Shopping for Copiers/MFPs

Features to Look For

Finishing capabilities such as saddle finishing, hole punching, folding, binding and stacking can save time, labor and costs associated with dedicated offline finishing equipment. Also, look for features that allow you to assemble and build jobs electronically prior to copying/printing. Print controller options should be considered as well to optimize system performance. Digital document capture capabilities such as scan-to-e-mail and scan-to-file let you easily convert hard copy information to electronic format.

—Paul Albano, Canon USA

There is a color explosion taking place. In-plants should focus on faster, more affordable devices as color becomes more widely used. Fortunately, color-enabled MFPs are increasing in speed and decreasing in cost, and some offer color print quality that rivals that of a production press.

—Leah Quesada, Xerox Office Group

Today’s print rooms need much more than hardware features, they need systems that can work within, enhance or even improve current workflows. Understanding where you are today as a print room is essential if you are to navigate towards where you want to be in the future.

—Giorgia Ortiz, Océ

Document workflow is important. MFPs offer different connectivity options that can help end users reduce hands-on labor by 50 percent or more.

—Jason Dizzine, Ricoh

MFPs have a multitude of job options. Decide what functionality is really needed in your operation and look at the ease-of-use. Getting the job done efficiently is what matters.

—Peter Deen, Océ

Comparing Equipment

Focus on your applications not just the features of the MFP. If professional booklets are one of your key applications, look at what the MFP offers. How much of the workflow is automated? Which MFP provides you with a complete document, trimmed, folded and stapled?

—Jason Dizzine, Ricoh

Performance and productivity, above all else, differentiate one MFP from another. Don’t judge an MFP by its speed alone. Find out if the system can handle multiple jobs concurrently. For example, can one person scan a document while another job is printing? In-plant staff can’t afford to wait for a long print job to finish before queuing up the next job.

MFPs also vary widely in their ability to handle paper types and sizes. Look for an MFP that supports a broad range of media, including large paper sizes and heavier stocks and covers. This will give in-plants the capability to produce a variety of jobs and applications.

Finishing features such as collating, multi-position stapling, hole punching, booklet making and various types of folding options also help save in-plant staff time and enable more complex documents, such as brochures, newsletters or training manuals, to be printed in-house.

—Leah Quesada, Xerox Office Group

Don’t get caught up on speeds and feeds, hard drive size or CPU speed, as smarter solutions use less muscle and more brains with an internal controller designed to optimize performance.

—Paul Albano, Canon USA

When looking at new MFPs today, companies need to look beyond any given system’s feature set and consider their workflow. Good questions to ask: What impact will this system have on my document workflow? Will it enhance my service offerings? Is there a positive customer impact?

—Giorgia Ortiz, Océ

Be sure to evaluate what the MFP can do in reference to mixed stocks. Does the MFP switch trays effectively to support mixed media types or does the MFP slow down too much to be efficient? Does the MFP offer options like post process interposing for more flexibility?

—Jason Dizzine, Ricoh

Testing Equipment

Try to focus on real-world applications, those that you would actually perform in your own environment.

—Paul Albano, Canon USA

Be sure to test the equipment with real files you use everyday, not just the usual demo originals. Demo originals are great to showcase all of the things the MFPs can do, but in the end you should be comfortable with your files being reproduced.

—Jason Dizzine, Ricoh

Getting Good Deals

Make sure you’re getting a good price for color pages and that you’re not getting penalized for printing black-and-white pages on a color device. Some vendors charge a premium when a person prints a black-and-white document on a color machine, treating every document as if it were color.

—Leah Quesada, Xerox Office Group

Consider the long-term cost of ownership of the product rather than initial acquisition costs. Costs/yields of toner and drum, and downtime related to preventive maintenance visits need to be considered.

—Paul Albano, Canon USA

Software

With today’s sophisticated MFP devices, many customers will find software is the major differentiating factor. When shopping for an MFP device, consult with your dealer reps on what software solutions are available to run on that device to streamline your business workflows.

—Paul Albano, Canon USA

Operating Tips

Be sure to get the proper training. Some of the MFPs have several options and features. To get the most out of the device the operator should have professional training.

—Jason Dizzine, Ricoh

Options like Post Process Interposers can allow users to insert preprinted covers or inserts into any document without the preprinted stock going though the fuser area. This maintains the quality of both the preprinted stock as well as the material being printed. The preprinted media can be offset, digital or ink-jet.

—Jason Dizzine, Ricoh