THIS IS A PROMOTIONAL STORY PAID FOR BY KONICA MINOLTA
Since its entrance into the graphic arts industry at PacPrint nine years ago Konica Minolta has become an established player in the digital print sector, its range of print engines winning it a legion of fans among the country’s print businesses, and propelling it to number two position in the market. Along the way the Press range has been awarded several industry awards and been awarded colour certification.
Initially starting in the light production end of the market, then moving to mid production, the company has now entered the higher end of the market with the launch of its new series bizhub Press C1100 and C1085 digital colour printers, which have been designed to the high volume requirements of commercial printers, mailhouses and print on demand requirements of the most demanding print for pay environments as well as high volume copyshops and franchises. The bizhub Press C1100 for instance is aimed at printers who have a requirement to print upwards of 100,000 colour sheets a month.
George Fryer, the newly appointed general manager of Konica Minolta’s Production Print group says, “With their new design and brand new engine the bizhub Press C1100 and C1085 are capable of higher speeds and higher volumes”, he continued, “and so offer printers the power and flexibility to differentiate their print businesses.”
The two models relate to the speed of the new colour printers, the bizhub Press C1100 is 100 ppm while the C1085 is 85 ppm. In all other respects they are identical. Fryer says, “They are designed to provide the commercial printer with superior colour quality – the colour gamut is the widest yet from Konica Minolta, and has been achieved by using a new version of the HDE toner. The reds for instance are simply stunning. There is a flexibility of rips, with two from EFI, one from Creo, and a Konica Minolta rip to choose from.
“These two printers are a significant step up, raising the bar, targeting clients with higher volumes, and who demand consistency and reliability, in both colour and productivity.”
Both printers can handle media weights from from 55 gsm up to 350 gsm, and there is no slowdown in running speed for the heavier stocks. And those stocks can now include synthetics as well as paper based media. Up to 13,890 sheets of stock can be held in the printers, more than enough for most jobs. Fryer says, “They have vacuum feed, which has been specially integrated to ensure offset printers feel comfortable with the printers, as this is what they are used to, and as it gives the best result.”
Another key feature is the inline colour control management system, which is essentially a closed loop system that ensures the print on each sheet is the same as the last and at the same level throughout. Fryer says, “Print business owners installing these two new printers can have confidence that the last sheet will look like the first, and that repeat jobs will replicate the previous job.
“The bizhub Press C1100 and C1085 are the new flagship products from Konica Minolta. Printers are not just buying 100 ppm but reliability, consistency, and quality.”
Given the productivity of the new printers Konica Minolta is offering a range of finishing solutions, including both inline and offline. Fryer says, “Our finishing side has been one of the strengths of the last eight years, we have been able to carefully develop finishing in consultation with our printer partners, and as volumes increase the trend is to nearline or offline solutions. These can be supplied by us, or can be third party, we are very supportive of that.”
Fryer was speaking as some 50 sales staff and dealers went through the benefits and details of the bizhub Press C1100 and C1085 before fanning out to spread the good news across the country. This year Konica Minolta has doubled its sales force. If print is in decline then clearly no-one has told Konica Minolta.
Because commercial printers are the target for the bizhub Press C1100 Konica Minolta is reviewing its service structure to include extended service hours. Konica Minolta has now revamped almost its entire product line up this year, it launched the new bizhub Press C1070 and C1060 just three months ago, and has just launched its monochrome print-only models, the bizhub Press 2250P and bizhub Press 1250P. The company is now one of the biggest players in the digital printer market.
Colour Management
Fryer says, “Colour quality is a key issue for digital print businesses, and true colour matching a serious challenge. But customers expect colour consistency when buying prints. Printers need to guarantee colour print quality and want easy-to-use tools. They expect a colour management solution to deliver precise colour matching without a high learning curve, and they need consistent colour reproduction over time to reduce misprints and avoid reprinting.
“Konica Minolta addresses these requirements through its Konica Minolta Color Care 2 which delivers guaranteed colour quality, and the EFI Color Profiler Suite, the market-leading colour management for Fiery servers.
Printers running the new bizhub Press C1100 and C1085 series have a quality assurance which guarantees authentic colour reproduction and optimised colour prints, opening up new business opportunities.
A profile creation system ensures consistent colour across output devices, enabling faster turnarounds that generate more profit, and profile evaluation is easy checking of quality levels that improves colour quality and reduces misprints, saving costs and enhancing business opportunities.
Web-To-Print
One of the fastest growing and biggest business opportunities is in web-to-print, which provides a mechanism for getting much closer to existing clients, easing the workflow, and to develop new clients and new markets cost efficiently.
George Fryer says, “While print providers constantly need to strive for differentiation from their competitors, in the present economic climate they have to reduce overheads and improve efficiencies. All equipment must be used to capacity to avoid devices and employees standing idle. Konica Minolta has identified web-to-print as a key enabler to business development. Printers can extend their range of print products by offering creative online solutions. They can with web-to-print provide services around the clock, and streamline their job processing. Web-to-print helps them to avoid low production volumes and low revenues per employee.”
Fryer says, “Online job submission avoids confusion for providers and customers with just a single system for the complete order process, while the online payment recognises all cost originators and correctly allocates costs for reliable invoicing. The online status tracking saves time on both sides, keeping customers up to date on the job status and avoiding telephone enquiries.
“Whatever a company’s IT capabilities, a suitable web-to-print solution is available – hosted or set up on the printer’s own server.”
Features
Konica Minolta says its flagship models bizhub Press C1100/C1085 extend the print provider’s range of high-volume job possibilities.
With performance, high image quality and stability, they satisfy the growing demands of customers of in-house print rooms and graphic communication providers.
Both digital colour presses provide extensive configuration options to grow the printer’s business.
Small lot orders and variable data printing jobs with tight deadlines can be performed faster and more efficiently, creating new revenue sources for printers, with speeds of 100/85 ppm on 55 to 350 gsm papers
The bizhub Press C1100/C1085 maintains the stable high image quality demanded by professional users for high-volume printing. They meet the strict customer demands for high quality output, with Simitri HDE toner, Sead IV image processing technology, and the Colour feedback system
Multifunctional options help save labour and ensure added value, thereby increasing profitability. They also enhance the efficiency during post-processing, with booklet making, auto ring binding, perfect binding, hole punching, GBC punching, as well as six types of folding and stapling
bizhub Press C1100 /C1085 meet latest global standards, supporting various industry standards as well as high-level colour management. With JDF support, APPE, Pantone, industry-standard Fiery and Creo controller, both represent state-of-the-art models for the printing industry
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