Ricoh is launching four new printers addressing the business needs of print-on-demand and data processing environments. With its new high speed printing solutions, Ricoh will be able to help companies optimise their workflow and reduce their total cost of printing.
"According to Cap Venture, the Western European Data Processing High Speed Black & White (80+ ppm), as well as the Spot Colour Production printers placements are expected to grow by 2.7% between 2003 and 2008," explains Kenji Tasaki, Manager of Ricoh Europe's HEP (High-end Production) Business Development Department, "We have the ambition to become a leading player in this segment. We now offer a complete portfolio of high-end printers, backed by the global services and reliability of Ricoh."
The new models are a direct result of the October 2004 acquisition of Hitachi Printing Solutions. Since that time, Ricoh Europe has worked hard to ensure the integration of sales and support networks, training facilities and logistics. The new range will initially be marketed in the Benelux, France, Germany, Spain and the UK, and there are already European customers using the new printers. Other European markets will begin selling the printers early in 2006.
The four new printers are the DDP (Digital Document Publisher) 70e, 92 and 184, and the EMP (Enhanced Monochrome Publisher) 156. The number in each product name refers to the print speed in pages or images (in the case of the DDP184) per minute.
All four printers are optimised for mission critical environments, printing high volumes of documents such as reports, transactional statements, process documentation, or direct mail. The fastest model in the range, the EMP 156, for instance can print up to 4.5 million pages per month. It can also stack 9,500 sheets for unattended runs and high volume production around the clock.
A core attribute of the entire Ricoh printer family is reliability. In this tradition, the DDP 70e offers an engine life of 20 million images, while for the EMP 156 this is an incredible 90 million images.
Another key element of the new range is user flexibility and control. All new high-end printers can be controlled from a workstation using a graphical user interface. This interface can control document production including features such as page insertion and front and back covers. Access to the printers can also be enabled through the Internet or an Intranet.
Completed by Ricoh’s comprehensive range of software and workflow management solutions, as well as some major third party solutions in the market, such as MicroPress, DocuForm, Objectif Lune and MPITech, Ricoh’s new high-end portfolio is expected to make an impact in the market.
The DDP 70e, 92 and 184, and EMP 156, are the latest additions to Ricoh's printer selection. Ricoh currently manufactures one of the world's most extensive line ups of copiers, printers, scanners, faxes and multifunctional devices, as well as advanced software solutions.
