Nexpress users in Australia and New Zealand will be able to move to different print payment plans for their machines as Kodak opens up the market here in line with international experience.
Not every local Nexpress operator will transfer from the present click charges model, although some printers have indicated they were given no option to continue with the present arrangements. Others have made the transfer and welcome the new cost model, claiming it will provide more flexibility and lower costs.
A statement from the company said … Kodak continue to support their customers by looking at ways that will help their business model and sustain future growth. Kodak wanted to offer alternative annuity models to the Australian market to help drive competitiveness and to meet different customer applications.
Many countries Kodak operate in have a mix of click-style plans, risk sharing plans and pay as you go plans among the base of machines. Australia joins this trend with different offerings tailored to fit different customer needs.
Although no details of the different arrangements have been made public, Nexpress users that move to the non-click regimen will likely have to buy their machines outright and purchase consumables as they go. They will be responsible for making the call as to when items such as drums and rollers require replacement. Previously such ORCs (operator replaceable components) were included in the overall click charge, effectively rendering them free.
- String Nexpress advocate, Theo Pettaras, Digitalpress.
Long-term Nexpress advocate, Theo Pettaras, Digitalpress, Sydney, is delighted with his new arrangement maintaining it will deliver savings of 20% over the click model. He says it will allow him to be more competitive in running longer runs that would previously have been sent out for offset production.
He indicates that in the first month, due to more competitive prices, he increased turnover by 30%. “It’s early days, but I expect the new system will prove very good for us,” he said.
He acknowledged that Digitalpress has developed significant expertise in operating Nexpress that others may not have. He is able to get many more prints from the same OCRs before replacement due to better care and maintenance.
Other Nexpress users spoken to have been more equivocal, frustrated at the greater level of complexity in calculating their cost per sheet. They indicated they preferred the simpler one charge per click model.
There are about a dozen Nexpress engines in Australia, a considerable increase over the long-term installation base, mostly due to Konica Minolta’s sales efforts in recent years. That cooperation finished this year with Kodak taking all sales responsibility back in-house.
This year too, Kodak outsourced service support to Grish Rewal’s, Absolute Electronics, better known as the Xeikon agent in the region.