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PRINT.IT
01732 759725
BUSINESS INKJETS
WorkForce Pro WF-C869RDTWF.
RIPS business inkjets, available
exclusively from Epson copier
dealers, come with extra-large
ink tanks that contain enough
ink for 75,000 pages. On the WF-
C869RDTWF, Epson has increased
capacity to 86,000 pages for black
and 84,000 pages for each of the
colours.
Having such a large ink supply
reduces the servicing requirements
for managed service providers, while
maximising machine availability for
their customers.
Peter Silcock said: “A lot of
businesses get really frustrated with
the lack of productivity you get with
certain types of device, particularly
laser printers where you’re
constantly changing cartridges or the
printers are down because they need
a new drum or fuser unit. The beauty
of these products is that they take
away all that worry and make it really
simple for users.”
Like other WorkForce Pro models,
PIT:
I notice that the WF-C20590 and
WF-C17590 come under the WorkForce
Enterprise banner. Is this a new series
and what does it signify?
Dan Wogan:
Yes, it is. All top-end
devices will now be bracketed under the
Enterprise banner including the two new
flagship products. They are completely
new engines and use a brand new
printhead – a linehead that sits across
the entire width of the page. Our other
current devices all have serial printheads
where the printhead moves backwards
and forwards and the paper moves
underneath. This is absolutely fine for
our current devices, which are up to
24ppm ISO and up to 34ppm in draft,
but beyond that you need a different type
of system, because you can’t have a
printhead and paper moving that quickly.
PIT:
Is the 100ppm speed ISO or draft,
and if the former can it print even
faster in draft?
Wogan:
It is ISO, and it can’t print any
faster than 100ppm. As I understand it,
print speed is limited by the speed at
which the paper moves, not by the way
ink is dropped. It duplexes at 60ppm and
even when you put the finisher on, it only
slows down by about 20%.
PIT:
Even so, that’s massively faster
than your existing range.
Wogan:
This is a completely new, built-
from-the-ground-up device. It still uses
the printhead technology we have, piezo
electric, but in a line configuration, and
rather than being in a straight line,
nozzles are arranged in a diagonal
configuration so there’s a greater overlap,
which increases print quality and helps
eradicate things like banding. There is
also new technology to prevent nozzle
blockages and to take faulty nozzles out
of action. If a nozzle is not firing, the size
of droplets from the two adjacent nozzles
is increased to fill the gaps.
This is a big duty copier. It’s a big,
floor-standing, four-tray device, with a
big ADF, open platform as standard,
big screen and massive consumables.
It will carry two 50,000-page black
consumables, making 100,000 pages
of black on board, and 50,000 pages of
each of the colours. From launch we will
have a staple-stacker finishing option,
and a little after that we will have a
booklet-maker and folder as well.
PIT:
What is your target market?
Wogan:
We’re not pitching it into the
75 and 100ppm space – the reach
is far broader than that. Rather than
just targeting that very high end
reprographics space where they just
print and print, the aim is for the 75ppm
device to fit in the 55ppm copier space.
That is where the bulk of the activity in
the market is.
PIT:
Is it being sold through your
RIPS dealers or will it have broader
distribution?
Wogan:
The idea is to go through our
1.1 copier dealer channel. For larger
opportunities that are brought to us by
corporate resellers, we may also make it
available through our EPP, which is where
we sell a service cost per page and the
box. But I would expect the majority of
sales to go through our 1.1 servicing
dealer channel.
Because of the technology it uses,
it retains the key selling points of RIPS
devices – minimal waste, minimal
interventions and very low power
consumption for the type of device it is.
Even though it’s a 100ppm MFP it has a
maximum power consumption of about
320W. Even a desktop A4 colour laser will
pull 900W when it is printing. So, printing
at 100ppm it still uses one third of the
electricity of a 25ppm desktop laser.
James Goulding talks to Dan Wogan, Epson UK product manager for managed
print and solutions, about Epson’s new flagship MFPs
the WF-C869RDTWF has impressive
environmental credentials including a
95% saving on energy and 99% less
waste from supplies packaging.
Make your own paper
The third highlight of Epson’s stand
was the remarkable PaperLab, which
turns a business’s waste paper into
printable paper using a dry process
that requires almost no water and,
importantly, no mains water supply.
Capable of producing thousands
of sheets a day, the compact unit
shreds waste paper and turns it
into recycled printer paper of varying
size and thickness. Paper can be
coloured and even scented.
Talking about PaperLab at CeBIT
2017, Epson global president,
Mr Minoru Usui said: “We plan to
start selling PaperLab in Europe
by the Autumn of 2018. Our aim
is to create a new office printing
ecosystem where customers can
enjoy high-speed inkjet printers using
paper recycled by PaperLab.”
He added: “My vision is for a
world in which you can print and
then recycle all the paper you want.
One day I hope we can develop
PaperLabs of all sizes and see them
used in factories, in offices and even
in your home.”
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