Konica Minolta has launched two high-speed monochrome digital printers aimed at small commercial printers needing bigger output.

The bizhub Press 1250e/1250eP and 1052e are updated versions of the 1250 and 1052 models released at drupa 2012 and include some features from last year’s 2250P.

Product manager Grant Thomas says the machines are ideal for small commercial printer such as franchise print shops, as well as big corporate or government entities.

He says they expect to sell 100 a year as production shifts from offset to digital.

“It is well know that the demand for black and white printers are in decline, this is shown in the market share results – four per cent on average over the four speed segments,” he says.

“However local printers are still producing a large volume of prints on black and white high speed printers, and we expect this to grow over the next 12 months, as digital production of black and white prints expands.”

He says they are ‘designed to meet the needs of heavy-duty production environments’ and are effective at producing jobs like training manuals, reports, booklets, and general document work up to several hundred pages.

[Related: More product launches]

As mid-range machines, 1250e/1250eP can print at 125 A4 pages a minute and the 1052e at 105 pages – half that of the top-level 2250P.

Konica Minolta says the 1250e ‘is built for a heavy-duty production cycle’ and can handle up to three million impressions a month, half as much as the 2250P, while the 1052e is at two million.

Both models are available with various in-line finishing modules, including all kinds of binders, and an envelope fixing unit for when it printer is used for mail printing.

They also have new software that cuts rip time in half and energy saving modes that automatically switch off components when they are not in use.

Konica Minolta has also acquired two software companies, Knowledge Partners and Stonebridge Systems, to enhance its content management services.

The manufacturer says the acquisitions are part of its bid to shift its focus from ‘providing products, to services and solutions that help customers grow their business’.

Stonebridge Systems founder Craig Broadbent says: “We will be able to help steer clients of Konica Minolta through the fast-changing marketing technology landscape, freeing them to focus on what matters most: their core business and customers.”

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