Color Copiers - Candid Copy

BY CHRIS BAUER

Maybe, just maybe, commercial printing continues to be too traditional of an industry. Color jobs, even those that are short runs, often will still be directed through the sheetfed offset press department. Film is produced, plates are made and the presses have to be makereadied. Then we wait for the job to dry and send it to the bindery.

Meanwhile, color copiers are waiting in the wings, sneaking a peek at short-run jobs traditionally sent to those offset presses. Copier vendors say that their products are best suited to take on those fast-turnaround jobs that are still being routed to the pressroom.

Chris Bilello, national digital business development manager for Minolta, recalls starting out with Canon about 10 years ago as a systems engineer. He worked with the first customers to connect color copiers for printing. He notes the initial target was any business that was looking to sell color copies—copy shops, small commercial printers and in-plant facilities.

From the beginning, color copiers have been met with acceptance in the print-on-demand world, he explains. But he is now seeing more acceptance with commercial printers, due to what he says are obvious reasons.

"Speeds have increased dramatically, prices have gone way down, the power of the front ends—the controllers—has increased exponentially and color management has gotten a lot better," Bilello stresses. "It is easy now to get good looking color without a lot of work, compared to how it was a few years ago." Also, the cost-per-copy has come down, he adds.

"The biggest advantage of a color copier is the price," Bilello continues. "The machines today are printing at 30 to 50 pages per minute (ppm) and are selling at the same price that the (Canon) CLC 500 did back eight or nine years ago, printing at 5 ppm. The initial Canon connected device with the Canon controller—that was before you could even buy a Fiery controller—sold in the marketplace for more than $100,000—and that was for 5 ppm. Now for less than half of that you can be fully connected, printing and copying at around 30 ppm."

Short-run color work, for example a print run of 5,000 or less, is a perfect fit for color copiers to handle, confides Janet Cain, director of product marketing for the graphic systems division of Canon USA.

"With the quality approaching near offset, the increasing capability for media handling and the flexibility found with the connectivity of a color laser copier/printer, one-to-one marketing applications for direct mail have become a perfect fit for our products," she says. "They also offer additional revenue opportunities for the commercial printing market."

Katie Munich, director of color systems marketing for Océ's document printing systems division, notes that for these reasons, color copiers are taking some volume from offset presses. Also, a lot of the growth in the color copier realm is caused by the explosion of black-and-white documents that are now being demanded in color.

"As the (copier) products have improved and people have started demanding faster turnarounds and shorter runs on certain things, it has pulled some jobs from offset," Munich says. "Speeds are getting better, the units are more productive, with better quality, have stronger paper handling and flexibility, and can handle different kinds of media."

Vendors do concede that it depends on the type of document a customer needs. However, there are some jobs that customers will be just as happy, if not even happier, with a color copy, Munich contends.

"But if someone wants a glossy brochure on specific media where they are looking for some special finishing, the color copier is not going to take the place of offset," she says. "It is document dependent. But for flyers, direct mail, etc.—work that printers have been doing on offset presses—the copier quality is at the point where those customers seeking fast turnarounds and lower costs are going to accept color copiers."

"There are just some things that copier technology can not do on the high end of the spectrum," Bilello adds.

These points are echoed by Linda Becker, vice president and general manager of the Color Solutions Business Unit at Xerox Corp. She points out that some applications will migrate from presses to color copiers and printers, particularly those requiring shorter runs and fast delivery.

"One example is a brochure that can be tailored for a particular trade show or product offering," Becker says. "However, we believe that color copiers and offset presses co-exist within commercial printing establishments because they meet different application needs; most printers require both technologies."

Still, many applications previously produced on offset can now be produced on digital color copiers, vendors contend. "The past few years have seen remarkable improvements in quality," Becker states. "However, there are many other factors that printers need to consider, such as run length, turnaround time requirements, variable data, and the ability to print from the Web and networks. Digital color (units) provide major advantages that traditional offset presses are unable to meet."

Fundamental Features
When purchasing a color copier, vendors suggest looking for units that provide high-quality output, flexible paper handling and strong color management functions. In a print environment you are potentially going to be using the color copier for a variety of short-run jobs and in proofing for offset runs, so you want to have strong color management and productivity.

"Paper handling has improved dramatically," advises Bilello. "Now users can put 90- or 110-lb. stock in the paper drawers and print reliably." The biggest reason paper handling has improved is that the today's machines are printing with a tandem engine, he says. There are four separate drums so the paper is imaged in a straighter path than in units of yesteryear.

Printers should look for an experienced vendor who has a proven track record in delivering digital color products, adds Xerox's Becker. "The copiers should have a wide range of capabilities that provide flexibility to fit into their workflow. Modularity and scalability are also key factors in helping make the transition from traditional to digital."

Vendors insist that offset and color copiers make a good team—with each technology having a place in the commercial printing industry. As printers run into productivity pressures, color copiers fill a big piece of the time gap.

"We believe that toner-based products will co-exist with offset for the foreseeable future," Becker contends. "Most commercial printers produce a range of applications that require both technologies."

So what can we expect from color copiers in the future? Suppliers say that we will see continued improvements in the economics, image quality and production capabilities of the units, which will help printers migrate into more applications. In addition, stronger finishing options are on the horizon.

Available Products
Minolta has designed two completely new color copier/printers with new tandem technology, which have the simplicity business workgroups desire with the power to keep up with demanding productivity needs. The DiALTA CF2001 and CF1501 produce color copies at 20 ppm and 15 ppm, respectively. With optional print controllers, the DiALTA CF2001 and CF1501 become networked color printers.

The Xerox DocuColor 2060 produces resolution up to 600x600 dpi with print speed of 60 ppm in color. The DocuColor 2000 Series is designed to meet the increasing demands for higher volumes of digital production color. The DocuColor 2000 Series has production-class feeding, finishing and document capture capabilities. It also boasts a wide media latitude to extend the applications that can be served.

The Océ CS 150 and Océ CS 200 are cost-effective, short-run digital color printing solutions that produce up to 2,000 letter-size impressions per hour—both single- or double-sided. Or, more than 700 tabloid-size impressions per hour. They can print non-stop with a total paper capacity of more than 5,000 sheets. Standard-setting digital technology with 400 dpi resolution and 8-bit color depth are said to ensure accurate color.

The Canon CLC 5000, due to be available in the first quarter of 2001, offers speeds of 50 ppm and paper capacity of 5,350 sheets. The CLC 5000 boasts four drum technology and has a recommended monthly volume of 200,000. It can handle a variety of paper stocks up to 140-lb. index. Finishing options include cascading stapler/sorter (600 to 1,000 sheets, non-sort or sort), booklet maker/offset stacker and stackless duplexing.

Ricoh Color 6000 Series digital systems offer copying and printing with quality reproduction through 8-bit, 600 dpi clarity. It runs at a rate of 101⁄2 ppm in full color and 40 ppm in black-and-white. The double page transfer system streamlines imaging onto thick bond stock, up to 140-lb. index, oversized paper and transparencies.