More Ink in the Office: Epson Introduces High-Speed, Business-Class Color Inkjet MFPs

The Epson Workforce Enterprise WF-C20590 A3 Color MFP

Epson America has been a leading proponent of inkjet printers in business, and its Workforce line has gained a foothold in small businesses and home offices. On Monday, the company introduced two new color multifunction printer (MFP) models to the Workforce line, both aimed up-market for corporate workgroups and SMBs.

The WorkForce Enterprise WF-C20590 A3 MFP is optimized for workgroup environments, and it is the first MFP to use Epson’s PrecisionCore Line Head Technology. This is the same print chip and printhead used in Epson’s production systems. It allows the WF-C20590 to print at a rate of up to 100 ISO ppm.

That technology also allows the WF-C20590 to use 50 percent less power than color lasers. It’s also designed with paper and ink capacities to support workflow. A 2,350-page paper tray is standard with an optional 3,000-sheet unit. The WF-C20590 can print up to 100,000 black a nd 50,000 color ISO pages before replacement. The unit comes with Epson Open Platform to support integration with web-based enterprise applications, and it is fully MPS compliant. The WF-C20590 will be available this summer and will be sold through BTA dealers.

The Epson Workforce Pro WF-C869R A3 Color MFP

Also announced was the WorkForce Pro WF-C869R A3 color MFP. It uses Epson’s high-capacity Replaceable Ink Pack System, and Epson claims it offers the lowest color printing cost in its class. The WF-C869R prints up to 84,000 ISO pages on a single ink pack at a rate of 24 ISO ppm (black/color). It can scan up to 25 images per minute. It’s paper capacity is lower than the WF-C20590 at 1,830 sheets, and it features auto-duplexing and 13” x19″ printing capability., a 1,830-sheet total paper capacity, convenient auto duplexing, and workflow integration with Epson Open Platform, The WF-C869R also comes with Epson Open Platform for workflow integration. It will be available this spring through BTA dealers.

No pricing was given for either model.

“By leveraging Epson’s high-speed production inkjet technology, we were able to solve a long-time challenge for SMB and large workgroups: making color printing in the office accessible to all at an affordable cost,” said Mark Mathews, commercial vice president of marketing, Epson America, Inc.
Epson’s announcement follows HP’s introduction last November of business-class A3 devices based on its PageWide inkjet technology. The selling points to customers for both Epson and HP are lower color TCO (driven by lower consumables costs and service requirements) and output and print quality competitive with laser devices.

For the dealer community, however, those selling points translate to lower consumables and service revenue. Most are taking a wait and see attitude toward inkjet devices. Eventually, dealers may have no choice but to take them seriously. In the SMB market, IDC is predicting that annual page volume for color MFPs costing at least $400 will have a CAGR of 19.4 percent through 2020, growing from 22 billion pages in 2016 to 38.7 billion in 2020. The numbers for 45 ppm and higher color laser MFPs are a 2.8 percent CAGR with 16.4 billion pages printed in 2016 and 18.2 billion in 2020.

These numbers show that inkjet and laser devices coexisting in office environments will become more of the norm. Dealers will have to adjust their models to accommodate this reality.