Besides other enhancements over its predecessor, Ricoh’s new Pro C5300 series sheet-fed colour press gives printers the power of peripherals usually reserved for the higher end production machines such as the Pro C9200.

Access to the higher-end finishing equipment, such as professional booklet makers capable of 30-sheet booklet production at 80gsm, folders, and perfect binders, gives printers new levels of flexibility while also benefitting from the better print quality of the new device.

“Additional features, like the registration that’s vastly superior because we were able to adopt the technology from the higher-end machines, gives the printers an edge in the markets they serve. It stacks more and comes with an efficient fore-edge trimmer and with the other enhancements to this new device the printers are also much more empowered to get into new markets and generate new incomes off the same device,” says Vaughan Patterson, head of commercial and industrial print at Ricoh SA.

It’s targeted at small to medium printers, print-on-demand environments, corporate reprographic departments (CRD) and print shops.

It produces 2400 by 4800dpi images using Ricoh’s VCSEL technology and new gloss control for different image output demands. It’s more productive at 80 pages per minute and a monthly duty cycle boosted to 450 000. It handles lots of different substrates with its vacuum-fed large capacity tray, up to 360gsm, non-carbon paper, textured media and envelopes. It also has better front to back registration thanks to the new paper pass control system.

“It’s got a 10-inch touchscreen colour panel,” says Patterson. “That helps operators set it up faster and easier and eases the strain of operator training. Uptime gets a boost as well with the operator replaceable units.

“Overall this is an evolution of our tried-and-tested technology so it’s faster and better and you know it’s field proven. That’s great for the guys who need a potent device like you get at the top end without the price tag of the really high-end equipment.”