01732759725
business inkjets
Print.ITReseller
26
RIPS ink bags can
be securedwith a
padlock.
Pedal power:With power consumption of
just 25watts in operational mode, youwould
need to cycle at 11mph to generate enough
power to print anA4 page on anA4 Epson
Workforce Pro business inkjet, compared to
60mph to power a laser printer.
RIPS ink bags have a print yield of
75,000 pages.
mechanical failures – even if, as Epson
suggests,many of these are caused by
mistakesmadewhen changing supplies;
paper jams occur; and people fail to refill
paper trays. RIPSwon’t eradicate these
irritations.
Moroever, ITmanagers used to laser
printerswill need persuading that inkjet
devices largely untested at the enterprise
workgroup level are sufficiently reliable
andwon’t add to their workload.
Demonstrating the resilience ofWorkforce
Pro devices and the RIPS ink feeding
system is evenmore important when you
consider that customers are paying upfront
for several yearsworth of ink.
To reassure doubters, Epson cites the
use of PrecisionCore printheads in all new
Workforce Pro products.This is the same
technology used by Epson industrial label
and fabric printers,which are capable of
printing 15metres of media aminute.
Epson argues that the use of PrecisionCore
in environmentswhere the cost of
downtime is prohibitive is testament to the
technology’s durability.
MPS recruitment
RIPS is a new proposition for Epson, too.
JohnKelly, EpsonUK channel business
manager for printing and imaging, said
that for the first time Epson now has a
compellingMPS offering.
“Before,we didMPS on a project basis
and had a consumables fulfilment product
(Print & Save). But we had no real value
offering to take to the channel.Therewas
noA3 and our ink capacity of 4,000 pages
was comparable to laser but didn’t give
an inherent advantage over laser.Now,
we have anA3 offering, greater yield
and selective distribution,whichwill give
protection from compatibles, sowe have
something compelling to offer,”he said.
Semple told
PrintIT Reseller
that Epson
is actively looking to recruitMPS resellers
who can integrate RIPSwith their existing
programmes and that, so far, the response
has been very positive.“We have been
doing testmarketingwithGerman resellers
and they are very enthusiastic about the
product. It gives themmore options to
meet the needs of their customers,”he
said.
Business features
In addition to its three RIPS devices, Epson
has launched an additional 12 new Epson
Workforce Pro products, including its first
A3 devices, that will be sold in the normal
way and enable resellers to capitalise on
growing demand for business inkjets. IDC
estimates that the business inkjetmarket
is growing by 12% a year, compared to a
projected growth of 2% for laser.
Epson’s newWorkforce Pro products
offer the established benefits of business
inkjet devices: they consume 80% less
power than lasers; they generate less
consumableswaste and packaging; they
have nowarm-up time and so aremore
productive for typical office print jobs; and
they are clean,with no ozone emissions or
toner dust. In addition, they have higher
ink yields than previousmodels, faster print
speeds (up to 34 pages perminute for
mono and 24 ppm for colour) and greater
paper capacities of up to 1,831 pages on
theA3models.
They also provide the functionality
andmanagement features demanded by
modern businesses.These include:
DigitalWorkflows.
Out of the box,
allWorkforce ProMFPs provide scan to
email, ftp, folder or cloud services.With
the addition of freeDocument Capture Pro
imaging software, organisations can set up
and execute pre-defined scan jobs (from a
PC orMFP display) and automatically route
scans to documentmanagement and line
of business applications. Epson has already
developed connectors for 15 leading
applications andwill develop additional
oneswhen asked to do so by customers.
PrinterManagement &Monitoring.
To simplify printermanagement,Workforce
Pro devices share the same universal
print driver (UPD) as Epson laser printers.
They can bemanaged remotely from
any internet-enabled device and provide
user authentication and PIN- activated
secure printing as standard.They are also
compatiblewith third partymonitoring and
print release systems, such as Papercut.
Mobile Printing.
Workforce Pro
devices support a variety of mobile
print solutions including Epson iPrint,
AppleAirprint,GoogleCloud Print and
Epson’s new driverless printing solutions,
EpsonConnect EmailPrint for SMEs and
EpsonConnect Email Print for Enterprises.
These givemobile device users a choice of
direct printing (e.g. printersecondfloor@
mycompany.net) and pull printing
(e.g.
).
Formore information on the
newWorkforce Pro product, visit
.
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