Photocopiers and MFP's - What's the Difference?

The simple answer is that to many people today the terms 'photocopier' and 'MFP' have become inter-changeable. But the equation in terminology, while a useful short-hand, particularly from the technologically unaware user's point of view, masks a world of difference in technology and functionality. Over the past decade or so, the MFP has really been at the leading-edge of reprographics developments, the bearer of the latest innovations and the most significant technological advancements. While many today continue to regard photocopiers and MFP's as one and the same thing, there should be no confusion that the technology involved has come a very long way, to the extent that very few devices today would offer solely conventional photocopying functionality alone. MFP's have been quietly redefining what is possible through what was once a fairly cumbersome, single-function device. Here, we'll explore just how much photocopiers have evolved over the years and what today's organisations can expect from when buying or leasing a photocopier/MFP.

The MFP - From Conventional Analogue Photocopier to Digital Multifunctional Device

When photocopiers bagan to be more widely available during the 1960's, they were huge trundling leviathans of machines, with just the one single function - photocopying. They were often slow, would usually only handle very limited media sizes and weights and would struggle with any larger workloads.

Canon was the first photocopiers manufacturer to introduce electrostatic colour photocopiers, launching the first mass-produced colour model in 1973. The 1970's and 80's saw gradual improvements in the productivity and well as the reprographic quality of photocopiers and accompanying reductions in the actual size of devices themselves. But it was really in the mid to late ninetees that photocopiers technology really began to take-off. As the world was finding its feet with PC's and the internet, personal computer technology was beginning to filter through to photocopiers, so that more advanced user interfaces and operating systems could give photocopiers users access to a greater range of photocopying and printing options. For the first time, photocopiers could be networked to users' workstations, so that as well as photocopying at the device itself, users could send print jobs to the print servers or to the devices themselves, effectively doubling the photocopier's functionality. Attending these developments were improvements to media handling, so that devices could accomodate various paper weights and a variety of paper sizes. And at the close of the last millenium photocopiers also began to include an extended range of finsihing options so that the conventional copier could not only print as well as copy but could print a variety of documents, providing stapling, hole-punching and various kinds of folding finishing options. Scanning also came to be a more regular feature on photcoopiers, initially just black and white or monochrome but increasingly, colour scanning has become prevalent among many more high-end devices.

MFP's and Photocopiers Today

In the last decade, the rate of technological change in photocopier/MFP technology has been astonishing. With more sophisticated on-board embedded platforms, users have been given a much greater level of control over device output and have been empowered to create dynamic document workflows between users and devices. With the greater levels of integration between photocopiers and back-end systems, using PDL's and   ">MEAP connectors for example, and integration with commomly-used desktop software, using WYSIWYG print publishing and previews for example, photocopers and MFP's have effectively broken-down the boundaries between desktop and printer, so for example, documents may be previewed on devices before they progress further down the document workflow. What is known as Universal Send provides limitless possibilities for documents once they have been scanned in. It's now possible to scan directly to an   ">FTP site, to SMB or to users' email accounts. Canon's CloudConnect feature connects Canon MFP's with leading cloud-based services, such as Google Docs or Microsoft Sharepoint, so that documents may be printed off at an MFP/photocopier from a mobile device and conversely scanned in at an MFP/photocopier to a mobile device, a technology which further expands the parameters of document workflows.

But a major difference between a modern day photocopier/MFP and predecessors 15/20 years ago is energy consumption. Th latest Canon imageRUNNER Advance photocopiers today consume up to 65% less energy than their equivalents only 10/15 years ago. Very few modern devices will not have had to met some energy consumption standards, be that TEC energy consumption, Energy Star accreditation or RoHS and some photocopiers, again taking Canon's imageRUNNER Advance series as an example, are made using recylcled materials and bio platics, to save on energy consumption and CO2 emissions during manufacturer. So even though photocopiers today do so much more by way of performance, they typically cost much less to run, especially now that service access is given increasing consideration in photocopiers design.

To refer to a modern-day multifunction printer (MFP) as a photocopier is entirely acceptable. It is afterall from the photocopier which the MFP originates and for many, though certainly not all, the primary function of an MFP remains photocopying. However, if anyone thought for a second that what they understood to be a photocopier 10/15/20 years ago bears really anything but a notional resemblance with photocopiers/MFP's today they'd be much mistaken. Photocopiers or MFP's, as they're more often known within the industry today, provide a huge wealth of features and functionality, so that for many companies today they have effectively become an organsiational hub for all their document management needs. Providing for a multitude of document output requirements and offering scanning, printing, faxing and i-send functionality, today's MFP/photocopier can make the conventional photocopier look veritably antique.

Falcon is one of the UK's leading Canon photocopiers suppliers and a leader in document management solutions. For further information about photocopier leasing, the latest Canon photocopiers or for any other enquiries, please contact Falcon.

About the Author

Jeremy Samson is an imaging technology expert writing extensively on the latest developments in the document managment industry.