Editorials

Cost Saving Benefits Associated with Multifunction Systems

If you are operating a small business or a large business, printing and other office functions are daily tasks that don’t you don’t think twice about anymore. One thing that is sometimes overlooked is the fact that most of these office functions cost money. Although the cost associated with printing one sheet of paper are relatively low, printing a thousand sheets of paper can be quite expensive.

A multifunction system allows you to cut down on said costs by being more efficient than many stand alone printers. Costs associated with printing are sometimes ignored in the office and a multifunction printer makes sure that you’re paying attention. Saving money is something every business should be interested in, especially if it’s as easy as upgrading your equipment.

The Unsung Heroes of your Office

For many businesses, between all the day-to-day operations like meetings and other daily tasks, it’s hard to stop and think about the fundamentals that keep your office running. Things like a smooth running network and Internet connection, printers functioning at efficient levels, and documents being stored and routed securely are very important to your office as a whole. Management and staff often overlook these fundamentals as these parts of your office are typically running smoothly and have no cause for concern.
 
The unsung heroes of your office are the machines and systems that keep it in business. If one of these processes were to break down or be taken out of the system, an office would immediately notice the change. Although taken for granted, as is normal, these office processes and function make sure a company is able to do business that day.

Print Management and Your Business

There are many terms that are thrown around in the copier and managed services industry that don’t necessarily mean anything to a business owner or the layperson. Although some of these terms may seem foreign, the term Print Management actually says something in the name that describes exactly its purpose or intent. Managing the printing in your office is a very important aspect of your daily business operations and business owners everywhere may be surprised by the cost associated with the paper that is used on a monthly basis.

You typically know your copier dealer for office equipment like printers and multifunction systems. You may have also dabbled in some other services typically offered by that same dealer like Document Solutions. What you may not be familiar with is that that same copier dealer usually has a wide array of services to offer your business the best chance in remaining productive, efficient, and cost effective. This is exactly where Print Management comes in.

Four Ways that a Multifunction System Contributes to a Greener Office

There are plenty of reasons why a business would take the step in purchasing a Multifunction System for their office. Whether it is for the purpose of boosting efficiency and productivity in the office, or if it’s for consolidating much needed space, a multifunction system can contribute many benefits that a business can realize in a short amount of time. Companies typically realize that they have made a smart decision in investing in a Multifunction System shortly after it has been installed.

Benefits of a Multifunction System that are sometimes overlooked are the various Green initiatives that are associated with the machines themselves. It’s easy for a business to know that productivity will be boosted by a Multifunction System, but it’s a little more difficult for a business to realize the eco-friendly benefits that can be realized when making the switch from individual pieces of office equipment.

Using Print Management as a Productivity Tool

The success of your company can very well depend on the amount of work that your office is getting done or has the ability to get done in a given day or week. The amount of tasks that can be completed in a given day are directly tied to productivity levels. That is why it is very important that productivity levels are as high as they can be in your place of work. The formula for this is simple, the higher the productivity levels, the more your office is able to handle.

But making sure your office is being productive at all times is challenging. There are many factors that weigh into making sure that an office is productive and the work is being done efficiently. While we know there are certain things as business managers that we don’t have control over e.g. worker productivity, our clients’ productivity, etc., there are certain aspects of the office that we do have control over. Examples of what we can control include how we use our print management system.

Kodak DI Business Finds a Home

By Lisa Reider, BLI Senior Product Editor, Scanners and Environmental

Eastman Kodak Company reached an agreement with the UK-based Kodak Pension Plan (KPP) for KPP to purchase Kodak’s Document Imaging (DI) and Personalized Imaging (PI) businesses for $650 million. This agreement also settles about $2.8 billion of claims by KPP against Kodak and certain affiliates, according to the company. Other proceeds will be used to support Kodak’s recovery from Chapter 11 and grow its Commercial Imaging business. The agreement will involve about 3,450 current DI and PI employees, including those in sales, service, manufacturing and R&D. The businesses will be able to retain the “Kodak” brand and can use “Kodak” in the new company name under the new ownership. Although the agreement must be approved by the court, the company expects the closing to be in the third quarter of 2013. Kodak Pension Plan is privately held and is Kodak’s largest non-secure creditor.

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BLI Presents Konica Minolta with 2013 A3 Line of the Year

By George Mikolay, Senior Product Editor, A3/Copier MFPs, April 19, 2013

BLI recently visited Konica Minolta’s U.S. headquarters to present the company with BLI’s highest award, 2013 A3 MFP Line of the Year.

This marks the third consecutive year Konica Minolta has won the honor, and the accomplishment is almost unprecedented.

“In the 26-year history of the award, Konica Minolta is one of only two vendors to earn the award three years in a row, and it is the only vendor to do so in the past decade,” said BLI Managing Editor Daria Hoffman.

BLI tested nearly all of Konica Minolta’s line, both color and monochrome, with 12 Pick winners among them, which is a higher number than any other vendor, and 14 Highly Recommended products.

Kyocera Pushes Solutions, Training, Without Losing Focus on Hardware at Dealer Meeting

By Jessica Schiffenhaus, Research Editor, April 19, 2013

More than 1,000 Kyocera and Copystar employees, dealers and guests attended KYOCERA Document Solutions America’s FY14 Pan-American Dealer Meeting April 8 through 10 at the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas. Celebrating Kyocera’s 40th year in the Americas, President and CEO of KYOCERA Document Solutions America (KDA) Norihiko Ina proudly announced that for the second year in a row, the fiscal year’s consolidated sales represent the highest revenue the company has ever achieved.

This year’s theme was Resolution 360, encouraging dealers to take a 360-degree approach with customers by offering hardware, applications, and pre- and post-sales services. “We are 100 percent committed to being a dealer-centric company,” said Ina, highlighting KYOCERA’s company-wide investment in research and development, a growing portfolio of business applications and third-party solutions, and improvements to the KYOCERA Sales Excellence program.

Fujitsu Introduces Projected Interface for Touch-Based Scanning

By Lisa Reider, Senior Product Editor, Scanners and Environmental

Fujitsu Laboratories Limited recently introduced technology that may change the way we scan documents. Instead of controlling the scanner actions through the control panel or dedicated computer-based software, you’ll be able to scan using your finger and a projected user interface. The system projects scan controls on a flat surface, similar to the projection technology currently being used to replace keyboards. However, with the Fujitsu system, users can actually digitally move objects or scan images with the movement of a finger.

The system uses an ordinary camera that can measure the shape of objects on a surface and automatically adjust the coordinates of each object as they relate to the projected interface. The associated software can then sync the finger movements made by the user with the projected interface and identify the intended commands. The technology can be calibrated to recognize the shape and color of an individual user’s hand and fingers. According to the company, the technology can track natural finger movement up to 300 mm per second. Although it may eventually be used for other purposes, Fujitsu highlighted the technology’s scanning capabilities through a video demonstration.

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Document Solutions and the Evolving Nature of Data Theft

As what was once the future slowly turns into the present, we can expect technology to become more and more advanced. As a general rule, the advancement of technology is not partial to any particular area; therefore, we can readily assume that advancement in the field of data theft will mimic the advancement of data security. This simply means that each sector of technology in regard to data security is trying to stay one step ahead of the other. Identity thieves will be inventing new ways to steal important information or identities while programmers looking to thwart these thieves will invent better ways of preventing or protecting valuable data.

Some ways that identity thieves are using the Internet to steal valuable information have already been uncovered by industry experts. This has allowed document management systems and document solutions offered by various companies to adapt to the ever-present threat of identity and data theft. If your company is currently operating in a high-threat industry such as the medical or legal field, maybe it’s time that you looked into document solutions for your business designed to protect your data.

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