As part of our continued effort to enhance communication with our customers we are publishing the latest instalment of our common sense glossary of common terms and phrases frequently used in the printing and copying industry.

All in Ones

• A term which is often used to describe multi-function devices (MFDs). An all-in-one device, as the name suggests, is one which performs a variety of functions e.g printing, copying, faxing and scanning. The combination of functionalities in one device offers greater control and efficiency while cutting down on the space used or “footprint” of machines.

Analogue

• This was the original process for creating a photocopy whereby a lens situated beneath a platen glass literally ‘took a picture’ of the document to be copied. The copy was then transferred to a drum which was electro-statically charged and the toner (black powder) was then able to attach itself to the charged areas of the drum to form the image. As the drum rotated the image was transferred onto paper and sealed in place via a heated roller. This was largely a mechanical process and manipulation required rather complex lens arrangements and a considerable amount of space within the machines as well as often leading to overheating.

Audits

• Audits allow a user or manager to establish the state of its existing position in terms of number, type and location of devices, volumes being printed and the overall efficiency of their existing print strategy. The data produced as a result of an audit can be used to create and deliver targeted efficiencies through adopting an effective print strategy.

Audit Software

• Specialised audit software has many uses, but is most often applied as part of an audit or is introduced as a method to monitor and apply certain controls over what is being printed and by who. The software is simply installed on your network to monitor and/or control usage while also allowing easy access to all print and copying data.

Automatic Document Feeder (ADF)

• An ADF enables you to make copies without lifting the platen cover. You simply load the original documents to be copied into the feeder, press start and the device moves each sheet on and off the platen. This greatly reduces labour and time costs concerning large-scale copying as all feeding is done automatically instead of having to place each sheet on the platen glass one-by-one. ADFs can hold varying amount of originals.

Balanced Deployment

• The deployment of a number of devices across a multi-user organisation which combines the use of small desktop MFDs alongside larger free-standing devices. A balanced approach will consider the right device in the correct location considering the applicable user demands. This is normally considered as part of a Managed Print Service (MPS) as part of a lower level print strategy. You should consider your existing printer deployment (desktop, standalone) alongside any future MFD strategy.

Break/Fix

• Terminology that describes the suppliers’ service model designed to respond to service calls and ‘fix’ the problem. Break/Fix can be measured and is also associated to ‘First Time Fix’ which is designed to monitor the frequency by which a machine’s problem is ‘fixed’ the first time a supplier’s engineer works on it.

For more information please contact Kate @ kate@emscopiers.ie