Epson's integrated business solutions shine in departmental scenarios

Epson, a global technology provider driving innovation in printing, visual communications, and digital imaging, has presented its latest smart solutions at its Solutions and Technology Convention 2016 (ESTC 2016) in Singapore. ESTC 2016 is the second edition of Epson’s bi-yearly convention, which aims to raise awareness on its range of business products and solutions.

Epson showcased new business products ranging from office scanners to its new ultra-short throw interactive projector, mobile point of sales systems and wearable technology such as the Moverio BT-300 smart glasses and BT-2000 smart headset at the convention. Attendees also gleaned insights from industry experts from DP Information and the SME Centre@SCCCI at the event.

New products designed for business that were featured at ESTC 2016 included:

• A compact receipt printer, the Epson TM-m30 tablet Point-of-Sale printer.
• The new DS-530 colour document scanner contributes to efficient business document management.
• The Moverio BT-2000 smart headset, on the other hand, was showcased in different work settings that showcased its potential to improve efficiency and visual communication.

Attendees were also able to try out the EB-696UI interactive projector, which enables wide projection surfaces in a relatively small space, touch recognition in multiple parts of the display, and support for markings in a range on colours.

Five booths were created to replicate the real world environments experienced by training, logistics, marketing, finance and customer service teams, and showed how Epson solutions, sometimes integrated with third party hardware and software, addresses their challenges:

Training
A standard training room may consist of 10 to 20 people, and for training to be effective, a large display is essential, but may be impossible due to limited space.

The training room scenario.

This can now be resolved with the Epson’s high brightness 3LCD Lamp-Free Laser projector – the EB-L1100U (6,000 lumens) fitted with an elbow lens, which allows a maximum 300” projection. Alternatively, two wall mounted EB-696Ui interactive projectors can provide a 170” projection with a throw distance of less than half a metre away. Both setups can be achieved in small to mid-sized rooms.

The EB-L1100U 3LCD Laser Lamp-free Projector is fitted with the ELPLPX01 Elbow Lens to enable projections across a wide area in tight spaces.

Enable a large display in a small space with two 'ultra short throw' projectors, which enable large screens even when projected at close quarters. Write on either screen at multiple points with no appreciable lag - making the setup a single 170" screen. Up to 50 'pages' can be saved, emailed or archived. The two screens can be printed directly.

A live feed of the training could be simulcast via a tracking camera to other remote offices with Epson’s projectors. Trainees can engage in an interactive discussion by annotating the virtual whiteboard displayed by the projector(s) with new interactive pens or even using fingers. Discussions can flow freely as the projectors support up to 50 pages. After the training, the whiteboard content can be printed with an Epson WorkForce Pro WF-5621 Business Inkjet printer.

Logistics
With studies showing that colour can help increase comprehension of information by up to 73%, Epson’s Colorworks TM-C7510G, TM-C3510 and GPC-830 label printers were used for on-demand colour label printing of customised packaging labels, including GHS compliant labels for chemical products.

On demand colour printing by the Epson ColorWorks C7510G for labels does away with the traditional two step printing process (one for monochrome and one for colour). The waterproof colour labels are more noticeable and reduce errors.

With the industrial grade LabelWorks LW-Z900FK, more print applications can be supported. The Epson Pro100, on the other hand, prints wide format labels with edge-to-edge printing to create larger labels in sizes of 50mm and 100mm. With a resolution of 300dpi, prints are clear and distortion-free, so barcodes printed on the labels will be easy to scan.

Warehouse operators traditionally use pick lists as guides on retrieving goods from a warehouse. The operators typically obtain the printed pick list from the office before going to the warehouse. Such travelling can be minimised if the pick list can be pushed to the operators on the go. With the Epson Moverio BT-2000 smart headset, warehouse operators simply put on the headset and activate the picking process with head movements thanks to the gyroscope sensor on the headset. The application even directs the operators to where the pallets are, using indoor positioning and navigational information. This hands-free system will enable warehouse operators to be more mobile than before, achieving from faster pick-up speeds, improved picking accuracy and less paper used.

The WF-100 mobile inkjet printer is in black, on the right.

Delivery crews can also print invoices and documents on-the-go with the WF-100 mobile inkjet printer via the cloud. There is no need to go to a designated location with a printer just to pick up a single document.

Marketing
Collaborative meetings can be held with ease using a combination of the Epson’s ultra short-throw projector EB-1430Wi and smart devices. Annotations made on projections can be printed directly with the WF-7611 business inkjet printer, while proofing prints and ad-hoc collaterals were printed with the P7000 large format printer. The SC-T7270 large format printer, cost-effective with line precision, is ideal for companies with ad hoc requirements for poster printing, or printing event venue floor plans for discussions.

Epson’s ultra short-throw projector EB-1430Wi allows annotations to be made on a virtual whiteboard projected onto a screen beneath it.

A booth representative holds up an iPad to show that annotations made on the iPad are reflected on the projector screen. Such a solution supports collaboration across different locations and devices.

The Epson SureColor P7000 allows in house proofing that can be sent to the printing house. The 11-colour printer enables 99% of Pantone colour reproduction.

Finance
Unwanted stacks of printouts, ink wastage, compromised security and high consumable costs are some of the challenges faced by organisations today. Bundling the Epson Device Admin (EDA) and Epson Print Admin (EPA) software with with WF-R8591 multifunction printer can address such issues by improving business workflow, providing more control and reducing costs.

A card reader integrated with a printer ensures that sensitive printouts can only be released  - anywhere on the network - only if the person making the prints taps card identification on the reader.

Epson’s M100 ink tank system printer is an alternative to cheque writers as multiple cheques can be printed at one go. The printer also comes with smudge-free, tamper-proof and fraud-proof black pigment inks.

The Epson DS-530 desktop scanner is a high volume scanning solution with an optional flatbed scanner for delicate documents.

Digital archiving of documents is also made easy with the DS-530 desktop scanner which comes with flatbed and sheet-fed features and is bundled with optical character recognition (OCR) software.

The LabelWorks LW-700 Portable Label Printer makes asset tagging and inventory control convenient and can help to identify documents for faster retrieval.

Customer service
Keep the face-to-face customer experience fuss-free with a self-service queue system kiosk, which allows queue tickets to be printed wirelessly with Epson’s TM-m30 tablet Point-of-Sale printer. Epson’s EB-595Wi ultra short-throw interactive projector - the world’s first 3LCD finger-touch enabled interactive projector - can project two screens, one of the queue numbers being served, and the other integrated with a third party camera sensor to trigger gender-driven promotions.

The Epson TM-m30 queue solution.

One projector is responsible for two different screens projected on a wall, one on queuing and the other featuring a promotion that is gender-specific. The camera mounted to the right identifies the gender of the person standing in front of it.

A virtual showroom can be hosted through the Epson Moverio BT-300 smart glasses - barely any space is needed.

Customers can watch product or corporate videos as they wait through the Moverio BT-300 augmented reality smart glasses. At the back end, an M200 multi-functional ink tank system printer prints and scans quotations for digital archiving.

A self service payment kiosk with receipts printed by an Epson device. The kiosk was created in conjunction with EASI, Enterprise Advanced System Intelligence.

Attendees were impressed by the solutions showcased, and found the talks informative. “We got to see all the various business solutions that Epson has, especially the segment on interactive projectors. They allow our customers to collaborate across offices easily and more effectively,” said Jeffrey Lim, Managing Director, PAVE System.

“The session was quite beneficial, and it was an eye-opener to learn about the technologies showcased. I can see a fair bit of benefits in terms of efficiency for the home or office. The technologies showcased will help to save on manpower, outsourcing and lead time for production. Personally, I’ve been a user of Epson for many years so I know how sharp and vibrant the printouts are,” said Shirley Ke, Operations Manager (Logistics), Dairy Farm International.

“ESTC returns this year to simplify and make intelligent business solutions more accessible to every business. Our solutions seek to enhance collaboration, personalise solutions to different needs, and create an integrated environment to reduce repetitive manual work and ultimately save time and effort. These solutions are developed based on our on-going understanding of what our customers require and we will continue to innovate and strengthen our product offerings for the corporate space,” said Tan May Lin, Epson Singapore’s GM (Sales, Marketing & Customer Service Division). "Technology, if applied thoughtfully and in innovative ways, can help a company maximise its potential."

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