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PRODUCTION PRINT
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Purpose-built devices
Campomanes says it is important for
resellers to choose devices designed
specifically for their target market.
“Having a top class print device that
is optimised to serve the specific demands
of the CRD and copy shop environments
is undoubtedly a positive for resellers,
especially when they can confidently offer
profitable solutions that they know provide
best-in-class technologies that will deliver
reliable performance for their customers,
time and time again. It is also important
that resellers have access to devices that
offer profit margins for themselves, as well
as their customers,” he said.
“Every reseller is looking to retain
the relationship with their customer as
well as to develop new sales channels.
When resellers are in a position to offer
their customers the very best product on
the market, where the reputation of the
technology is already proven in other
sectors, the device can often sell itself
as well as safeguard that all important
customer/reseller relationship.”
In this context, Clarke stresses the
importance of positioning light production
devices differently to fast office machines.
“It is important to know the product
features, but also to understand what the
CRD/copy shop is trying to achieve. If the
reseller can offer advice and guidance
rather than just a cost per page, they will
stand out from others,” he said.
“CRDs and copy shops need to
differentiate themselves by offering
product (prints) that cannot be produced
with the necessary quality or more cost
efficiently in the office, or product that
simply cannot be produced at all in the
office.”
He added: “Light production devices
can typically handle heavier stocks (up
to 350gsm), print faster and with better
colour consistency. They also have more
Sharp
Sharp’s Polaris Pro range includes the 65ppm
MX-6500N colour production printing system for
in-house and commercial production settings.
More flexible than office devices, with enhanced
productivity, consistency, volume and colour control,
it has a large 15.4in colour touchscreen; extra-large
paper capacity; and intermediate toner hopper,
perfect for long runs and continual use during toner
replacement.
Stephen Fieldhouse, Sharp’s Business Unit
Director for Production Printing Systems, said:
“The unique edge-to-edge printing system,
combined with the front knife trim on the Polaris Pro
range, delivers finished full-bleed brochures from a
small footprint. Extensive in-line finishing options,
powerful resolution enhancement technology (RET),
superb quality across a wide range of media, low
maintenance operation and an optional EFI Fiery
Controller all combine to deliver greater versatility,
advanced productivity, professional workflows and
precise colour control.”
He added: “The MX-6500N features an optional
in-line spectrophotometer powered by Pantone/X-
Rite that performs automatic colour calibration while
the machine is running, without slowing it down,
which is a big time saver, and it maintains colour
consistency more efficiently. The Fiery Server option
delivers amazing precision, RIPs with fast speed and
produces accurate colour every time. And there’s also
an impressive range of high volume professional
performance and finishing options, such as the
Multi-Folding unit, SmartPunch and Booklet Maker
options, plus document management features and
standard multi-layered data security solutions.”
Canon
Canon has launched the imagePRESS C600i to meet
the needs of customers within the high-end office
and light production environments.
Adrian Campomanes, European & UK Product
Marketing Business
Developer Professional
Print at Canon Europe, said:
“In terms of the light
colour production
market, we have seen
a growing need amongst
internal corporate print
departments and small
agile print shops for
more frequent, shorter
runs of premium quality output on a wide range of
substrates. Our recently launched imagePRESS C600i
has been designed specifically to cater for these
increasing demands and this growing market sector.
“We are confident that the benefits our new
imagePRESS C600i offers this sector will give PSPs
the opportunity to open up new revenue streams
and take their businesses to the next level. With a
host of efficient management tools and its ability
to fully integrate into existing document workflows,
such as uniFLOW, eCopy and iWDesktop, the iP
C600i can offer real benefits in terms of providing a
fully automated managed print service.”
Ricoh
Ricoh is addressing the needs of this sector with the
Ricoh Pro C5100S series.
Gareth Parker, Strategic Marketing Manager of
Production Print at Ricoh, said: “This is the first Ricoh
digital production printer to feature our enhanced
toner transfer technology, which delivers high quality
print results on heavily textured stock – perfect for
direct mail and marketing applications.
“Wide media compatibility is one of the many
key benefits of these models. A new fuser assembly
uses information from the media library to optimise
the fuser temperature and pressure combination for
each substrate, increasing compatibility and quality
of output. This is ideal for challenging printing
applications, such as envelopes, where the balance
of pressure and heat is critical to maintain a flat and
perfectly printed product.”
The solid silicon fuser roller and pressure rollers,
which retain heat and minimise the fusing time, also
maintain the device’s production speed advantage
for heavier weight media.
Other developments include increased elasticity
of the thicker fuser belt to improve the fusing of
non-uniform media; a low toner melting point,
which shortens warm-up time and reduces energy
consumption; Operator Replaceable Units, designed
to reduce downtime and improve productivity;
direct printing from storage media (USB/SD card)
for walk-up printing; an integrated media library
that provides optimised machine settings for a wide
range of branded media and media types; and a
status light pole that indicates the operational status
of the device.
Purpose-
built light
production
devices
Alan Clarke, Production Marketing Manager
(UK/Nordic), Graphic Communications
Business Group, Xerox
Canon
imagePRESS C600i
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