Time and progress marches on, generally taking us all with it. Twenty to thirty years ago, most small to medium sized engineering firms were making copies of their large format drawings using an ammonia based process. Choking back the smell of ammonia was simply a way of life. At the time, a xerographic copier cost more than $40K. Then the Xerox 2510, a xerographic copier costing $7,000 was introduced. Other manufacturers followed suit, allowing the industry to give up their ammonia belching machines in favor of this cleaner economical alternative.
The world of digital printers is now undergoing a similar paradigm shift. Thousands of companies who purchased those first generation analog wide format copiers are now finding these machines are finally giving up the ghost. Most manufacturers stopped supporting these machines years ago. This is causing replacement parts to become very expensive, or simply unavailable. Companies owning these machines are now faced with the decision of what machine to replace their old relics with. The choices are a new analog copier, or make the leap to a digital system.
A new analog copier today costs between $5-7K. This is a relatively painless way to replace the old work horse. However, this new machine will offer very little improvements in capability over the old machine it would replace. Typically, these low priced analog machines will simply allow you to make size-for-size copies of an original. On the other hand, a digital machine will provide coping with reduction and enlargement capability. In addition, the digital machine may be used to scan drawings to file, as well as print digital files.
The ability to print from file is of particular help to most contractors. Unlike the old days when a bid set would be provided in hard copy form, most bid sets these days are being provided in the form of .PDF files on a CD. This fact alone is usually the main determining factor for most companies to make the move up to a digital machine.
Not long ago, the least one could expect to spend for a digital copier/printer was $30K. These digital systems usually took up a lot of valuable floor space, and required special electrical circuits to power the equipment. However, there are now several manufacturers providing a single footprint wide format digital printer/scanner/copier with a starting price half of what the older digital systems cost. These machines require less power, and may be plugged into standard electrical circuits.
Once the decision has been made to go digital, the next choice is which manufacturer to choose. At RPG, we have tested all of the systems available on the market today. We have found the Xerox model 6204 to be the best over all value. Two key factors affected this choice: ease of use and product quality.
One thing that Xerox excels at is designing their equipment to be user friendly. The Xerox 6204 is very simple to use. This is true whether scanning images to digital file, printing to the machine over a network, or making copies. Most functions are very intuitive, so little training on the part of the user is necessary. The 6204 is also very reliable, which allows the user to be more productive. The best way to learn about this new breed of digital wide format system is to request a personal demonstration. For more information, go to www.rpg.com or call our sales team at 301-498-3225.
Showing posts with label wide format printer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wide format printer. Show all posts
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Should I buy a service contract on my Engineering Print System?
I regularly have conversations with customers who are weighing the decision of whether to purchase a service contract on their Engineering Wide Format machine. All prudent business people want to run their business as effectively as possible. Purchasing a service contract may on the surface appear to be an unnecessary expense. This is what I have found:
Customers who have a machine covered under a service contract do not hesitate to place a service call if the machine is operating below standard. In contrast, when a printer is not covered by a contract, the customer will typically put up with problems long before they place a service call on the machine. Sometimes these problems are endured for weeks or months before a service call is placed.
When servicing a contract machine, technicians thoroughly diagnose, clean, and replace worn parts on each service call. In the case of a Wide Format machine that is serviced on a time & materials (T&M) basis, the customer typically prefers to spend as little as possible on maintenance of their machine. Therefore the technician will simply fix the immediate problem, with little or no regard to preventative maintenance.
In the short term, the T&M customer often realizes a cost saving with this approach. However, as usage and neglect continues, the machine’s overall condition inevitably declines. As a result, output quality and reliability continues to suffer. Eventually, the machine often becomes too expensive to bring back to normal operating condition. In these situations, the perception on the part of the end user of the system is that “the machine is a piece of junk.” When in reality, had the system been maintained at a consistently higher level, it would have performed far more acceptably. The contrast in perception regarding the performance of a contract verses T&M machine is often striking. Most contract customers appreciate and value their equipment for the useful life of the product. Whereas many T&M customers endure their machine until it finally dies.
Comparing bottom line cost is often surprising as well. In the first year or two, a T&M customer will almost always come out ahead compared to the cost of a service. However, it is often after this initial period that problems begin to surface with the equipment due to normal wear and tear. Most businesses expect to realize 5-10 years of useful life from of a Wide Format printer. As the equipment sees more use, it is typical that more expensive parts begin to fail. Due to the failure of an expensive part, I have seen T&M customers spend as much in a single service call as the cost for a service contract for two years!
You might be thinking, “So why not skip the service contract until the machine begins to give me problems?” Most service companies will want to inspect a machine prior to placing it under a service contract. The intent of the inspection is to ensure that the machine is operating up to OEM standards. If there are parts that show signs of wear, these will have to be replaced at the customer’s expense prior to placing the machine under contract. After a few years of minimal maintenance, it is not uncommon for this cost to run $1-2,000.
So if you are weighing the decision whether to purchase a service contract, I ask you this simple question: “Are you feeling lucky?”
Customers who have a machine covered under a service contract do not hesitate to place a service call if the machine is operating below standard. In contrast, when a printer is not covered by a contract, the customer will typically put up with problems long before they place a service call on the machine. Sometimes these problems are endured for weeks or months before a service call is placed.
When servicing a contract machine, technicians thoroughly diagnose, clean, and replace worn parts on each service call. In the case of a Wide Format machine that is serviced on a time & materials (T&M) basis, the customer typically prefers to spend as little as possible on maintenance of their machine. Therefore the technician will simply fix the immediate problem, with little or no regard to preventative maintenance.
In the short term, the T&M customer often realizes a cost saving with this approach. However, as usage and neglect continues, the machine’s overall condition inevitably declines. As a result, output quality and reliability continues to suffer. Eventually, the machine often becomes too expensive to bring back to normal operating condition. In these situations, the perception on the part of the end user of the system is that “the machine is a piece of junk.” When in reality, had the system been maintained at a consistently higher level, it would have performed far more acceptably. The contrast in perception regarding the performance of a contract verses T&M machine is often striking. Most contract customers appreciate and value their equipment for the useful life of the product. Whereas many T&M customers endure their machine until it finally dies.
Comparing bottom line cost is often surprising as well. In the first year or two, a T&M customer will almost always come out ahead compared to the cost of a service. However, it is often after this initial period that problems begin to surface with the equipment due to normal wear and tear. Most businesses expect to realize 5-10 years of useful life from of a Wide Format printer. As the equipment sees more use, it is typical that more expensive parts begin to fail. Due to the failure of an expensive part, I have seen T&M customers spend as much in a single service call as the cost for a service contract for two years!
You might be thinking, “So why not skip the service contract until the machine begins to give me problems?” Most service companies will want to inspect a machine prior to placing it under a service contract. The intent of the inspection is to ensure that the machine is operating up to OEM standards. If there are parts that show signs of wear, these will have to be replaced at the customer’s expense prior to placing the machine under contract. After a few years of minimal maintenance, it is not uncommon for this cost to run $1-2,000.
So if you are weighing the decision whether to purchase a service contract, I ask you this simple question: “Are you feeling lucky?”
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