The Digital Revolution:Copiers, Faxes and Printers Merge

Copier manufacturers are replacing analog models with digital technology more quickly than industry watchers expected. Digital has become so commonplace, in fact, that prices have dropped to match those of the old analog technology, and fewer and fewer analog models are being produced.

Digital copier-printers can scan and transmit documents over the Internet or local networks. In addition, they can be monitored and controlled from a desktop computer, much the way in which network printers are. The biggest challenge for producers has been boosting the speed of networked digital copiers to match that of high-volume copiers, and they have been fairly successful at this task.

Digital copiers operate on the "scan once, print many" principle, which offers a variety of benefits. Analog copiers require either a moving scanner, which has to make a pass for each copy made, or a static scanner that repeatedly flashes as it makes an image of each page. The digital devices just scan once for each original page, store the images and then print them out. The machines have fewer moving parts and as a result suffer less wear and tear. In addition, the scan-once principle minimizes damage to original documents because they do not have to go through the hopper over and over. Scanning once also reduces the likelihood of paper jams in the feeder. In fact, with digital copiers, there sometimes is no need for a hard-copy original at all.

This method of reproducing documents is called multiple original printing, or MOPYing. Networked copier-printers enable users to send documents directly to the machine, eliminating the extra steps of walking to the printer, taking the document out of the printer and going to the copier. (Of course, this trend will do nothing to improve the fitness level of the workforce.) Given the increased use of graphics in everyday documents, multiple originals often are preferable to photocopies.

Analog copiers are still out there, but they mostly are found at the high-volume end of the industry. Even they will be dinosaurs in the next few years. Meanwhile, many companies are not producing new analog mid- and low-volume copiers but instead are refurbishing used analog models and reselling them for a song.

Mid-volume copiers print around 30 to 50 pages per minute (ppm). Canon's imageRUNNER series-mid-volume models are the 330 and the 400-offers networked digital printing, copying, faxing and scanning and introduces the technological platform for the company's future digital offerings. The machines include advanced security options, such as unique passwords for individual jobs, and job-accounting software that lets users log in to the copier-printer at the device as well as at their desktops. The Konica 7033 and the Sharp AR-405 also are strong offerings in this category.

In the high-volume digital copier market, Canon's imageRUNNER 550 and 600, like their mid-volume companions, have received high marks from Better Buys for Business, which rates business machines (www.betterbuys.com). The copiers produce documents at rates of 55 and 60 ppm, respectively. Also strong in this category is the Xerox Documentcentre line.

In the very-high-volume end of the market, Canon's analog NP 6085, which has an output of more than 80 ppm, has been well received. Ricoh's new 85 ppm digital model, the Aficio 850, also has good marks.

Although the truly paperless office is not a likely scenario, many people are skipping paper altogether when they distribute documents. Particularly for documents with low shelf life, such as memos and drafts, distribution as an e-mail attachment saves paper and time. Similarly, the increased use of Adobe's portable document format (.pdf) software has reduced the need for hard copies and enabled faster document distribution. The Internal Revenue Service, the General Accounting Office and the Federal Register, for example, all use .pdf files to distribute documents and reduce their paper costs.

Traditional black-and-white printers just get faster and faster. On the horizon is the increased use of color laser printing and copying, which also is getting speedier. Although the trend is in its infancy, manufacturers are beginning to produce lower-cost, high-quality color copiers and printers, such as the Toshiba FC22 copier-printer and the Xerox Phaser 750 printer. Color inkjet printers have been around for some time, but they still have problems: noncolorfast ink, relatively slow speeds and short ink cartridge life. Manufacturers are working hard to overcome those problems.

It Keeps on Ticking

Fax is a technology that, according to all predictions, should have died by now. We can easily send documents by e-mail, after all, and doing so does not involve long-distance charges. According to Jonathan Bees of Better Buys for Business, however, fax sales are steady. Fax machines have three advantages, says Bees. "They are ubiquitous, easy to use and cheap. Your grandmother could walk up to a fax machine and figure out how to use it, but sitting down at a computer, scanning in a document and sending it as an e-mail attachment-that's not as intuitive."

Of course, if your grandmother has a scan-to-e-mail function on her fax machine, like the Panafax DX-2000 and the Konica FAX 9925 offer, she won't have to worry too much about dealing with the computer. With this relatively new feature, the user drops in a document, keys in the e-mail address, and sends the document as an e-mail attachment.

Although some companies are working to develop color fax capabilities, it's not likely to become a key feature of fax machines anytime soon. As Bees points out, color usually is used for high-value documents that are not distributed through a fax machine.

Distinctions Without a Difference

Whither the copier? Even in the home-office market, where many federal subcontractors and teleworkers toil, low-cost all-in-one fax, scanner, printer and copier machines are available, some with glass-platen scanning beds for books and other bulky originals. (Many of them, however, at 6 to 8 ppm, do not come close to the speeds even relatively small offices require.)

Someday soon, office workers will take for granted the multifunctional ability that most digital copiers now highlight, and the distinction between copiers and printers will disappear for the mid- and high-volume machines. No one will think twice about the "scan once, print many" principle on which digital copying is based.

But the lowly fax machine will continue to have a presence-after all, it takes milliseconds longer to log on to a computer than it does to drop some pages into a fax and push a few buttons.

Contacts

Canon
www.usa.canon.com
800-652-2666

Konica
www.konicabt.com
800-456-6422

Minolta
www.minoltausa.com
201-825-4000

Panafax
www.panasonic.com
800-843-0800

Pitney Bowes
www.pitneybowes.com
800-322-8000

Ricoh
www.ricohcorp.com
800-63-RICOH

Sharp
www.sharp-usa.com
800-237-4277

Toshiba
www.toshiba.com
800-GO-TOSHIBA

Xerox
www.xerox.com
800-832-6979

Better Buys for Business
(rates copiers, printers, faxes and more)
www.betterbuys.com
800-247-2185