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Wednesday, September 29, 2010

HP LaserJet Pro CM1415 Color "What's the Total Cost of Operation"

31 years of selling laser printers to commercial accounts, well...I've pretty much seen and heard it all. Over those years I've had many clients who did not purchase a laser printer from me, because they thought my printer was too expensive!

What peeves me the most is when I'm trying to communicate (help) the cost per page of a device or the total cost of ownership of the device. Many accounts will opt for the small inexpensive printers where the manufacturer states "with a maximum duty cycle of 30,000 pages per month" (Duty cycle: the maximum possible number of pages that can be printed per month) I ask you, what the heck does Duty Cycle really mean? Does it mean, I can print 40,000 pages each and every month on this device that only cost me $449 for the printer? I'll give credit when credit is due, HP actual states a recommended print volume for the HP LaserJet Pro CM1415 Color which reads "HP recommends that the number of printed pages per month be within the stated range for optimum device performance, based on factors including supplies replacement intervals and device life over an extended warranty period."  The recommended range is 300 to 1,500 pages per month, however there is no reference made to them all 1,500 pages can be color. Most systems have some type of limit as to how mamy color pages can be produced each month.

I was just nice to HP and now I'm gonna slam em, is there really any need for this?  Monthly duty cycle

Up to 30,000 pages, and they back this up with this explanation! "Duty cycle is defined as the maximum number of pages per month of imaged output. This value provides a comparison of product robustness in relation to other HP LaserJet or HP Color LaserJet devices, and enables appropriate deployment of printers and MFPs to satisfy the demands of connected individuals or groups." I've been doing this for 31 years and can't figure out what they mean except for the fact is that you're telling me I can do up to 30,000 pages a month.

Let me show you what happens if you would print 30,000 pages per month on the HP LaserJet Pro CM1415 Color.

I have this neat software package that can actually give the cost per page of most printers and multifunctional products and why shouldn't I. I'm the darn expert. Some software programs may vary in the price per page.

So, this really cool HP LaserJet Pro CM1415 Colorsells for $449. It  has a neat print speed of 8 pages per minute for color and 12 pages per minute for black. The black toner cartridge cost for this device is $69.67 with a yield of 2,000 pages. Mind you that the 2,000 page yield is based on probably 5% coverage of the page. There are three color cartridges, Cyan, and Magenta are $61.00.63 each and Yellow is $66.28 each. The estimated yield for the color cartridges is 1,300 pages based on 20% coverage.

Now, you may ask what is 20% color coverage of the page, pretty much if you condensed all of the color print area to one area, it means it can't cover more than 20% of the page. Take a trip here to see color page coverage examples

Back to the color cost per page (we're just gonna focus on the color cost per page), divide the cost of all four cartridges by the yield, and then add em up and you have a color cost per page of .1798. Ok, I gonna print me my  maximum volume of 30,000 color pages (remember there's no statement on if they can all be color), so, how much is that gonna cost me? It's gonna cost you $5,394 each and every month, and if you maintain that volume for 36 months, you'll be out a whopping $194,184! WHOA, NOW THAT'S A REALLY BIG NUMBER! Plus it's about $90,000 cheaper than the Xerox Phaser 6125!

How about if you print all your docs with 40% coverage (go back to the page coverage link for an example). Get a load of this number, simple math it's twice the cost. $388,476 for the total cost of operation and that's about .36 cents per page.

Just for giggles the cost at 100% coverage the Total Cost of Operation runs up to $971,028 and a cost per page for just under ONE DOLLAR. Believe it or NOT!  When compared to the Xerox Phaser 6125 the HP device will save you a cool $500,000 (enough for a nice yatch).

Hey, I understand that most users don't print all their pages at 40%, and I understand (because I'm in the business) that this printer will might choke a few times before it prints 40,000 pages in one month, however how does the end user know this? Most of the disclaimers are vague (I appluad HP for at least posted a recommended volume), well maybe it can do 40,000 pages per month, but at 18 pages per minute that would take almost 66 hours to complete. Point is there should be some type of real measuring stick for these types of devices. Like there's no way on Earth that this system will print 30,000 color pages per month every month.

In closing, if you're thinking about doing on 30,000 color pages per month, with 20% coverage on the page, opt for the SAVING MONEY, and call a Print4Pay Hotel member to save you some real cash. Here's a neat link (P4P Cafe) to get a quote on a Really Nice MFP so you can get that Really Expensive Ride to Romulus!!

-=Good Selling=-




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Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Dirty MFP Leases, Done Dirt Cheap!


Who owns the customer when an Office Equipment Dealer or Direct Branch introduces a third party vendor (Leasing Company) for the financing of the MFP System? 

This question has been asked over and over in our industry.  Here's paragraph from Frank G. Cannata that is posted on Great America Leasing Corp's web site.

"The leasing companies who provide these "low rates" have to inflate the residuals in order to make it work. With the transition from analog to digital, it became painfully obvious that the residual values on the leased inventory were inordinately high and totally unsupportable.



The problem arises at the end of the lease when the dealer elects to go with another leasing provider. That is when the fun begins. It starts with fuzzy or vague end-of-lease requirements. The term "evergreen" is used when the customer has passed the period that allows him or her to terminate the lease. They often are extended without the consent or even knowledge of the customer. But that is only half of the story."

Frank also mentions the evergreen clause and also comments on how dealers try to maneuver around some of the end of lease terms to help the customer.  All of this has been going on for years, it's nothing new to us in the business. 

What's new? The first time I saw it was from Wells Fargo (if you know me you know how I feel about them, making a church make 12 extra payments on a lease because the church notified them a month earlier than what the lease contract called for), after the customer requested to return (customer sent Letter of Intent) the system, WF would then contact the customer and offer the customer to buy the unit from them, plus they would finance it!  Basically, cutting out the dealer and offering a lower buy price to the customer than what may have been offered to the Dealer or Direct Branch.  For all intentions Wells Fargo was now in the business of selling "off lease" copiers to the end user or the Dealers/Direct customer.

Now, just the other day I received a "ship to" location to return a Ricoh device to CIT.  Low and behold at the bottom of the page CIT had a quote for the customer to keep (buy) the unit, along with that they were willing to refinance the unit.  I'm guessing that CIT is now in the business of selling "off lease" copiers also.

My beef is that in all of these deals, the Dealer or Branch brought the leasing company to the party. If it were not for the Dealer/Direct Branch the leasing company would have never had the opportunity to engage with the customer. Is nothing sacred anymore?  Personally with this kind of end of lease behavior I couldn't give a rats ass about  either CIT or Wells Fargo and what happens with their device.  It's our (Dealer/Direct) customer and if you want them back then give the dealer incentives to keep the old unit instead of massing hundreds of thousands of old copiers in copier bone yards that are scattered across the country.

On the other hand there are those that say that Dealers and Direct Branches made their own bed by engaging Leasing Companies that had the lowest rate factor and the highest return on the copier. That's a good point, and you get what you pay for.  All Leasing companies are not created equal, some are very good like Great America and Clune Leasing, some are learning by their mistake and making changes, and some are still out their to enforce their contracts to make headaches for everyone.

Dealers/Direct need to take a more long term approach with who they make their bed with and those who lease need to read the fine print before they sign on the bottom line!

-=Good Selling=-

P4P Hotel's "This Week in Copiers"



Special thanx to Print4Pay Hotel Members from around the world and a few moles in very good places!Take a moment and join the largest group of copier professionals in the world. Here's the link for the P4P Hotel forums

Now that Summer if officially over it's time to get back to those great work habits, the P4P forums has some great discussion threads for all!

Wooo Hooo!  We've uploaded our first proposal for a KIP700M, you wouldn't believe the price that was quoted to an Architect in NJ!!!


Interesting P4P Forum Threads

OMG! Copier Rep Turned into POS! Read this!
Rumor has it.....
When was the last time you did a demo in your demo room?
Most Viewed P4P Forum Threads
Industrial Label Printers

KIP 700M Question? Need your help?


Recent Leads & RFPS

The Corporation of the City of Fernie
RFP in IL Printer/Copier Lease and Annual Maintenance
Copy Machines, Digital RFP in Ohio
RFP for Blueprint Copier in Kentucky
Wide Format & MFP RFQ in CT!!! 13 days left
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS for MFP in CT!
RFP for 19 Digital Copiers in ...Mid West AmericaPRE-PROPOSAL CONFERENCE Multifunctional Digital Equipment
Future Lead "County Enters 2 Year Agreement for Sharp Copiers"

P4P Hotel Document Library (Uploads)ROI for inkjet vs LED wide format
Simple Excel Copier Proposal Spreadhseet
Wide Format Sales Customer Questionnaire
KIP GSA Pricing
How to over come Objections

Interesting Threads
New Samsung 11 x 17" Colour MFPs due Oct 01 USA
One of the coolest websites I've seen
The Joy of Salesman Video "Awesome!"

"New Poll" First time New Appointments
A4 Page Volumes
Kyocera Sharepoint connector

-=Good Selling=-

Saturday, September 25, 2010

The Future of Robot Copiers


I picked this up in my "g" alerts the other day, at first I had deleted it, then I had a thought about how these robots would need to be repaired,  after all they are machines, right?

Yomiuri Shimbun: What is your strategy for the robot business?

Fujio Mitarai: We'll integrate Canon's basic lens, image processing and semiconductor technologies. In the initial phase, these technologies will be used at many of our factories, and later we'll use them to produce and market industrial robots, starting no later than 2015.

Further down the road, this could lead to robots for nursing care and medical treatment. These robots will use artificial intelligence to analyze people's conditions and treat them, and use sensors to determine how much power is needed to lift a heavy item.

We've made great strides in refining the technologies needed for robot production. We're also considering mergers and acquisitions of robotics companies.


Whoa, robots for nursing care and medical treatment, how will their bedside treatment be, could it be better than what we have now? Twenty Fifteen is only a little over 4 years away for Canon to start marketing industrial robots. A quick google of industrial robots led me to Epson, FANUC and irobot (SUGV).

What will the future bring with robotics?  Robots are already used in manufacturing especially in the car industry.  Will we have robots that greet us, feed us, drive us, care for us and shop for us in the not to distant future? It has to be that way right, what happens when all of the developing countries don't have cheap labor anymore, what could be cheaper than to have a robot perform those tasks. You wouldn't have to pay them, give them a vacation, a pension, no sick days, no medical costs.  Robots will be a part of our daily lives in the future (thank god it's not my future).

Could the copier companies of today become the on-site service providers for the robots of the future? I say yes, there's going to have to be a fleet of service providers,. Statistics from the International Ferderation of Robotics estimate that there will be million units in service by the end of 2011 and JRA predicts a 15 Billion dollar market by the end of 2015.

Darn, do you think we'll have copiers that will load their own paper, fill their own toner hoppers, remove their own paper jams?  I think not, by the time we get their I'm betting dollars to doughnuts paper will have gone the way of the horse and buggy. Truly, when was the last time you saw a piece of paper in a Star Trek movie?

-=Good Selling=-

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

5 Ways to Make Copier Cold Calling Fun!


Who remembers this from Glengarry Glen Ross?

Blake: We're adding a little something to this month's sales contest. As you all know, first prize is a Cadillac Eldorado. Anybody want to see second prize?

[Holds up prize]
Blake: Second prize is a set of steak knives. Third prize is you're fired.

Geezz, that's cruel!!

One of the more delightful past times in my job is cold calling. That's when you get on the phone and start calling companies to make an appointment. They call em "cold" because ummmmm A) You've never called them before. B) You have no idea who the "right person" is and my favorite C)Yes, I received your information and we're not interested (whoa, wait a minute, I've never sent you an information), and then the hang up!

Since I've been doing this for over 30 years, I don't have to make as many cold calls (and I give thanks for that). In the office today, one of our new reps was getting nowhere with his calls. Call after call, our new salesperson maintained composure was cheerful and clear in his deliverance of the the script. Somewhere after the 30th phone call our new sales person delivered a great sigh, and proclaimed he was getting nowhere and was mentally drained.

Since we sit across from each other I mentioned to him to change the script, or to make an adjustment in what he was delivering. Just like a hitter will do when playing the game of baseball, change your stance, change your grip, alter your timing. After all winners make things happen and losers wait for things to happen. With that I dug through my assorted piles of paper, for a script that I had saved many months ago. You know the ones I'm talking about, they got the scribbles on the side, the coffee stain on the bottom of the page.

With that our new rep went back to work and the very next phone call he was able to talk to Mr. Right and was able to set a tentative appointment. Whose to say it was the new script or you hit the right number to get that appointment or with the new scrip there was rejuvenation. Point is, it worked and the last 30 calls were forgotten and the feeling of accomplishment was back for the new guy!

There are no rules for cold calling, I'll tell you that before I make the "cold call" I will take the time to know  something about the business I'm calling. I'll try to find out what they sell, from there I'll make the call and ask for help from the person who answers the phone, I'll also tell them that this is the first time I've ever called them. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. I'll try to make most of my "cold calls" early in the AM and later in the PM, thus reserving the middle of the day to contact existing customers or my "warm" (companies where you have the right contact person and or you've spoken with them already) calls.

What I can tell the new reps is that they need to have fun with the calls, inject some humor or a comment about the weather, or when someone answers the phone with this is "Hobart, McKenzie, Zipple, Howard, Smith and Kapple" I'll comment with "wow, that's a lot to say with every call", usually I'll get a chuckle and then see if I can get through or at least get the information that I need. Another avenue is to ask when is the best time to get a hold of Mr or Mrs Right, usually you will get some help. One that I like is "I'm just calling to see if there is a need and if not I'd like to mail some information and who can I address that to", once you have the right person, make sure you out something in the mail and then follow up.

Cold calling is a necessary evil, but always keep in mind that every company you call is selling something also, without sales there is no business.

Hopes this help!

-=Good Selling=-

Monday, September 20, 2010

Top 5 Hot Dog Hangouts for Copier Reps!


In an ongoing thread posted in the "Made For You" Category of the Print4Pay Hotel forums, "Where to find the Best Hot Dogs" has been an ongoing topic of discussion. One member in North Jersey especially likes Rutt's Hut Fried Hot Dogs, GMAN stated "If you are into SPECIALTY wieners and like your food FRIED, take a spot at Rutt's Hut in New Jersey (not far from Ricoh HQ and the Pine Brook office!), GMAN also posted a link for this youtube video, the video also claims that Babe Ruth was a great connoisseur of Rutts Famous Dog!

When GMAN speaks about Hot Dogs, I'm there...I even paid a visit while in between demo's and chowed down on a couple of "rippers" that's Northern Jersey slang for hot dogs! fuggetaboutit these dogs are awesome!

Another Print4Pay Hotel member (that would be me), posted a thread for his top Hot Dog Stand in the world!! Where would that be, way down south in Melbourne, Florida at Mustards Last Stand (Chicago Style Hot Dogs).  You just gotta love the name right?  I found Mustards Last Stand by accident, while in Florida and traveling to watch my son's Collegiate Baseball Team play Florida Tech. 

There it was, larger than life a GIANT mustard colored sign that was screaming for me to pull over at once and get a handful of dogs. The wife and I made the stop and let me tell you these where the best Hot Dogs I've ever had and I'm kinda like a Hot Dog connoisseur, well at least in Jersey!  My wife had the surf and turf  and I had the discovery dog, hey... make sure when you're there that you check out the awesome fries.  BTW, the wife made me order a Yankee Dog for the kid, how embarrassing what that (I'm a Met fan)?  You can check out Mustards Last Stand Video.

Along came another thread from a long time Print4Pay Hotel member (Jason), he recommends Pinks in Hollywood, CA. Me, never been there, however I'll take Jason's word that they've got great dogs! Rumor is the line can be a mile long!!! I found this video on youtube for Pinks,  let me tell you these dogs seem awesome, two dogs in one bun, I'm loving it!!!  enjoy!!!!!

When you're talking Hot Dogs on the East Coast, you're talking Buttzville, NJ!!! Buttzville...kinda makes you laugh out loud (if you're 5), no joke that's when I was first introduced to Hot Dog Johnny's.  I can't tell you how many days we'd cut school and take the hour long trip to Johnny's which sits along side a "trout stream" and State Highway 31.  The "works" includes the bun, the dog, the diced onions, the mustard and a long pickle that fits perfectly on top "o" the bun!!!

Whether you're out cold callin, wasting time or just finishing that copier demo or you've secured the paperwork, it's time to treat yourself to some of the best dogs in the country!!


-=Good Selling=-


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Tuesday, September 14, 2010

New KIP 700M "Whadda think Winner or Loser"?


I just had the chance to look over the specs of the new KIP 700M. Suggested Retail of $13,995 with color scan (can someone verify this).

I'm really not sure on some of the options that are avaialable right now, the kip brochure mentions that the "KIP Color Direct" is optional and it enables Color Scan and Color Copy to Inkjet printer (again need some clarification on this).

I love the price point if the $13,995 is ..........need more go the Print4Pay Hotel Forums for the rest!!!

-=Good Selling=-

Thursday, September 9, 2010

This Week in Xerox "TWIX Notes"


- Xerox, through its Global division, purchased a large Canon dealer. Georgia Duplicating Products, was owned by Ed Greene, and also sold Kyocera and HP.

- Xerox announced its ACS division won a contract to process child support payments for the State of Wisconsin. Contract is 8 years, with value of $30 million.

- Xerox announced it will send out a mailer to 40,000 churches in the U.S. offering them special pricing on the color wax copier, the Xerox ColorQube series. The flyer claims:
o ColorQube produces 90% less waste during use than a color laser engine (does not mention that most of color laser waste is recyclable)
o That “everyday” color pages are only 2.9 cents per page (however, Xerox does not explain that the user can only use a maximum of 8% color coverage on a letter size page….for example, this could be a logo that is slightly more than 1.3” wide, that uses all 4 colors of wax.)



- Xerox announced that it is launching a huge new advertising campaign:
o Most expensive campaign in over 20 years (rumored to be more than $200 million)
o Goal is to reposition company as more than a copier maker
o “The whole campaign is geared around disrupting the legacy perceptions of Xerox” stated Xerox Chief Marketing Officer, Christa Carone
o When asked if customers will remember the company featured in the ad instead of Xerox, Christa Carone responded; “We’ve had our eyes open that that’s one of the risks of a campaign like this. But we think because these clients are being seen in an unusual space that it will make people look twice. We think the risk is offset by the power of the creative and the relevance of the message in the marketplace.”
o “aimed at disrupting old perceptions of the Xerox brand and positioning the new Xerox as the world’s leading enterprise for business process and document management” stated Xerox CEO, Ursula Burns

o Ads will focus on products and services provided to following Xerox customers:
 Proctor & Gamble
 New York Mets
 Marriott
 Target
 Ducati
 University of Notre Dame
o TV ads will run on CNBC and Sunday morning news programs
o Print ads will appear in Fortune, Forbes and Wall Street Journal
o Uses tagline, “With Xerox, you’re ready for real business”

- Fuji, maker of most Xerox printers and MFPs, announced it will invest $23.4 million to increase capacity of its manufacturing plant in Guangdon Province of China.

-=Good Selling=-

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

MFP Industry Notes from Around the World!


Special thanx to Print4Pay Hotel Members from around the world and a few moles in very good places!Take a moment and join the largest group of copier professionals in the world. Here's the link for the P4P Hotel forums

- Intel announced it is spending $1.4 billion to buy Infineon, maker of wireless network technology, which is found in Apple products.

- Adobe announced it will partner with Monotype Imaging to provide print drivers to MFP and printer makers. The two companies will offer a package that includes PCL, PostScript and XPS drivers, to compete against other makers like Global Graphics & Zoran.

- Hewlett Packard announced it won a managed print services contract from AIB in Ireland.

o 5 year contract

o Reduced fleet from one device for every 4 employees to one for every 12

o Included MFPs and LaserJet 4250dtn and Color LaserJet 4700dtn laser printers

o Included SafeCom solution to allow ID card readers on devices for authentication

o Claims to have reduced operating costs from 20-30%

- Hewlett Packard is sued. About 1 year ago, HP announced a partnership with large commercial printer, R.R. Donnelley, to develop variable data technologies. Now R.R. Donnelley has filed a lawsuit against HP over alleged patent violations, claiming that the violations are “willful and deliberate.”

- Hewlett Packard is fighting a claim by security firm, Zscaler Labs, that hackers can use the Webscan feature to capture images from documents that are left in Hewlett Packard scanners and MFPs that have an embedded Web server. Michael Sutton of Zscaler Labs claims that he was able to find many HP scanners on the Internet.

- Hewlett Packard announced it sold an Indigo 7000 production color system to Color By, a printshop in Italy.

- Hewlett Packard agreed to pay $55 million to settle claims it paid kickbacks so companies would recommend its products to U.S. government agencies.

- Hewlett Packard announced it won an $800 million bid to provide laptops and desktop PCs to U.S. Air Force.

- Hewlett Packard won a bidding war against Dell over both companies’ attempt to buy 3PAR Corp., which make data storage technology for cloud computing. HP will pay $2.1 billion for the firm. Details on 3PAR:

o founded 11 years ago by former Sun Microsystems employees

o original stock price was $10 per share, but sold at $33 per share

o the letters “P”, “A” and “R” stand for names of three founders

o based in Fremont, CA

o 670 employees

- Hewlett Packard announced study by BLI that apparently shows end users will have less print quality and service issues if they use official HP ColorLok paper with their color laser devices. Using ColorLok paper supposedly will lead to 4 times fewer faults and more than 4 times fewer paper path obstructions.

- IBM Corp. has beat a breach of contract lawsuit that accused the company of shorting a current sales rep on a commission he claimed he was owed in connection with a $3.8 million in licensing feeds Motorola Corp. paid IBM for software patents.

- IBM claims it has developed the world’s fastest microprocessor chip, running at 5.2GHz.

- Epson is fighting to keep an internal report private in a lawsuit. Apparently it was released by a disgruntled former executive, and may detail a misrepresentation of the quality of Epson inkjet cartridges.

- International Data Corporation (IDC) gave out it findings of worldwide market sales of printers and MFPs in last quarter:

o Includes inkjet and laser devices, from desktop to printshop

o total market grew 20%

o 29 million units shipped

o Total value increased by 14% to $13.3 billion

o B/w laser MFPs grew 39.7% (the first time that b/w had more growth than color)

o Color laser MFPs grew 33%

o HP shipped 2.8 million laser units, and 11.9 units total including inkjet

o Samsung color laser MFPs grew 55% to 108,731 units

o Samsung b/w laser MFPs grew 54% to 500,777 units

o 9 million total laser based units shipped

o 66% of market belonged to inkjet technology (primarily home use devices)

o Inkjet grew 14% to 19 million units

o 78% of inkjet units were MFPs

o In U.S., total shipments grew 14.4%

- Ricoh announced it sold an Aficio PRO C720s production color system to Noel-Baker School and Language College in England.

- Kodak announced a new solution partnership for its high speed scanners. The Kodak scanners, with the optional Kodak Capture Pro Software, now integrates with CAPSYS CAPTURE to create workflows for document management systems.

- In a study of 410 small companies conducted by 1&1 Internet Ltd:

o 37% reported that money is lost from employees failing to share updated versions of documents

o 53% are held back by poor archiving of emails and documents

o 59% of business owners are unable to amend documents when they are off premises

o Over half of business owners believe that their staff is wasting money with excessive printing

- IT departments across the country are facing a looming Microsoft Windows 7 migration deadline, as support for Windows XP will end in 4 years. Gartner study shows:

o Many are starting their migrations at end of 2010

o IT budgets will need to increase between 20% to 60% to accommodate the updates

o Cost of IT labor will also increase

o Estimated migration cost per PC will be between $1205 and $1999

o Capital costs account for 60% of total replacement cost

o Average business will have to replace 25% of its PC early

- The Marin County Board of Supervisors of California voted to stop the implementation of an SAP project, and admitted to wasting over $30 million when it awarded the SAP project to Deloitte Consulting. Marin County has sued Deloitte to get its money back.

- Worldox, maker of document management systems (DMS) to the legal industry, announced it won a contract from Hoskin, Farina & Kampf, a law firm in Colorado. Total cost = $32,975.00

- Microsoft was forced to apologize to attendees of a tradeshow in Australia. The company had hired female models for its booth, but apparently was unaware that they would show up wearing bikinis.

- Microsoft cofounder, Paul Allen is suing Apple, Google and 9 other companies claiming they are violating patents he owns

- Apple has sued Kodak, claiming it violated some of its digital camera patents.

- NER Data Corp, which was a maker of compatible toner cartridges, announced it has sold that business, and now plans on becoming a national provider of managed print services, using genuine HP cartridges.

- Lexmark was ordered by a judge to pay $8.3 million to compensate its California employees for a flawed “use it or lose it” vacation pay policy. Judge Greg Alarcon ruled that 178 employees should be compensated for vacation time they did not use before they were terminated.

- Sharp announced it hired Eric Hafter, to run its new Solar Energy Solutions Group, reporting to CEO, Kozo Takahashi.


- Now that Peerless has sold its print controller business to Kyocera, it only has 4 employees in a 2,000 square foot office, and is part owner of Highbury Financial.


- Sharp announced a new A3 color laser MFP, called the MX-2310F featuring:

o 23ppm top speed

o 4 tandem OPC drum design

o New compact design, smaller than other Sharp A3 color MFPs

o Uses a polymer resin frame, to reduce weight of main unit by one third of other SharA3 color MFPs (is this first copier to have a frame that is not made of metal?)

o Uses 77% less power

o Uses LEDs in scanning section instead of fluorescent lamps

o Faster warm up time

o Standby mode uses only 1 watt of power

o Uses new Sharp Microtoner HG2 toner

o 7” touch screen LCD control panel

o Ship data and pricing not yet announced

- A 44 year old man is being pursued in United Arab Emirates after attempting to cash two fake $1 million dollar bills made on a color copier.

- Bret Rhind and Debra Roberson of Missouri were charged with making fake currency using a color copier after they attempted to spend it at Walmart, Target and Lowes. The phony cash was passed in 19 states, and included fake $50 and $100 bills.

- Pitney Bowes announced that it spent $210,000 in the second quarter of 2010 to lobby the federal government. The company’s FM division, called PMBS, is now run by Vicki O’Meara, who was hired after the division reported a 5% drop in revenue in early 2010

-=Good Selling=-

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Print4Pay Hotel Weekly MFP Industry Threads




What's in it for Me? Take a peek at the P4P Value sPage, 103 premium members are now on board getting leads, rfp's, rfq's, unlimited access to all of the forums and access to my secret stuff!!

P4P Value Page get access to all forums, rfp's, rfq's, proposals, quotes, and leads! pssst! We've now linked and uploaded leads, RFP's and RFQ's for more than 1,300 systemsin the past three months!


Please take the time think about a Premium Membership, not only do you get access to all of the forums, but your contribution keeps the site running!

A recent post from a P4P Hotel Premium Member "As a premium member, we have received a few leads and the best part is that these are better qualified leads. They still need the same amount of work and follow up - but just one sale covers for a few years of premium membership.So, if you want your competition getting more leads, do not sign up."

We've added New Content to our P4P Document Library! Every week, I'll be uploading a new files or documents that I've used for research, quotes, pricing or marketing pieces!!

Please support our Advertisers Polek & Polek, Lucas Distributing, Print Audit, Cybercon Services (Dealer Consulting Service), Ratio

Recent Blogs of Note
Canon's Most Excellent Event! "TWIC NOTES"
Cashing in with MFP Solutions
Business Process Automation "Why You Should Be Selling It"
Ricoh HQ Duplicator on Steroids w/Envelope Feeder
Why Sales Goals and Diets Don't Work


Interesting P4P Forum Threads
Serious New Stuff from Ricoh!
Weekend MFP Notes from 9/5/10
A3 vs A4 Competitive Workbook Document
Rumor has it.....
Canon U.S.A. Showcases Paperless Innovations Utlizing Nuance


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Canon's Most Excellent Event! "TWIC NOTES"


Special thanx to Print4Pay Hotel Members from around the world and a few moles in very good places!Take a moment and join the largest group of copier professionals in the world. Here's the link for the P4P Hotel forums

Canon holds this event once every 5 years, and I missed it by this much!

Titled “Canon EXPO” and featured breakout sessions on:
o Advanced Solutions for Healthcare Market (how to sell to this vertical)
o Green 2.0 – Angele Boyd – IDC (reducing use of paper in office)
o The Future of Print – Frank Romano (production printing technology)
o Advanced Solutions for Legal Market (how to sell to this vertical)
o Nursing Document Workflows Back to Good Health – Karen Minton – University of Kentucky College of Nursing (actual customer talks about Canon solutions)
o Helping Your Teenage MFP Overcome Insecurity – Brian Bissett (how Canon addresses data security concerns)
o Marketing 101 For Print Service Providers – Barb Pellow (how print for pay customers can market output)
o Talking With Your MFP – Not As Crazy As It Sounds – Robert Weiderman – (Nuance exec shows prototype of eCopy unit that has voice recognition for voice command of MFP)
o Beyond the Purchase – The True Cost of Ownership – Marc Baker – Comcast Cable (actual customer discusses consolidating devices into smaller fleet of Canon MFPs)
o Making Green By Being Green – (how companies can achieve green goals with Canon MFPs)
o Delivering Greater Efficiencies and Economies For Your Business – (Canon’s managed print services program, called Managed Document Services)

- Canon updated its managed print services program, called Canon Managed Document Services:
o Offers infrastructure for centralized service dispatch
o Billing and helpdesk support
o imageWARE Enterprise Management Console for network device management
o Ecology Information Plug-in provides accurate measurement and analysis of CO2 emissions based on power consumption and paper volume usage
o Remote Diagnostic System (RDS) Plug-in facilitates automated meter collection and pre-emptive service alerts

- Canon announced it sold an imagePRESS C7000 production color systems to the following BCT print for pay locations:
o Houston
o Akron
o Minneapolis
o Las Vegas
o Milwaukee
o Dallas
o Mobile
o Indianapolis
o Denver
o Chicago
o Fort Lauderdale
o Orlando
o Columbia
o Pittsburgh

- Canon announced it is starting a subsidiary in New York, with 150 employees, that will provide professional services.
- Canon announced version 5.0 of its optional UniFLOW solution software for its MFPs:
o (competes with Konica Minolta PageScope Enterprise Suite)
o Decision based workflow objects
o Direct integration into MFP device firmware
o Card authentication, secure printing and cost center selection
o In future, will support biometric devices
o Universal print driver for PCL and PostScript printing only
o Universal Driver now supports booklet printing
o Administrator can create rules based print routing to direct large print jobs to appropriate MFP
o Offers a type of “follow you” printing, allowing end user to print to a queue, and then retrieve job from any connected Canon MFP device.
o Supports billing codes for cost recovery
o Access Management System allows Admin to determine, by user, whether they are allowed to Send or Copy.
o Change finishing options before releasing confidential jobs directly on Canon MFP panel
o Select and print documents from public archive
o Unknown ID cards can be automatically assigned to users via username and password
o Allows users to see only thumbnail of the first page of a document
o SQL Connector for Import/Export of Data, allows importation of cost center data directly into accounting systems
o Global Workflows allow workflows to be pushed to entire fleet by IT
o Integrates with optional imageWARE Secure Audit Manager for audit trails
o Tracks all emails made from MFP, by attaching credentials of the user to sent emails

- Canon gave out more details on its plans to replace the imagePRESS C6000/C7000 series of production color laser systems with new models, called the imagePRESS C6010/C7010 series:
o Will start shipping on 10/1/2010 (tentative)
o Auto duplex up to 325gsm
o Faster speed on duplexed output
o New humidity sensor for more accurate toner distribution
o New airflow unit and toner density stabilization control
o New toner formulation with particles as small as 5.5 microns, called “V Toner”
o Claims it will now print on some textured stocks
o Can support up to 120lb. cover weight at engine speed
o Now supports use of some recycled paper
o Has a “deinkability” score of 98 by INGEDE to ability to remove toner from printed page for paper recycling
o Toner cartridges and waste toner receptacle is now recylcable
o New three stage auto eject features to simplify paper jam job recovery
o New end user controls for registration adjustments
o New option called Saddle Press allows stitching up to 25 sheet of paper, up to 13”x19.2”
o New options for the Canon Essential Business Builder suite that provides print shop owners with skills to sell output
o Uses less power than previous Canon models
o Optional X-Rite i1Process Control v3 software
 Spot Color Optimization
 Print Safe Colors (view Pantones before printing them)
 CMYK printer profiling
 Includes i1Pro spectrophotometer (measures toner density and hue)
 Advanced display profiling
 Uses i1iO and i1iSis automated chart readers
 Verify output against ISO 12647-7 targets
 Perform measurement and gamut analysis
 Includes Pantone Plus series digital color library
o Optional EFI Fiery print servers
 Named imagePRESS Servers A1200, A2200 & A3200
 New operating system, called System 9 R2
 30% faster RIPping over previous models
 “Spool-RIP-Print Simultaneously” feature
 Adobe PDF engine
 Improved JDF integration
o Optional Kodak Creo print server, called imagePRESS CR Server A7500
o Canon claims to have 1,000 imagePRESS color systems (includes the 15ppm imagePRESS C1) across Europe since early 2007

-=Good Selling=-

Monday, September 6, 2010

Cashing in with MFP Solutions


Another Labor Day has come and gone. Schools are back, along with getting stuck behind the caravans of yellow buses, especially when I'm trying to get to an appointment. Why must New Jersey school buses stop every two blocks or so, come on kids, get up earlier and walk 6 miles to school every day! I did it, well kinda, I had almost a two mile walk to and from school everyday.

What are your thoughts about a solution? Does selling a solution means that you sold a software applcation such as PPDM, NSI or Digi Doc Flow? Well.......yes, and how about if you just sold and MFP with no software application, does that mean the deal was not a solution? Hell No, MFP's have embedded solutions too!

Finding a clients pain means and having a solution to the clients pain means you're going to get a decent margin on your system or you're of the top choices for the client.

We found such a solution with one of our Ricoh devices, however it didn't start out that way. The client presented thier pain to us (that made it simple and we didn't have to drag it outta them), they needed a way to capture all of the pages of a walkup out bound fax electronic and seemless to the end user (meaning the user did not have to anything but input the number and press start/send). MY first thoughts were.........uh...well....NSI, Document Mall, and ....and that was kinda it. With that I stated we'll get back to you, so off I went to collaborate with the team and after many emails, and many phone calls we were'nt getting anywhere with an easy, inexpensive solution. With that I decided to put a post on the Print4Pay Hotel forums and see what the P4P guru's had to say.

Within 48 hours and 9 threads we had our answer, the solution was already embedded in the Ricoh box! With a few touches in the user control panel we were able to capture all outbound faxes and have them routed to a folder on the network, along with that the person sending the fax just had to keep on doing what they were always doing, dial the number and hit start/send!

So, what's my point? First point is that the client had no need to shop us since the solution was embedded and thier was no additional cost. The second, is that I don't know all of the features that the MFP's are capable of. I now realize that I need to spend more time reviewing the product manuals for these devices, I could have saved countless hours, but thanx to the resource and efforts of collaborating with Print4Pay Hotel members I had found someone who had the used the same type of solution.

Guess, it's kinda like KISS (Keep it Simple Stupid), go the book, check out the FAB (Features, Advantages and Benefits), if your answer isn't there check out the Print4Pay Hotel forums and at last resort check out all of the software solutions.

In this case the solution was in the MFP already, and in my book, that's a darn good solution sale! Special thanx to the the P4P member who took the time to help and post the solution.

-=Good Selling=-

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Ricoh HQ Duplicator on Steroids w/Envelope Feeder


I just ran across a thread on the net in reference to someone needing additional information about a Ricoh Digital Duplicator and if that system was capable of printing envelopes. I've had Digital Duplicators in print shops for a number of years and all of these printers are using these to print envelopes along with various other documents.

The Ricoh HQ9000 is capable of stacking about 100 envelopes and you can print to the device with either a PC or MAC. The one draw back is that you can only print single color envelopes, but the quality and reliability is awesome. At 150 pages per minute, you really have to baby sit the duplicator,  if you're doing runs of 500 - 10,000, again the feeder only takes 100 envelopes or there about. Cost? jesh....cost has be something like .0001 when you are doing runs of 1,000 or more.

Anyway, back to the thread about the envelope feeder on the duplicator. Take a look at the video from straight shooter, they have a device that will work with the Ricoh HQ9000 for long runs.


-=Good Selling=-