Here a press there a press; the competition narrows…

Now that On Demand is behind us we can get back to work. With the economy coming around and companies looking at capital improvements again the rush is on to put more toys in front of owners. With the digital production competition narrowing the choices are getting easier to make.

The field is down to about 4 key players; Konica Minolta, Xerox, Canon and Ricoh. With the new introductions by Xerox and Konica Minolta you can be assured that there are launches in progress or planned for this year!

The color production systems that are now for consumption are the:

    Konica Minolta
                bizhub PRO 5501/6501
                bizhub PRO 65hc
                bizhub PRESS C8000
    Xerox
                Xerox 700
                DocuColor 5000AP
                DocuColor 7002/8002
                Xerox Color Press 800/1000
                iGen3
                iGen4
    Canon     
                imageRUNNER ADVANCE C9065 PRO/C9065 PRO
                imagePRESS C1
                imagePRESS C6000
                imagePRESS C6000VP
                imagePRESS C7000VP
    Ricoh
                Ricoh Pro C550/C700 also known as the MPC 6000/7500
                (office grade color copier)

                Ricoh Pro C720/C900


The quality and consistency of these devices gets better with each generation. So far this year a number of new devices have been introduced raising the bar for the introductions that are slated for the end of the year. It has been interesting to watch the operations from inside several of these companies. Sometimes the success of a device has nothing to do with how good it is but by the hearts of those that sell it. That I have witnessed firsthand. As I get ready to get back into the workforce I am hoping for a full recovery of the economy and look forward to swinging the battle axe once more.


Pirate Mike