Five Vendors Recognized for Excellence in Production With BLI 2021 PRO Awards From Keypoint Intelligence
Keypoint Intelligence, the world's leading independent provider of testing services and analytical information to the document imaging industry, today announced the winners of its Buyers Lab (BLI) 2021 PRO Awards, with the accolades going to stellar devices from Canon, FUJIFILM Business Innovation, Konica Minolta, Ricoh, and Xerox.
FAIRFIELD, N.J., April 20, 2021 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Keypoint Intelligence, the world's leading independent provider of testing services and analytical information to the document imaging industry, today announced the winners of its Buyers Lab (BLI) 2021 PRO Awards, with the accolades going to stellar devices from Canon, FUJIFILM Business Innovation, Konica Minolta, Ricoh, and Xerox. Granted annually, these awards acknowledge the products that gave the best performances in production field testing over the previous year.
The BLI 2021 PRO Awards go to the following exceptional devices*:
Canon imagePRESS Lite C165 with Canon imagePRESS Server L30 V2
Outstanding CRD/Professional Office Device
Versant 3100i Press with GX Print Server 2
Outstanding Mid-Volume CMYK Production Device
Konica Minolta AccurioPress C14000 with EFI Fiery IC-319 Controller
Outstanding High-Volume CMYK Production Device
Ricoh Pro C7210SX/X with EFI Fiery E-46A Controller
Outstanding Mid-Volume CMYK+ Production Device
(also sold under the Lanier and Savin brands)
Xerox PrimeLink C9070 with Xerox EX Print Server Powered by Fiery
Outstanding Light CMYK+ Production Device
*Not all products are sold in all regions.
CANON STRIKES PERFECT BALANCE BETWEEN OFFICE AND PRODUCTION NEEDS
"Canon has negotiated the delicate balancing act of addressing the ease-of-use needs of the office user and the advanced requirements of professional print, helping it win our new award for Outstanding CRD/Professional Office Device," said David Sweetnam, Keypoint Intelligence's Director of EMEA/Asia Research & Lab Services. "The Canon imagePRESS Lite C165 takes advantage of Canon's award-winning imageRUNNER ADVANCE architecture and user experience, while adding an upgrade path to take the device beyond typical office needs and into the realm of professional print, with powerful EFI print server options, better support for more challenging media requirements, and professional-grade finishing capabilities."
VERSANT 3100I PRESS WINS IN THE MID-VOLUME CATEGORY
"The Versant 3100i Press performed to a very high standard across all our varied test elements," Sweetnam said. "The GX Print Server 2, which powered the press in our tests, proved to be intuitive to use and feature-rich, with an excellent media stock library, timeline viewer, and variety of remote management options. Over our six production-length test runs spanning coated, uncoated, and textured stocks from 80 gsm up to 300 gsm, the Versant 3100i Press performed very impressively, delivering high levels of engine efficiency while still maintaining an average mean DeltaE00 color drift of only 1.8 across more than 46,000 clicks." The device, which is distributed by FUJIFILM Business Innovation, also stood out with excellent color matching, and on the reproduction of memory colors, where it gained our highest 5 Star rating.
KONICA MINOLTA TAKES TOP HONORS IN THE HIGH-VOLUME CATEGORY
"The Konica Minolta AccurioPress C14000 is a trailblazer in the digital production marketplace," Sweetnam said. "The innovative IQ-501 Intelligent Quality Optimizer has impressed us since its launch, allowing for quick, best practice color setup and media-registration profiling, with inline checking and adjustment tolerances controllable by the operator. This technology helped the device deliver an outstanding performance over our production-length tests where, over 67,000 clicks, the device never drifted above DeltaE00 3.4, nor did it exhibit an image-registration shift of more than 0.3 mm." Priya Gohil, Senior Consulting Editor at Keypoint Intelligence, added, "Another key technology innovation that separates the Konica Minolta AccurioPress C14000 from its peers is the new TU-510 unit. This adds four-edge trimming as well as creasing and perforating functionality."
RICOH EARNS ACCOLADES IN THE MID-VOLUME CMYK+ CATEGORY
"The Ricoh Pro C7210SX/X is designed from the bottom up as a production workhorse," said Martin Soane, Keypoint Intelligence's European Lab Manager. "The device's fifth imaging station allows printshops to go beyond CMYK, including fluorescents, white, clear, and Invisible Red." Sweetnam added, "We were especially impressed by its performance over our production-length test suite, where, over a series of six challenging 1.5-hour workflows generating over 37,000 clicks, the device never suffered a mean color drift across the 42 colors in the FOGRA39 media wedge of only DeltaE00 1.1, neither did it exhibit a front-to-back or page-to-page registration shift of more than 0.4 mm, earning it our coveted 5 Star rating in this category."
XEROX OPENS UP NEW CREATIVE OPPORTUNITIES
"We were all impressed by the Xerox PrimeLink C9070 during our extensive tests," said Joe Tischner, Keypoint Intelligence's Wide Format & Cut Sheet Production Analyst. "Utilizing Xerox's Adaptive CMYK Plus Technology, users can go well beyond CMYK output, with fluorescents, white, clear, and metallics, adding more 'wow' factor. The ability to use these different toner options has been designed to be an easy process with the switch from one toner set to another, taking no more than 30 minutes in our experience. Coupled with this is the impressive range of inline finishing options, allowing users to minimize offline finishing steps."
ABOUT KEYPOINT INTELLIGENCE
For 60 years, clients in the digital imaging industry have relied on Keypoint Intelligence for independent hands-on testing, lab data, and extensive market research to drive their product and sales success. Keypoint Intelligence has been recognized as the industry's most trusted resource for unbiased information, analysis, and awards due to decades of analyst experience. Customers have harnessed this mission-critical knowledge for strategic decision-making, daily sales enablement, and operational excellence to improve business goals and increase bottom lines. With a central focus on clients, Keypoint Intelligence continues to evolve as the industry changes by expanding offerings and updating methods, while intimately understanding and serving manufacturers', channels', and their customers' transformation in the digital printing and imaging sector.
ABOUT BLI PRO AWARDS
Based on results from extensive production field testing, during which tens of thousands of pages are printed and hundreds of data points are analyzed, Buyers Lab PRO Awards celebrate the best performers on an annual basis. Keypoint Intelligence's new Production 2.0 and 2.0 LITE test programs focus on today's key issues, including best practice automation, output consistency over long run lengths, key operator maintenance capabilities, and a plethora of image quality and productivity analyses.
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