Ricoh MP 4001 & MP5001 "Spec Review"

These new units are identical to the previous MP 4000 & MP 5000. The only diffference is the addition of App2Me and PPDM.

- Ricoh now shipping the Aficio MP 4001 and 5001 digital b/w laser MFPs offering:
- 40 & 50ppm top speeds respectively
- MSRPs of $12,030 for MP4001 and $14,870 for MP5001
- 100 sheet document feeder with top scan speed of 61opm for b/w and 33opm for full color
- Does NOT scan both sides of original at same time
- 600x600dpi
- A3 offering up to 11”x17” paper size
- 22 second warmup time
- 4.1 second first copy out time
- Drum yield of 160,000 pages
- 30,000 page yield for black toner based on 5% coverage per page
- 200K/month max duty cycle
- Main unit weighs only 213.8 lbs.
- 8.5” color touchscreen control panel
- Two 550 sheet paper drawers standard
- Can add two more 550 sheet drawers for $1520
- 2,000 sheet letter size only drawer for $1570
- Can also add a 1,200 sheet side mount letter only paper deck for $1570
- Auto duplex standard up to 45lb. bond only
- Paper drawers can only hold up to 55lb. bond, but 100 sheet stack bypass
can hold up to 58lb. bond
- Can not handle 10 point stocks
- Built-in print/scan controller standard:
- 768MB RAM (no upgrades available)
- 40GB hard drive
- 533MHz processor
- 10/100BaseT & USB ports
- Optional 1000BaseT port for $340
- PCL print driver standard
- PostScript print driver is option for $920
- No XPS print driver available
- Optional hard drive overwrite kit for $420
- Optional hard drive encryption kit for $390
- Optional file format converter for hard drive document storage for $605
- actual maker unknown
- Scan to email/LDAP/HDD/folder/URL standard
- Optional Mail to Print feature allows user to send an email to unit for printing without need for print driver
- Comes standard with Personal Paperless Document Manager (relabeled Nuance OCR scan software) for single user, can add 4 more users for $200
- Optional 101 keyboard that pulls out underneath the color LCD for $449
- Optional App2Me software:
- create customized workflow
- combine/distribute/edit/create documents
- Optional fax board for $1150
- Up to 400dpi only
- Requires 32MB memory board for $185
- Can add two more fax lines for $650 apiece
- PC faxing standard
- Finishing options include:
- require bridge unit for $230
- 50 sheet corner stapling finisher for $1480
- 50 sheet multi-position stapling finisher for $2680
- Hole punch kit for $765
- Booklet making finisher for $4110

-=Cheers=-

Copier & MFP Lease Calculator

I ran across this today while doing some updates. This link will tell you what the interest rate is on a copier or MFP lease.

Use scenario #2 for figuring the interest rate.

Remember to use 20% of the purchase price in the residual value area if you are fuguring a Fair Market Value lease. If you plan on returning the equipment at the end of the term, enter zero for the residual value slot.

If you are calculating a one dollar purchase option, then enter $1.00 in the residual value slot.

Enter the purchase price of the equipment, then the term of the lease and the payment that was quoted to you with out tax.

When finished hit the calculate button!

Here's the link Lease Calculator

Enjoy!

Art Post

Weekend Document Imaging Notes

Gathered from Print4Pay Hotel Members from around the world and a few moles in very good places!

Notes from the recent Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) conference in Chicago:

- Keynote speaker was actor, Dennis Quaid, and Alan Greenspan, former fed reserve chairman
- The ARRA act represents some $19 billion in potential payments to physicians and hospitals that can demonstrate “meaningful use” of an EMR
- This stimulus “lowers the financial hurdle, undoubtedly” said Dr. George Taylor, VP of Health IT Programs at Northrop Grumman. “How do you solve the problem of every doctor – trained in different places, with different styles, and different preferences – with an EMR that’s designed for one?”
- Some were concerned that the stimulus money would benefit EMR adoption, but what was necessary to support it in the long term.
- Richard Howe, VP at Healthcare Informatics Associates, stated; “There’s enough money…that if they do it right, the cost savings in there will be enough…” “The stimulus package is adamant about standards – without that, you have nothing.”
- William Buddy Gillespie, VP and CTO for WellSpan Health said; “Sustainability is the word. The infrastructure is sometimes forgotten, and it needs to be stable, expandable and scalable to protect the integrity of the system and the data.”
- Dr. John Halamka, CIO of CareGroup was quoted; “There’s too much data and not enough wisdom…you can get 10,000 data points on every patient and look at it all. You’ll never sleep again! So there needs to be a way to separate the wheat from the chaff and tell you what youneed to know.”

According to imageSource magazine’s Jim Thumma, here are the Top 10 Pitfalls to avoid when implementing an ECM (electronic content management) project
- Lack of vision and leadership
- Poorly aligned business and IT goals
- Projects that are too broad or too narrow
- Failure to involve everyone who will be affected
- Overlooking front end capture
- Failure to integrate business systems
- Poor project management
- Underestimating time requirements for proper implementation
- Solution is implemented too slowly
- Insufficient change management

Iron Mountain, headquartered in Boston, announced it has acquired Legal Imaging Technologies Inc. of San Francisco, and will add it to its Stratify division. Legal Imaging focused on litigation support services for law firms in the Bay area. In 2007, Iron Mountain bought Stratify for $158 million.

Forrester Research released findings of poll on cloud computing: - Data storage needs are growing 30-40% per year
- Only 3% of companies have implemented cloud storage
- 43% are not interested in cloud storage
- 43% are interested, but no plans to adopt
- 3% plan to adopt in 2010
- 5% plan to adopt in 2011 or later
- 3% have already implemented
- 1% are expanding their existing implementation
- 51% will not implement due to security concerns

-=cheers=-

Paradigm Imaging Releases imageFLOW® 2.O

PARADIGM IMAGING GROUP
1590 METRO DRIVE #116
COSTA MESA, CA 92626
714-432-7226
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Jane Napolitano
Email: jane@paradigmimaging.com
Web site: http://www.SCANtopia.com

Paradigm Imaging Releases imageFLOW® 2.O

Costa Mesa, CA – January 28, 2010 – Paradigm Imaging Group, a leading distributor of large-format scanning and printing solutions, announces the release of imageFLOW® 2.0 – an enhanced version of their popular document imaging software.

Paradigm Imaging’s exclusive imageFLOW® 2.0 is powerful, user-friendly document imaging software that interfaces with all current Graphtec large format scanners, Paradigm’s imagePRO® large format scanners, imagePRO® FLEX and EIS multifunction systems. imageFLOW® 2.0 boasts faster scanning speeds and other enhanced features such as:

• Scanning presets for a variety of color, grayscale and black and white formats
• Over 550 included printer drivers
• More than 325 certified ICC profiles
• Color calibration wizard for editing existing ICC output profiles
• Custom media creation
• Batch scanning and job set creation
• Interactive, intuitive user interface

With its full-featured and easy-to-use graphical interface, imageFLOW® 2.0 incorporates the feel and touch of conventional office equipment. A variety of large format applications such as document archiving, copying, reproduction and file communication are managed seamlessly without extensive operator training. imageFLOW® 2.0 provides optimized default settings for a variety of original document types including maps, drawings, blueprints, photos and posters, thereby providing touch-button operation for many projects involving large format scanning and copying.


Says Randy Geesman, President of Paradigm Imaging Group, “The enhancement of imageFLOW® is another step forward in our ongoing effort to promote innovative products while offering the utmost in customer service and support. We will continue to expand our product offerings to meet the demands of an ever-evolving market.”

About Paradigm Imaging Group
Paradigm Imaging Group is a large format solutions provider whose expertise extends from scanning and printing products to imaging systems integration, software development and product distribution. Paradigm counts among its clients companies in reprographics, architecture, engineering, construction and manufacturing, as well as numerous public agencies at all levels of government. Since 1989, Paradigm has grown to become a leading provider of large format scanning and printing solutions.

###

New Print Audit® Case "School" Study Showcases a MPS Success Story

Print Audit 6 helps Ohio public schools reduce paper waste by 2.2 million pages and sets an example of environmental responsibility for students and staff

CALGARY, ALBERTA (January 27, 2010) – Factoring in the printing habits of teachers, students, and administrators, schools often use considerably more paper than is necessary. With almost 4,000 students and 1,000 computer workstations, Garfield Heights School District in Ohio consumed literally tons of paper each semester. The school contacted their office equipment provider ComDoc with the duel goal of conserving resources and reducing their impact on the environment.

The results of ComDoc’s solution, which have been published in Print Audit’s newest case study, include an 11-ton reduction in paper waste and a 32 percent decrease in color printing volumes.

“Print Audit 6 has allowed us to virtually eliminate our school’s inefficient document creation practices,” stated Shari Bailey, IT Administrator for Garfield Schools. “We can now control what the staff members and students are printing and copying and we have a much better understanding of how our printing devices are being used.”

ComDoc’s solution for Garfield Schools combined the power of 29 new, high-efficiency print devices with Print Audit’s flagship suite of print management tools, Print Audit 6. Print Audit Rules gave administrators the power to dictate where and how documents could be printed while Print Audit Analysis allowed them to better understand how their print environment functioned. At the same time, Print Audit Embedded and proximity cards allowed the schools to accurately track and manage the usage of multi-function devices and walk-up photocopiers.

All in all, the school system reduced its paper consumption by 2.2 million pages in one year – an amount equal to 285 trees, 244,407 gallons of water waste, 64,703 pounds of CO2 emissions, and 329,000,000 BTUs.

Please visit the following link to read the full case study:
http://www.printaudit.com/downloads/pdf/casestudies/Garfield_Schools_Case_Study.pdf

About Print Audit®:
Established in 1999 and headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Print Audit is the fastest growing print management company in the world. By providing businesses with innovative and practical print management software solutions, the company has helped customers recapture over $150 million in printing and photocopying expenses while saving an estimated 190,000 trees a year. Print Audit has offices located in the United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia, Brazil, Canada and the United States.

For more information on Print Audit, please contact:

Angela Onstine
1.877.412.8348
pr@printaudit.com
www.printaudit.com
Facebook: http://www.printaudit.com/facebook
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/PrintAudit

Outside of North America, please contact:

Print Audit - Europe
+44(0)1483 726206
www.printauditeurope.com
inquiry@printauditeurope.com

Print Audit - Australasia
+612 9922-3756
http://www.printauditaustralasia.com


Print Audit - South Africa
+086 110 5777 (Within South Africa)
+27 11 531 1869 (Outside South Africa)
www.printauditsa.com
info@printauditsa.com

Print Audit – America Latina
+55(21)2220 0939
www.printaudit.com.br
Informações em Português:
suporte@printaudit.com.br
Informaciones en Español:
espanol@printaudit.com.br

-=Cheers=-

New A3 Color Workgroup Printer, MFP, From Kyocera Mita

New A3 Color Workgroup Printer, MFP, From Kyocera Mita List at $5,973 And $20,168 Respectively

January 26, 2010 - Kyocera Mita America is introducing two new color imaging systems for workgroups and offices, the FS-C8500DN laser printer and TASKalfa 552ci MFP, which list at $5,973 and $20,168 respectively and are being distributed through authorized dealers.

Both imaging systems use Kyocera Mita's long-life consumables, and have a 300,000-page preventive maintenance (PM) schedule. They're based on the same A3 600 dpi 55 (black)/50 (color) ppm engine, and have a 225,000-page maximum duty cycle. The TASKalfa 552ci adds network scan and copy (with optional fax), and incorporates the company's open-development platform, Hybrid Platform for Advanced Solutions (HyPAS).

Specifications

Network print is standard; the FS-C8500DN is equipped with 1 GB of memory upgradeable to 2 GB), while the TASKalfa 552ci is equipped with a standard 2 GB of memory. Kyocera Mita includes Adobe PDF and Microsoft XPS file printing capability (including Kyocera’s Direct Print utility) and departmental accounting and tracking capabilities. The systems are compatible with Apple Macintosh, Linux and Microsoft Windows operating systems (including Windows 7). A USB host port is available for printing from USB memory drives in PDF, JPEG, TIFF and XPS file formats. The TASKA 552ci can also be used to scan to USB memory cards.

Media handling for both printer and MFP includes automatic duplexing and standard 1,100-sheet paper capacity. Options include a 3,000-sheet document finisher that can support up to 120 lb. index stock, and paper capacity can be expanded to 4,100 sheets for four paper sources.

Network and device-management tools include KMnet Viewer, PrintQ Manager, Status Monitor, and PRESCRIBE. PrintQ Manager is a server-based software tool that enables administrators to monitor, maintain and analyze print jobs and usage on all Kyocera networked printers. Also available is Color Optimizer, a KX Driver plug-in that provides color-enhancement for prints.

Security includes a standard IPv6- and IPsec-compliant network interface, and password-protected printing. An optional Data Security Kit provides hard-drive encryption and overwrite (date can be overwritten up to three times). (The TASKalfa 552ci's optional data security kit is currently under ISO 15408/Common Criteria evaluation).

Check back here soon and I'll have the cost per page for this device along with life for consumables.

-=Cheers=-

Weekend Document Imaging Notes

Gathered from Print4Pay Hotel Members from around the world and a few moles in very good places!

- Cintas Corp. of Cincinnati, Ohio, best known as a provider of commercial uniforms, announced that it has expanded its document management division. It opened a new data storage facility in Chicago, which it hopes will allow it to serve 160,000 customers.

- The Department of Health & Human Services announced it has published the “meaningful use” rules for medical practices to use EHR so they can qualify for reimbursement through Medicaid and Medicare, under the ARRA program. With ARRA, physicians serving Medicare patients can be eligible for up to $44,000 in funding to adopt EHRs, and up to $63,500 from Medicaid.

- Healthcare IT acronyms and their definitions:
- ECM = Electronic Content Management is a set of technologies used to capture, store and deliver content and documents and content related to organizational processes.
- EMR = Electronic Medical Records is a medical record in a digital format.
- EHR = Electronic Health Records, of which EMR is one type
- PMS = Practice Management Software that deals with day to day operations of a medical practice
- DMS = Document Management System is a computer system used to track and store electronic documents and/or images of paper documents.

- The Top 10 trends to drive healthcare IT market in 2010, according to Healthcare Technology Online:
- Electronic Medical Records (EMR) adoption will gain momentum
- Personal Health Records (PHR) will become recognized as a viable method to transport patient data to complement EMRs and EHRs. Advances in secure personal storage, smart cards, and software technology will help drive this trend.
- Cost Containment Will Be Paramount. The U.S. currently spends $2.5 trillion per year on healthcare, and this is expected to climb to $4 trillion by 2015.
- Alternative Care Delivery Models Will Emerge. Expect to increase in worksite and health clinics, as well as home health services.
- War Waged On Medicare Fraud. Document management will be instrumental in reducing the estimated $60 billion per year in fraud.
- Increased Focus On Outbreak Preparedness. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technologies can help plan for potential emergencies.
- Patient Safety Initiatives Intensify. Bedside medication administration systems, diagnosis support software and patient tracking systems will be used.
- Healthcare Professionals In Short Supply. Demand for healthcare services will begin to outpace supply of healthcare professionals. Workforce management and advanced scheduling technology will be needed.
- Storage and Business Continuity Concerns Abound. Nearly 30% of data stored on world’s computers today are medical images, and this will increase. Institutions consistently need to upgrade their storage systems, with ease of replication and restoration.
- Physician Groups Join Healthcare Systems. Many physicians don’t want to deal with headache that comes with installing an HER system. By joining a healthcare system that already has an HER established, the physician group can quickly become eligible for ARRA incentives.

-=Cheers=-

Toshiba announced a new option for its color MFPs

Toshiba announced a new option for its color MFPs, the eBRIDGE Color Profiler Tool featuring:
- Works with ES1000 spectrophotometer ($1299)
- Software that enables the creation of ICC device output profiles
- Target Reader creates characterization data files used to build custom color profiles
- Data Viewer allows end user to view character data in several ways
- Profile Builder initiates construction of the ICC profile
- Profile Viewer assists in verifying the integrity of the ICC profile
- ICC stands for International Color Consortium, a standard in color management
- Base MSRP of $499 for software
- Provides color management, without owning an EFI Fiery

-=Cheers=-

Top ten challenges to implementing electronic content management programs

According to Jim Thumma, CP of Optical Image Technology, here are the top ten challenges to implementing electronic content management programs:

- Budgeting inadequately, as most do not include necessary funds for:
- planning, consulting, designing, testing, implementing, training, evaluating and improvement
- professional services fees for customization
- staff resources
- temporary staffing for back file conversion
- ongoing training expenses
- Failing to see things through from start to finish
- Dropping the ball, by not following plan
- Staffing inadequately, by not putting extra resources in place during implementation
- Interrupting with 1001 questions
- Cutting corners that compromise system performance
- Poor communication

-=Cheers=-

8 Great Tips for Buying or Leasing a Copier!

Here's an email I received today from "K"

I am desperate for advice. I'm am in the process of leasing a color copier (of which I knew nothing until 2 weeks ago) for a non-profit organization that I work for. I am down to choosing between the Konica-Minolta Bizhub C360, Ricoh Aficio MP C4000 or Sharp MX 3100. We are coming off of a b&w copier with no networking so are really just looking to start up with some basic color copier features with networking that all these machines offer. My main concern now is durability and quality of service. I know that latter will depend on who we lease from but ANY insight to help would be greatly appreciated. THANK YOU!!!!
i.e. Tell me which you would choose!


First, I would rule out the Sharp, and here's my reasoning. Sharp is not a top tier manufacturer when it comes to multifunctional copiers. My experience is that they are inexpensive and built to stay that way, meaning alot of plastic and inexpensive parts seem to be used over and over.

KonicaMinolta and Ricoh are two very good choices. Durability wise...both should be able to last 5 years or longer. Feature wise they are both equal except for a few bells and whistles.

I can't tell you which to choose among these two. What I can tell you is to do a little digging with the company that is trying to sell you these units. Here's some questions I would ask.

1) How long the rep been with that company? The longer the better
2) If buying from a dealer, how long has the dealer been servicing that product line? 2 Years or less = not good
3) Ask for three to five references of service for that model from your reps, and then call those companies and ask them about billing practices, how fast they respond to a service call and if they think the service reps are competent, clean and friendly.
4) Take a trip to their web site, if their web site is out of date, so are they!
5) If you have the resource do a D & B check on them, if they are not paying their bills they are in dire straits and you will be too if you buy from them.
6) Ask for a sales contract for you to review first, read the fine print.
7) Ask for a lease contract to review first, read the fine print (especially about your option to own at the end of the lease)
8) Go see the units, ask if you can go to their location of business to get a demonstration. Seeing is believing, you can get a good look at their operation and if they conduct business in a professional manner.

Hope this helps, if you would like me to review sales contracts and leasing, I can do that also! Visit the New P4PCafe!

-=Cheers=-