#Ipex: Ricoh Enters Light Production Segment with Pro C720/C720S Color Printers

LONDON—February 8, 2010—The Ricoh Pro C720/C720S color printers, handle coated and uncoated paper up to 300 g/m² at a speed of 72 pages per minute. They are designed to meet the light production requirements of printing professionals. They offer high productivity and image quality (maximum image resolution 1,200 x 1,200 dpi), a paper capacity of 11,000 sheets and a stacking capacity of 13,000 sheets.

“The Pro C720/C720S mark Ricoh’s entry into the fast-growing light production market, where they offer high productivity color printing,” says Graham Kennedy, Product Manager at Ricoh Europe. “They have a fast print speed of 72 pages per minute, even when printing heavyweight papers up to 300 g/m2. They are therefore ideal for the quick turnaround of items printed on thick stock, such as direct mail or Point of Purchase material. Furthermore, they are easy to use, and will smoothly process complex print jobs from start to finish.”

The Pro C720/C720S are targeted at businesses such as print-on-demand production houses, corporate print rooms, and commercial printers taking their first step into digital color. With an average monthly volume of 40,000 prints, they also perfectly complement Ricoh’s successful Pro C900/C900S color printers, which are designed for higher average monthly volumes.

The two new color printers incorporate features that maximize printer uptime. Paper can be loaded and toner bottles replaced on the fly. In addition, trained users can easily replace a number of key components (OPC belt, developer, charger unit, drum cleaning unit, belt cleaning unit and paper transfer roller unit) instead of waiting for a service engineer.

The excellent image quality of the Pro C720/C720S is realised by 1,200x1,200 dpi multi-bit imaging and the adoption of Ricoh’s latest image processing technology. The machines incorporate Ricoh’s new OPC drum—Advanced Stabilization OPC. Its durable overcoat layer produces high-quality, stable color during continuous printing. High registration accuracy is obtained as the devices are equipped with a mechanical paper registration unit.

The ease of use of the Pro C720/C720S is enhanced by a large color operation panel that can be tilted up and down or angled side-to-side for easy viewing. Animated troubleshooting procedures guide users quickly and easily through problems such as paper jams.

Numerous options are available to optimize the printing process. Paper capacity can be expanded to 11,000 sheets by adding large-capacity trays. An optional air-assist paper feed mechanism avoids the paper feeding problems occasionally encountered when coated paper is printed. Up to 13,000 sheets can be stacked with the addition of high-capacity stackers.

The Pro C720/C720S incorporate state-of-the-art EFI technology; the built-in EFI controller offers full Fiery functionality for swift RIPing. Other features include low power consumption (less than 130 W), low noise levels (less than 76 dB) and minimal dust emissions.

About Ricoh
Ricoh Co., Ltd (“Ricoh Company”) is a global technology leader, specializing in the office and production printing markets. Ricoh works with organizations around the world to modernize work environments and optimize document efficiency. With over 108,500 employees worldwide, it operates in Europe, the Americas, Asia Pacific, China and Japan.

Ricoh Europe Holdings Plc is a public limited company and the EMEA headquarters of Ricoh Company with operations located in London, United Kingdom and Amstelveen, the Netherlands. The EMEA operations comprise over 35 sales subsidiaries and affiliates.

In the fiscal year ended 31 March 2009, revenues from Ricoh's EMEA operations totalled over YEN 523.4 billion accounting for 25.0 per cent of Ricoh Company's global revenues. Ricoh Company's worldwide sales totaled over YEN 2,091.7 billion during the year ended 31 March 2009.