Scanning the Possibilities

Bennett: Contex strives to maintain a very open architecture providing the ability for individual companies to easily interface with existing networks and their print devices. For example, if you are looking for a low-cost Scan to Print solution and already have an inkjet printer, MFP products will integrate an existing printer into a single-footprint, multi-function copy solution. The power of this solution is its ability to minimize floor space, run on a simple to understand touch-screen interface, provide the color management required to reproduce perfect color and monochrome copies, all while keeping your costs down by using your existing printer equipment.

Joyce: Print providers need to be aware of all the functions the software of the scanner allows them to do. It can provide a viewing window, color and b&w filters for crisp, clean images, backchannel communication, scan to file, scan to print, rotate, deskew, cropping and the creation of a wide range of file output formats. These functions allow the print provider to scan and copy high-resolution drawings quickly and easily.

Rhodes: Adding a wide-format scanner to their current portfolio of services will allow print providers to tie scanning services, such as scanning to archive, to the products they currently offer.

How can print providers add value and promote their scanning services?

Destombes: Large-format scanning services can be easily promoted as an additional service offered to customers to better adapt to their changing needs. With large-format scanning technology, PSPs can also offer services to technical firms that wish to outsource their printing needs, opening an opportunity to capture new business.

Bennett: Providers should offer specialized services to their customers. For example, if monochrome copying has been the main focus of your business in the past, offering color copying is a good starting point. Many color jobs require additional quality controls that should be looked upon as an opportunity. Meeting the customers critical color requirements will bring that customer back in the future and word often spreads quickly. Equipment sales, consumables, consulting services, training, technical and equipment service all add value to a providers ability to effectively service and support their customers.

Joyce: Overall productivity of the scanner’s functionality will enable the print provider to add the most value to their scanning services—that includes maximizing all four tenets of productivity: the ability to improve the quality of each scan as automatically as possible; overall scanning speed; easy-to-use software; and reliability.

Randy Geesman, President of Paradigm Imaging Group: PSPs can bring more value to their customers by utilizing ICC color management workflow to ensure color scan files are color corrected with an ICC scanner input profile, and if the scan file is being printed, to utilize printer linearization and media ICC profiles to insure print output is accurate and true to the original. In applications involving the archiving of legacy information from technical drawings, add more value to your customers by providing a more complete solution that includes image enhancement to clean images from poorer quality drawings, provide drawing index data like tile, description, sheet number, revision, etc. to provide attributes that can be used as the basis retrieval of drawings in a database or Content Management System. PSPs can provide a solution for hosting the archived data that can be accessed via the Internet or intranet. Adding more value to the customer provides more opportunities for increased revenue and higher levels of customer loyalty and satisfaction.

What markets can print providers expand into?

Destombes: With large-format scanning technology, PSPs are able to extend their service offerings to landscape architects, construction companies and real estate companies. On top of scanning services, customers can also offer vectorization of technical plans to architects to save them time in the design of their project. One of the new and growing applications for PSPs is fine arts reproduction and photography printing.

Bennett: AEC, CAD, GIS, scan to print, print for pay, archival, fine art, raster to vector conversion, plan room, EDM solutions, book scanning, photo, apparel, proofing, advertising.

Joyce: Architecture and engineering markets, GIS and mapping applications, markets where infrastructure drawings have a long life, like utilities and government agencies (DOTs, sanitation departments, public transit agencies, water departments, school systems, etc.). Another potential market is graphic arts, where scanned images can be used to produce one-off, inexpensive art and posters in whatever sizes the customer wants. For example, customers can bring in photos or artwork and have it scanned and enlarged to create a wall poster.