Copiers

Let’s Talk Copiers

If you are looking for a copier, and have questions about what is happening in the industry, or best practices on leasing a commercial copier we are here to help. The copier industry has changed quite a bit over the last decade or two, so we will explore where the industry was and where it is going.

By the end of this article, you will know more about the office copier as well as how they are serviced and what options you have as you consider getting a printer for your office.

Copiers to Multifunction printer change

A recent transformation we have seen is the changeover from a copy machine to a multifunction printer for a lot of businesses. 20 years ago, almost every company had a big copier people would use to copy reports they had made. Now, it is far more common to not even see a big copier, but to see a multifunction printer instead.

If you think about the goal of a copier, producing quality print, then it is not really a surprise of the popularity of a multifunction printer. They tend to be cheaper, faster for the price, and still offer great print quality. You can get a 45 page copier for about $10,000 and the multifunction printer may be closer to $2000.

No one who does production print purposely does that volume on a multifunction printer. That is because the cost per print gets way too high when you do massive print volume.

It can be challenging finding the right office equipment. There is more than just cost, toner, or copier maintenance you have to think about. There can be size, compatibility, service area, etc.

Color Copier or Black and White?

A copier can do all of the color by combining 4 primary colors of toner. These colors are cyan, magenta, yellow and black. These four colors can be mixed to make almost any other color. So that is why you see 4 toner cartridges in a color copier. You monitor uses just 3, with red, green and blue. So this can cause color confusion on your copier as you try and print to a 4 color device while proofing on a 3 color display.

Copier Speed

One of the biggest advancements has come in the speed arena, especially for color. There used to be a process where all four colors would print individually. This would lend to specifications like 32 pages per minute for black / 8 pages a minute for color. The drums wouldn’t allow it all to happen at once. Now the color speed and the black and white speed are the same in most cases.

Copier Brands

The most popular copier brands are Xerox, Canon, HP, Ricoh, and Konica Minolta for business clients. For consumer based clients, HP, Lexmark, Brother, Xerox and Epson are the most common.

Accessories:

Common copier accessories include staple, hole punch, wireless, an extra paper tray, envelope feeders, fax, and stands. Most of them are configurable, meaning what you get may be the same model but a completely different configuration that what your friend gets, and the pricing could be completely different because of this.

Normal Jobs

Copiers were made to do copying, originally. That would be having a physical piece of paper and running it through a scanner and then getting a copy of the initial document. Then print drivers kept improving and people would simply print more sets where the glass wasn’t used so much. Then came the scan revolution, and the glass is back to being a critical part of most people’s copier buying experience.

If you are looking for a copier in the USA, we can likely help. We sell multiple brands and we have a whole team of sales and support people who can help! We are a copier company with well over 10 years of experience and many staff have been in the industry 20 or 30 years plus. We have a skilled team who can help you with leasing or sales questions!