Driving innovation: OKI printers open new frontiers

As it seeks to grow market share in the highly competitive printer market, OKI is pushing the possibilities of what can be achieved with digital LED printing ever further. Exclusive New Zealand OKI distributor Comworth says that among the advances the Japanese vendor has recently introduced are machines that print using white toner, a DICOM range designed specifically for the medical industries, and the world’s most compact A3 laser printer.

Paul Francois, OKI product manager at Comworth, says these devices expand the addressable market space for the vendor. “Specialist printing solutions support specific businesses by easily integrating with existing infrastructure and delivering outputs which align with their business processes,” he explains.

Niche solutions also deliver higher returns for resellers in a commoditised marketplace, Francois notes.

White Printing:

He points out that strange as it may seem to some, printing the colour white is an essential requirement for some businesses where they need to print white on coloured paper, card or fabric. “That’s particularly applicable to companies working in the graphic arts and related industries.”

OKI has met this requirement for the first time with digital LED technology. It's OKI C711WT and C920WT model A4 and A3 white toner printers deliver an industry breakthrough. “Previously, printing white was only possible with inkjet, dye sublimation or transfer film-ready devices,” Francois notes.

The new machines deliver scratch-resistant prints, improved reliability and reduced cost-per-image over older methods, he adds. They are suitable for vertical market applications including T-shirt transfers, film printing, in-store point of sale applications, ceramic decoration, back light signage by transparency film and film printing for packaging.

As the first company to introduce a toner-based solution to the ‘white printer’ sector, Francois says OKI can expand into what has to date been a highly specialist, complex, costly and low-volume market. Furthermore, like all OKI machines, the white toner models are versatile, easy to use and highly reliable.

Medical Printing:
New OKI printers designed specifically for the healthcare industry incorporate particular requirements for data exchange while delivering reliable, low-cost and efficient LED-printers suitable for hospitals, doctors’ rooms and other medical applications.

“These machines, available in A3 and A4 configurations, incorporate embedded DICOM Print Servers for easy integration into existing medical technology environments,” says Francois.

DICOM, or Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine, is a standard for handling, storing, transmitting and printing information in medical imaging. Incorporation into OKI machines means they can receive and print images from X-Ray machines and other medical devices.

Francois notes that OKI is one of the first to introduce LED-based print solutions for medical imaging. “These new devices are significantly faster, more flexible and cost-effective than existing DICOM solutions based on film or solid ink technologies. Because a DICOM Print Server is fully embedded in the new OKI A3 and A4 printers, there is no need for conversion software or extra hardware.”

As they are based on existing machines, R&D and manufacturing costs are reduced, while the DICOM machines double up as day-to-day office printers.

Smallest A3 Printer:

Finally, Francois points to OKI’s C800 series which is comprised of the world’s smallest A3 digital LED printers. “Small doesn’t mean fragile; like all OKI machines, reliability and quality is an integral focus.”

That’s reflected in the C822n, which recently won the PCPro Laser Printer award by scoring 97% for print quality and beating out all competitors with 91% for reliability. It also secured the PrintIT Editor's Choice Award. “The machine sets a new standard for A3 printing – it costs far less than its market counterparts and has much smaller dimensions, without any loss of print quality,” he says.

With all new models, Francois says OKI’s innovation extends to driving down energy usage and reducing carbon emissions. “All OKIs now feature ‘Deep Sleep’ mode, which reduces consumption to the barest minimum - often less than 1 watt - and ‘Auto Power Off’ technology, which automatically turns off devices after periods on non-use,” he says.

These and other developments, Francois believes, underpins OKI’s ambition to grow its share of the market. “Printing is a mature market; by pushing the boundaries of innovation and delivering solutions for specific printing requirements, OKI is creating attractive value propositions,” he concludes.