Showing customers that cut sheets don't always cut costs can increase profits.
Looks can be deceiving. Customers see cut sheets laser printed with black toner and automatically see it as an economical alternative to preprinted, multi-color, multi-part forms used in impact printers.
And as customers are being lured away from multi-part forms by the assumed benefits of cut sheets, distributors' profit margins are being adversely affected. But according to Bill Powers, marketing manager for Carbonless Rolls at Appleton Papers, Appleton, Wis., "Distributors assessing the needs of forms users may want to encourage them to hold on to impact printers, at least for some applications."
Powers contends that laser printers—while great for documents such as letters, memos and reports—are not an adequate tool when it comes to many business forms applications. He encourages distributors to educate their customers about the big printer picture and the true added value of carbonless multi-part forms.
"Impact-printed savings are the main issue, but, in addition, many end-users are also getting burned by laser copies that are really altered originals," he said, noting that alterations to carbonless paper are easily detected.
"Also, an impact printer hits the form once with variable information, producing a free, automatic copy, while hardly using any consumables, except for a relatively inexpensive ribbon," said Powers.
Laser-printed cut sheets, however, capture both fixed and variable information. Factor in additional copies of the document, and you're talking major consumption of budget-busting toner.
For Steve Marsh, director of line matrix product marketing for Printronix, Irvine, Calif., perhaps the most significant benefit of impact printers and line matrix technology over other technology is their lower cost per page.
"Ribbon is the only consumable cost with a line printer," he said. "A ribbon costs approximately $10 and yields 30 million characters or 8,000 to 10,000 pages of print toner costs 10 times that amount for similar coverage." Cost-effectiveness is further underscored by the fact that an impact printer will outlast a laser printer.
Preprinted multi-part carbonless forms can also promote a high-quality corporate image, Powers observed, referring to a study by Xerox Supplies Group which found that invoices with color were 30 percent more likely to be paid in full.
Other issues Powers raised were time savings and efficiency when it comes to high-speed and high-volume work.
"Laser printers need frequent reloading and take at least twice as long to get the job done," he said. "Then you need to spend more time making copies of the originals. On the other hand, impact printers and continuous multi-part forms are ideally suited for long, unattended runs and produce automatic copies while assuring sequence."
Marsh agreed that when order integrity is concerned, continuous multi-part forms are the way to go. "Otherwise, it can be a real drag if you drop a 100 page report," he said.
In addition, Marsh stated that impact printers and multi-part forms are efficient for invoices, financial reports and accounting records, as well as many functions performed utilizing Enterprise Resource Package (ERP) software, which facilitates warehousing activities and human resources documentation, including W-2 processing.
"Line printers are also very tolerant, very rugged machines," he continued. "They're able to withstand hostile environments like those found in fabric mills and meat packaging and automobile manufacturing plants, where you have high heat and humidity as well as particulates in the air that can foul fusers and developing rolls on laser printers."
Should distributors encounter customers with compatibility issues concerning their current impact printers and new or changing computer systems, Powers noted that "with a few exceptions, any given impact printer can be made to work with any given operating system or software package," and suggested distributors contact the printer suppliers who are more than willing to offer free technical support.
"At Printronix, we've helped distributors deal with compatibility issues," said Marsh, "but for the most part, our printers are sold through value-added re-sellers who know how to shoehorn existing equipment into existing systems. Our equipment is made to support Legacy mainframe systems as well as newer Windows environments, although occasionally, we do encounter software designed exclusively for lasers.
"Impact printers will never go away," he concluded. "There will always be a need for cost-effective, disposable printing."
By Maggie DeWitt