LMI Solutions Acquires Printersdirect
July 23, 2014 – LMI Solutions (LMI), an R2 certified remanufacturer, distributor and recycler of replacement monochrome and color toner cartridges, has announced the acquisition of Printersdirect LLC (Printersdirect). Printersdirect remanufactures premium quality business printers based in Atlanta, Georgia. Printersdirect clients include the leading distributors of imaging supplies and parts in North America and sells under the MPS Ready® brand.
The acquisition comes on the heels of LMI’s purchase of Global Printer Services (GPS) and consolidates the two leading providers of remanufactured printer hardware. As the three companies join forces, customers can leverage a complete end-to-end strategy to grow recurring revenues and profitability with top quality remanufactured printers, remanufactured toner and managed print infrastructure services.
“We’re listening to our customers and responding with investments like this acquisition to give dealers, whether buying direct or through distribution, another advantage over their competition,” stated Gary Willert President and CEO of LMI Solutions. “The remanufactured printer hardware category has become increasingly important to dealers who rely upon remanufactured consumables as a profitable alternative to high priced OEM. Many resellers have discovered after the fact that when customers ‘upgrade’ to new devices, they are also inadvertently returned to purchasing OEM cartridges. This causes the end users printing costs to dramatically increase and reseller profits to plummet. As a result, solution resellers are asking for an alternative to new devices – a device that has been engineered to perform as well as new, but which utilizes affordable and sustainable cartridges. That solution is a high quality remanufactured printer.”
DocuWare and Objectif Lune Announce Connector
July 24, 2014 – DocuWare and Objectif Lune have announced the release of a new connector within the PlanetPress Workflow Tool integrating their two solutions. The free connector allows for easy document routing through PlanetPress directly to a DocuWare system.
The functionality of the recently released PlanetPress Capture OnTheGo solution is enhanced with the addition of the DocuWare connector to the PlanetPress Workflow Tool. This collaboration allows customers to go completely paperless with transaction documents. This would include documents requiring signature and markup such as delivery notes, inspection documents, healthcare forms and field service reports.
“PlanetPress and DocuWare complement each other very well, bringing complete transactional document composition, workflow, approval and storage technology to our common reseller partners,” states Mike Beard, Director of Sales Objectif Lune USA.
Steve Behm, Vice President of Sales, Americas for DocuWare adds: “DocuWare and Objectif Lune products have worked well together for many years and this connector gives our resellers another opportunity to offer customers a valuable addition to simplify a workflow even further.”
Advanced Systems Launches New Website
July 23, 2014 – Advanced Systems, Inc. has announced the launch of their newly designed Website www.asiowa.com. The Website showcases ways clients can benefit from working with the dealership, while providing helpful resources to assist clients in making their technology decisions.
“There are many things we offer beyond the traditional copier,” said David Quint, President of Advanced Systems. “We want our clients to see ways we can help improve their processes and how their business can benefit by partnering with us.”
The content outline of the Website is organized around core questions:
- Who We Are
- What We Do
- How You Benefit
Each menu section opens up into a multi-column mega menu that provides multiple options to the browser. “This provides a practical way to show all of the dealership’s capabilities while still keeping the main menu of the site clean,” commented Darrell Amy, President of Dealer Marketing.
The Website now features a blog that is continually-updated with helpful information. “We want our clients to see that we can bring useful ideas to their business,” said Tammy Bedard, Marketing Director. The site features a Meet the Team page with pictures and contact information for each employee. “We value personal relationships with our clients, this allows them to see the people they will talk to on the phone.”
The How You Benefitsection highlights Advanced Systems’ service philosophy. It also includes links to success stories of local companies they have helped.
“As our dealership’s capabilities grow we want to make sure our Website stays up-to-date with the latest information,” remarked Quint. “The new platform and services from Dealer Marketing makes it easy for us to keep our Web presence current.”
MaxxVault Picked as a Top Microsoft Solution Provider by CIO Review
July 23, 2014 — MaxxVault LLC has been named in CIO Review’s “100 Most Promising Microsoft Solution Providers,” published earlier this month.
Microsoft partners with about half a million vendors, ranging from multinational corporations to smaller players and specialist providers. Within this universe of Microsoft partners are a select few who are a step above the rest, and through this edition CIO Review hopes to help clients gain more insights into the capabilities of the major global service providers who are strong in Microsoft technologies. The selection panel evaluated the capabilities of thousands of vendors in this space that have skills to tackle complex challenges.
The companies featured have showcased an in-depth expertise in delivering integrated and innovative technologies to streamline operations across the Microsoft landscape. A distinguished panel of CEOs, CIOs, VCs, industry analysts and the editorial board of CIO Review selected the final 100 companies that are at the forefront of tackling today’s challenge in the Microsoft ecosystem. MaxxVault LLC follows tight development guidelines to make integration simple for the users with Microsoft Outlook and Office and especially the suite of Microsoft Dynamics products. The MaxxVault integration not only gives storage capability but also the ability to index documents while keeping up the workflow tasks directly from Microsoft Office suite of products. Users can send their day-to-day documents directly from Outlook into the cloud for storage and retrieval. Several tools like scanning, searching, and document manipulation assist this entire process.
“Being named to this list is a big win for us,” said Bruce Malyon, CEO of MaxxVault LLC. “It has always been our objective to create a powerful document capture, workflow and records management tool that is easy to use. I am very proud of the entire MaxxVault team, including our network of resellers, who have helped us shape and build MaxxVault into the scalable, versatile and award-winning document management solution it is today.” MaxxVault LLC plans to heavily invest in their hosted and private cloud solutions, along with building stronger ties with Microsoft. Read the CIO Review Microsoft Technology Special
Print Audit Releases Facilities Manager 3.1.0R
July 22, 2014 – Print Audit has released an update for the Print Audit Facilities Manager Web portal. Facilities Manager 3.1.0R includes fixes for issues found in previous releases of the software as well as numerous new reporting and alerting enhancements.
Print Audit Facilities Manager is a managed print services tool designed to remotely collect meter reads, automate supplies fulfillment and report service information for managing fleets of printers, copiers and multi-function devices. The product is currently used by over 1,000 dealers worldwide.
Facilities Manager version 3.1.0R offers several toner change detection enhancements, including the ability to detect if a toner cartridge has been changed based on the toner serial number for devices that provide it. The latest release also allows users to view the toner level and device life count before a cartridge was changed in order to track if cartridges are being replaced too soon.
For a complete list of changes in this release, please refer to the “Latest Release Notes” in the application’s online help section. For more information about Print Audit Facilities Manager, please visit: http://www.printaudit.com/facilities-manager.asp
Toshiba’s Latest e-STUDIO Line Blends Performance with Sleek Design
July 21, 2014 — For small-to-mid-size businesses (SMBs) desiring color and monochrome desktop MFPs without sacrificing performance, Toshiba America Business Solutions, Inc. has unveiled its e-STUDIO™287csl/347csl and e-STUDIO477sl products.
Incorporating leading LED technology within the devices’ streamlined architecture, the latest addition to Toshiba’s e-STUDIO line affords office staff the impressive image quality and crisp text they desire. The new e-STUDIO287csl/347csl models produce vibrant color copies at up to 35 pages-per-minute (ppm), while the e-STUDIO477sl delivers black and white output at a brisk 49 ppm.
Toshiba’s latest e-STUDIO products additionally integrate the company’s next-generation e-BRIDGE technology for the latest in cloud and mobile printing and scanning functionality as well as other management utilities found in the company’s larger models. Users may also appreciate the products’ quiet operation.
Alleviating security concerns while bolstering compliance, the company’s print fleet adopts a suite of leading features providing an elite level of data protection that addresses the stringent U.S. Department of Defense requirements. Such notable elements include Toshiba’s unique Self-Encrypting Drive with Automatic Data Invalidation, which meets the U.S. Federal Information processing Standard 140-2. The inclusion of this component virtually eliminates the possibility of anyone accessing data on the drive should they attempt to remove and install it into another device, according to Toshiba. For added security, the new e-STUDIO models include the company’s proprietary Secure PDF feature enabling users to password protect confidential documents.
For SMBs seeking to operate more environmentally and economically, Toshiba’s new printing devices couple a low-temperature fusing toner and Super Sleep Mode to reduce power consumption to a 1.5 watts while in this setting.
Toshiba’s latest e-STUDIO477sl monochrome device is available for $2,599 while pricing for the company’s two new color products, the e-STUDIO287csl/347csl begin at $2,899.
Kyocera Document Solutions America Introduces Scalable, Enterprise-Wide Fax Solution
July 17, 2013 – KYOCERA Document Solutions America has announced the launch of Kyocera RightFax Connector. This Kyocera-developed business application connects a Kyocera MFP to a new or existing OpenText® RightFax server—thereby allowing users to fax documents directly from the MFP.
Using Kyocera RightFax Connector is intuitive. Users scan a hard copy (or select one from stored archives) and enter a fax destination via the Kyocera MFP’s control panel. The application will automatically put the job in the fax server’s outbound queue.
Kyocera RightFax Connector consolidates all fax functionality to the Kyocera MFP touch screen control panel bringing time savings and efficiency to the office. Allowing businesses to leverage an existing RightFax investment or adopt a new scalable, enterprise-wide solution, Kyocera’s RightFax Connector can streamline fax processes while consolidating dedicated fax machines into multifunctional devices. For large corporations, the savings can be considerable—and the productivity gains immeasurable. Providing integration with RightFax’s robust feature-set, the application also provides an audit trail of faxed documents, which is vital to those facing strict compliance regulations, such as corporations in the healthcare, manufacturing and finance industries.
Kyocera RightFax Connector is available through authorized Kyocera dealers at the manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $5,500 per RightFax Server.
MPSA Welcomes Muratec as New Corporate Member
July 22, 2014 – The Managed Print Services Association (MPSA) has announced that Muratec America, Inc. has joined the association as a corporate member. Muratec joins more than 1,000 other MPSA members to participate in proactive outreach to advance the awareness and value of managed print services (MPS) across sectors. Members of the MPSA work together to promote and advocate for MPS in a vendor-neutral forum to the mutual benefit of end users, members and other stakeholders in the global MPS industry.
EFI Acquires DirectSmile, Broadens VDP and Cross Media Capabilities
July 21, 2014 — EFI has announced that it has acquired DirectSmile GmbH, a provider of software solutions for cross media marketing automation. Based in Berlin, DirectSmile invented image personalization in 2001 and today makes media personalization and automation software that streamlines sophisticated marketing and production tasks for corporations, agencies and printing companies. DirectSmile’s technologies extend EFI’s offerings and will give customers expanded, fully integrated capabilities with data-driven digital print, web, e-mail, social media and mobile marketing workflows. While financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, it is not expected to be material to EFI’s Q3 or full year 2014 results. DirectSmile employees, including co-founders and former principals Christoph Schacht and Christoph Clermont, have joined EFI’s Productivity Software Web2Print Solutions Group. EFI will continue to develop, sell and support DirectSmile products as standalone software for the agency, enterprise and print industry markets. DirectSmile’s technology also will be integrated into EFI’s web to print and eCommerce offerings, EFI Digital StoreFront®. EFI is currently incorporating DirectSmile technology into a new variable-data printing product that will make its debut at the Graph Expo tradeshow, September 28-October 1.
OKI Data Americas Earns Outstanding Achievement in Energy Efficiency
July 17, 2014 — OKI Data Americas has announced receipt of the Summer 2014 Pick award for Outstanding Achievement in Energy Efficiency from Buyers Laboratory LLC (BLI) for its C831 Series of A3 single function color printers. BLI recognized the C831 Series for its variety of features to help reduce waste and energy, including its toner-save and auto color modes which help to minimize toner use.
When comparing these units against competitive A3 printers, BLI noted that the C831 Series from OKI Data exhibits an estimated 56 percent lower than average annual energy consumption rate1 for its peer group. BLI applauded the C831 Series for many attributes which included faster than average recovery times from energy-save and sleep modes.
BLI noted that the C831 Series meets the requirements for RoHS2 compliance, offering a variety of features to help reduce waste and energy. Toner-save and auto color modes help reduce toner usage. N-up mode, which prints multiple pages onto a single side of paper, and available automatic duplexing helps reduce paper consumption. Tested toner yields also exceeded rated yields during BLI’s evaluation.
Visioneer Celebrates 20 Years in Scanner Business
July 18, 2014 – A pioneer in the early days of document imaging, Visioneer is celebrating 20 years of dedication to the innovation and development of scanners that intelligently complete tasks from start-to-finish in one easy step. Visioneer gained widespread success and market share with one of the first sheetfed scanners to ever hit the market during a time when roughly 12 other companies were trying to market similar devices. Today, Visioneer is a leader in scanner and document management solutions and the only company dedicated solely to developing a broad range of easy-to-use and cost effective scanning solutions.
The promise of the paperless office never really happened and that prompted Visioneer’s founders to design a solution that could deal with paper, business cards and receipts that typically were filed away in boxes. In 1994, Visioneer broke new ground with the introduction of PaperMax, the first easy to use sheetfed scanner designed for the everyday business user. Visioneer scanners bridged the gap between paper-based and computer-based information by streamlining the conversion of paper into digital form.
“Twenty years ago the majority of scanners for sale were high-end imaging systems used for desktop publishing and required trained users to operate,” said John Capurso, president and CEO at Visioneer. “Visioneer led the way into the future by creating a new category of document scanners that were easy to use by anyone.”
Visioneer went on to establish the multiple button scanner market in 1998 with the introduction of the original OneTouch scanner and changed the design of scanners forever.Visioneer OneTouch™ technology changed the way people used scanners by reducing the many steps required to scan a document to just one touch of a button.
