OKI Printing Solutions, the global colour printing solutions leader, has embarked on a new strategy aimed at cutting the total cost of ownership of colour printers.

The strategy focuses on technologies that require less moving parts and less replacement parts and offer better ‘value for money’ consumables such as toner drums that simply have more toner in them and therefore last longer, says John Ross, general manager Middle East, OKI Printing Solutions.
With 2006 models, the company has set out its ‘fair deal’ strategy for users of printer consumables in a bid to address the problem of ‘sticker shock’ – where printer users can end up paying more for a set of replacement consumables than they paid for the printer unit itself.
“The assumption is, of course, that by making consumables more affordable, we are going to be loading the price of the printers themselves, but that is not what we are doing. We are simply using smarter technology to offer better quality, better value and better affordability. And we are cutting sticker shock out of people’s lives,” he says.
The company recently expanded its Microline flatbed product range with the   launch of the new ML6300FB printer that offers improved specifications and lower cost. 
“The ML6300FB is the first all-new SIDM  (Serial Impact Dot Matrix) product to launch since ML5500s in 2003,” says Ross. “We maintain our commitment to our customer base and the professional SIDM market by constantly introducing enhanced products packed with advanced technologies aimed at delivering high-quality, accurate output.”
The current ML320FB and ML390FB have been in production for many years and have been proved popular due to their solid build quality and longevity in the harshest environment. The innovative OKI ML6300 FB provides an enhanced specification over these two products, including improved connectivity - standard USB and parallel interfaces - and faster print speeds all at a competitive price and performance.
Building on its heritage of providing award-winning printers, OKI’s ML6300FB series is characterised by its small footprint and its straight, flat paper path. This makes the printer, which encompasses a multi-part copy capability, suitable for printing on a wide variety of media. Dot matrix printers offer the lowest cost per page of any printer type and unmatched paper handling as well as the ability to print instant multi-part forms. 
OKI Printing Solutions, a leader in the global colour printer market, has been operating in the region for some time now through its channel partners across the Middle East. However, opening its headquarters at the Dubai Airport Free Zone in 2005 allowed OKI to work more closely with its partners and provide new growth opportunities by extending its highly advanced printing solutions to the market.
“There has been an unsurpassed growth in the printing and publishing industry in the Middle East. We believe there is an enormous opportunity for OKI Printing Solutions in the region with our wide choice of fast, affordable, digital colour printers that have broken many performance barriers in the past” says Ross. “The Middle East market is certainly moving very quickly and showing strong growth that we believe exceeds that of the majority of other world markets. The applications and potential for our technologies in this sector are huge.”
Since OKI’s first global shipment in 1981, over six million global sales of digital light emitting diode (Led) colour and mono printers have taken place. In 2005, the company shipped more than 200,000 Led colour printers worldwide and targeted a surge of 700,000 units of Led printers and multi-functioning printers (MFP) for the fiscal year ending March 2006 – a 30 per cent increase on last fiscal year’s figures. 
OKI pioneered Led technology more than a decade ago and Ross noted that there was a growing interest in the Led market.
”Back then it was regarded as a controversial strategy, but it has since turned out to be an inspired choice given there is little doubt that Led technology offers superior results, producing sharper, crisper text and graphics.”