The future of environmentally friendly, cost efficient printing and photocopying has come to the Campbell River office. And by the time you’re reading this, the Port Hardy Processing Plant will also be reaping the rewards of more economical printing.
Enter the ColorQube by Xerox. The ColorQube uses wax crayons (known as “solid ink”) instead of toner. Gone are the days of cartridges of powder that had to be handled with care to avoid transferring toner residue to clothing (or faces!). The office has two units to accommodate the volume of printing and copying done on a daily basis.
The biggest change with this new equipment is how we’re charged for copying and printing, said Stephen Budgeon, IT Manager.
Office printing and copying costs were slowly creeping up so we decided it was time to review what else was available, commented Stephen. After tracking usage for a month with the former equipment it was apparent that new offerings from Xerox would help decrease these costs.
With the previous machine, when a color page was printed or copied, it cost 12.5 cents, regardless of how many colors were on it. Even a small logo meant 12.5 cents, Stephen explained. Now, the cost is based on how much ink is used on the paper. And lest you think a full color page is cost-prohibitive, it’s not. A full color page – a picture for example – is just under ten cents.
“The machine doesn’t care if it’s color or not,” said Stephen, “how much ink ends up on the page is what is counted.”
Despite the cost-effectiveness of color printing, more than 60% of office printing and copying is charged at the lease expensive level – just over a penny a page.
Another advantage is the smaller environmental footprint. There aren’t bulky toner boxes to store and then return to the company. Instead, the boxes and trays simply become part of the office’s recycling program effectively reducing the waste by 90% compared to the old machines. The ColorQube’s power down over night and during times of minimal printing to save energy and gear up again as printing begins each morning.
Not only are the Xerox machines more green, they’re also more reliable. Stephen reports one problem per machine since they arrived in the office in January.
We are one of the first businesses in Campbell River to have this equipment, said Stephen, adding that a local company recently visited the office to see the ColorQube in action.
“It’s cutting edge technology,” he added.
Gone are the days when you worried about running out of supplies. The machine tells you not only how many days’ supply of each color brick are left, allowing lots of time for ordering more, but how many pages are available with the current solid ink levels.
The ColorQube also faxes, scans, and emails. All photocopying jobs, including this newsletter, can be hole punched, folded, stapled, and collated. It’s still be confirmed if it makes toast but who knows!
By Gina Forsyth