Afcacia

Currently, printing services have become vital in the day-to-day lives of most Kenyans, with cyber cafes mushrooming on every corner or every urban centre thanks to the implementation of the Competency Based Curriculum in basic and higher education.

With an increased number of people working from the comfort of their homes, the home office concept is also becoming a norm. This means a rise in demand for fast, affordable, and effective printing machines.

Kenyans can now benefit from the a new technology designed by Japanese printing technology company, Epson which has entered the local market.

Epson Regional Head, East and West Africa, Mukesh Bector said the Heat-Free technology switch, from laser printing to inkjet printing ensures an 83% reduction in energy consumption.

“Epson helps businesses around the world cut energy usage and save millions just by switching from laser to business inkjet printers. Although technology is not the ultimate solution, it has the power to increase productivity and efficiency, enable cost savings, reduce product and chemical waste and save resources such as water,” said Mr Bector.

During an energy consumption demo by East Africa Epson sales generalist Charles Muhuko at a media workshop on November 8 at Sarova Stanley Hotel, Nairobi, Afcacia witnessed the new printers consume about 27.1kilowatt hours (kWh), whereas laser printer consumes about 551.4 kWh.

“Consumers will spend less on power and get better quality print outs, ” Mr Muhuko said.

Mr Bector noted that the new technology printers will help the country reduce plastic waste since they are EcoTank cartridge-free.

“In these latest printers, one set of ink bottles is the equivalent of 79 ink cartridges, saving around 1.6 million tonnes of plastic-based consumables through the sale of over 70 million EcoTank printers worldwide. Technology innovations, such as PaperLab – an inhouse paper recycler which uses virtually no water in its process – has changed the future of recycling,” he noted adding that innovation is key amongst the solution approaches because it influences consumption patterns, lifestyle and cultural development.

Epson Regional Sales Manager, East Africa, Krishnakumar MV said the new printers use ink packs instead of toners, which reduces spillage of ink and can also be replaced easily.

“The new printers have a maintenance box that is replaced every six to seven months for Sh1,000,” the sales manager noted.

Mr Krishnakumar claimed that the new printers can print about 7,000 copies per hour, whereas a 1.5 litre ink pack can be used to print around 86,000 pages. The company has incorporated robotic printing in its business in Japan.

According to European Toner and Inkjet Remanufacturers Association (ETIRA), one needs 26 cartridges to print 10,000 pages.

Epson has set aside Sh83 billion over the next ten years, to be used in decarbonization, resource recycling and an accelerated program to develop environmentally friendly technologies.

John Kamau, an owner of a printing shop in Nairobi’s Central Business District (CBD) said he is ready to embrace the new technology to boost his business.

However, he noted that printing companies should conduct more product education for consumers.

“Also, the prices of these new products should be affordable,” Mr Kamau told Afcacia.