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magazine
11
Business Inkjets
Inkjet on the rise
Over the last twoyears, business
inkjetsoffering colour printingat
twice the speedandhalf the cost of
comparable laser deviceshavebeen
gainingground in small businesses
where the combinationof low running
costs, lowenergy consumption,
minimalwasteand fastfirst print
speedshavewonnumerous converts.
Today,HP and Epson are targeting
buyers in small andmedium-sized
businesses and even corporateswith
the launchof powerful new devices
thatmarry sophisticated functionality
previously only available on enterprise-
class deviceswith the established
total cost of ownership (TCO) and
environmental benefits of business inkjets.
HP recently enhanced the capabilities
of itsHPOfficejet Pro devices for small
businesses,with the launchof theHP
Officejet Pro8620 andHPOfficejet
Pro8610 e-All-in-Ones,which for the
first time are compatiblewithHPWeb
Jetadmin printermanagement and the
HP FlowCM Professional online content
management system.
Lastmonth, it took this to a higher
level with the launchof its first series
designed for enterprise customers.
Suitable forworkgroups of 5-15 people,
printing up to6,000 pages amonth,
theHPOfficejet EnterpriseColorMFP
X585 and theHPOfficejet Enterprise
Color X555have colour print speeds
of up to70 pages perminute (ppm) in
addition to enterprise-grade security, fleet
Newbusiness inkjet printers from EpsonandHP threaten
toend thedominanceof laser technology
management andmobile printing options.
Because they have the same user
interface as 12millionHP Enterprise
Laserjet printers and comewithHP
Laserjet FutureSmart firmware and theHP
Open Extensibility Platform (OXP),which
enables solutions likeHPAccess Control
andHPCapture&Route to be accessed
through the device, the new printers are
ideal formanaged print services (MPS).
Rippingup the rulebook
MPS is a key focus for Epson’s new
Workforce Pro
series, too,which
for the first time
includesA3models.
The new devices
are faster than
their predecessors
(up to34ppmmono and
24 ppm colour); have larger ink
capacities (up to10,000 pages)
and greater paper capacities
(up to1,831 pages); and provide
the functionality demanded by
modern businesses, including
digital workflows,mobility,
followme printing and device
management andmonitoring.
What’s garnered all the
headlines, though, is Epson’sWorkforce
ProReplaceable Ink Pack System (RIPS).
Available exclusively forMPS customers,
Workforce ProRIPSmodels have all
the features of standardWorkforce Pro
machines plus extra large ink supplies of
March312014 sawabove inflation
increases in the cost of sendinga letter by
first and second class post – for usersof
stamps and frankingmachines.
The increaseswere particularly high for
frankingmachine users, as RoyalMail needs to
raise prices and accommodate a discount for
Mailmark-compatiblemachines to encourage
customers toupgrade or replace their existing
machines and switch to its new intelligent
postalmark (see page 15 formore details).
Prices for existing frankingmachine
customers rose by awhopping 12% if sending
a letter by second class post (up from33p to
37p).Therewere also increases of 7% for a
first class Large Letter, 6.4% for a first class
Letter and5.2% for a second class Large
Letter.
Therewere smaller price increases for
Mailmark-compatible frankingmachines,
whichRoyalMail has promised tomake the
cheapest option.However, thesewere still on
the high side, ranging from3.4% to6%.
As stamp prices rose by equivalent
amounts, from3.3% for a first class stamp
to6% for a second class stamp, RoyalMail
hasmaintained the price differential between
stamps and the best franking rates (see table
below).
Tariff
Stamp (change)
Frank (change)
Mailmark
Letter First Class
62 (+2p)
50 (+3p)
49
Letter SecondClass
53 (+3p)
37 (+4p)
35
Large Letter First Class
93 (+3p)
76 (+5p)
74
Large Letter SecondClass
73 (+4p)
61 (+3p)
60
RoyalMail pricehikes penaliseusersof existing frankingmachines
up to75,000 pages per colour.
The ink sacks are housed in lockable
compartments on either side of the
device and are included in the price of the
hardware.
Epson believes that by reducing
support requirements, RIPS can reverse
the trend towards centralised print
infrastructures,whichMPS providers
favour because they are easier tomanage,
butwhich Epson argues are detrimental
to the interests of endusers. In a recent
survey, almost half of businesses said
that centralised print issues, such as
long print queues, the need to get up to
retrieve prints and the difficulty in printing
confidential documents,were a concern.
You can readmore about these new
printers in the Spring issue of
PrintIT
, out
soon!Visitwww.binfo.co.uk and see our
latest editions online.
