Epson slashes business printing costs with ‘RIPS’ technology

• New printer drastically lowers printing costs compared to lasers
• Uses a new pigment ink which is waterproof and smudgeproof

 

EPSON has launched the WorkForce Pro WF-R8591 printer in Malaysia, which utilises high capacity ink packs that can hold a far higher volume of ink compared to traditional ink cartridges using its Replaceable Ink Pack System (RIPS). 
 
According to Epson, this can help to drastically slash printing costs for businesses. With a full set of four ink packs, the WF-R8591 is able to provide up to 75,000 pages of uninterrupted printing in both black and colour, without replacing the inks.
 
The RIPS system provides the ease-of-use of a cartridge-based system, combined with the high volume printing of an ink tank system.
 
The high page yields and extremely low cost per page of the WF-R9591 can help businesses significantly minimise running costs when compared to a laser printer. For the same amount of printing that the WF-R8591 delivers in a single print cycle before refilling its ink packs, a laser printer would require 52 standard toner cartridges. Due to the high volume of printing it is able to deliver for each print cycle, downtime is also reduced.
 
Furthermore, the WorkForce Pro WF-R8591 requires less use of consumables in its running operations. It only requires four ink pads and one waste ink box for printing. In comparison, a laser printer requires four toners, four pre-commissioning units (PCUs), one fuser and one waste toner box.
 
The Epson WF-R8591 also consumes less energy than a laser printer as inkjet printers do not use heat in the printing process. The typical electricity consumption of the Epson WF-R8591 is 0.6kwh, which is approximately 88 percent lower than a comparative laser printer.
 
The low energy consumption, coupled with the minimisation of waste from the reduced use of consumables, results in reduced carbon dioxide emissions of up to 95 percent compared to laser printers.
 

 
The Epson WF-R8591 is driven by Epson’s PrecisionCore printhead technology, enabling it to print very high volumes and at high speeds of up to 24ipm, at default resolutions of 600 x 600 dpi.
 
PrecisionCore printheads are a new generation of Epson’s proprietary Micro Piezo high-performance piezoelectric printheads, with the number of nozzles increased to 400 for higher density. High-speed, high definition printing is made possible through expanding the printable area in a single pass in both monochrome and colour printing modes.
 

 

“The Epson RIPS demonstrates how Epson is always innovating and staying ahead of the curve in this competitive world of high-quality printing,” says Danny Lee, General Manager, Sales & Marketing, Epson Malaysia. “RIPS may sound simple on the surface but the technology is anything but. Customers, who continue to demand the best through our latest proprietary Micro Piezo-based PrecisonCore printheads, can count on the Epson to deliver high performance, high volume and high-quality printing but at a cost effective, environmentally friendly way to meet their most demanding needs.”
 
The WF-R8591 comes with the standard 831 sheets and can be upgraded with additional paper cassettes to support up to 1,831 sheets input capacity. Papers of different sizes and types can be placed in the different cassettes for automatic selection based on document size or copy originals. In addition, a cabinet can be added for convenient storage of additional paper and spare consumables.
 
The scanner has a 50-sheet automatic document feeder and is equipped with dual CIS sensors for scanning of double-sided documents with a single pass for scan, copy or fax.
 
The WF-R8591 uses a new pigment ink set known as DURABrite Pro that was specially developed for business use. The inks are waterproof, smudgeproof and are highlighter-resistant with less bleed-through. The inks are also tamper-proof and are suited for printing and safe-keeping of important documents.
 
The connectivity options include USB 2.0, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, as well as Wi-Fi Direct that allows up to four devices to connect directly to the printer at a time without the need for a router. It also allows its network settings to be remotely changed using the EpsonNet Config web-based management interface.
 
The WF-R8591 also supports Epson Connect, a suite of mobile printing solutions that enables wireless printing and scanning directly from mobile devices.
 
You can prevent unauthorised usage of the printer with IP address filtering or up to 10 user accounts with Limit Access Function and stop confidential documents from being accessed by unauthorised personnel with Secured PIN Release. 
 
The WF-R8591 is available from RM21,880 including GST.
 

 

Epson also launched a new series of printers in the L series at the event. The L380, L385 and L485 ink tank printers can print 10 images per minute for black and white and five images per minute in colour. The three models have page yields of 7,500 pages in colour or 4,500 pages in black with each set of inks. Printer prices start from RM698 including GST.
 
The flagship, Epson L1455 Ink Tank Printer utilises the PrecisionCore printheads and is the company’s new L-series ink tank system A3 size multifunction printer. The L1455 provides high-speed printing at speeds of up to 18 images per minute for A4 and 10 images per minute for A3 size paper.
 
The L1455 prints black and white documents that are water and smudge resistant, while yielding 6,000 pages for black and 6,500 pages for colour for each set of inks. In photo resolution, it can print up to 4800dpi in high resolution.
 
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