The Epson brand has been respected for its high-quality wide-format photo printers by the photography market for a long time, and now the company has expanded its focus towards the CAD and engineering markets with the Epson SureColor T-Series wide-format inkjet printers.
Epson is aiming to snag 20% of this vertical market by 2015. Vernon Mellors, LFP Business Account Manager of Epson South Africa, explains: "Since the 1990s, our focus point has been almost exclusively on photographic, fine art and commercial printing. We've never built a product that's been geared specifically for the engineering, architecture and construction space as the timing wasn't quite right.
"Three years ago, we took a look at this specialised sector again and we realised that we had the technology to build on the feedback we received in our research, to create a printing solution specifically tailored to the needs of these professionals."
Epson has created a new line of professional wide-format printers that are packed with the kind of features a CAD professional likes to talk about: improved performance, precision, print quality and cost of ownership.
The design and specifications of the SureColor T-Series, and in particular the new UltraChrome XD pigment ink, have been based on direct feedback from architects and engineers who consistently stressed the need for easy and reliable printers that make accurate, smudge- and water-resistant large-format prints quickly and cost-effectively.
There are three models: the Epson SureColor SC-T7000, SC-T5000 and SC-T3000, all of which offer fast, reliable printing on coated and non-coated media up to 44-inch (1.118mm), 36-inch (914mm) and 24-inch (610mm) wide, respectively.
The T-Series printers are primarily for small to medium-sized businesses that don't produce high volumes of printing. "We expect 80% of our customers to come from engineering and scientific sectors, with around one fifth of the buyers coming from business graphics and education fields, and a small percentage being commercial printing and other users," says Mellors.
The T-Series printers are ideal for the corporate sector, government and SME sectors, thanks to the rich built-in features. All three models come loaded with all of the available features, with the only extra option required being an internal print server for queue management that as an additional extra, should a business need it. All can accommodate a variety of materials without any special mounting, and the cloth catch bin has a 20-sheet capacity that keeps printed sheets in order so they don't have to be restacked after printing.
The T-Series printers are also designed to sit flush against the wall so they can adapt to different office sizes, and the cartridge front-loading feature takes a variety of sizes, from 110ml to 700ml. Epson has also focused on ensuring that ease-of-use is a primary parameter when it comes to design - the controls, the user interface and the variety of modes are easy to locate and interact with - so users do not need to have extensive training in order to use them effectively.
"We're new to this market," Mellors continued, "but we think we have the right mix of performance, quality and user-friendly features, and the range also has the Epson brand promise of quality."
For any business, the issue will always be the total cost of ownership, and the T-Series printers are designed to help keep costs down and reduce time wastage. In addition, as part of its commitment to service excellence and an understanding that businesses just cannot afford any delays or downtime, Epson has created a support centre that's open from 6am to 6pm, with next-day service from a technician who shows up with the needed part.
Epson products are well known for their "top-notch, second-to-none" colour quality and reproducibility, Mellors noted, and the T-Series printers are no exception. This is one aspect of the T-Series that Epson hopes will set the line apart from its well-established competition.
"We have our own print language, Epson Precision HD," said Mellors. "What's unique is that we have Mac and Windows print drivers, guaranteeing that you get full print quality without needing a Postscript process in between. For example, if you're printing a PDF out of Adobe Acrobat, full precision and detail gets carried directly to the printer for an excellent-quality printout."
The Epson wide-format T-Series printers are a great step forward for the company into a growing market that appreciates technology that's been designed with them in mind. Their size, design, capabilities, feature sets and ease-of-use make them a very versatile and solid choice for any business.
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