Ricoh has launched some new Aficio machines that are built on existing machines with improved printing ability, advanced security and enhanced high-volume controls and digital document-management capability.

The Aficio 2051 (51 pages per minute), 2060 (60 ppm) and 2075 (75 ppm) series from Ricoh, West Caldwell, N.J., are built on the foundation of the existing Aficio 1055, 1060 and 1075 machines. SP models have digital printing and network scanning as standard. Price for the Aficio 2051 is $17,000; Aficio 2051SP, $20,500; Aficio 2060, $21,500; Aficio 2060SP, $25,000; Aficio 2075, $28,000 and the Aficio 2075SP, $31,500.

Ricoh now considers all of the Aficio digital products as multifunctional machines.

The e-STUDIO200L, a 20-ppm multifunctional product that copies, prints, scans and faxes, was recently introduced to the e-STUDIO230/280 MFP series by Toshiba America Business Solutions, Irvine, Calif. The e-STUDIO200L also features a 100 percent recycled toner system, so a toner waste container isn't needed. Cost is $3,895.

Konica Minolta Business Solutions, Windsor, Conn., recently introduced the bizhub PRO 1050, a 105 page-per-minute (ppm) printer/copier, which contains over 150 patent-pending items in engine design, paper handling, finishing, imaging and user interface. The segment 6 machines accommodate documents up to 12.36. X 18.1 inches. The manufacturer's suggested retail price, including the document feeder and print controller, is $57,000. Konica Minolta plans customized accessory packages for in-plant, quick print and data center markets.

The Canon Digital Solutions Forum in Las Vegas in latter October introduced the color-enabled imageRUNNER C5800 from Canon, headquartered in the US at Lake Success, N.Y. The C5800 operates at 55 ppm for monochrome and 16 ppm for color, with a price of $21,000. The Canon 2270 (22 ppm), 2870 (28 ppm), 3570 (35 ppm) and 4570 (45ppm) monochrome devices were also shown, and in the upper segments, the imageRUNNER 5570/6570 (55/65 ppm,), imageRUNNER 8070/9070 (80 /90 ppm), 85-ppm imageRUNNER 85+ and the 105-ppm imageRUNNER 105+ were previewed.

HP's LaserJet 4345mfp was one of 14 new solutions unveiled by the Palo Alto, Calif. company recently. This multifunctional device is touted as an alternative to mainstream copiers that copies, prints, faxes and scans. It prints up to 45 ppm and HP states it prints images at a third of the cost of similar devices such as copiers. The HP 4345 price is $2,599.

There's a new owner for Business Equipment Research and Test Laboratories, a United Kingdom-based office equipment evaluation and software evaluation company, acquired by Adams Business Media, a New York-based communications company for print and electronic media.

Footnote for the copier dealers who sell printers: Effective October 1, Ricoh Company, Ltd., Tokyo, acquired Hitachi Printing Solutions, Ltd. and its subsidiaries, including Hitachi Printing Solutions America, Simi Valley, Calif. Hitachi printers have included the DDP series, now under the Ricoh brand.

The two largest copier manufacturers posted growth in third-quarter results that are partially attributable to the growth in demand for color.

Canon's profits rose 39 percent in the third quarter, attributed to cost-cutting and increased sales of color copiers and printers.

Net income for the company, with U.S. headquarters in Lake Success, N.Y., was $960 million - from about $691 million a year earlier. Canon stock has risen by about 4 percent this year.

Xerox, Stamford, Conn., posted 39 percent profit in the third fiscal quarter, which the company's spokesmen say is because of sales of new products and a demand for document services. Color product sales grew 18 percent.

Xerox earned $163 million for the July-September period, compared with $117 million for the same period a year ago. Revenue in the third quarter was $3.72 billion, down slightly from $3.73 billion a year ago. Sales slumps for older technology and weak performance in Latin America were cited as reasons for the drop.

Xerox's turnaround in the past few years is from belt-tightening plus a goal to bring out more innovative products. The majority of sales of equipment in the latest fiscal quarter came from products launched in the past two years, according to Anne Mulcahy, Xerox Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

Stock performance has been mixed for document-based companies. Global Imaging, Tampa, Fla., was termed "marginally ahead of expectations" for its stock. Stock experts said the non-copier segment offset the copier segment's poor performance.

Television commercials about office equipment are becoming more and more prevalent now, and Canon is trying to show how its products "enable people to work the way they need to." Canon color and integrated workflow solutions are emphasized in the "New Day" advertising campaign of the Lake Success, N.Y. company, with an initial buying cost of $30 million. The imageRUNNER monochrome and color devices are part of the main products featured in the campaign this fall in television, print and radio ads.

The advertisements show everyday situations of people in the work environment and how Canon products help them do their work. Singer Carly Simon sings, "Let the River Run" in the background of one commercial.

Canon has a track record for award-winning advertising campaigns. Earlier this year, Canon and DCA Advertising received a Gold EFFIE award in the Office Products and Services category for the "Rewards" advertising campaign promoting Canon's office copier and printer products.

Relationship selling is the newest "buzzword" in the business - a process some call similar to making friends instead of the back-and-forth negotiation that is inherent in the selling process. Some say relationship selling is more about connecting, and Dale Carnegie showed how to do relationship selling over half a decade before it became the newest method touted at every seminar.

Building trust, saying the client's first name often, giving a firm handshake, the smile and active listening are all part of Dale Carnegie's book, "How to Win Friends and Influence People."

Put these together with the sales basics of studying and knowing the product, honestly answering questions, gaining trust and making follow-ups with clients and any salesperson's month will be a "good month."

Laser Images, a copier dealer that started as a cartridge-remanufacturing business, is moving in a new direction and will change the company name by Jan. 1, 2005. "We have changed the direction of our company and made a strategic decision to become a sales-based organization in solutions-based selling," said Mike Tyler, executive vice president for the Louisville, Ky. firm.

Print Manage, the new company name, will sell and service office products ranging from workgroup printers to copiers, copier-based MFPs, scanners, fax machines and sell remanufactured cartridges, too.

Lisa Tyler, the president, and Mike started out the business as a home-based business 15 years ago, later moving into printer service and sales, then to copier sales and service five years ago. Laser Images currently is a dealer for the digital copier channel of Hewlett Packard.

The copier industry is changing direction, too, Mike said, with standalones scarce and connected devices that scan and can place the data on networks or into storage. The copier, he said, "is being used for multiple things, not just copying - and it's more print-centric."

Xerox is trying to find the most talented, inventive "whiz kids" in a national contest for the "Chester Award," honoring xerography's inventor, Chester Carlson.

Youth between ages 5 and 19 can compete in the "By Kids, For Kids" contest, and the Stamford, Conn.-based sponsoring company is looking for invention ideas in games, toys, sporting goods or other products invented by youngsters for other youth.

There is no fee and inventions must be submitted no later than Dec.15, 2004, with winners announced at the June 2005 International Licensing Show. A licensing contract, $1,000 in Xerox technology and help to bring the product to market is among the booty for the grand-prize winners. Details are available at the Xerox Web site.

It's long been known that the drum and laser beam on a printer make a "signature" for printing and copying devices, but the mass of devices makes it tough to trace to criminals.

It's tough when criminals use copiers that have "signature" copier platen glass, too, as the anthrax-mailing terrorist did in 2001.But now ideas are circulating to help make it easier to trace printed documents to particular machines.

Purdue researchers have proposed programming a defect into printers to more easily find terrorists and criminals. Each brand and model of printing device would have it's own signature "defect" in the form of fonts or other methods not noticeable in normal printing.

The National Science Foundation funded the research presented during the International Conference on Digital Printing Technologies in Salt Lake City earlier this month. Purdue is working with the U.S. Secret Service on the research.

Such "signature" devices could also prove documents were printed on newer machines, such as when CBS News received faked documents purported to be from 1972 in this year's election-year gaffe.

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