Ricoh has released its new 3054SP/3554SP series of A3 black-and-white multifunction devices, for medium to large offices that support intelligent document functionality. They form part of a larger range of Ricoh black-and-white multifunction devices, MP5054SP, which won the Buyers Laboratory LLC (BLI) 2015 A3 MFP Line of the Year Award.

“These devices go beyond standard printing, copying, scanning and faxing to help businesses be ready for the future. They can be used as an information portal into the document environment and can connect directly to cloud services from the operation panel,” says Esti Kilian, national head of marketing services at Ricoh SA. “They allow people to monitor user activity, energy consumption and operating costs and they can form part of Ricoh’s Managed Document Services (MDS) approach to reduce costs.”

Feature performance improves over similar equipment in the Ricoh range to better resolutions, double in some instances, and the number of pages printed per minute increases by more than 40%, laser scanning technology is improved and the devices have larger finishing capacities. The new devices range in speed from 30 to 60ppm, they print and copy in black and white, scan in full colour, and offer fax as an option.

The optional smart operation panel is 10.1 inches and is touch and swipe operated and emulates tablet operability. Users can customise the interface with simple drag and drop functionality to give them one-touch access to regular tasks. The devices wake up from sleep in only five seconds. They scan up to 80 colour or black and white images per minute and have a 100-sheet feeder. A single-pass duplex feeder option holds 220 sheets and scans 180 images per minute.

Advanced user authentication helps prevent unauthorised access to documents. Documents are stored at the device until an unauthorised ID card is swiped or a passcode is entered at the device. Encrypted PDF transmission scrambles data on confidential PDFs for additional protection.

Additional paper trays can supplement the standard twin 550-sheet paper trays to increase paper capacity up to 4 700 sheets for uninterrupted runs. Several finishers are available, including the 250-sheet internal staple-free finisher, which received the BLI award for Outstanding Achievement in Innovation. It binds up to five sheets of paper without staples to lower supply costs and make paper recycling easier.

Ricoh is committed to a sustainable future and one of the ways it achieves this aim is to reduce device energy consumption. These devices use as little as 0.49W in sleep mode and 54.6W in ready mode. That cuts energy costs and therefore environmental impact.