Inkjet Wholesale News aims to provide updates on the latest significant occurrences in the field of printing. Whether it’s the launch of a new technology or volatility of market prices, we’ll be here to give you the lowdown on what happened, when it happened, and what it means!
OEM Launches Ricoh MP CW2201SP to Cater to AEC Firms
A lot of Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) have been on somewhat of a launching spree lately. There have been launches from Epson, Canon, HP, Sharp, and even Fujifilm in recent months. Ricoh hasn’t lagged behind all these competitors either. In the last two months, Ricoh launched no less than six different printer models. We reported on these launches through two different posts. In June, we reported on the launch of the company’s first 3D printer in the form of the Ricoh AM S5500P and in the following month we wrote about the introduction of five multifunction printers from the company including the Ricoh MP305SPF.
The OEM has now continued the trend of one launch per month by announcing the availability of the Ricoh MP CW2201SP. The Ricoh MP CW2201SP is a colour wide format printer that is targeted specifically at the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) businesses. The CW2201SP, according to the OEM, will help AEC businesses “capture, transform, and manage information” in a better way. The highlight of the Ricoh MP CW2201SP, however, is the fact that it allows various types of information such as presentations, schematics, and technical drawings amongst others to be shared in a much easier manner.
The OEM has also categorically stated that it has reworked the user interface of the machine so as to make its options more accessible to users, especially if they use the machine directly. For this, Ricoh has used its proprietary, next-generation Smart Operation Panel. The technology behind the Smart Operation Panel, itself, has been dubbed, Workstyle Innovation Technology, by Ricoh. Workstyle Innovation Technology of the Ricoh MP CW2201SP wide format printer aims at not only speeding the printing and associated processes up but also makes them easier. In fact, as per Ricoh, it has specifically tried to remove the need for “extensive device training” for users of the new Ricoh MP CW2201SP.
Some highlights of the Workstyle Innovation Technology include sharing through mobile devices, driverless Near Field Communication (NFC), and even the automatic surfacing of frequently used functions. Additionally, the device also boasts of “preconfigured print settings” designed to facilitate specialised documents printing which is common amongst AEC businesses. Apart from this, the OEM has also tried to ensure document security when it comes to the Ricoh MP CW2201SP. The machine’s software only allows authorised users to send and even access information through the device’s various encryption and authentication features.
It is worth mentioning that there are other features of the Ricoh MP CW2201SP that will attract potential AEC businesses. One of these is that even though it can handle specialised documents, it has a surprisingly small footprint. Furthermore, functionally, there are other strengths of the device that can be mentioned. The Ricoh MP CW2201SP, for example, can scan documents direction to a wide array of locations including document servers, FTPs, URLs, folders, emails, SD cards, and, of course, USBs. With respect to speed, the Ricoh MP CW2201SP is rated at 2.1 pages per minute (ppm) for colour pages up to a maximum resolution of 1200 x 1200 dots per inch (dpi). This rated speed means that the Ricoh MP CW2201SP is 100 percent faster than the model that came before it.
The print quality of the Ricoh MP CW2201SP is augmented by its specialised print head configuration. In fact, the device’s colour output is 190 percent better than its predecessor and its monochrome output is 119 percent ahead. Thus, reprints are virtually eliminated from the processing chain which, in turn, boosts savings of time and resources both.
Canon Unsure of Future Growth Rates Owing to Projected Decline in Printing
Canon is getting worried at projected trends in 2D printing, as discovered and projected by a market research and surveying company. While the actual data in the report titled, “The Office Insights 2016 Report”, is inconclusive, the projections from the company that formulated the report aren’t exactly rosy. As per Martin Wootton, Director of Breaking Blue, the company that did the survey in collaboration with Canon, 2D printing can be expected to drop by a significant 20 percent in the future.
The direct result of such forecasts, albeit informal ones, is that Canon is unsure if it will be able to maintain its double-digit growth rate. In recent years, Canon has managed this kind of growth in a number of regional markets. According to Hendrik Verbrugghe, who is the Marketing Director of Canon Middle East and Canon Central and North Africa, they can expect to have moderate growth in the future. His reasoning for the same, however, was market volatility fuelled by uncertain oil prices because most of Canon’s clients in those regions are governments.
The report from Breaking Blue threw up some interesting trends. The overall conclusion from the report was that smart city developments and cloud solutions are behind dropping perceptions and real life figures of 2D printing. The report says that people are far more prone to scanning documents straight into the cloud as opposed to printing them out. Although, there was the caveat that businesses and governments in developing nations in Africa and beyond still prefer to print out documents to ensure backups.
Specifically speaking, more than half of the respondents of the survey i.e. 59 percent scan more now than they did three years ago. Estimates suggest that about 53 percent of documents are now digitised as opposed to being printed or copied. At the same time, however, the report also gave out mixed signals to an extent. The same report cited that 57 percent of the people surveyed said that they print much more now than they did three years in the past.
Another interesting element from the report is that 27 percent of the surveyed group said that they expect to spend more in document management devices such as printers, scanners, and copiers along with associated software programmes. Relatedly, about 42 percent admitted that they don’t manage their print costs while 10 percent didn’t even know if they had any kind of tracking system in place.
“The Office Insights 2016 Report” is a result of a survey conducted by Breaking Blue in conjunction with Canon. The survey involved 1,000 end users and business decision makers from across the globe. Respondents hailed from various regions such as Eurasia, Eastern Europe, Central Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.
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