businessinfomag.uk
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18
Improved ease of use
The reduction in warranty calls doesn’t
just reflect improvements in machine
reliability. For Ricoh UK reseller manager
John Pakulski it is also evidence of
improved ease of use.
“We know our devices are robust –
but the other ancillary things like how
easy is it to load the drivers using the
CD that comes with the device are
important too. Devices have become
more plug and play than they were
before. They are very easy for an IT
illiterate person to install; they are easier
to use and easier to understand,” he said.
One reason is the use of universal
print drivers and consistent interfaces
across entire product ranges.
“We have a common user interface
throughout the range,” explained
Pakulski. “Our market share in higher-
end MFDs is about 24% – one in four
organisations has a Ricoh copier. Ricoh
printers look the same and have the
same user interface, so people are more
confident with them. A lot comes down
to how easy a device is to use. If we
make things clear and easy so people
can actually plug in a device, turn it on
and use it, then we take pain away from
something that traditionally would have
generated a help call.”
Paul Young, head of technical services
at UTAX (UK) Ltd, makes the same point.
He said: “Manufacturers, UTAX included,
have worked hard to standardise
controls. The look, feel and functionality
of screens across the UTAX range are
identical, so users are always familiar
with them and don’t need to learn new
ways of doing things. UTAX’s Universal
Print Driver is deliberately designed with
the user in mind: it’s pictorial, so the
user always sees the same message and
layout whether they are printing from
email, PDF, online or within common
office software.”
Touchscreens
Touch screen displays – now
commonplace on printers and multi-
function devices – have had a big impact
on usability, especially when used
with customisable apps that make it
easy to activate a specific workflow or
personalise a device for individual users.
As Xerox’s Clark points out, making
devices easier to use in this way has a
big impact on productivity.
“Modern devices do tend to be easier
to use than their predecessors and
this is partly due to their larger, colour
Manufacturers’ pride in the
greater reliability of modern
print devices comes with
the caveat that trouble-
free operation is dependent
on the use of genuine
consumables rather than
third party compatibles that
have a low purchase price but
often produce poor quality
output and can even end up
damaging the printer itself.
KYOCERA Document
Solutions is not as badly
affected as some – Context
figures show that about 10%
of the consumables used in
its machines are compatibles
compared to a figure of 25-
30% for some of its rivals.
Even so, it has just launched a
campaign to warn users of the
risks of using compatible or
counterfeit supplies.
Jonathan Robbins,
consumables & spares
manager at KYOCERA
Document Solutions, said it
decided to do so after seeing
an increase in machine faults
among customers that used
third party supplies.
“More people are using
compatible toner in our
devices and we have noticed
that the failure rate of
machines under warranty
for those that do is going up.
People are experiencing poor
quality prints, they are getting
excessive jams, they are
getting lots of waste paper and
waste toner and this is down
to the toner they put in the
machine,” he said.
A KYOCERA-sponsored
study by TUV Rheinland
supports these observations.
It tested KYOCERA machines
using genuine and compatible
supplies and found that
machines fitted with
compatibles experienced a
number of problems. Three
out of four compatible toners
caused machine downtime,
with one of those tested
damaging four developer units
in two printers. In addition,
third party supplies produced
up to 73% more waste toner
and there were up to nine
times more non-usable prints
when using compatibles.
Counterfeit toners designed
to pass off as originals are
an even greater risk. “Some
we’ve analysed have contained
charcoal and iron filings. Just
think of the damage that
would do to your machine,”
warned Robbins.
The use of genuine supplies
is particularly important for
KYOCERA customers due
to the way its printers are
designed. Instead of using
all-in-one cartridges containing
the drum, developer and
toner, KYOCERA devices are
built with long-lasting drums
and developers designed to
last between 100,000 and
600,000 pages depending on
the model in question. The
only consumable that needs
changing is the toner. This
arrangement reduces both the
cost and environmental impact
of printing, but it also means
that it is more important to
use genuine supplies.
“We manufacture our own
toner and our own machines
and there are things within the
toner that protect the machine
and make it last. If you put in
toner that hasn’t been made
for that machine it can cause
damage to the drum and
developer so that they don’t
last as long as they should, and
you can’t guarantee what the
quality will be like over a long
period,” explained Robbins.
Printers
Supplies matter
Jonathan Robbins,
KYOCERA Document
Solutions
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