Need equipment advise

[neondawg]

Hi all first let me say thanks for letting me join you..

At my previous job we had a ricoh pro 5300c with fiery the new one just has a konica biz hub 654c. I have been told to find a better machine to allow me to do my job properly. I just dont know if i want to do a 5300 as we always had jamming and alignment issues any advice would he great.

Reggie

 

[kslight]

I don’t know the 5300 but I really like our Ricoh 7210. Once paper profiles are dialed in, alignment is perfect and seldom jams. Other people comment and notice that “it just runs.” As opposed to being a struggle. I had a km 6085 most recently before this and Xerox machines before that, this is by far the machine I am most happy with. Nothing is perfect but I am confident this was the right decision for us.

 

[Ynot_UK]

More detail is needed to garner any meaningful response. Start with...
What are your monthly colour and B/W volumes?
What substrates do you mostly use?
Do you want longer capability than SRA3 (or 13x19 if t'other side of pond)?
What finishing equipment do you have?
What is your location?
Are you looking to lease or buy? New or refurbished?
Budget?

 

[neondawg]

about 75k(had to do some math numbers didn't look right) per month between the color and b/w
all natural but a little of everything from plain copy paper up to 18pt CS2
SRA3 would be great
just manual guillotines and coil binding at moment I fo all finishing by hand sadly
North Carolina, US
sadly due to our franchise requirements, it must be leased from either KM, Xerox or Ricoh and maintained by one of the corp maintenance agreements.budget is rather fluid

 

[neondawg]

I don’t know the 5300 but I really like our Ricoh 7210. Once paper profiles are dialed in, alignment is perfect and seldom jams. Other people comment and notice that “it just runs.” As opposed to being a struggle. I had a km 6085 most recently before this and Xerox machines before that, this is by far the machine I am most happy with. Nothing is perfect but I am confident this was the right decision for us.

while I was there I had Ricoh out a couple of times a month the tech reprofiled all our papers multiple times and never solved it just always said they had no idea

 

[azehnali]

Have you looked at the Xerox Versant 180

 

[kslight]

while I was there I had Ricoh out a couple of times a month the tech reprofiled all our papers multiple times and never solved it just always said they had no idea

Weird, the techs have never touched my paper profiles, I make and adjust mine freely. But your machine is not the same as mine.

 

[neondawg]

Weird, the techs have never touched my paper profiles, I make and adjust mine freely. But your machine is not the same as mine.

They did it to see if it was something in my profiles i had made

 

[neondawg]

Have you looked at the Xerox Versant 180

No but i will

 

[Ynot_UK]

No but i will

Beware of people online offering to sell you one, stick to the channels you’ve mentioned.

Based on the information you have given, invite KM, Xerox and Ricoh to tender for your business. The brand you go with is largely immaterial, the click charges and service offering should be the influencing factors. Watch out for annual price increases, negotiate clicks for the full term where possible. Also don’t get caught out with expensive supplementary Fiery maintenance.

 

[gregbatch]

Also consider a Green Line machine from Ricoh. You get a remanufactured machine for a fraction of the cost of a new machine, but it is treated like a new machine. 0 meter. Low click charge. You could probably get a 7XXX for a great price that will do what you need without breaking the bank. And since you are getting it directly from Ricoh, it should satisfy your franchise requirements. Note that the engine is remanufactured. Other components may be refurbished.

 

[bcr]

I used to have KM C754E's with Fiery so very similar machine and upgraded to Ricoh C5310s so we're in a similar position but in reverse.

I've not had too many problems with the Ricohs, although our volumes are lower than yours. By far and away the most important factors are testing the machines with your own printing tasks to ensure suitability, and the quality and reliability of the technical support - get local references from clients of each supplier to dig deep into their reputation.

The KM machine is a high end office printer, it's not a production machine.

Perhaps if you can elaborate more on what you typically need to print and finish then people can help you more, also in terms of automating and improving your finishing workflows

 

[Make_It_So]

Hi all first let me say thanks for letting me join you..

At my previous job we had a ricoh pro 5300c with fiery the new one just has a konica biz hub 654c. I have been told to find a better machine to allow me to do my job properly. I just dont know if i want to do a 5300 as we always had jamming and alignment issues any advice would he great.

Reggie

I can only speak on my experience with KM and Xerox. Xerox blows them out of the solar system when it comes to reliability and color reproduction quality. My department has two KM printers now and they are always down. My two previous employers (both closed RIP) had Xerox and they were a dream. I had no idea how good I had it now that I have to deal with KM.

 

[neondawg]

I can only speak on my experience with KM and Xerox. Xerox blows them out of the solar system when it comes to reliability and color reproduction quality. My department has two KM printers now and they are always down. My two previous employers (both closed RIP) had Xerox and they were a dream. I had no idea how good I had it now that I have to deal with KM.

Thank you I have never dealt with Xerox that is good to know

 

[Ynot_UK]

Just to keep things balanced, Xerox have also had more than their share of reliability issues. The recent saga of drum issues is well documented on this forum. There will always be rogue digital presses, just like there are rogue cars(irrespective of manufacturer or price position in the market). It is of course frustrating when the manufacturer's team don't inspire confidence in expediting a solution.

 

[Make_It_So]

Just to keep things balanced, Xerox have also had more than their share of reliability issues. The recent saga of drum issues is well documented on this forum. There will always be rogue digital presses, just like there are rogue cars(irrespective of manufacturer or price position in the market). It is of course frustrating when the manufacturer's team don't inspire confidence in expediting a solution.

100%. I experienced the drum conundrum (lol) along with everyone else. Getting 20% out of one was good for a while there. Thankfully, I never ran out and always has some on the way. These last couple years the supply chain issues have affected every brand and I don't hold that against any of them. I am just talking about up-time and color quality in general. I am biased from my personal experience with these two manufactures.

 

[gregbatch]

Definitely bad when you can't get through a toner cartridge without replacing the drum.

 

[kslight]

And in the interest of balance, I had generally poor service and uptime experiences with our 6 Xerox machines (and predecessors) pre-panini, and awful experiences with 1 KM machine both from a service and a supply perspective. Which goes to show the OP, it varies and it’s worth doing your due diligence within your local market, as it’s not as simple as saying this brand or that - you have to look at your local support as well, and do what I do - talk to other trade partners about their equipment and service experiences. If everyone in town has Xerox (or avoids them), or whomever, that is telling.

 

[Craig]

I can only speak on my experience with KM and Xerox. Xerox blows them out of the solar system when it comes to reliability and color reproduction quality. My department has two KM printers now and they are always down. My two previous employers (both closed RIP) had Xerox and they were a dream. I had no idea how good I had it now that I have to deal with KM.

1 year into a switch from all Xerox to all Ricoh and not a single look in the review mirror. Ricoh direct has got it on in our area. Completely blowing Xerox out the door in both service and supplies. I am so glad I made the switch, plus my equipment cost is half and my click charges are 20% less. That's comparing a 9210 and 7210 vs an Irridess and a v180. Plus I don't have Xerox calling every month a week before my invoice is due asking for payment. 18 years of never missing a payment and the last 2 years was constant harassment.

 

[Make_It_So]

1 year into a switch from all Xerox to all Ricoh and not a single look in the review mirror. Ricoh direct has got it on in our area. Completely blowing Xerox out the door in both service and supplies. I am so glad I made the switch, plus my equipment cost is half and my click charges are 20% less. That's comparing a 9210 and 7210 vs an Irridess and a v180. Plus I don't have Xerox calling every month a week before my invoice is due asking for payment. 18 years of never missing a payment and the last 2 years was constant harassment.

Excellent! I am going to be pushing to replace these KM printers and will very much look into Ricoh. Heard a lot of good things so farm on the forum. We do a metric ton of saddle-stitched books on a Bourg-Watkiss. Hopefully we can get something similar attached to a Ricoh if it comes to that.