Printronix Thermal Printers and our Dramatic Supplies Warranty

There is a quiet but a powerful reason to buy the combination of

Printronix T5000r Thermal Printers

Printronix thermal transfer printers, ribbons and printhead replacements from PCI Solutions.
In analyzing a printer acquisition, one may hear the words "care and feeding" One should. At the minimum, one will hear it from us. The more proper phrases in the printer business is Total Cost of Ownership or TCOP, and Supplies Cost of Ownership or SCOP. Keep in mind that the printhead in a thermal printer is a customer replaceable supply item that costs from $820 list price each for a 300 dpi four inch head and up to $1,133 list price each for the eight inch version.

Buying the Printronix supplies, printheads and printers from PCI Solutions will provide a fantastic customer protection plan in regards to print head warranty.

For a customer buying thermal ribbons, printers and printheads from PCI Solutions, the printhead warranty will be 4,000,000 inches or one year from purchase.

What does the four million inches mean in terms of production? 4M inches is also 333,333 feet. The largest ribbon in the thermal market (Printronix exclusive) is 2,051 feet of ribbon per roll. The 4M warranty distance would last through 162 of those ribbon changes or a year, whichever comes first.

PCI Solutions can help you eliminate or at least minimize the hidden operational cost of print heads for your production of high volume thermal transfer bar code output.

For more information, contact PCI Solutions and Warren Neeley at WNeeley@PCIprinters.com or 817-939-5614.

Old Genicom and Tally Line Printers and a New Replacement Path

Genicom 4490

Plenty of enterprises over the years have relied on impact line printers from Tally and Genicom.  As with many things (like owning a Saab car...), life is good with a product until you need to find the replacement part and the technician that has the skills on that machine, and you realize the company and the supply is gone. 

Lately we have had a surprising number of inquiries from customers searching for help with the old Genicom 4490XT printer.

Customers are just not aware that there is a splendid choice for a compatible printer to replace the old Genicom and Tally units - the TallyGenicom 6600 line matrix family from Printronix.

TallyGenicom 6600 Quiet Cabinet

The TallyGenicom 6600 line has been designed to be completely compatible with the TallyGenicom 6200 and TallyGenicom 6300 printers, which in turn were compatible with the legacy printers from Genicom and Tally.

Our friends at Printronix that are supporting and marketing the new line of their TallyGenicom printers have developed some points on the innovations and advantages of the new family of printers.  From their website on this topic:

 

TallyGenicom 6600 Comparison to 6300 & 6200 Series

TallyGenicom 6600 Open Pedestal

Innovations within the 6600 series deliver substantial gains in reliability, productivity and environmental responsibility. These benefits are providing compelling reasons for business or industrial customers to upgrade, expand or replace their current printers: 

Faster print speeds = increased productivity, better workflow and reduced waiting time for documents to print and choices of speeds up to 2,000 lines per minute
Improved print quality = crisper clarity in documents; a higher impact force improves printing on multi-page forms
Longer lasting ink = fewer ribbon changes which yields increased productivity and contributes to lower cost of ownership
Leading-edge ribbon technology = less IT interventions due to a patented feature that is only available with TallyGenicom consumables
Embedded microchip = precise, integrated control over ribbon life, print quality and operating costs
Reliable connectivity via Plug and Print = no down time. Intellifilter™ provides the widest possible range of emulations, configurability and tools at a user's disposal. Installation requires no host changes, allows for easy data stream substitutions, and is done without reprogramming
Robust remote printer management = option to control entire global printing network from anywhere.

For more information on the TallyGenicom 6600 line, contact Warren Neeley at 817-939-5614 or via email at WNeeley@PCIprinters.com.
 

InfoPrint 6500 Printers Still Running Mission-Critical Operations

There is still a brisk business in fulfilling the demand for the InfoPrint 6500 line of line matrix printers.  Regardless of the fact that IBM sold the entire division and then Ricoh eventually shut down the sales and operations of the InfoPrint Industrial Printers, many customers are still demanding the InfoPrint logo on their line printer.  

It's a secret that is not even loosely guarded anymore - Printronix built every one of the IBM InfoPrint, then Ricoh/IBM InfoPrint, then Ricoh InfoPrint versions of the 6500.  The only big difference is the IBM IPDS print language that only was available in the 6500.  The Printronix version is good, but in some bar code and heavy production, IPDS uses it just needs testing and verification to ensure the exact performance of the print stream.

There are some situations in which the customer does not want "to fight an uphill battle" to simply get a few printers.  Some customers have a list of approved printers previously tested, and the reward of testing the Printronix name is not deemed worth the hassle and time involved with their internal process.  Another issue is their software vendor's own approved list and the risk or threat of technical support restrictions that come with a non-approved printer acquisition.

For new printers, go for the Printronix P7000 lineup.  If you are bound by "approved list" restrictions, or just By-Golly you love that InfoPrint or the Eight-Bar Big Blue image, go for it while supplies last of expertly refurbished IBM InfoPrint 6500 line printers.

For more info on the InfoPrint 6500 line, visit http://www.chooseglmgroup.com/Pages/InfoPrint_6500.aspx or contact Warren Neeley at 817-939-5614 or WNeeley@PCIprinters.com.

Customers Struggle with Software Companies Selling Hardware and Fear

The TRICK or TREAT of ISV hardware purchases!

Just in time for October, here's a scary tale about the dark and abandoned mansion at the end of the overgrown path in the woods..... "AHA!! Buy a different printer AT YOUR OWN RISK..."   MUWAHAHAHAHA!!!!!  

Software companies that sell hardware with their attached scare tactics are doing economic harm to their clients for their own profit.

Years ago, the big-time bank software company in small-time rural Missouri yanked IBM around like a new puppy on a brand new leash.  Big Blue would absolutely fawn all over the firm James Henry, usually known to their users as Jack, and Ass. ( No wait - maybe the abbreviation is Assoc - right?)  IBM gained a lot of server sales by Jack selling their bank solution, and they would enforce their profitable support from the fuselage door of one of their jet aircraft.  

Like the old saying "Lips that touch liquor will never touch mine", customers that showed the gumption to buy a printer NOT from Jack's sales team would rue the day that they ever thought of such a foolish move.  No support!  

Meanwhile, Jack was selling hundreds and hundreds of printers from HP - one of the largest competitors to IBM - and the Blue Server Team wouldn't dare tackle that issue for the Printer Division.  Why was Jack a fan of HP and not the new cut sheet performer from IBM?  Well, because they had an entire division that sold TONER and maintenance plans and paper supplies, and the IBM unit cut Jack out of selling toner with it included inside the maintenance plan.

Customers would buy multiple 50 ppm HP lasers and literally bring in toner by the pallet load.  The customers spent way more in operations cost than it would cost to buy and operate the higher volume IBM cut sheet printer, but it did not fit the payment plan for those Gulfstream jets out at the airport.

  

For another example, many auto dealerships have a software and support relationship with a vendor called Reynolds, with a name so nice they named it twice.  The line printer of choice was from C.Itoh - but the problem has been that C.Itoh has gone out of this printer business.  Then Reynolds & Reynolds chose, supported and sold IBM, the InfoPrint 6500 - but the problem now is IBM has gone out of this printer business.  

Customers tell us that Reynolds says that only the IBM InfoPrint 6500 will work.  Funny, but we have plenty of Reynolds customers that dare to disagree and are happily using the IBM 6400 Premium Refurbished & Re-manufactured by Printer Connection.

Read more about the C.Itoh CI1000E and CI500E troubles and click to see replacement options at: ChooseGLMgroup.com 

For more information, contact Warren Neeley at 817-939-5614 or WNeeley@PCIprinters.com

Printronix Video Spot on PCI Solutions and Printer Connection

In July we visited the Printronix headquarters, during the last week or two before the move to their brand new HQ location down the street.  As part of our host's expanded video marketing efforts, PCI had a chance to give our thoughts about our valued partner and their excellence in both printer product and support personnel.

We are certainty glad that the Printronix P7000 Line Printers and the Printronix T5000 Thermal Printers operate more smoothly than the guy on the video, your author ....

Thanks to everyone at Printronix for your hospitality during our visit and your continued support!

For more info on Printronix Printers, contact Warren Neeley at WNeeley@PCIprinters.com or visit his webpage for Printronix.

The Impact Print Operator's "Old Reliable" Choice

The Venerable IBM 6262 Line Printer 

Replacement Options on IBM 6262 Line Printer

Customers have slowly and begrudgingly retired the long-loved IBM 6262 Line Printer.  It was a favorite unit cherished for its reliable toughness, ease-of-use for operators, and the excellent print quality of its fully formed characters.

The IBM 6262 swing gate mechanism allowed operators to load forms and large ribbons quickly and easily. The four form-feed tractors were adjustable with a single knob and permitted routine processing of pre-printed, pre-numbered forms.

The 6262 Print Band Printer came in lines per minute (LPM) speeds of 1200, 1400, and 2200 LPM. With the several IBM computer divisions and customer preferences, the IBM 6262 Impact Line Printer offered a plethora of attachment options – IBM mainframe channel, i-Series - AS/400 – S/34/36/38 heritage Twinax, IBM 3270 and follow-on controller units coax, IBM PC parallel/serial, and Dataproducts parallel.

MODELS BY ATTACHMENT

The model naming convention of "6262-xyy" told the story of how it was attached and how fast it would produce output. The "x" was a character for the attachment, and "yy" was the line speed times 100.

Even though there are no new replacement parts, and even though the long-used printer is being repaired with long-used repair parts scavenged from other donor units, IBM 6262 Band Printers continue to perform in some production environments today. 

Model; LPM with the 48-character-set print band

CHANNEL = 0

6262-012; 1200

6262-014; 1400

6262-022; 2200

　

PC PARALLEL / SERIAL = A

6262-A12; 1200

6262-A14; 1400

6262-A22; 2200

　

COAX = D

6262-D12; 1200

6262-D14; 1400

6262-D22; 2200

　

DATAPRODUCTS PARALLEL = P

6262-P12; 1200

6262-P14; 1400

6262-P22; 2200

　

TWINAX = T

6262-T12; 1200

6262-T14; 1400

6262-T22; 2200

For more information, contact Warren Neeley at WNeeley@PCIprinters.com.

Eliminate manual data entry of written data with Capture and ICR from PlanetPress

Our friends and good folks at Objectif Lune have developed a nice addition to the great product PlanetPress Capture. Users can not only write on documents and electronically kick off the next steps in workflow, but also now the system will process the hand written numbers, dates and codes and prepare and perform the data entry for the next step of proofing.


With a data entry process, it's a good practice to have two steps - Entry and Verification - First the raw bulk entry procedure is accomplished, and then second the verification of the data entry. Best practices should have the verification performed by someone different from the entry person for the highest degree of accuracy.

From the new documentation: "The newest addition to optimize processes is Intelligent Character Recognition (ICR). Special ICR fields can be added to transactional forms to capture handwritten text. For example, this features allows handwritten quantities, dates, time, part-numbers, postal codes, meter readings, and addresses, to be input in systems while skipping manual data entry tasks. Best practices for implementation of this feature will ensure the best results possible. Documentation will be available."

ICR makes it possible to improve the process around corrections on delivery notes, bills of lading and order forms resulting in accurate invoices and up to date systems. ICR does not replace human verification, but it does replace the basic need for human data entry.

With human data entry, a person will rely a lot on detection of hitting a wrong key while typing. Data entry and verification cannot be done reliably by the same person. By nature, this results in lower quality data entry than if entry and verification are done by separate persons. But, an additional resource for verification adds cost to the process, making it a choice between cost of resource and cost of error.

Exactly this is where a major benefit of ICR arises. ICR is an interpretation of handwriting, allowing for subjectivity, thus some errors – just like with manual data entry. However, to alleviate the errors, now only the verification and correction step has to be performed. This reduces cost of resources and cost of errors.
  For more information, check with Warren Neeley with PCI Solutions at Printer Connection: 866-430-6202,  WNeeley@PCIprinters.com, http://www.chooseglmgroup.com/Pages/PlanetPressCapture.aspx