Ricoh Plotworks "Way To Screw Up the W3601"

Back in March of 2013 I was alerted via an email from a Print4Pay Hotel member that Ricoh would be updating the wide format W3601 and the only update would be the addition of PLP's Plotworks. Just to make it clear, any W3601 purchased by a dealer or direct branch will have Plotworks period. The MSRP of the W3601 went from $13,495 to $14,890. 

PLP Plotworks is Ricoh US answer to not having a true batch plot software, that went away many years ago when Ricoh parted ways with Ratio.

With Plotworks my price has increased by more than 27% for the addition of batch plotting!  Thus, I have many questions that will go unanswered, and I'll start with; Did anyone in the Ricoh wide format division ever think of asking end users of the W3601 if they needed batch plotting, or better yet, did you ever think of contact some of your reps and ask them if Plotworks was needed for the W3601?   I've been selling wide format Ricoh devices since the inception of the W240 and after Ratio software went away I was bummed because we would lose the batch plot software. Little did I know that at least 80% of my end users had no need for the Plot Client Win (Ratio batch plot software), I didn't find this out until I started asking prospects if they needed batch plotting because of Ricoh dropping Ratio. Yes. I lost a few deals on the W3601 because I did not have a batch plot program, but I've one far more deals without the need for Plotworks because I was able to be competitive!

I'll admit we need a batch plot software on the higher

Growth Opportunities for Wide Format & The PEiR Group

This week I had an interesting email from Joel Salus. Joel is the Author "Reprographics 101" blog ad over the years we've been able to trade some information here and there.  Joel's blog can now be located at the IRgA web site.  The email was so informative about wide format that I asked Joel if I could use him as our Guest Blogger for this month.  Enjoy!

Hi Art,

The last time I dropped you an e-mail, your son had just graduated from Infantry Boot Camp. I hope your son is doing well!

Today, I visited your blog and read a couple of articles you posted about the Photizo Group conference you attended in Scottsdale. I received a "complimentary" invitation to attend the conference, but, unfortunately, I couldn't make it because I've had a very heavy workload the past couple of months .... and that hasn't let up yet.

I wanted to take just a minute to drop you a note about one thing you said in one of your recent blog posts.

Below, I've copied a sentence form that recent post:

"There seems to be growth opportunities for wide format systems, and we also mentioned the potential explosive growth for 3D printers".

Art, you may recall,

Who's Afraid of Memjet "Part Duex"

This past weekend I was at the BTA Winter Break in Orlando.  While the education sessions are awesome I especially enjoy meeting with the 30 plus vendors being able to see what's new and different.

Back in June of 2009 I penned "Who's Afraid of Memjet".  Last year there were major announcements from Drupa from the likes of Toshiba, Fuji/Xerox, and Canon/Oce that all of them had purchased a license to incorporate the Memjets Waterfall print head technology. Toshiba to use it in MFP's, Canon/Oce developed a device called "Project Velocity" for an Oce branded wide format and then Fuji/Xerox will integrate the Memjet Water print head technology for wide format also. It was interesting that one of the comments on the blog was "this can't be good news for KIP".

While at the BTA Winter Break event I was able see the new Memjet C6010 printer.  What I saw was stunning, amazing and a marvel of color ink technology.  Sixty pages per minute, or 1 page per second of 100% coverage on letter size paper (this puppy can also print legal) with full bleed!! As soon as the print exited the printer the ink was dry, no jams, no bands in the color.  I saw prints that were done with coated inkjet paper (stunning) and also bond paper (typical matt type image).  I was more impressed though with the high capacity ink, black will hold 100ml, while the CMY will hold 50ml each.  Base on "normal office printing" the black ink will yield 4,600 pages, cyan is good for 7,500 pages, yellow cranks in at 5,050 pages and magenta trails with 4,830 pages.

I did ask the retail price on this system, however I forgot (arrgghh), but I was told that we'll see a memjet MFP in the 2nd quarter of this year.  Cost per page, and ink is the life blood of profit for Dealers and Memjet was keen to inform me that the ink tanks are designed for authorized refill.

My Thoughts

Ricoh MPCW220SP Scanner Reveal

Within a few days Ricoh will be launching the new Ricoh CW2200SP wide format system.  For those of us that sell Savin, Lanier and Ricoh wide format, we've been waiting a long time for a color wide format multifunctional system that will copy, print and scan.

The CW2200SP will be Ricoh's first attempt at their own color wide format system,  they've had the piezo ink technology for quite some time however it was limited to their Gelsprinter line of color ink printers.

I was going to do a spec review, however I changed my mind and wanted point out what's unique and special in reference to the scanning function of this system.

Scan2 features:

If you're familiar with scanning on Ricoh MFP devices, then you're in luck, all of the functionality of scanning from Ricoh's popular MFP's has been adopted with the CW2200SP.

You'll be able to perform walk up on-the-fly color scan2email, just enter a users email address, you can also add a cc: a bcc:, a subject line and even a message (the large color screen will turn into a qwerty keyboard for easy typing), with a touch of the button the wide format document will be scanned and attached as a .pdf.

If you're not interested in color scan2email, you can adopt the color scan2folder. Just setup a folder on any ones PC, or you can even set up folders on your server.  With the AEC (Architects, Engineers, Construction)  industry you can set multiple folders maybe one for proposals, specs, bids, etc.

How about color scan2cloud, yup I've tested Ricoh MFP's with scan2dropbox and it works very well, you might even want to think about getting a middleware product like UDOCX for scanning to
sharepoint or MS 365.

An additional nice feature is

Managing Print Costs for Wide Format Ink Plotters

Over the weekend I took the time to finish one of my spreadsheets that enables us (Print4Pay Hotel members) to identify the cost per square foot for HP inkjet plotters.  Let me tell you this was no easy task.  Why in the world is there no information from HP that states how many mililiters of black ink is used to print one square foot for a CAD drawing?  Every time I searched the HP web site for additional information about cost per page for Designjet plotters I was stymied by a notice that stated there was no information.

I was able to find a few documents that related to color use, but nothing related to CAD drawings.  Each HP plotter cartridge tells us how much ink is in the cartridge, but you'll never use all of the ink due to evaporation, ink head cleaning/purging and some residual ink left in the cartridge.  For example one cartridge has 69ml (mililiters) of ink.  Thus I was curious as to how much ink is a mililiter.   A mililiter measure to be one thousandth of a liter.  I know liters because that's because most of the soda bottles are now measured in liters, but how about a mililiter?  Is that less than a shot glass, more than a tablespoon? I found this handy document that tells us 1ml is also equal to 1cc, 2.5 ml is equal to a half of teaspoon, 5ml is a teaspoon, and 30ml equal two tablespoons or 1 fluid ounce.  Ok, I get it so the HP cartridge that hold 69 mililiters of ink is equal to a little more than 2 ounces.  Since the cartridge resells for $69, the price per mililiter is $1.00.

As I stated the key was to

To Ricoh "What I Want for Christmas in 2013"

In Nova Scotia, during the twelve days of Christmas small groups of belsnicklers, or masked mummers, appear in neighborhoods, ringing bells, making noise, seeking candy or other treats. The hosts may try to guess who the mummers are and if they guess right the mummer removes his or her disguise and stops making rude noises and actions. Children may be quizzed by the mummers on their behavior if they say they have been good they are rewarded with candy. Thanx to Santas Net.

This will be the third year I've written a blog about "What I Want for Christmas".  If you'd like to read the others follow the links To Ricoh "What I Want for Christmas in 2011" and To Ricoh "What I Want for Christmas in 2012"

Here's my list for Ricoh this year:

• 60-90 page per minute A4 MFP's Color or Black
• 4 PPM Toner based Wide Format MFP with Color Scan for the USA market (You gave this to Australia and Europe buy not the Americas)
• Hi Speed Network Scan Station that will scan at 100 image per minute plus along with a 200 page document feeder and the ability to scan2email, scan2folder and scan2cloud (I really want this one the most)
• Wide Format Inkjet MFP that will Color Print/Color Scan and Color Copy
• A4 Color Envelope Press with Color Matching
• A3 Color Envelope Press with Color Matching (Dam, you gave this to Xante but not me!)
• A Full Size Color Screen for the MPC305 and MPC301 (If you can get me this, could you get me a real good pair of glasses so I can see the screen on these models)
• How about anything with the memjet print engine (before Xerox and Toshiba brings theirs to market)
• You promised me ICE (Integrated Cloud Environment) last year, can you bring this to me this year?
• MFPs that will have standard scan2OCR, scan2print and create search able pdf's (everyone else has these, why not me).

If you'd like to anything to the list, please do so in the comment section!

-=Good Selling=-

10 Hints on How to Be Successful Selling Wide Format MFP's

The other day I received and email from Dean over at Affordable Business Systems.  He had purchased my book titled "How to Be Successful Selling Digital Wide Format Systems", and was curious if I had a vertical market letter to go along with book.  I stated I did and I would post that letter on the Premium Print4Pay Hotel forums, so he could download for his rep.

When Ricoh first released the Aficio 240W, geesh I can't even remember what it was, however I can remember that the Ricoh 240W was a kick ass system.  It was one of those rare moments in the industry when I had the only small footprint, low volume digital wide format toner based system (print, scan, copy, collate, reduce, enlarge) on the market that was priced at under $20,000. 

We had the market for almost two years with no competition, it was not uncommon to make over $3,000 in commissions per system.  The key was to engage with potential clients that were outsourcing their wide format prints and scans.  There was an immediate ROI to the customer since most were outsourcing 3,000 square feet a month at .25 cents to .50 cents per month.  Sales were awesome! As always good things come to an end and every copier manufacturer thus released their own version of low volume digital wide format system.

I thought I would share some of my wide format tips that I've gathered over the years.  I have put together a list of my top 10, I'll post five of them here and the rest I'll post on the Premium Print4Pay Hotel forums along with my vertical marketing letter. If you order my book and send me an email I'll email you the entire 10 tips:

1. Join your local AIA Association
2. Sponsor events for you local AIA Association such dinners, awards, continuing education events and golf outing.
3. Join your local Professional Engineering Association
4. Sponsor events for you local Professional Engineering Association such dinners, awards, continuing education events and golf outing.
5. Speak their language, get familiar with terms like red line, blueline, ANSI, vector, raster, as-built
6. Find out.............................................
7. Focus on scan.....................................
8. Know what the break point for .................................
9. Know what the customer is paying..................................
10.  Know the disadvantages of ......................

Even though the AEC market has suffered from the economy there are still a ton of these systems in the field.  They will all need to be upgraded.

=Good Selling=-

WTF, Memjet Partners with Fuji/Xerox, Canon/Oce & Toshiba

I was surprised to say the least!  While reading through the Drupa Press Releases (for those who don't know, DRUPA is the worlds largest print & imaging show. It's held once every four years in beautiful Dusseldorf, Germany.  I like to call it the Olympics of Print & Imaging) I read that Fuji/Xerox, Canon/Oce and Toshiba have partnered with Memjet to produce wide format systems that will incorporate Memjets Waterfall print head.

Fuji Xerox will integrate Memjets Waterfall printhead into a 42 inch roll feed wide format system for printing technical and production graphics.  Up to 1600x1600 dpi resolution. 1600x1600 will print at 150mm per second and lower resolution will print at 300mm per second.  What!  mm per second?  WTF is that?  A quick conversion will tell us that 25.4 mm equals one inch. Dang at 300mm per second you'll get full color output at 11.8 inches per second!  Thats' fast! The video on the left is the Fiji/Xerox unit at Drupa  Awesome!
Not to be outdone, Toshiba has also partnered with Memjet.  Here's a snippet from the Press Release:

Under the partnership, Toshiba TEC Corporation will initially work to integrate Memjet components into a Multi-Function Peripheral (MFP) product targeted for the office market. The MFP will feature a scanner, photocopier and color printer that produces high-quality color pages at 60 pages per minute, thanks to Memjet's revolutionary page-wide print head, controller chip, software and ink. A future MFP product co-developed by both companies is being exhibited at drupa, the world's largest print industry event in Dusseldorf, Germany, in the Memjet booth, Hall 5, E28.

So, while Fuji/Xerox and Canon/Oce are focusing their efforts on wide format, Toshiba will concentrate with incorporating the technology with MFP's.  I haven't heard of anyone writing about or seeing the "future" MFP at Drupa yet.  Wish I was there, maybe in four years, right?

Now Canon/Oce has developed a device called "Project Velocity" and it seems this will be an Oce wide format system that will also use the Memjet Waterfall print head.  In a recent press release it was stated that there would be a working wide format system on preview at Drupa for printing maps and posters at a speed of 500AO format sheets. I'm not even going to look that up. It's fast!  This system is reported to house six rolls of paper.

I've been following Memjet and Silverbrook Technologies for sometime.  Recently some of their print heads have shown up in print devices that were more the size of an A4 printer.  I've only seen one and all I can say is that the user was excited about the speed but..... let me put it this way there was an issue with the color.  However, with partnering with the like of Xerox, Canon and Toshiba and the possibility of having color matching rips, I'm thinking the sky is not the limit any more for Memjet.   

-=Good Selling=-

MFP & Copier Industry Weekend Notes 3/4/2012

I'm working on a new book titled 101 Ways to Close MFP Sales. it should be completed within three weeks and it will be posted on the Premium Forums and Amazon.  If you've got a favorite close, please send it to me and we'll give you kudos and a free copy of the book!

This week Ricoh Europe announced that they will launch a color wide format gelsprinter in 3rd quarter of this year, read the threads that have been posted so far, they are not.... Canon will finally refresh the 2008 monochrome products 2500 & 3200 series, the thread is below check it out and Sharp announces price increase for April 1st.

Yours truly will be interviewed by The Week in Imaging this week about reaching the 1,000th blog!

I've started a new forum for posting our "best sale of the month", I think it would be educational for all of us to hear you brag about the sale, how you nailed it, how you found the customer, did a solution deal the deal, how much GP of revenue you gained, and or clicks that you captured.  There's also a $25 gift card incentive for one P4P'er each from from one of our advertisers. Tell us About Your Best Sale this Month!

On another note we've posted "Effective emails for obtaining appointments", and they are great!  They are not from me, but from your peers, check em out in the P4P Document Library!
Please take advantage of the sales documents, quotes, proposals, rfp's, rfq's, uploads, p4p library, downloads and all of the additional forum features that are enabled with a Premium Membership!
Please support our Advertisers by clicking their links and giving them a call! LCA Leasing Corp, Stethos USA, Jetmobile,  Polek & Polek, UDOCX, Print Audit, & Cybercon Dealer Services, sfSCAN

Recent Blogs of NoteSelling MFP's & Copiers "Positioning yourself as an MFP/Copier Expert"
Canon & Oce "Was this a good deal or a not so good deal?"
Ricoh Adds Wide Format Color "OMG not the gel"
SMART MFP's 2the Cloud
I dare you...
Managed Documents "The Next Big Thing"?

Interesting & Most Viewed P4P Forum ThreadsOKI "MPS" series MFPs
Canon ImageRunner Advance 4025...
C651EX/C751EX Toner Shortage
W3601 Scan Software
Can a Kyocera 3640mfp copy mixed originals
Re: new C4502/5502
Profit Breakdown Question
New Samsung 11 x 17" Colour MFPs due Oct 01 USA
NEW! Uploaded MFP Docs in P4P Document LibraryOKI MC361 vs HP color MFP M475
OKI C330 vs HP color M451
Customer Expectations 770 Digital Color Press v1-03 For Launch
"Unlocked" Winning Proposal Generator for MPS & MFP's
Production Print Study Excel Guide
Effective emails for obtaining appointments

News & Press Releases
 Sharp Price Increase
Oce Varioprint DP Line (Oce & Canon integration)
Kyocera launches four new MFPs
Ricoh Adds Colour to Its Wide Format Portfolio (10 replies already)
NSi AutoStore 6.0 Earns Konica Minolta bEST Certification

P4P Poll QuestionsJanuary 2012 Sales Quota Poll
New Color Cost Per Page Poll for 60 ppm plus
New Color Cost Per Page Poll for 30-44 ppm COLOR
New Color Cost Per Page Poll for 45 - 59 ppm COLOR

New Leads, RFP's & RFQ's Uploaded!Illinois
Georgia
Colorado
South Africa
West Virginia
Southern California for KIP700

Uploaded Pricing Proposals & QuotesEnd User Report for Xerox 700 vs KonicaMinolta
xerox workcentre 5325 proposal
Toshiba estudio 2040c proposal
Copystar (Kyo) CS255C
Savin C9145 MFP Proposal/Quote
Ricoh C751 proposal

Go here and register for a FREE Print4Pay Hotel Membership or go here for our Premium Membership!
The Staff at the Print4Pay Hotel

Ricoh Adds Wide Format Color "OMG not the gel"

I'll make this one pretty quick.  I was alerted to an email that Ricoh unveiling a unique four-colour wide format printer and giving demonstrations at Drupa 2012.  I posted the press release here Ricoh Adds Colour to Its Wide Format Portfolio.

I'm all for new products, I've still got my feet on the street and since Epson 7700 and 9700 is now being sold by others (this was exclusive to Ricoh for awhile), well we need something we can call our own, right?

Take a look at the picture on the left, this thing is ugly! right!

About two years ago, I was able to see samples from the wide format gelsprinter and was asked to rate the color samples for Ricoh.  I'm sure I was not the only one, but with my experience in wide format it was my pleasure.  I asked about the print technology as was politely told that the technology was still under wraps.  The print quality?  It was actually very good from what I saw.

Anyway, back to this new wide format Gelsprinters.  I like Ricoh products, well most of them....except for the Gelsprinters.  About three years ago I sold 35-50 of them in one year.  They were fast, had large ink cartridges, decent quality and the printers were inexpensive!  I had one myself, and then I had two and finally three. In all 3 I got the system error 0999 code (which basically means a maintenance kit is required), to this day I think there maybe two or three left that are still running. One account had the system error code in every printer (not all at once but over time).

What's my point? From what I read this new Ricoh Aficio™ MP CW2200SP is using the same print technology.  I can only pray that these systems will run much better than the gelsprinters that I'm accustom to.

-=Good Selling=-

To Ricoh "What I Want for Christmas" 2011

The tradition of burning a Yule log actually has its roots in ancient Scandinavia. Supposedly the Yule log was a source of good luck and its remnants were saved to inspire good fortune throughout the year. It was such a widely held belief that people even threw the ashes in wells to make the water safer to drink.

It was once believed that any woman who went under a mistletoe and was not kissed would not marry the coming year.

Thanx to Interesting Christmas Facts for these.

I did a wish list for Ricoh last year, Here's what I want for this Christmas from Ricoh Americas for 2011:

• Dedicated A3 Color Envelope Printer with or without a Fiery
• 60-90 page per minute A4 MFP's
• Increased Mono & Color Scan Speeds for Segment 4 A3 MFP's
• A4 MFP's with an A3 "Cost Per Page Model"
• Embeded Browser Units on all MFP's so I can sell the heck out of UDOCX
• Duplexing A3 (11x17) Digital Duplicator
• 4 PPM Wide Format MFP with Color Scan
• Network Scanning Station: All of the Scan Features of the Ricoh MP5001 with NO print engine!
• Wide Format MFP that will Color Print/Color Scan and Color Copy
• Stop laying off good Ricoh people in favor of IKON people!

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

-=Good Selling=-

Canon & Oce "Was this a good deal or a not so good deal?"

I think I started the poll Canon & Oce "Was this a good deal or a not so good deal?" back in October of 2010.   Since that time we've had almost 400 votes on the subject.

We asked:

Good Deal, Bad Deal or Not to sure

Good Deal  took 41% and 160 votes

Bad Deal   came in at 42% and 167 votes

The Not so Sures came in at 17% and 68 votes.

It's looking like a dead heat to me, but instead of closing this poll tonight I'm going to keep it going.  The reason?  With the recent bomb dropped by Xerox that they will not be selling wide format after 2011 leaves a GIANT void.  I'm expecting that OCE District Sales Managers will be out in droves trying to sign on each and every Canon dealer to cover the GIANT void with the OCE products.  So, when you think about it, the Canon deal with Oce looms even larger than expected.

You know there's some naysayers out there that expect the wide format (LED engines) to contract here in the US, due to economy and matured market.  But sometimes, it's not just about the wide format system that was placed, more often it's about the last vendor that was in to get the wide format sale now may have an opportunity to compete for the MFP business. Or, how about the large AEC firms that wants to do business with one brand for all of their devices, keeping things simple with billing, support, web tools and all of the other goodies.  With Xerox out of the wide format business so to speak, what dealers or what direct branches will stand out when the customer wants have one brand?

The likes of Canon, and Ricoh come to mind and if you really really think about it Ricoh is the only one to OEM all of their products from MFP's to Wide Formats.  Canon will have their MFP's and Oce wide formats, the likes of KonicaMinolta will have thier MFP's and KIP, with Kycoera and Toshiba doing the same as KonicaMinolta.

My point, upside with the Canon acquisition of Oce seems to be like Canon Dealers and Direct will have more opportunities than ever.  On the other hand the downside for all of us in the wide format business is that Xerox Direct and Xerox Dealers will be eliminating stock at all costs. It won't be easy selling wide format in 2011.

Hope you liked the poll, come join us in the P4P Hotel Members only forums!

Posting now on the Forums "KIP in Trouble?" read about on the forums!

-=Good Selling=-

Xerox Does WHAT with Wide Format???

One of the items I cherish about the business is that as long as you work hard,  it seems that you'll get rewarded with new opportunities that you never thought about.  Today happened to be one of those days.

Way back when in 1998 I was introduced the world of wide format copiers after I sold my Dealership and hooked up with a local Dealership that was a Xerox and Ricoh wide format reseller and service provider.  Up until the the introduction of the Ricoh 240W, I always felt like I was chasing Xerox, they just had an awesome amount of placements! 

As always ours is a changing business, Xerox Engineering was late to the market to introduce a low end digital wide format and companies like Ricoh, Oce and KIP took the offensive.

About three years ago I had heard a rumor that Xerox was going to eliminate the Xerox Engineering Division, however Xerox continued to release new machines and the rumor I heard many years ago seemed to be just a rumor.  You know these rumors, they come and go, some true some not so true.

Just a few days ago I had the chance to visit one of my accounts in Jersey who had just upgraded his two large Xerox wide format models (can't remember the model name, however it had an option to print red also) to two brand new KIP models.  He told that after he got the KIP's he had some found some serious flaws with the systems within a day and refused to sign nor verbally do the  D&A (delivery acceptance), I was told that KIP Corp had intervened to try and save the deal, however there was nothing and not even FREE that he would keep these machines. Thus, he turned to Xerox and got two of the Xerox 22ppm devices, those of us in the business are aware that the new Xerox were relabeled KIP machines, so without letting the cat out of the bag the flaw had to have been with the interface.  He is extremely happy with the Xerox machines.

Today, I opened my email and there it is "Xerox to stop selling wide format in the US and Canada in 2011", I was shocked!  Lord, how many times have I been shocked by this industry in the last few years!  I guess with the ancient rumor and that fact that Xerox was know relabeling units,  maybe the writing was on the wall! The article that I read states that Xerox will still continue to sell wide format in Europe and developing markets.

So, as shocking as it is, this has been confirmed by several sources that an announcement was made via conference call this morning format line is being discontinued when inventory is depleted.  You can read more on the P4P forums.

One blogger had asked if this was true that they were discontinued involvement in the black & white systems.  If the email that I saw is real it read "Wide Format" which would lead me to believe all of it. I had just checked the Xerox web site and there was no mention of this and I would tend to think that they would not do a press release since it would disrupt the inventory that's on hand.  One of the other statements that I read is that Xerox would still provide parts and service for 5 more years. 


North American players are now Oce/Canon, KIP and Ricoh,  who stands to gain the most from this? What a move by Canon a few months ago huh?  Like I said everyday day brings a new opportunity!

-=Good Selling=-

KIP 700M is the Bees Knees!

The phrase "the bee's knees", meaning "the height of excellence", became popular in the U.S. in the 1920s.  So, I'm rolling back to the roaring 20's to tout the new KIP700M Digital Wide Fomat System.  With an MSRP of $13,595 which includes color scanning, printing and copying at 3"D" Size image per minute could also be called the 'the cat's pyjamas".

Here's some specs:

LED printer with KIP HDP Plus Technology
600 x 600 dpi
100%. No waste
1 roll, Media Bypass, Cut sheet feeder (20 pages - from A2 to A4) (option)
Bond, Vellum, Tranlucent Bond, Film
(W)1245mm x (D) 680mm x (H) 611mm (stand excl.)
Ethernet 10/100 Mbits/s, USB 2.0
AutoCAD 2004 and up
Contact Image Sensor (CIS)
HPGL, HPGL/2, HP-RTL, TIFF, CALS type 1, ED MICS (C4), DWF, CalComp 906/907/951, Adobe ®, PostScript/PDF (optional)

From everything I've found on the internet and a few posts from Print4Pay Hotel Members, it seems the KIP 700M will be a BIG DEAL!  With a list price of $13,595, and all indications that it will include color scan, copy, and print, the KIP 700M is a great value.

Here's a few threads I found on the web:

"I like that it has a cut sheet, you can load that up with 18" x 24" or 17" x 22" and put a 36" or 34" roll in the printer and print C, D and E size prints." http://www.keepitprinting.com/

"A USB PORT to allow printing and saving documents scanned via the USB stick"

"Possibility to integrate a MULTIPLE CUT SHEET FEEDER (20 paper sheets from A4 to A2)"

"A COLOR TOUCH SCREEN USER INTERFACE in front"

Now, I have not seen all of the specs for this device yet. I'm thinking .pdf printing and scanning might be an option, not sure if it will scan2folder or scan2email, plus I'm not even sure of the controller speed, memory or hard drive size.  But at the price point of $13,595, this should be an attractive solution for many low volume users in the AEC market to save money and just may produce additional sales from AEC users who have older inkjet plotters. There are many AEC users that wanted to add copying and color scanning but they could never justify the cost of the current devices on the market.

I'm extremely excited to see this device come to market and I'm convinced the likes of OCE, Xerox and Ricoh will have to follow.  A Print4Pay Hotel Member posted a thread on the boards stating that KonicaMinolta will also be marketing this device. 

-=Good Selling=-

P4P Hotel "News & Updates" Week of January 26th 2010

Here's some of the HOT content from the last few days that's been posted on the Print4Pay Hotel's forums in recent weeks. It has been busy with over 30,000 page views, 81 new members and a little over a 1,000 downloads.

Webinar Threads:

February 10th---- NEW Print Audit "MIF" Review Webinar!


Most Viewed Threads:

PC issues with MP W5100/7140 c...
Ricoh Pro C720
Toner Page Cover Examples
Xerox Plans to Cut 2,500 Jobs
Help, IKON CPP500 Relationship with Konica Minolta

Interesting Threads:

Selling Copiers "Machines in Field" Review
KonicaMinolta loses NJ Dealer!
New University Copier Contract (Xerox)
Soda, Pop, Coke or Other
The Next One
Bizhubs and Alchemy

Posted RFP's:

3 MFP's RFQ (Due 2/12/10)
6 MPF's "BIDS ARE DUE BY FEBRUARY 15, 2010"
Copiers for Iraq
Bid for 20 MFP's
Qty 1 New Production Copy Machine "Expires 1/21/10"
RFP for 431 units

Pricing on the Street:

Ricoh Pro 907EX
Canon imagePRESS 1110S
Xerox DocuColor 242
Ricoh Pro C900

The Print4Pay Hotel is the world's only business/social site dedicated to people who work in the office equipment industry. Go ahead log on.....become a member of the Print4Pay Hotel!

become informed, share and maintain your knowledge.

-=Good Selling=-

P4P Hotel "News & Updates"

Here's some of the sizzling content that's been posted on the Print4Pay Hotel's forums in recent weeks. It has been busy with over 30,000 page views, 81 new members and a little over a 1,000 downloads.

Interesting Threads:

February 10th---- NEW Print Audit "MIF" Review Webinar!
The History of Cloud Computing

Most Viewed Threads:

Hold for Resources
Let's talk about ComColor
Top Patents Issued in 2009
Managed Print Services Shaking up the Office Equipment
Scan in One City, Print in Another by City

Interesting Threads:

Selling Copiers "Machines in Field" Review
DECEMBER PROMOS* and HOME THEATER GIVEAWAY!!*
Samsung "Going After the Big Dogs"
Top Ten Predictions for the Copier Industry in 2010
Regarding Canon Fax830i
How to Justify a Large-Format Scanner, Part 1
How an $18K printer turned into a $1.5M lawsuit Nashville Business Journal

Posted RFP's:

Qty 1 New Production Copy Machine "Expires 1/21/10"
RFP for 431 units
Print Optimization Project
Copiers for the City's Reprographics Office
Purchase Of Printers
CANON COPIER MAINTENANCE AND SUSTAINMENT

Pricing on the Street:

Ricoh MPC 4000 Proposal
KM Bizhub C360 & C280
Ricoh MP C3300SPF
City of Ashland "Ricoh Agreement"
KIP 3100
KM bizhub C360 Muni Proposal
sHARP MX503N_Sharp MX453n pROPOSAL
Sharp 5MX503N_SharpMX453N Quote
Xerox 5655PT_Xerox 5638PT

The Print4Pay Hotel is the world's only business/social site dedicated to people who work in the office equipment industry. Go ahead log on.....become a member of the Print4Pay Hotel!

become informed, share and maintain your knowledge.

-=Good Selling=-

Ricoh Set to Launch Color Plotter

Well, we Ricoh Family Group wide format guys and gals have been asking for a color plotter for years! Finally, it seems we are going to get what we've been asking for.

In few short days Ricoh will "officially launch" the Ricoh 7700 and Ricoh 9700. The Ricoh 7700 is a 24 inch wide color plotter that has five ink cartridges, three for color and two for black, while the 9700 is a 44 inch model with all of the same features of the 7700. MSRP for the 7700 is $2,995 and $4,995 for the 9700.

This information is available on Ricoh's web site? NO, not yet, however it is on Epsons web site. Here's the link 7700 & 9700

There's also a link to buy this system through the Espon site, however when you click the link you are directed to Ricoh's web site. It seems this model Epson will only be resold through Ricoh Family Group Dealers and Ricoh branches.

I'm a little curious, will these plotters have the Ricoh name on them? Will all of the branding be Ricoh or Epson?

We, it really doesn't matter, Ricoh's got a strong wide format presence and one of the items missing was a low end device, the thinking is that the new plotters will act as a seeding with the hope that in a few years users will migrate to the larger devices.

Over the last 12 months more and more low end AEC users have been pulling the trigger on low end plotters due to the fact that they are receiving files and plans via email or via disk.

I think it's gonna be a winner for Ricoh and a great seeding program.

-=Cheers=-

MFP Weekend Industry Notes from 1/8/10

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

- Sharp announced it has renewed its lease on a 500,000 square foot office/warehouse in southeast Memphis, TN. Pricing unknown.

Sharp announced it would open up a factory direct branch in Mexico City, Mexico.

- Hewlett Packard announced it won a managed print services contract from a healthcare firm in Connecticut. Details:
- Contract included Capella Technologies FormPort Server software that generates forms for
Healthcare industry
- Contract included 65 HP LaserJet devices
- Average volume per device of 5,000 to 6,000 per month
- Grove Hill Medical Center, has more 70 physicians, and replaced over 100 dot matrix printers.

- In 2000, Xerox & Kodak combined employed 38,750 workers in Rochester, NY area. Now the total is 15,430.

- Big fight over a facilities management contract in California between HP and Xerox:
- California Department of Health Care Services announced its intent to award the $1.4 billion Medi-Cal contract to Xerox, to its ACS division (which it just acquired for $6.4 billion)
- The contract is for 10 years, and was previously held by Hewlett Packard (which gained the contract when it acquired EDS two years ago)
- The contract handles $19 million in medical claims from 7 million beneficiaries
- The bid contract is 40,000 pages long
- “We’re very disappointed with the decision. We’re in the process of reviewing the document before we determine our next step”, said Bill Ritz, spokesperson for HP.
- HP current employs 2,000 in California to fulfill the contract.

- Xerox announced it would layoff 181 employees in its ACS call center in Houston, TX due to lack of work.

- Xerox’s ACS division announced it won a five year, $72 million contract from DCP Midstream, an energy company in Denver. The contract includes desktop support, network services, messaging, document management, IT security and managed print services.

- Copytronics Information Systems announced it won a 5 year contract that includes 320 copiers to Volusia County, Florida.

- The Kansas City, MO ethics committee was appointed to investigate elected Kansas City officials in regards to a copier contract:
- Reams of depositions from a Jackson County Circuit Court case are being forwarded to the committee
- City Attorney Galen Beaufort said the depositions being forwarded are from the lawsuit filed by copier dealer, Perfect Output LLC, against the city and the winning bidder, Ricoh Business Systems.
- The suit alleges that Ricoh wrongly interfered in the city’s decision making.
- The city auditor’s office issued a report concluding that the selection criteria was biased and that the actions of an unnamed City Council member may have tainted the process.

- IKON, a division of Ricoh, lost employee to solutions vendor. Scott Robinson was named Senior Account Manager of TERIS, in its San Diego office, which specializes in litigation support services for law firms.

- Recent statistics on the print for pay industry from American Printer magazine:
- Web printers run their presses an average of 5.2 days per week in 2009
- More than half of printshop owners expect paper prices to increase in 2010.
- 33% of printshop owners are concerned about success of Amazon Kindle electronic book’s effect on reducing need for book printing.
- 23% feel that the biggest issue is improving the front end link from customer to prepress department
- 51% believe that digital toner presses threaten web offset print volumes
- 61% state that their customers are printing less direct mail pieces due to higher postal costs
- 90% of end users who receive bills in mail open them. In contrast, if they receive bill via email, only 72% open the email.
- 32% plan on acquiring a new digital toner press in 2010.

- Fujitsu announced it would start a managed print services program in Japan, called “Workplace LCM Service”. Unknown if it will launch similar program in the U.S.

- 1,200 workers at Fujitsu’s offices in England went on strike to protest changes in their pension plans.

- A company that provides outsourced CRM and call center work, announced it is entering the copier services market. Service USA, headquarters in Leawood, Kansas, claims it will offer:
- maintain and repair copiers and printers
- automated customer and field service systems
- covers equipment in commercial locations like grocery and convenience store chains
- deploys technicians nationwide to provide install, maintenance and repair

- LG Electronics, Panasonic and Sony apparently showed prototype 3D, high definition flat screen televisions at the recent Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. DirecTV also announced it will launch a 3D satellite channel in 2010. The goal is to convince all owners of HDTV flat screens to upgrade to 3DTV units in next couple of years.

- Japan’s prime minister, Yukio Hatoyama, apparently expressed interest in relaxing nuclear technology export restrictions. (This would undoubtedly help Toshiba Corp, which is betting big on expansion of worldwide nuclear plant construction)

- Better Buys For Business magazine gave out Editors Choice awards to the following Konica Minolta color MFP models:
- bizhub C280
- bizhub C360
- bizhub C452
- bizhub C552
- bizhub C652

-=Good Selling=-

Copier Dealers "How to Increase Your Success"

Tired of selling Digital Copiers, tired of the competition and pricing pressures that comes with it.

Look no further! I'm gonna tell you that if you're not selling color wide format multifunctional systems or wide format color scanners, then you're missing a whole lotta sales!


In the last two years after hooking up with Paradigm Imaging in Costa Mesa, CA., I've been able to place several wide format color scanners, several wide format color printers and a little over a handful of the color wide format multifunctional systems.

Look around, check your competition and I'll be dollars to doughnuts there's not that many dealers or companies that carry these products. It's not because they don't work well, nor because their is a ton of support, more like it's one of the best kept secrets in the industry. Take another look around and see how many dealers are selling copiers in your area, quite a few right, so why not take a page from Captain Kirk's famous Kobayashi Maru test and change the programing, or better yet change your tactics. When cold calling focus on the AEC market place, most owners will be engaging because you're not just another copier guy. Hey, if you can sell and support multifunctional copiers, you can sell and support wide format color products.

What I love about Paradigm Imaging is the level of support, they actually helped me with my first few installations! Even when I had to make a few calls about why is this doing it this way or way won't this work that way, there was someone on the phone to support me.

From what I've seen over the years from cold calling is that companies that have wide format plotters or scanners wish they had local support and not someone coming from 60 or 100 miles away. Just think today a wide format scanner, and tomorrow they buy 5 mfp's from you. You know the saying "last sale get the first sale", actually just made that one up. But, I've seen it, sold em a plotter and three months later I got a call about quoting on the mfp.

Besides having almost no competition in the market place the EIS Supra is a Color Multifunctional Wide Format system that will Scan, Print & Copy in color! Margins are good and the competition is minimal at best.

Be different, be bold, and offer something that everyone else is not offering! Psst, Direct Branches have nothing like this, get my drift!!!!!!

-=Good Selling=-

Paradigm Imaging Releases New imagePRO FLEX

Costa Mesa, CA – October 13, 2009 – Paradigm Imaging Group, a leading distributor of large-format scanning and printing solutions, announces the release of the new imagePRO FLEX Multi-Function System.

Paradigm Imaging’s exclusive imagePRO FLEX system features the imagePRO Gx 42 HD PLUS Series scanners, which deliver the highest definition CCD image capture available on the market. These scanners also feature a state-of-the-art feed mechanism, allowing for the safe scanning of delicate originals, such as tissue patterns and delicate artwork.

Here are a few of the highlights of the new imagePRO FLEX:
• Gx 42 HD PLUS Series Scanner:
o Instant-On, long-life 2D LED illumination system
o 1200 dpi optical resolution
o Fast 12ips monochrome and up to 4ips color scan speed
o Up to .8” max media thickness (T models)
o 48-bit color data capture
o Network ready with Gigabit Ethernet connectivity

• Rocket Scanner Controller
o Includes Windows XP® Professional
o Intel Core 2 Quad-Core Q6600 1.4Ghz processor
o 2GB DDR PC2-5300 memory
o 250GB SATA-150 (7200 rpm) 8MB cache hard drive

• Exclusive Paradigm imageFLOW® scan-print-copy software
o Touch screen and keyboard control
o Interactive scan-print-copy controls
o Over 550 printers supported
o Includes over 325 ICC output profiles

• Mini 101 keyboard with touch pad
• 15” touch screen panel
• iP-FLEX stand accommodates printers up to 49 inches high
• One-year on-site warranty with an optional two-year warranty upgrade

The imagePRO FLEX is available in four models:
• imagePRO FLEX Gx42C
o Color scanning speed up to .75 inches per second
• imagePRO FLEX GxT42C
o Color scanning speed up to .75 inches per second
o Thick document scanning up to .8 inches
• imagePRO FLEX Gx42E
o Color scanning speed up to 4 inches per second
• imagePRO FLEX GxT42E
o Color scanning speed up to 4 inches per second
o Thick document scanning up to .8 inches

The integration of the imagePRO Gx 42 HD PLUS series scanners into the FLEX System makes it a perfect solution for any application requiring high quality color capture – artwork, graphics, and photographs. With over 550 printers supported by Paradigm’s imageFLOW® software, the imagePRO FLEX is an economical, versatile, scan-print-copy solution.

“The imagePRO FLEX is a valuable addition to our popular line of multi-function systems, allowing us to offer a full spectrum of solutions to a wider variety of markets. The ability to utilize equipment that already exists in the client’s facility is the key component of the imagePRO FLEX System, and another example of our customer-driven philosophy,” said Randy Geesman, President of Paradigm Imaging Group.

About Paradigm Imaging Group
Paradigm Imaging Group is a large format solutions provider whose expertise extends from scanning and printing products to imaging systems integration, software development and product distribution. Paradigm counts among its clients companies in reprographics, architecture, engineering, construction and manufacturing, as well as numerous public agencies at all levels of government. Since 1989, Paradigm has grown to become a leading provider of large format scanning and printing solutions.
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-=Good Selling=-