Post Office pondering Intelligent Mail barcodes on all commercial parcels

This is taken and condensed from Enterprise Labeling News, posted March 13, 2013
http://enterpriselabeling.com/2013/03/14/usps-moving-toward-requiring-the-use-of-intelligent-mail-barcodes-on-all-commercial-parcels/

Since January 28, mailers looking to take advantage of the discounted "automation prices" offered by USPS have been required to use the Intelligent Mail barcode.

Now, it seems the agency is preparing to require the use of the new barcodes on all commercial parcels. On February 26, the Postal Service published a pertinent notice in the Federal Register, informing mailers that it is "exploring the advisability of requiring the use of Intelligent Mail package barcodes (IMpb) or unique tracking Intelligent Mail barcodes (IMb) on all commercial parcels."

The organization said it would expect to implement the new standards "on or about July 28, 2013." USPS offered a brief explanation of the rationale behind its actions by pointing to the benefits associated with the "intelligent" barcodes.

"Mailers will benefit from the tracking services provided with IMpb, both from improved service performance and from more efficient postal operations," the notice said.

The notice in the Federal Register was introduced as a way to provide stakeholders with an opportunity to submit comments before the beginning of a final rulemaking process. The agency will be accepting comments on the proposal until March 28, 2013.

For continuous form printers that are IMb capable and ready, visit http://www.chooseglmgroup.com/Pages/CheshireLabelsIMBIntelligentMailBarcodePrintingonImpactPrinters.aspx

DocPath Business Suite Industrial Bringing New Life to Matrix Printers

DocPath, PCI’s partner in document software especially for the run-native IBM “i” operating environment, has announced the availability of Business Suite Industrial.  It is a new software solution that enables businesses to generate professionally-formatted documents such as invoices and labels for printing on line matrix, serial matrix, or thermal printers. This solution provides users with document design technology that was previously only available to laser printer users.

The challenge of using line matrix technology is an inability to have an easy and affordable way to design graphical documents for printing on a line printer or other industrial units. With Business Suite Industrial, line matrix users can continue to reap the benefits of a greener technology solution, migrate completely away from or use less expensive and inflexible preprinted forms, and do far more with their printed documents.

Business Suite Industrial also includes an intuitive design tool for creating professionally-formatted graphical documents that allow for tables, images and data-driven messages, barcodes and more, which are commonly used by industrial companies.

“Many businesses like the cost-effectiveness and efficiency of existing industrial printers, but have been forced to migrate to laser due to a severe lack of application flexibility. With DocPath, this is no longer the case,” said Julio Olivares, the president and CEO of DocPath. “Industrial printers are increasingly relevant by offering benefits such as lower energy consumption, hardware longevity, lower cost of ownership, and support for graphical forms generation.”

A renewed relevance for line matrix, serial and even thermal printing:

•A “greener” alternative – When factoring hardware longevity, consumable waste, and energy consumption, line matrix is one of the most environmentally-friendly ways to print.

•Lower cost of ownership – Especially for high volume and high coverage print requirements, industrial printers can be the least expensive to operate per page, long-term, providing an attractive alternative to laser for nearly any business.

•Unmatched reliability – Continuous form industrial printers maintain superior performance when exposed to humidity, extreme temperatures, dust/dirt and other elements, making them ideal for harsh environments.

Business Suite Industrial is available for installation on iSeries, Windows, UNIX, and Linux. Business Pro Suite, a more comprehensive version enables support for laser printing, larger distributed print environments, PDF generation, and automated delivery of documents to email or fax.

For more information, contact Warren Neeley, GM of PCI Solutions via email address  WNeeley@PCIprinters.com or by calling 817-939-5614.  For a proposal, visit the website http://www.chooseglmgroup.com/Pages/DocPathBusinessSuiteIndustrial.aspx and request a quote.

Canon Production Printers Now Available at Printer Connection

As the Year 2012 comes to an end, we are pleased to have a new product line to announce from our team.  

For high volume printing in mono black or the wonderful world of color, we now provide the CANON PRODUCTION PRINTERS.  

For high volume printing, the color printer is called the Canon imagePRESS Color C7010VP.  

Mono printing is handled by this first pictured machine on the right.  That's the Canon Oce VarioPrint DP family which has three models at top speeds of 135, 120 and 110 PPM pages-per-minute.  This printer is the first offspring from the marriage/ merger/ buyout by Canon of the Oce organization.  The VarioPrint DP benefits from the marking engine technology of an Oce-developed printer and the versatility of Canon paper handling attachments for pre- and post-printing duties.  The DP denotes the unique new Océ DirectPress® Technology, a highly stable technology that prints consistently high-quality images on a wide range of media and produces zero ozone.

For less than "full-on-boogie" non-stop printing, the printers that will fit most of our customers are the top-end of the Canon imageRUNNER ADVANCE 8200 series of printers.  These printers are from a long line of Canon advancements in printing as well as the copy/ scan/ booklet production types of work with which our customers, or at least the IT transaction printing department customers, are not typically concerned.

All of these printing solutions are available with IPDS data stream printing capabilities.

For more information or for a quote on Canon Production Printers, please contact Warren Neeley at WNeeley@PCIprinters.com or via phone at 817-939-5614.  

Zebra Xi Printer Compared to Printronix T5000

Check Out a Better Printer of a "Different Stripe".

Top Ten reasons to just buy and use the Zebra Xi printers, and not look at a great alternative:


Zebra Xi

1.  You've got more money than sense.
2.  You really like changing ribbons as often as possible.
3.  The "BANG!" of the printer cover slamming shut serves as an audible alarm to wake up your workers.
4.  Raising the cover to check on ribbon length is like an unveiling.
5.  Cleaning printers and changing bad print heads because of permanently open or broken covers are some of the little joys in life.
6.  All the cool kids have them.
7.  "The software company made me do it, those big bullies."
8.  The striped animal logo is cool.
9.  You do not want any attention lights, for it ruins the ambiance.
10. Reprinting unreadable barcodes gives a sense of worth.

Printronix T5000 Thermal Printer

Why not take a look at a comparison of the Zerba Xi Printer to the fabulous Printronix T5000 Thermal Barcode Printer?  There are several great reasons to check out the Thermal T5000 right away:

Ribbon Length
Longer 625m ribbons for less stops than what is required when using a limit of only 450m ribbons

Ribbon Loading
Open cantilevered print head for quicker ribbon loads and less ribbon troubles that "threading" it, and no "collapsing" take-up ribbon spindle as on the Zebra printers

Label Loading
Open cantilevered print head for quicker label loads and less time and troubles than "threading" the labels past the print head in the confined Zebra printer working space

Operator Features
Angled control panel eliminates need to squat, internal aluminum silver gray back panel compared to the black Zebra improves visibility of ribbons and media with cover closed, friction fitted top cover improves safety and longevity, integrated and automated barcode "ODV" scan / eliminate unreadable / reprint

Printer Features
Direct drive versus belt and drive motor system, top indicator light draws attention to ribbon changing needs, 100% complete software compatibility to Zebra Print Language

 

Click Here to go to GLM Group's site for video comparisons of the Xi and the T5000. 

....And for current Zebra users, request a demo form to receive an evaluation T5000 unit.

 

For more information, contact Warren Neeley at 817-939-5614, Warren's full website at www.ChooseGLMgroup.com or email to WNeeley@PCIprinters.com.

 

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.