ImagePress C700 can't auto duplex 12x18?

Hey All,

We are making the plunge into the printing world and I have read enough of your posts to be warned not to. Hah. But seriously we have done our homework and are offering a very limited, niche product with a market that has high demand.

My sales rep is dead set on selling me a ImagePress C700 with a CPC charge that is locked in for 3 years. I need help determining if the C700 is worth the time or if I should pinch some pennies to get a better machine.

We sell a single product. It is a 4/4, 4"x5.5" (16g) booklet. We started this business using a Xerox 7760DN. So we were printing on SRA3 because the 7760 can auto duplex up to that without having to manual feed. Our imposition is 4 landscape spreads, 4up per sheet. We collated 4 sheets and saddle stitch them manually then stack/cut/fold to get 4 complete booklets.

Our volume is going way up so I wanted to get into a press and booklet maker inline to reduce labor of manually cutting and stapling. From reading a few threads the c700 will not auto duplex 12x18. And the booklet finisher it comes with can only put the fold and bind in one direction.

I want to duplex and fold a 12x18 sheet portait (long way) down the center. Then trim whatever it can and staple in up to 8 locations down the center.

You're probably thinking I am out of my mind. And the truth is I am. I am just having a hard time putting this production process together and getting the right equipment for the job.

We currently do 4000 booklets / month = 16000 sheet and 32000 clicks. We are expecting to get to 10,000 booklet / month = 40,000 sheets and 80000 clicks.

Any recommendations on Printers to Finish equipment or imposition ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Or should I just shoot myself now and save myself the misery? lol

 

Buy a 7110 or 751 From Ricoh, heck even the 550. Canon, until they prove me wrong, Is a terrible company to get equipment from. When my 751ex went down for a month they swapped it out with a model which had more features at no extra charge to me. Canon on the other hand has been fighting with us since the first month. After after 10!!!! months they are "willing" to swap out our 6010 ( 74k price tag ) for a c800 worth about 45k~ but have us still have the same payments associated with the 6010. Not the kind of company I am excited about working with. Although in our area the technicians are quick to fix the equipment, but that's the only upside. Save yourself the trouble buy from someone other than Canon.

 

Sorry to go offtopic and I did try PMing first... Did you end up buying the C700? What is your payment and click charge? Most importantly how is it holding up in terms of break downs, maintenance and quality? Do you feel like it was a good choice? Thanks!!