Back in October 2002, Canon USA released its CLC 3900 (now 3900+), a copier/printer turning out 39 pages per minute (ppm) in either color or black and white. The 3900 is a slightly-less-robust addition to a product line that includes Canon's CLC 5000, a production-level copier/printer producing 50 ppm. At the time, Mason Olds, the company's then-general manager for the color systems division, claimed, "This product has no direct competition right now." Jump to February, 2003: Xerox goes head-to-head with Canon with the release of the Xerox 3535, pushing 35 ppm in either black and white or color. Until that late-winter release, Canon
Digital Printing-Toner - Cut Sheet (Color)
Personalized marketing materials can strengthen your organization's customer base. Here are the steps your in-plant can take to make it happen. by Danny Kita Organizations have taken great pains to collect information about their customers. But beyond an on-screen customer relationship management review prior to making a call, this information is being vastly underutilized. Why not put it to good use developing customized marketing campaigns? Such campaigns garner high interest, generate significant response rates, lower the cost per lead and pave the way to greater customer retention. A digital press is the tool, and variable data printing is the enabler. Variable data
Competition among the major digital color printing vendors is tougher than ever. In-plants, as luck would have it, are caught in the crossfire. by Mike Llewellyn FOR ANY large organization, if they're saying 'I need this job now,' they're going to want to send it to an in-plant," declares Abby Abhyankar, vice president for integrated marketing at Xerox. "In-plants represent short runs with fast response times and no compromises on quality." That's not news to in-plant managers, whose job it is to make sure their shops offer the highest speed at the lowest price. But it is making headlines at companies like
At in-plants across the country, the digital revolution is in full swing. More than ever, managers are realizing the benefits of being able to print variable data and digital color, and many find themselves teaching their customers just how valuable this technology can be. According to IPG research, the number of in-plants using digital printing technology has risen to over 80 percent from around 60 percent in 1999, with 34 percent more work now printed digitally than four years ago. To help you wade through the wealth of digital products launched over the past year, IPG has assembled a directory of the
Forget what you knew about digital duplicators. The models of yesteryear have been replaced by fast, high-quality machines. by John Reiling There's no longer much debate about the value of digital technology in printing and imaging applications. That said, it's puzzling that so many in-plants have yet to adopt digital systems in a serious way. What's Your Application? Some applications for digital duplicators
Color jobs have been on the rise for years. To meet the demand, in-plant managers are increasingly turning to color copiers. by Mike Llewellyn Battelle is a Columbus, Ohio-based research and development firm that relies heavily on its in-plant's color copying services. Brian Soppelsa, manager of Publications Management and Production, says his shop had been using a Xerox DocuColor 30 for five years, and has had a Canon CLC 1150 for just over one year now. "They're busy machines," he observes. "We run almost everything off of them—a lot of proposals, reports, presentations and in-house distribution pieces." "Busy" is how most managers describe their
More features. Better finishing options. Lower cost. Manufacturers of black-and-white copiers see these trends and more. by Mike Llewellyn Last year, Drew Bilotta, director of Lockheed Martin Management and Data Systems, oversaw the installation of 150 black-and-white Konica copiers, mostly 7020s and 7030s. "At the end of the day, everything comes down to cost, and that's where they [Konica] had a significant advantage," says Bilotta. He explains that he was able to use a company-wide contract with Konica to leverage the best price. But while keeping costs down is certainly important to copier manufacturers, this is not their only strategy. Their black-and-white copiers
Canon USA has unveiled the CLC 3900 color laser copier/printer, touting its speed and affordability, as well as its outstanding image clarity. By MIKE LLEWELLYN Despite fighting through a tough economic climate, Canon came out swinging at a recent press conference with the introduction of a new addition to its CLC series, the CLC 3900. The 3900 color laser copier/printer "has no direct competition right now," said Mason Olds, director and general manager of Canon's Color Systems Division. "It's an entry-level product for a niche market." Canon plans to market the new copier/printer directly to in-plants because of its versatility, speed and ease
Controlling the input, management and distribution of documents could bring in-plants more business. New systems are the key. by Bob Neubauer These days, printing is only part of the picture for an in-plant. It's becoming increasingly necessary to get involved in other areas of a document's life, particularly the creation, management and distribution stages. Otherwise, in-plants will miss out on a valuable source of new business—something sorely needed as e-mail and the Internet replace traditional distribution methods. Knowing this, vendors are developing imaging systems that give in-plants control over digital storage and distribution, in addition to printing. Two such devices were recently
Despite the push for color, the future for black-and-white printing looks bright, especially as variable data applications grow. by Caroline Miller A WALK through any print trade show in the past year might leave you feeling that black-and-white printing is a thing of the past. Giant banners have been proclaiming the power of color printing. But actions speak louder than words. "There is an old phrase in marketing that says what you talk about and what you sell are often two different things," notes Mike Murphy, manager of marketing for DocuTech printing at Xerox. It's a sentiment that Kevin Kern, Konica's vice president of