The Death of the HP CM8060 with Edgeline Technology has been Greatly Exaggerated

The HP CM80x0 Edgeline.

There is a small firestorm of "concern" brewing around the comments I shared here from the Lyra Symposium regarding the Edgeline.

Couple this with the report that HP moved Edgeline assets "off-shore", and Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt are bound to permeate.

It's referred to as the F.U.D. selling technique and is used by the more shadier copier sales people out there - "X".

If you run your business, your department or your life from a position of Fear, then you have probably been a victim of this selling technique. If so, stop right now, move your mouse over the "X" in the top, right hand corner and click.

No room here for the fearful.

Here's the story - HP is NOT putting Edgeline out to pasture, end of life.

HP IS behind Edgeline, supporting Edgeline, and Edgeline is part of the future.

Resellers are still certified, my techs still service Edgelines, I can still get service parts, toner and engines - all is moving forward.

So if your "X" sales person is telling you that the HP CM8060 is at "end of life" - move your mouse over the "X" and click him out.
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All this hub bub has given me pause, so I reflect.

It's true, HP has not sold as many units as they would have liked, but how have I been effected?

How have my clients been effected? What does this all mean to me, personally?

Sparking up PrintSolv and checking into our fleet of CM80x0's, I remember the dozens of reasons these clients chose Edgeline.

One company, wanted to explore saving money by reducing energy consumption as compared to their Canons. The Canons had "all the bells", including 3 hole punch, 11x17 and scanning. After looking at the actual usage, 11x17 output was less than 1% of total. Three hole punch, hadn't been used for "...2 years..."

At last month's Customer Review Meeting, we confirmed that since August of 2008, energy consumption for copiers declined 11%.

This was predicted. This is measured. This is a fact. The Edgeline is GREEN.

A side benefit was a reduction in paper purchases from 17 cases/month to 12 cases/month. Duplex was set as default on the Edgeline and all other HP devices.

Scrolling down, I see one client who currently prints about 15,000 color images a month.

Well, I should say, 14,500 Color Accent images a month.

This client was absolutely fed up with the poor customer service, unpredictable color quality, numerous jamming and a ridiculous contract the Konica Minolta dealer was "unwilling to help with".

Indeed, when the unit did print color correctly that is without a "pinkish" hue, a 12 cent/page charge was incurred. After looking at their output, which is revenue generating, almost 80% of the pages had less than 150 characters of text in color. Not many pictures or graphs.

We installed the Edgeline for a 30 day evaluation, which expanded into a 90 day evaluation. Earlier on, the cost savings looked significant for color cost alone. But when we rolled in the ease of use, lower energy consumption, lower amount of disposable service parts(no drum, fuser, etc.) - and the ability to EASILY remove mis-feeds - the Edgeline looked even better "on paper".

I can not say that the Edgeline will not mis-feed, but when it does, end users do not simply walk away from the "blinking wrench"; they easily fix the problem using the AutoNav and live video display. Simple.

Today, because of the Color Accent functionality found only on Edgeline, my client saves a significant amount of money printing color at the black and white rate - printing color text.

The biggest impact on the organization has been reliability - the Edgeline is bullet proof.

But, the client is saving "lots" of money - the Konica is sitting in the corner of the room, used as backup - the lease is still in effect - for another 21 months. Even carrying the lease on this dead machine, they are reducing costs.

One more example -

A very small fleet of Edgelines(4 units) we installed before going with PrintSolv.

These units notify my offices and the client when supplies hit a minimum and service issues reach a certain level. For instance, magenta down to 3% issues an email; three consecutive mis feeds in the ADF, trigger a service email.

To date, we have dispatched 3 service calls to each machine, when notified of a problem, by the machine. That's 12, premptive, non PM service calls in the last 18 months.

Our tech shows up before the end user calls our toll free number. There have even been cases when our tech will show up while the Admin is speaking to our dispatch.

These four Edgelines replaced five boxes from Xerox. My client had been a Xerox customer for DECADES. But saw an "account executive" rarely if ever; the end users knew the service technicians by name, first name.

This account represents quite a few Edgelines - quite a few.

The Take Aways - How to work with Edgeline, from a customer's view and from the Reseller's perspective.

If you arelooking getting more than 4 Edgelines, install a trial unit.

If you are a reseller and you have a prospect who is looking to roll out more than four Edgelines, install a trial unit.

And when going through the trial process, treat it as a sale - perform the site survey, collect end user requirements and network security issues. Train the end users(twice or more) on all the relevant functions.

Set the system up to email your client and you when issues arise.

Do not try to fit this "square peg" into a round hole - do your homework. Both client and provider.

Sustainability - the Edgeline and HP is very Green. Reducing power consumption and landfill materials.

When the unit is installed in an environment that fits, the system performs very well.

I know. I have replaced Canon, Konica Minolta, Xerox, Imagistics and Toshiba with Edgeline.

Edgeline treats business documents the way they are in the real world - hardly anyone uses 11x17 - it's a fact. Sure you can find some who run nothing but 11x17, those are not Edgeline prospects.

Hardly anyone use the 3-hole punch - it's a fact. If it is a "big" issue, pre-drilled is the way to go.

Whenever one penetrates a market with very established players, who apply a tried and proven sales and manufacturing model, such as the copier industry, one is bound to take a few hits.

HP is not going to someday stop printing - but there will be companies that will one day stop copying.






Crazy Disclaimer - the above accounts are a "conglomeration" of cases illustrated as individual clients. The facts remain the same.