Digital Capacity

[Brer]

I am trying to figure out what constitutes a good workload for our J75.

Xerox's recommended average monthly page count is 20,000-75,000.

The middle of this rang is 47,500. Divide that by 35 clicks per minuet=1357 minuets per month, or 22 hours per month.
At 20 work days a month= 1.1 hours of actual run time a day.

This doesn't sound like enough volume. Is there something I am missing? Is this bad math?

Thanks

 

[Digital print fan]

I don't know about your maths , but I have been to two places where they where running over 75,000 per month regularly and the maintenance was needed almost every three weeks. It wasn't servicing everything at once it , and took about 2 hours each time. It kept them running fine.

 

[arossetti]

Yeah the recommended AMV for the C/J75 is way too low. In the field I think 125k would be ok, just know that service will give you a lot of crap.

 

[kdw75]

You know what they say about hindsight. From experience, I wouldn't think of upgrading above a C75/J75 unless you are exceeding 150K sheets reliably. Our C75 has 1.5 million 13x19 clicks on it, and it is a very reliable machine. While it has had some downtime, we can frequently go a month or more, without any service at all. It has been minor things, like needing developer added, or a housing replaced, or a spring, or 2nd BTR roller that needs fixing.

While you will have less down time with a higher rated machine, you are also going to have less money in your pocket. Try to decide if you can afford a little downtime every so often. I talked to a guy that was upgrading to a Versant 2100 like we have, and he had been putting 300K clicks a month on his 700. Now that is a volume that would justify an upgrade.

 

[Brer]

Thanks for the replies.

We are not necessarily looking at upgrading. I am trying to figure out our pricing structure. Too many times our CSRs will estimate a job going digital as well as offset. They are coming up with it being cheaper to go offset on some really short runs. 125-250.

I would like to see the short runs going digital to open up press time for longer runs.

On the other hand when we try to put some of the short runs on the J75 we wind up rejecting it for quality reasons and then moving it to press anyway... Probably fodder for a different thread.

I would love to talk to a J75 operator if anyone would like to PM me.

 

[Craig]

There is no possible way it is cheaper to run 250 to 500 sheets 4/0 or 4/4 on a press vs digital. Your CSR are driving it to the press. They need to be educated on proper pricing or get an estimating software that works for offset and digital. It would cost more in plates than it would to run on that J75, the job would be printed and in bindery before the press operator could load plates and come up to color.

 

[JustinB]

For me, the question is 'what' are you putting on the paper? Text with an occasional picture on 28lb offset or 90% heavy coverage on 300gsm card stock? That will greatly influence how often you see service.

 

[kdw75]

We generally go to press for runs over 5000 4/0 or 2500 4/4, for 8 1/2 x 11 jobs. That is right around $100 in click charges, which I figure is worth it, since we don't have to make plates, setup the press, waste stock balancing ink, etc. It may make sense to go to press at lower quantities depending on your specific situation, but I doubt it would ever make sense for less than 2000 4/0, or 1000 4/4.

We do notice a quality difference between our C75, and the Versant 2100. When you print the same job on our press, and on the Versant, they look almost identical, but the press still has a very slight edge in how the ink looks on the paper.

 

[Brer]

Thanks everyone.

The numbers you guys are throwing out there are confirming what I was thinking. Now to get everyone here on board with change.