On Demand--Build A Digital Dynasty

Cluster Printing

Session 16 dealt with black-and-white mid-range and cluster printing solutions. Jim Hamilton, senior consultant for CAP Ventures acted as the moderator for a panel of vendor representatives from Canon, Ricoh, Lanier, Océ, Konica, T/R Systems, IBM, Xerox, Hitachi and AHT.

Hamilton opened the session by defining mid-range black-and-white copiers as 40- to 79-ppm units with a monthly range of 100,000 to 750,000 impressions. Cluster printing was defined as "a powerful front-end system driving multiple devices as if they were a single comprehensive printer." Hamilton said there will be over 1,000 cluster systems in use worldwide by the end of this year.