external print controller for the PRO C900 production color system, the EFI Fiery QX100.

- Ricoh announced it will offer a print-only version of one of its A3 color laser MFPs.

Details:
- Called the Ricoh Aficio SP C821D for base MSRP of $4669
- Top speed of 50ppm color or b/w (SP C820D with 40ppm for $3699 base MSRP)
- 4 tandem OPC drum design
- Optional finishers
- Generic print controller only
- 600x600dpi at top speed, 1200x1200dpi at half speed (laser must draw the image twice)
- 4 bits per pixel
- 1GHz processor
- PCL & PostScript print drivers

- Ricoh announced it won a bid to provide managed print services to Unilever Corp. Details:
- 5 year cost per copy lease
- Covers offices in 29 countries
- Includes printers and MFPs
- For Unilever’s employees that work from home, they will be provided Ricoh Gelsprinter inkjet units
- Unilever makes consumer products like Lipton Ice Tea, Dove soap, Vaseline, etc.

- Ricoh announced that it opened up a new laser print engine plant in Thailand:
- Located in Rayong, which is southeast of Bangkok
- Will start at 8,000 print engines per month
- Maximum capacity of 140,000 print engines per month
- Cost of 690 million baht
- 210 employees

-=Good Selling=-

"This Week in Canon" TWIC Notes! 9/20/09

Gathered from Print4Pay Hotel Members from around the world and a few moles in very good places!

- BIG NEWS! Canon announced it will allow Hewlett Packard to sell most of its copier product line with Canon name. Details:
- Expansion of 25 year relationship between Canon and Hewlett Packard
- This is a one-way agreement, as Canon will NOT have access to HP devices
- HP will sell Canon branded b/w & color copiers from segment 2 up through segment 6
- Initially, HP will market the Canon brand, but then will switch to offering the Canon copiers with the HP name on them as soon as it develops HP JetDirect based print controllers for them
- All current HP LaserJet and Color LaserJet devices are made by Canon
- HP will also resell Canon’s imageWARE and MEAP solutions
- Canon is looking gain back marketshare when it lost all IKON locations when IKON sold out to Ricoh, and when DANKA sold out to Konica Minolta in the U.S.
- This is fifth time that HP has attempted to enter the office copier space
- HP will use expanded product offering to grow its Managed Print Services program
- “creating an integrated platform and brokering a network of service partners that will enable resellers to sell contractual print offerings”
- “create new global business unit”, called Managed Enterprise Solutions, led by Bruce Dahlgren (former Lexmark executive) and headquartered in San Diego, CA
- HP, which recently acquired IT services provider Electronic Data Systems (EDS), will use 500 certified EDS account managers to sell managed print services with this new expanded device offering to companies in the U.S. (EDS currently accounts for 20% of HP’s MPS sales)
- Claims that the total MPS opportunity in the U.S. is $121 billion annually including $64 billion for hardware and $57 billion for software
- Estimates there are $90 billion worth of sales in 8 million SMB (small to medium sized businesses)
- Estimates there are $45 billion worth of sales in 18,000 Enterprise accounts
- Estimates there are $76 billion worth of sales in 4,300 named accounts and public sector, which will be handled exclusively by HP/EDS factory direct sales reps
- Is targeting an annual growth rate for MPS of 17%
- Partnered with several distributors to offer managed print services offerings to VARs, including Synnex, Supplies Network, NER Data and United Stationers.
- Claims that it can save companies an average of 15% with its MPS program, but up to 30% is possible
- Recently won a MPS bid from Swiss Post of Switzerland and reduced printer fleet form 17,000 devices to just 6,000 including MFPs. Other customers include:
- Constellation Energy
- United Stationers
- GES Exposition Services
- CH2M Hill
- Wildon Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
- Embarq Corp.
- Alliant Techsystems
- Texas Department of Agriculture
- Viacom
- 3M -
- While HP will do the billing for contracts that include Canon branded devices, HP will subcontract the service to either Canon branches or Canon dealers, based on customer request
- Customers will contact HP to place service calls, and HP will then dispatch to Canon branch or dealer
- HP claims to have 2000 customers under MPS contracts, including 450,000 devices and 18 billion pages per year.
- HP claims to win 60% of all MPS bids it participates in.

- Canon announced that it will call its managed print services program; “Canon Managed Document Services”:
- Target is to reach annual revenue of 100 billion yen by 2012
- Will invest 20 billion yen to launch program worldwide

- Canon announced that it has sold its 500th device with the “imagePRESS” in the United States by Canon Business Solutions. (remember that this also includes the imagePRESS C1, which is only a 15ppm color device)

- Canon announced that its devices will integrate with Adobe LiveCycle Rights Management ES systems to apply document security policies for scanned documents.

- Canon’s North American CEO, Joe Adachi, stated that when he next travels to Tokyo for a business meeting, he will try to convince the Japanese executives to move the worldwide headquarters from Tokyo to the new office that will be built in Melville, NY.

- Canon announced that it has created a video game to assist in training copier technicians. In the game, technicians must drag and drop the correct parts into the correct spot on a virtual copier.

- Canon announced that an option for its new imageRUNNER ADVANCE MFPs will allow end users to scan directly into Microsoft SharePoint.

- Canon announced more options for its imagePRESS production color systems:
- imageWARE PrePress Manager software to provide JDF capabilities
- Duplo DC-645 off-line slitter/cutter/creaser
- Standard Horizon BQ-270C perfect binder with HT-30 three sided trimmer (most in-line perfect binders only trim the face, not the top and bottom)
- Option to allow imagePRESS print server (relabeled EFI Fiery) to receive data from Agfa Apogee 6.0 DigitalPrint Link.
- uniFLOW Output Manager (OM) software
- cost accounting
- pin-code or ID badge authentication
- web-to-print
- job ticketing
- queue management
- prepress make ready
- operator management
- Universal print driver
- Preview first page of job before releasing to print
- Interactive rule based routing
- Authorization workflow
- Connection to eCopy
- pricing not announced

Note from Art: This is reposted from the P4P Hotel, sometimes it dead on and sometimes not. If you see something thats not correct shoot a comment to me, otherwise as always my mother always told "believe nothing of what you read and only half of what you see" LOL

-=Good Selling=-

MFP Weekend Industry Notes 09/13/09

Gathered from Print4Pay Hotel Members from around the world and a few moles in very good places!

Konica Minolta has signed to be the Platinum sponsor for the upcoming ON DEMAND trade show in Russia on 10/28-11/3/2009.

Results of a survey conducted by the InfoPrint (division of Ricoh) of IT Managers who are responsible for print/mailroom operations/CRDs:
- 2/3’s believe they are spending too much on postage
- More than half have not planned for or implemented Intelligent Mail barcoding for postal discounts
- Nearly half feel that their operations could be running more efficiently
- 90% feel pressure from management to lower costs
- 66% are trying to reduce print volumes
- 60% encouraging e-delivery of documents
- 38% considering workforce reductions
- 77% believe they could benefit from more automation

Hewlett Packard announced that it has authorized Pitney Bowes to be a dealer for its upcoming HP T300 Inkjet Web Press, a production color inkjet system. Details:
- PB plans on bundling with a mail finishing system
- PB will provide software transformations from AFP/IPDS, Metacode and/or LCDS protocols
- PB will provide service and support
- Will be called IntelliJet system, with approximate MSRP of $4 million
- 400 feet per minute in full color
- 30” wide printing
- 1200x600dpi
- Will start selling in January of 2010
- PB will build showroom for product in Shelton, Connecticut

Large printer, RR Donnelley & Sons Co. of Chicago, announced it will assist Hewlett Packard in designing future color inkjet presses.

Kodak taking a gamble with its booth at Print 09 Show in Chicago. For the first time, it will not display any of its production print systems (DigiMaster, NexPress, Prosper, Versamark, etc.). Instead, it will have a 24 foot long multi-media display to show videos of the equipment. In contrast, Xerox will apparently have at least 18 models on display running jobs.

Canon now shipping the imagePRESS CR Server A7000, which is a relabeled Creo print controller for its imagePRESS C7000VP system.

Ricoh announced, that through its InfoPrint division, it is offering versions of its 90/1107/1357 production b/w systems with MICR toner for check printing. In addition, it will offer MICR ink for the InfoPrint 5000 color inkjet system (relabeled product from Screen of Israel)

Ricoh announced that its factory direct branched will now sell VoIP phone systems from Fonality. No kidding, Ricoh had stated they were not going to rely on hardware!

EFI announced a new operating system for its Fiery print servers called System 9 featuring:
- embedded JDF technology, enabling integration with 3rd party workflow applications
- includes version 5.0 of Command WorkStation
- optional Fiery SeeQuence Suite (Impose, Compose)
- IPP enabled printer support
- Will ship in Q4, 2009

Xerox’s Chief Technology Officer, Sophie Vandebroek, announced that Xerox plans on launching a production color system using the wax technology used in the ColorQube.

Xerox launched the iGen4 220, which is advertised as printing full color at 220 impressions per minute. This is actually two iGen4s bolted together, so paper moving at 110ppm has both sides imaged at same time. Pricing not announced.

Oce’ announced the new JetStream 3300 production color inkjet system:
- top speed of 492 feet per minute
- prints up to 30” wide on rolls of paper
- comes standard with black ink, and option allows for CMYK
- pricing not announced

Oce’ announced the new VarioPrint 6320 Ultra production b/w system featuring:
- Cutsheet printer
- 308ppm top speed
- Maximum monthly duty cycle of 10 million per month
- Pricing not announced

Oce’ announced that during the PRINT 09 trade show in Chicago, it will have a CS665 (relabeled Konica Minolta bizhub PRO C6501) printing free copies of a perfect bound book, titled “Where’s My Birthday Cake”. The photo book was created by professional photographer, Jason Lee, featuring his daughters, Kristin & Kayla.

Peerless, maker of generic print controllers, provided its last quarter’s financials:
- Revenue of $2.1 million, down from $3.3 million last year
- Gross margin of 65.2% compared to 50.4% last year
- Net income of $2 million

eCopy won both the “Spring 2009 Pick Award” & “5 Star Award” from Buyers Labs, Inc. (BLI), and was the only document imaging software vendor to receive a “Pick” in this round of awards.

Brother introduced a new series of desktop A4 color inkjet AIO’s (starting at $129) and advertised them as offering a speed of 28ppm for color, but this speed is based on a page with only 5% coverage per color.

Toshiba division general manager, Kuniaki Kumamuru, stated that the company plans on significantly increasing investment in its LED lightbulb division in an interview with Reuters:
- is considering acquisitions to grow the division
- company produced Japan’s first incandescent light bulb in 1890
- goal is to have $3.8 million in LED lightbulb sales by 2015
- current selling price is $40 to $50 for a 100 watt LED lightbulb
- will open sales offices in France, US, Britain and Germany by end of year

Keyscan introduced a new keyboard that customer could buy for their PC’s that incorporates a single sheet color scanner into the back. Pricing unannounced.

IPEX, a production print group in Europe, announced that its “Champions in Print” award will be to the founders of Adobe and inventors of PostScript, Dr. John Warnock and Dr. Chuck Geschke.

IBML, a dealer in Wyoming, won a document management bid from Wyoming Medical Center. Details:
- 5 year contract worth $200,000
- As a result of new software and scanners, hospital reduced its scanning/indexing staff by 33%
- Bid included ImageTrac software and scanners
- Hospital believes it will save $450,000 total over life of contract
- Hospital has 205 beds in Casper, WY
- Campus covers 719,000 square feet
- 150 physicians
- Will scan 52,000 pages per day

Online Print Solutions, maker of web-to-print and VDP software, announced it now offers Multi-Touch Campaign software, which generates personalized URLs (PURL) for end users to respond to direct mail offerings.

XMPie, maker of variable data software, announced a new option called “Email Service”, which will send out and track email marketing messages to end users to supplement VDP direct mail offerings.

Recent findings published by The CMO Council on chief marketing officers in the U.S.:
- average tenure of a CMO is 23.2 months
- 50% CMOs are hired to fix broken marketing departments
- 56% of marketers perceive themselves as being customer centric,
but only 12% of customers surveyed agree
- 83% of CMOs face change resistant corporate cultures
- 76% of companies are not realizing the full revenue potential of their customers
- On average, 31% of marketing budget is spent on print jobs
- Only 25% of CMOs know what TransPromo is

GE Capital’s Leasing Director, Jim Kelly, gave out info in a recent interview:
- Has been in copier leasing for 20 years (started with acquisition of leasing
business from Chase Manhattan)
- Serves 8,000 dealers
- Has leases with 500,000 end users
- Is investing $3 million in “Touchless Initiative”
- “We’re trying to get that instant feel you have with a credit card”
- “Our vision is one minute turn time. That’s one minute from application through funding. That’s a lofty, loft goal, but that’s the vision we have for this.”

Have customers that want to make business cards with their color MFP? Michael Business Machines (MBM) introduced the BC12. This desktop device takes thick stock from your color MFP, and slices it up into 12 business cards in a single pass, at a speed of 60 cards per minute (13 sheets per minute top speed)

Details from the recent Sharp Align 09 national sales meeting for its dealers:
- Was at the Gaylord Resort in Washington, DC
- Plans on launching a managed print services program based on partnerships
with LMI, PrintAudit and Compass in October
- Has more than 400 authorized dealers in the US
- Has 10 factory direct branches
- Has stopped buying copier dealers (due to poor economy)
- Showed future products:
- Un-named 62ppm & 75ppm A3 b/w MFPs
- 150 sheet document feeder that scans both sides of original at same time
- Scans in color
- Color LCD display
- Pullout keyboards
- Will ship in June, 2010
- MX-M283N, a 28ppm A3 MFP
- MX-M503N, a 50ppm A3 MFP
- Optional air purifier for $500 with copier status lights
- 40ppm color A4 printer
- 40ppm b/w A4 printer
- ScanPro desktop scanners
- One model is b/w only, other is color
- Scan both sides of original at same time
- Can scan business cards and medical info cards

-=Good Selling=-

GBC "Ebinder 200" Spec Review

GBC, a division of ACCO, announced a new binding system, called the “eBinder 200” featuring:

- up to 200 pages bound on the fly, complete in-line system with no user intervention
- uses new “GBC Elipse” binding element for 360 degree wrap around design
- choice of 4 different colors of binding element
- cassette holds up to 50 binding elements
- is 22.8” wide
- will be shown attached to Xerox production print systems at PRINT 09 show, no pricing yet
Details from the recent Sharp Align 09 national sales meeting for its dealers:
- Was at the Gaylord Resort in Washington, DC
- Plans on launching a managed print services program based on partnerships
with LMI, PrintAudit and Compass in October
- Has more than 400 authorized dealers in the US
- Has 10 factory direct branches
- Has stopped buying copier dealers (due to poor economy)
- Showed future products:
- Un-named 62ppm & 75ppm A3 b/w MFPs
- 150 sheet document feeder that scans both sides of original at same time
- Scans in color
- Color LCD display
- Pullout keyboards
- Will ship in June, 2010
- MX-M283N, a 28ppm A3 MFP
- MX-M503N, a 50ppm A3 MFP
- Optional air purifier for $500 with copier status lights
- 40ppm color A4 printer
- 40ppm b/w A4 printer
- ScanPro desktop scanners
- One model is b/w only, other is color
- Scan both sides of original at same time
- Can scan business cards and medical info cards

-=Good Selling=-

Copier Quotes Uploaded on Print4Pay Hotel

Over the past few days I've been able to upload some new copier quotes that were emailed to me (Special thanx to those Print4Pay Hotel Members). These quotes are located in the Industry Proposals and Quotes Forum.

Xerox ColorQube 9203
Toshiba e-studio 305
Ricoh W3600 Quote
KIP 3100
XEROX 6279 WIDE FORMAT PRINT SYSTEM
Xerox 6204_KIP 3000 Bid Pricing
Wide Format Bid _KIP_OCE_XEROX
Ikon Pricing for Ricoh Bid
OCE CM4010 Color MFP
Canon C4080i Quote
Xerox 7655 Copier Printer Quote

I have also uploaded documents that I've created over the years:

P4P's "Top Ten Rules for New Reps"
Objection Sales Document
ROI Spread Sheet for Wide Format
Interesting Paper Factoids
Faith Based Sales Intro Letter

You'll need to become a member (it's FREE) for access to the Print4Pay Hotel, click on the above links and you'll be guided through the process. The Print4Pay Hotel has over 2,200 members from around the world!

-=Good Selling=-

Top Ten Copy Machine or MFP Tweats!

#1 No one uses Copy machines anymore.....ur so stuck in the year 2000 =P jk

#2 feels like I hate MONDAY! All of the copy machines are BROKEN! (angry)

#3 Rampant Jamming: a problem/condition with my copy machines here at work, AND a kick-ass name for a band!!

#4 sticking fingers and sharp metal objects into giant hot copy machines falls under the "bad ideas" category. but hey, I got the jam out!

#5 You'd think in 2009 we'd be able to create printers/ copy machines that didn't need to warm up.

#6 Copy machines suck when copying chapters

#7 I am a epic failure with copy machines lmfao

#8 Whyyy do BOTH copy machines at work have to be broken? Happy Tuesday!

#9 I hate the copiers at my school. And by hate I mean loathe, despise, wish they would spontaneously implode. #fb

#10 Wishing I could be somewhere else. anywhere else! Tired of being in this hamster wheel I call my life. I hate paper!!! And broken copiers!

Do any of these comments surprise us?

-=Good Selling=-

Managed Print Service "Final Poll Results"

I had to end these polls today in order to start some new polls!

Poll #1: Xerox "unveils breakthrough color technology"

#1 Wow, this will turn the color market up side down! 197 34%
#2 A lot of hype about nothing, not a big deal! 268 47%
#3 I'm gonna have to see how this pans out! 110 19%

Total of 575 votes!!

Poll #2: Is your company going to offer Managed Print Services

#1 Yes 54 39%
#2 No 19 14%
#3 We already have it in place 65 47%

Total of 138 votes!!

Spectacular 85% of copier dealers are in, or are going to get into Managed Print Services!

-=Good Selling=-

Canon & HP "Two MFP GIANTS for an Alliance"

One of the Print4Pay Hotels predictions for 2009 came full circle today. In a press release dated today, Canon announced that that HP will now resell Canon branded MPF's!

The terms of the deal were not disclosed however it was noted that HP will sell the Canon brand now and in the future the model and name will shift to HP.

Many questions will need to be answered such as:

Will HP be able to sell the entire line if imageRUNNERS?

Will they also have access to imagePRESS?

Will HP be able to provide traditional type MFP service and be good at it?

How will HP compete in the after market, will they be more aggressive or less aggressive with cpc's.

Since HP is HP, will they place Canon MFP's in MPS engagements and just charge a cpc and nothing for the hardware?

Many, may ripples will come out this huge deal!

What will Canon dealers do when HP resells the Canon MFP equipment at 10% margins or less, better yet how will Canon Business Solutions be able to compete with HP with their own products?

There's an old saying, "what comes around goes around". For years Ricoh dealers had complained about the saturation of the market for Ricoh, Savin, Ikon, Lanier, and Direct Branches. Now the same could be true for Canon, anfter the Ikon acquisition by Ricoh, Canon set it's focus on signing more dealers and feet on the street had them putting on many disgruntled Ricoh Dealers. So, Canon has added more dealers across the nation, lost Ikon, but has now added a GIANT that is in every ones market.

Is the beginning of Canon making a play to buy HP? We seen crazier things right?

-=Good Selling=-

MFP Weekend Industry Notes 9/8/09

Gathered from Print4Pay Hotel Members from around the world and a few moles in very good places!

A man named Edward Talton, of Lawndale, CA, made $7 million worth of fake U.S. currency before getting caught by local law enforcement. It took 3 years before he was caught with 4 others making the bills on a color copier

After a complaint was filed by Fishers Document Systems Inc., the Meridian School District of Boise, Idaho announced it would recant its copier bid award to Xerox. The district will now send out another request for proposals for its 50 public schools.

Toshiba announced it will spend $5.4 billion on a company in France that makes electrical grids. The company, Areva, would help Toshiba further its plan to build nuclear power plants. (is there any money left to make copiers?)
One of the greatest sources of technological innovation was the original Bell Labs. Sample:
- 1925 – first public demonstration of fax transmission
- 1927 – first long distance TV transmission
- 1947 – invention of the transition
- 1954 – invention of photovoltaic cell
- 1969 – creation of UNIX operating system
- 1978 – technology for cellular telephony
- In 2001, had 30,000 employees, today only 1,000 as it is owned by Alcatel-Lucent

The former CEO of DANKA, A.D. Frazier, launched a new company called “Back of the House” or “BOTH”. The company will provide insurance and employee law assistance for independent contractors in Florida.

Industry authors claim that Ron Potesky, former Senior VP of Marketing for Ricoh, will be taking a job as President of Pantone Corp.

Oce’ announced it won a bid from the Lincolnwood School District of Illinois. Details:
- copiers for 4 buildings
- value of $4,040.000.00
- includes b/w and color units on 5 year cost per copy lease

Oce’ announced that its wax based color wide format printer, the ColorWave 600, won a Bronze award from International Design Exellence Awards.

Canon dealer, Concept Group, won a bid to supply managed print services for the government of Scotland. Value of contract is unknown.

A building from Marysville School District in Seattle, WA was destroyed by a fire caused by a faulty laser printer. Unknown the make a model of the printer which had an overheating fuser.

Printable Technologies, maker of FusionPro variable data software, announced it now integrates with EFI Monarch/Hagen, a printshop management program.

Kodak completed its acquisition of Bell & Howell, maker of high speed scanning systems. 50 existing employees will become part of the new division of Kodak, and report to Russell Hunt.

The National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus has complained to the Federal Trade Commission over what it claims are false advertising practices. They claim that Kodak can not back up its claims that end users can save up to $110 per year if they use Kodak color inkjet printers instead of HPs.


Olec introduced a new UV Coating system for providing a high gloss finish for output from digital production print systems. Pricing unknown. Details:
- supports up to 80lb. cover stock or 17pt board stock
- top speed of 4000 impressions per hour (depending on stock)
- holds 8 gallons of varnish
- can handle lightweight stocks, minimum of 70lb. gloss text weight
- maximum sheet width of 19 inches
- maximum length of sheet of 26.25”
- maximum roller speed of 300 feet per minute
- maximum heat generated of 350 degrees Farenheit

Muratec announced pricing for the new MFX-3550. Details:
- Desktop A4 monochrome MFP
- Actually made by Samsung of Korea
- Top speed of 35ppm
- Base MSRP of $1695 (expected street pricing of $799 to $999)
- 250 sheet second paper cassette for $295
- Toner/drum cartridge yield of 10,000 pages based on 5% coverage

IDC released statistics on the desktop A4 printer and MFP markets:
- Worldwide totals declined 21% in units in last quarter from one year ago to 24.1 million units
- Value of units declined 23.2% to $11.6 billion in the quarter
- Color units declined only 6% in the quarter
- 16.6 million inkjet shipments during last quarter
- Monochrome laser units had value of $4.2 billion in quarter
- U.S. market value of $3.9 billion in quarter with 5.7 million units
- Hewlett Packard lost 4% marketshare by declining 28%
- Canon now has 20% marketshare, while shipments declined 8%
- Lexmark now has 5% marketshare with 1.1 million units

Brother introduced new A4 color printers using LED instead of laser. Details:
- Top speed of 17ppm b/w or color
- Letter/legal size paper only
- MSRPs range from $299 to $349 for print only
- MSRPs range from $399 to $499 for AIOs (all-in-one with scan/copy/print/fax)

According to WhatTheyThink.com, sales of print jobs from printshops are down $858 million so far this year.

Hewlett Packard gave out tips for its resellers on how they can help their customer save money during the recession:
- Preview jobs before printing them to avoid mistakes by using HP Print View preview software
- Print all jobs in auto duplex mode to save paper using HP’s Universal Print Driver
- Eliminate un-necessary color printing with HP Color Access Controls
- Save energy be upgrading to HP instant-on laser printers and MFPs
- Eliminate waste caused by poor image quality when customers use generic toner cartridges instead of using genuine HP laser cartridges (which are made by Canon)
- Shift from printed faxes by using scan to email on new HP MFPs/AIOs
- Eliminate wasted, unused toner cartridges by switching to a managed print services contract
- Consolidate separate single function devices by right-sizing with new HP MFPs/AIOs
- Save money by reducing outsourcing of color jobs to printshops by getting new HP color LaserJets
- Bring design jobs in-house by using templates provided by HP

Principal Ed Frier of the Ridgeview Global Studies Academy Charter School of Winter Haven, FL was shocked when a snake slithered out the new printer he unboxed.

-=Good Selling=-

9/11 "We Remember"

Again, we remember the victims that perished in the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Almost 3,000 people died on that day.

-=We Remember=-

TWIR "This Week in Ricoh"!

Gathered from Print4Pay Hotel Members from around the world and a few moles in very good places!

Industry authors claim that Ron Potesky, former Senior VP of Marketing for Ricoh, will be taking a job as President of Pantone Corp.

Ricoh’s InfoPrint division launched a new controller (not based on Fiery), for when it installs a relabeled Ricoh Pro C900 production color system into a data center that is running AFP protocol.

IKON, a division of Ricoh, announced it has settled a lawsuit it filed against the City of Jacksonville, FL. Details:
- IKON was seeking over $5 million, but settled for $3,077,519.00
- was for use of copiers it provided to the city’s library system
- original cost per copy lease contract was awarded to IKON in 2000
- in June 2005, the city had stopped paying IKON, as it was disputing IKON’s billings
- City claims that the lease was signed by a City employee that did not have decision making authority
- included 48 copiers, even though the library system only has 21 locations
- Even though it was not getting paid, IKON did not stop servicing and supplying the copiers
- The City gained title to the equipment as part of the settlement

Ricoh announced a new lease promo to boost sales of its Aficio PRO C900 production color system. Details:
- Must be leased through Ricoh Financial, CIT, DLL, Wells Fargo or GE Capital
- First choice is end user can choose an interest free 36 month FMV lease
- Second choice is a 60 month FMV lease with only 5.9% interest
- If other products are on the lease, or a trade-in/rebate is involved, must use a blended rate

Ricoh announced it will now offer nQueue BillBack as an embedded solution for its MFPs.

-=Good Selling=-

TWIX "This Week in Xerox" 9/09/09

Gathered from Print4Pay Hotel Members from around the world and a few moles in very good places!

Xerox’s business in New Zealand, which operates under name of Fuji Xerox, reported a loss of $15.6 million during the last fiscal year.

After a complaint was filed by Fishers Document Systems Inc., the Meridian School District of Boise, Idaho announced it would recant its copier bid award to Xerox. The district will now send out another request for proposals for its 50 public schools.

Xerox launched a new managed print services program, named PagePack NX, which allows resellers to manage not only Xerox printers and MFPs, but competitive models as well, as Xerox provides third party service and supplies for HP and other brands of desktop printers under the program.

Xerox launched a new program to assist printshops in marketing digital color output. The new program is called; “Business of Printing Business Development Series” and includes:
- Sales Skills Assessment Survey – to assess, train, and improve sales skills of printshop’s sales force
- How to Target Agencies and Marketers Sales Training Course – how to convey benefits of digital and variable data
- Proofing Through Personalization Kit – how to sell applications using XMPie variable data software with templates
- Pricing unknown

Xerox introduced a new option for its production print systems, the new FreeFlow Process Manager 8.0 featuring:
- comes with 20 pre-configured prepress functions
- auto resizing and cropping
- business card templates
- Process Manager MAX (manifest automation from Xerox) enable job order details such as bleed area of imposed document or pages in a finished booklet
- 10 built-in Easy Start workflows
- FreeFlow Express to Print offers templates for legal and education markets
- VIPP Pro Publisher supports Adobe InDesign for variable data jobs
- VI Interpreter 8.0 offers commands for patterned inks, tab processing, customizable crop marks and two layer fluorescent text

Xerox announced it has sold one of its iGen4 production color system to a print shop in Montreal, Canada named Pazazz.

Xerox announced it won a copier bid from the City of Henderson, which is a suburb of Las Vegas, Nevada. Xerox claims the new 5 year cost per copy lease contract will save the city $10,000 per month.

Xerox announced it won a bid to provide document management using Xerox DocuShare ECM to Western Forest Products of British Columbia. Xerox claims it is saving the company over $20,000 per month.

Xerox announced it has sold Xerox 700 Digital Color Press production color systems to:
- Coast Litho, a printshop in Oakland, CA
- Harold’s Photo Centers Inc. with 8 locations in South Dakota and Iowa
- Ink Well print shop in Cleveland, OH
- Magnet Harlequin printshop in England
- Dvoglad printshop in Croatia

-=Good Selling=-

Don't Call, Don't Fax, Don't Email and Now Don't ....

Well......I really didn't have any words after I read this line in an article of What They Think.

The "Do Not Mail" legislation that has been considered in 19 state legislatures would limit distribution of direct mail and impose fines. It remains an active issue across the U.S. and will impact the vast majority of printers. International Paper and xpedx are partnering with printers to help influence legislation. xpedx is a business of International Paper.

A just a little more thought on this please! If will affect all businesses that rely on getting their information out via direct mail. Give me a fracking break, we've got Do Not Call, Do Not Fax, Don Not Email and now Do Not Mail??? One good thing would come of this legislation if passed, the US Post Office would GO OUT OF BUSINESS!!

Another dumb piece of legislation that if passed would make our politicians some of the dumbest in the world!

-=Good Selling=-

Top 6 MFP Sales Tips "Be Prepared"

There's a saying that you can't teach an old dog new tricks! I don't believe it! Here's a few tips that you must have before going to any appointment.

Lease Documents:
Yup, have a few handy, and a few credit apps, never know when you're going to make a mistake and need another.

Sales Orders:
Have them preprinted and all filled out with the pricing, so if you get into a closing situation you can sign the docs right on the spot. I can't tell you how many times I didn't have any, either I forget them or I didn't think there was a chance to sign an order that day. The opportunity came, I closed on a verbal deal and then when I went back with the documents, it was too late and the client changed their minds.

Need to see the other four tips? Please take a trip to Print4Pay Hotel and become a member, converse with your peers, ask questions, get real world answers, view additional sales tips, see the latest leads and best of all take the time to view over 20,000 threads related to the copier industry! Don't worry it's all FREE!

From experience don't leave your home or office with out these tools or the Print4Pay Hotel!

-=Good Selling=-

US Open & Print4Pay Hotel

Well, after fighting the worst highways in the Nation, I finally made it to Flushing Meadows in Queens, NY for the US Open on Friday. Not to mention that I drove around CitiField and LaGuardia Airport TWICE!

For those of you that are not familiar with Flushing Meadows in Queens, NY. It was the home of the 1964 Worlds Fair, I can remember my parents taking my brother and I several times to the Fair in the summer of 64, as a 7 year old the World's Fair made some lasting impressions. Two memories come to mind, I can remember seeing a family with about 5 children and the parents had a rope tied around the kids linking them all together as to not lose them! Another vivid memory was a pavillion where you could see which was faster; to dial a rotary phone or a new push button phone, hey what seven year olds wouldn't take this challenge, I thought I was a pro with the rotary phone!

The weather was outstanding as was Canon who invited me to their suite to take in an afternoon of championship tennis! I was a little surprised, I thought their might be some Canon information on hand, but this was more about be our quests and enjoy the show, and I did!

I'm not much of a tennis fan, but then again the only time I've ever seen anyone really play tennis is on the tube. I was surprised and enjoyed the athletes and also got to see Serena Williams in the second match of the day. I did have some lively conversations with Ted from IA in reference to what in the world is going on with the copier industry and who will be the winners and losers as this market drags on. Consensus was how the heck can Panasonic hang around, and when the heck is Canon going to step up to the plate and do something! Besides the introduction of the Canon imageRUNNER advance series, it seems like acquisitions have taken a back seat for now.

After 4 bottles of water and a few finger sandwiches I remembered that I had to had make my way back to the Jersey Shore for the Labor Day Weekend. I departed early thinking I'd beat the traffic, not a chance, it took me three hours to go 90 miles!

Special thanx to Canon, it was most enjoyable and I have a new appreciation for the sport of Tennis!

-=Good Selling=-

Print4Pay Hotel off to US Tennis Open!

Well, I'm off to the National Tennis Center in Flushing, NY in the AM for the US Open Tennis Championships! Special thanx to Canon USA for the invite, going to bring my camera, a charged battery and not pad with me. I hoping to see some really good stuff from Canon and bask in the sun for the afternoon. We be back at you on Sunday with the goings on in Flushing Meadows!

LAKE SUCCESS, NY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 25, 2000

When play begins on the 25 courts of the National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York next week, Canon U.S.A., Inc., the company whose imaging systems give people Know How, will join in the action for the twenty-fourth consecutive year as an official sponsor of the 2000 US Open Championships. Canon serves as the US Open's Official Camera, Copier, Facsimile and Multifunctional Products (MFP (MultiFunction Printer, MultiFunction Peripheral) See all-in-one and MFD. ) provider during the two-week tournament, which ranks as the largest in the world. One of four Grand Slam events on the professional world tennis tour, the US Open begins August 28th and continues through September 10th at the United States Tennis Association “USTA” redirects here. For other uses, see USTA (disambiguation).


-=Good Selling=-

MFP Weekend Notes from 8/30/09

Gathered from Print4Pay Hotel Members from around the world and a few moles in very good places!

Toshiba’s copier division in the U.S., called Toshiba America Business Solutions (TABS) announced it has hired Jive Software of Portland, Oregon to develop a social business network to connect its sales, service, admin and corp. professionals. Cost not announced. Will be called Toshiba eXCHANGE and include:
- Detailed profiles of members allowing users to connect directly with Toshiba employees
- Blogs that will keep members aware of ongoing product and program updates
- Video clips that will provide product info
- Content ratings
- RSS feeds that mark key interest areas
- Intelligent searches

Printable Technologies announced that its variable data software, FusionPro, will now support the AFP print file format from IBM. It also is now compatible with DirectSmile personalization software.

Hewlett Packard won a bid from the City of Langford, Canada for an undisclosed number of HP LaserJet MFPs. This was to change a situation of; “a printer next to a copier next to a fax machine”. The new contract will supposedly save the city $375,000 per year, and included Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server and Notable Solutions Inc.’s AutoStore software.

Xerox won a bid from Fayetteville-Perry Elementary School district in Ohio. Revenue and total units not announced, but it is a 5 year cost per copy lease.

More details on the bid that Xerox won from Methodist Healthcare in San Antonio, Texas:
- facilities management contract
- covers 23 different facilities
- claims it will save the healthcare facilities “millions per year”.
- decision maker was Geoff Crabtree, Senior VP
- reduced forms used from 1,200 to 300
- 25,000,000 impressions total per year
- 2 million b/w forms used monthly
- 1 million color brochures printed annually
- Includes an iGen4 production color system, Nuvera 120MX production b/w system and
Nuvera 120EA DPS production b/w system with booklet maker

Xerox announced it has sold three of its new 700 Digital Color Press production color system to three different printshops in South Africa. The buyers were Copy Wizards, Hot Ink and Top Copy.

Amcom Office Systems announced it won a 5 year contract to supply MFPs to the City of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County in Pennsylvania. Details:
- The contract will supposedly save county tax payers $2.3 million.
- County will take delivery of 406 units
- Is a 5 year cost per copy lease
- Based on minimum volume of 3.2 million copies per month
- Total value of contract of $2.6 million, or 47% less than prior contract
- County will remove many, but not all, of its desktop printers
- The City will take delivery of 105 units, and supposedly will save $38,000 per year
- The Allegheny County Airport Authority will take delivery of 18 units


Sappi Fine Papers North America announced it is closing its paper mill in Muskegon, Michigan due to declining sales.

Sharp announced that it will offer DocuLex software, made in Winter Haven, FL, as an optional embedded application for its MFPs.

Sharp will hold its annual dealer meeting in Washington DC from 8/31 to 9/2/09.

Sharp dealer, Advanced Business Systems of Molina, Iowa, is growing. Its new 11,000 square foot facility will be at 4631 44th Street. Owner Jim Soucinek started the company in 1970, and now has 23 employees, and also sells and services Lexmark & HP products.

Gartner Research reports that shipments of MFPs are down 25% in 2009, versus 2008. “In the worst case scenario could hit 30%” stated senior analyst Todd Prabhakar.

Apple releases its new operating system, Snow Leopard, and went on sale on 8/28/09 as a $29 upgrade. The new system uses far less memory than its predecessors, but must be run on an Intel based Macintosh computer.

Epson Corp. pleaded guilty to price fixing when it sold LCDs to Motorola for its Razr cell phone, and will pay a fine of $26 million

Hewlett Packard has been hit with a patent infringement suit by Acacia Research Corp., over videoconferencing technology.

Toshiba & Hitachi are supposedly planning on jointly making hard disk drives, using new nanotechnology to boost recording density. The Japanese government supposedly will invest $48 million in the new venture, which will ship new products in 2012.

The Equipment Leasing & Finance Association’s (ELFA) Monthly Leasing and Finance Index reported that new business volume of declined by 35.1% as compared to same period in 2008. Other data:
- receivable over 30 days increased by 18.2%
- charge-offs increased by 56.1%
- credit approvals now at 65.5% as compared with 73.3% last year
- 47% of leasing companies reported decrease in transactions

Global Graphics & Conexant announced that they will jointly develop print controllers for printer and MFP makers.:
- Global Graphics purchased Harlequin PostScript technology in 1999
- Harlequin acquired JAWS PDF technology in 2000
- Conexant purchased Freescale print controller technology for just $16.1 million in 2008
- Freescale acquired this technology from SigmaTel in 2008 for $110 million
- SigmaTel acquired this technology in 2007 for $57 million.

-=Good Selling=-

TWIR "This Week in Ricoh"

Special thanx to Print4Pay Hotel members from around the world and a few moles!

IKON, a division of Ricoh, will have a booth at the upcoming ILTA Conference, for the legal community, and be showing Ricoh MFPs bundled with document management solutions from OmTool AccuRoute, according to IKON’s VP of Legal Enterprise Solutions, Mark Davey.

Ricoh announced it won a bid to supply MFPs and DocuLex Archive Studio document management software to Lake County Water Authority in Orlando, FL.

Ricoh Product Manager, Frank Elchert, launched the Personal Paperless Document Manager optional solution software for its MFPs:
- Allows users to combine scanned documents with MS Word, Excel or PowerPoint content
- Based on Nuance Communications OmniPage OCR software
- Can customize scanning menus on the copier’s LCD panel
- PDF data compression
- 5 seat license for $1499.95, 25 seats for $7124.76, 50 seats for $13,499.55
- price does not include annual software maintenance fees

-=Good Selling=-