Epson Brings High-End Inkjet Printing to SMB Workgroups

Epson is bringing its high-end, enterprise-grade PrecisionCore technology to multi-user small and midsized businesses (SMBs) office environments.

The company’s new WorkForce Enterprise WF-C20590, an A3 multifunction printer for SMB workgroups and offices within larger organizations, can deliver print performance of up to 100 pages per minute (ppm) using print head technology inspired by Epson commercial printers. Instead of conventional inkjet printers, which deposit ink with a print head that sweeps back and forth across a page, the WF-C20590 uses a PrecisionCore MicroTFP (thin film piezoelectric) “print chip” that spans the entire width of the page.

In addition to producing razor sharp images – it delivers dots measured in microns – PrecisionCore-based printers require less maintenance, not to mention electricity, since only the paper moves, not the print head. The Epson WF-C20590 offers a maximum print resolution of 600 by 2,400 dots per inch (DPI).

“By leveraging Epson’s high-speed production inkjet technology, we were able to solve a long time-challenge for SMB and large workgroups: making color printing in the office accessible to all, at an affordable cost,” said Mark Mathews, commercial vice president of marketing at Epson America.

Another hassle businesses won’t have to deal with is rewiring their offices.

Often, incorporating a workgroup-class printer into an office environment requires hiring an electrician and installing high-capacity outlets. With the WF-C20590, that’s not the case.

During a recent demonstration in New York City, Epson representatives showed off the printer while tethered to a power strip that was plugged into standard 110V outlet in a hotel meeting room. At no point did the lights flicker as the chest-high piece of office equipment churned out crisp, colorful documents.

“Epson’s WorkForce Enterprise WF-C20590 delivers speed that takes small business productivity to a whole new level with 100 ISO ppm without compromising printing quality,” Elliot Williams, product manager of Commercial Printing at Epson America, told Small Business Computing. “Despite its speed, it still offers up to 50 percent lower power consumption than color lasers.”

Epson estimates that the printer consumes up to 50 percent less power than a comparable color laser printer. And yes, the WF-C20590 is Energy Star qualified.

Epson Brings High-End Inkjet Printing to SMB Workgroups

With a maximum paper capacity of 5,350 pages using an optional paper tray unit (2,350 pages native), the WF-C20590 helps businesses ensure that their workers spend more time on the job and less time raiding the supply closet for reams of paper. An optional finisher adds collating and stapling functionality.

Epson’s high-yield ink cartridges, support up to 100,000 black and 50,000 color pages before they need to be replaced. When they require replacing, office managers can just simply slide the new cartridges into the printer by opening the front access panel. There’s no stray toner or a complex, finger-pinching replacement process to contend with.

The printer’s dual-head, single-pass scanner also makes quick work of multi-page scanning jobs. The device can capture two-sided documents at a speed of up to 110 images per minute.

A nine-inch touchscreen interface enables users to quickly send those scans to an email address or park them in a cloud storage account. The screen also provides streamlined access to print and copy functions, along with a host of device options and controls.

For organizations with heavy-duty printer workflow and user management needs, the WF-C20590 supports third-party services and software solutions including PaperCut MF, NDDigital and Drivve. It also supports LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) and PIN print job release, lowering the risk of unauthorized users printing out sensitive documents.

Epson WorkForce Enterprise WF-C20590 goes on sale in the summer of 2017.

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