Edu-leaders

Over the past three years, there have been significant changes in the imaging and printing solutions space. Users looking to manage tasks like printing, scanning, copying, and sending-receiving faxes, have also become more sophisticated. Networking has become the norm, and “green” is the new buzzword. With technology trending towards convergence, more and more image-print devices now have multiple features and functions.

Institutional Needs
However, before you get bedazzled by the plethora of products in the market, take a close look at your needs. Educational institutes tend to have more specialised requirements than the average office. These run the entire gamut of speed, size and resolution. Printing often tends to be extremely intensive and varied, including application forms, degrees, exam papers, quizzes, notes, diagrams and IDcards. The quality may span from draft to extreme high-end, and sizes range from ID-cards and letter size, to wide-format engineering and architecture plans.

Often high-volume photocopying and scanning is required to facilitate research. Institutes also need to print academic papers, which can include complex diagrams. Many may also need to produce glossy brochures and publicity material. Institutional needs also vary, depending on the discipline. A technical institution will have different requirements when compared to an architecture school or a media studies centre.

Puneet Datta, assistant director for marketing business imaging solutions at Canon India says, “Educational institutions are adopting new technology to enhance productivity, speed up processes, and increase ease of operation while reducing costs. There are a wide range of devices available, featuring compact design, ability to print mixed colours at high speed, with network abilities and advanced printing features. Document scanners help in digitising and automating examination systems and libraries, as well. Card printers help create ID cards and access cards for libraries.”

Libraries usually require the deployment of high-end scanners-copiers, which will be in near-continuous use during certain periods, especially before examinations. Digitising and archiving periodicals and journals is also an increasing trend in library management. Hence, institutions are also looking for bundled document management and retrieval software solutions in addition to scanning and printing. Dedicated wideformat printers and copiers that can handle large colour documents such as architectural plans, degrees, engineering diagrams and anatomical drawings are needed in technical institutes.

Understanding The Technology
Printers can be differentiated on the basis of output technology with options ranging from lasers, to inkjets, to thermal, to the humble dot-matrix. Many printers offer several functions, though dedicated single-function printers continue to be widely used.

Dot-matrix printing (DMP) is a variant of typewriter technology. A ribbon is hammered by tiny pins to create images. One advantage of DMP is that it is cheap. But DMPs are noisy. As pins wear out, print quality suffers. Colour and graphic reproduction is very poor. Almost all DMPs are monochrome and singlefunction. DMPs are widely used for lowresolution, high-volume tasks such as printing question papers or payroll processing. They use continuous stationery efficiently and can be employed in wideformats as well. Hence, DMPs are very useful in labs or data centres, where data is being continuously logged and printed. For high-volume, continuous transaction, low-res jobs, such as data sheets, question papers, and payrolls, DMPs (usually SFP) are the best option.

Thermal technology was pioneered by fax machines. It requires specially treated paper, which is heated in patterns to create images. Colour reproduction is poor. Pure thermal technology with special paper is now being replaced by thermal transfer. In transfers, ribbons are heated to partially melt and leave images on plain paper. Thermal paper is relatively expensive but plain-paper plus ribbon costs also add up.

More recently, inkjets have become very common. They work by ejecting ink in patterns. Wide-format inkjets are particularly popular in architecture and design departments. Inkjets cartridges are expensive and can be troublesome to maintain, because the ink can dry. Inkjet prints also fade over time. Laser printers offer the highest quality reproductions. These printers employ an adoption of photocopying technology. A laser beam scans and projects images in patterns of electrostatically-charged ink (“toner”) particles. The toner is impressed onto paper by direct contact, dried and fused by heat and pressure. Some lasers can do duplex printing on both sides of paper, (without manual aid), resulting in paper savings.

While they can print rapidly once started, they need to load an entire image into memory before printing starts. Apart from the toner expenses and the need to operate in dust-free environments (to protect the laser), lasers are also slow to start up.

Many lasers cannot easily handle large sheets or continuous feeds, due to memory restrictions. However, laser print have very high resolution (though colour printing is expensive).

Inkjets and lasers tend to be faster and quieter than DMPs, and usually produce better graphics and colour. However, many educational institutions may not need high-end resolution.

Most modern networked printers allow administrators to monitor usage, maintain security, allocate costs and balance workloads across multiple devices.

SFPs, MFDs and AIOs
The academic market is a very small proportion of the peripherals market at present. According to Pankaj Chawla, Lead Analyst, Peripherals Research, IDC India, “By its very nature, the education sector represents a minuscule proportion of the overall India market for Multi-Function Devices (MFDs) as well as Single Function Printers (SFPs). During CY 2009, the India Education sector contributed about 1% of the MFD market and 3% of the SFP market in terms of unit shipments, including both lasers and inkjets.”

SFPs may be indispensable for certain tasks. Earlier, different types of SFPs were employed to perform each image-print task. The devices were attached to a specific computer, rather than networked. By default, most modern printers are network-capable.

Multi-functionality started with printers adding copier-scanner functions, faxes doubling as copiers and printers, copiers adding printing, etc. All-inones (AIO) or MFDs are now common.

MFDs can handle larger sheets, with extra trays, and are aimed for institutional users. Most have fax capabilities, in addition to print-copy, optical character recognition (OCR) functions. All MFDs are network-capable (though they can be connected via USB/ parallel). They have compatible digital document retrieval and sorting software bundled with the hardware. Higher print speeds are possible.

A single networked MFD can perform most image-print tasks and thus, replace several SFDs. Using MFDs saves headaches in configuration and tends to be more efficient in power usage. Coupled with smart power management and good document management, efficient MFD solutions can also save paper.

Rising MFD adoption has also spurred the adoption of digital document solutions. All major industry players offer bundled software for document management. Scans can be stored digitally and retrieved when needed. Good document management solutions reduce image-print costs and enhance productivity.

Where the needs are relatively less about printing and more about copying and scanning, using MFDs makes a lot of sense. But the ideal MFD/ AIO feature set may also differ from department to department. In a library for instance, the focus is more about scanning, photocopying, and other forms ofdigital document management. In the office, the focus may be more on making mopies (multiple original printed copies of mark-sheets, degrees, etc).

MFD Advantage
The term AIO is used to differentiate smaller desktop units from larger, standalone MFDs. AIOs are targeted primarily at the SOHO segment. They always have print-copy functions and often have OCR software bundled as well.

However, many AIOs don’t have fax functionality. Some are not networked, being attached via USB or parallel port. Some AIOs also have slots for direct digicam-input and smart card readers, etc. AIOs are designed to handle letter and A4 size sheets.

When choosing between an MFD and an AIO, consider the primary function. An MFD used as a fax machine needs a different feature-set from a printer that is used most often in a secondary role as a scanner or copier.

MFDs are replacing not only SFPs but standalone fax machines and scanners as well. Datta reckons “MFD is becoming the choice of customers and commands 60 percent of market share. With new technologies and features, that share will head ever upwards.”

IDC estimates of India’s MFD market and Single Function Printer (SFP) market shows a trend of increasing MFD adoption. In 2009, the MFD market (laser + inkjet) saw 903,484 units shipped while the SFP market (laser + inkjet) saw 1,153,498 units shipped. The MFD market grew by around 10 percent during recession while the SFP market shrank by 13 percent.

In terms of value for money, MFDs are superior. Going by IDC estimates, the average MFD unit costs around Rs 4,400 with a total MFD market size of about Rs 3,914 million (CY 2009). The average SFP costs around Rs 6,600 with a total market size of about Rs 7,593 million.

Digital Divide
There is apparently a divide in attitudes between older government-funded institutions with legacy issues and new private institutions in terms of the purchase decisions. But even in older institutions, new departments are opting for MFDbased networks  and smarter document management solutions.

Prithwis Mukherjee, Professor of Management Information Systems at IIT Kharagpur’s Vinod Gupta School of Management says that the B-School network is much more state of the art than other older departments. MFD-use is more pronounced at VGSM because the network architecture was designed to exploit the new features that became available in the last two or three years.

Key Concerns
Both SFDs and MFDs are available across a very wide range of prices, features and functionalities. There are also specific products that address cost concerns, especially for educational institutions, like the copy printer. “A copy printer is a digital version of the duplicator, ideal for educational institutes where a high-quantity of copies or prints are required from a single original such as question papers and circulars. The copy or print charges could be as low as 15 paise,” says A.T. Rajan, the associate vice president (marketing) for Ricoh India. However, cost should not be the only concern. Buyers should also consider other variables like legacy issues, ease of maintenance, security, ease of device integration and network management.

The task of integrating devices into networks can often become a complex task in large, multi-disciplinary institutes with assorted legacy issues. Here, centralised print management can help. A networked device can service several geographically dispersed departments to manage their needs. Again, these solutions need to be tailored to the institution and its physical layout and needs. Secure authentication, data encryption and assured data security and becomes critical if devices are shared across departments.

Broadly, printing and photocopy functions are used more often than scanning and other digital document management solutions. According to a HP study, printing occurs about seven times as often as scanning. But needs may be different for a given institution or a department. The print to scan ratio may also change as digital document management software becomes more sophisticated.

All the major players claim to cover the entire spectrum of solutions, and that they will work (either directly or through dealers) with an institution to devise the best architecture. When choosing manufacturers and vendors, maintenance should be given due consideration particularly for institutions located outside major cities.

Educational institutions are advised to negotiate a complete image-printing solution, including after-sales service and maintenance contracts.

“The key concerns are that of quality and reliability. The total cost of ownership is also a concern. That does not mean only the price of a product price per se—but includes maintenance and service costs, operating expenses on paper, toners, cartridges, and spare parts availability. The company’s reputation, whether the product consume low levels of energy should also be considered. Finally , the administrator should also see how environment-friendly the company is, “ believes Ram Prasad, senior business manager, Epson India.

Imaging and printing accounts for significant energy consumption across networks. According to a study by Bradford University (UK), Sustainable ICT in Further and Higher Education, by Peter James and Lisa Hopkinson, about 10–16% of ICT-related electricity consumption is due to print-copy activities.

The study suggests three key measures for sustainable eco-friendly printing.One is replacing several single function devices with a single MFD; the second is setting duplex printing as a default and the third is the use of 100 percent recycled paper.

Smart network design using document management solutions can dramatically raise efficiency and reduce costs. A review of current practice shows actual printing is often unnecessary. Many documents can be digitised and handled online, within the intra-net and over the Internet. Often instead of a photocopy or a paper fax, a digital document will be more efficient and cheaper. Whenever an imaging or printing solution is required, a good centralised network can also allocate it most efficiently to the best-available device.

Of course, technological solutions need to be backed by a review of institutional cultural practices. Users often prove resistant to the need to change habits. However, there is every indication that the climate is changing. As more institutes review imaging and printing practices, the move from a paper-driven environment to a digital one is gaining momentum.