Igen 3 volume and issues

I understand the volume on an IGen3 is very high on these machines, (what is the best volume run per month )
warming up then keeping it running below 600,000 copies a month is an issue, After reading the reviews ( and problems)
more customer maintance to keep machine up and running prime, there seems to be alot of problems with other operators having colors off from one print to another, line streaks of cyan and magenta, toner build up on grids. There also seems to be alot of color management with the graphic designer and operator working together to make sure copies come out clean and sharp, not a problem but cannot get an answer from Xerox on really how long something like this takes ?? An hour, two or more than one day ?? Seems like a pretty big machine to take on just printing for one company , one shift, in this kind of economy. Any feedback pros or cons ??

 

1 company and 1 shift: We are in the same boat! and the speed of the Igen 3 was not near as fast as we need it to be to run one shift, Xerox salesman had our numbers and and time frame(1 shift) and not once mentioned that would be an issue.
We are now working with Oce.

 

Igen volume & issues

It seems as if there are more cons than pros on this MONSTER machine
alot of money for one company when its not a "printing company" has to be something else other than an IGEN that would work in company wanting to bring more in for printing. We are not going to make money on producing material for outside customers but print our own material in house.

 

To Agronomy

When you say the speed of the Igen 3 was not near as fast are you running a 90 or 110 ??

 

We have a couple smaller canon's 7085, 5180 Color and a Oce CS650 Color,
We were looking at The IGen to bring in more of our outsourced jobs..
We had also looked at HP Indigo and KodakNex Press but all these are really in the same class for speed, and operating cost are huge! We also produce materials for our own use with maybe 5% being for other societies/associations.

Give Oce a call, after months of research they really blew the competition away with pricing and maintenence with Canon products being a close second.

 

agronomy

thanks for the input, will look and see what they have for us.

 

Oce is a good machine but there is more to the business than just the machine. . .

Based on the product brochure and the sales guy that i talked to is better than Fuji Xerox, Konica Minolta and Canon. The problem however is that in our country, there is only one Oce distributor and they still do not have a service system set in place (meaning in our region there is only one tech, one sales guy and no installation.) This is going to be a huge problem if you're going to be the first installation because more often than not, the "service experience" might be lacking.

my thoughts only...

 

we deal with Xerox right now and have a good running record with them, there is a converting issues also going to a different machine, but service and installation is a big part of the machines also. I just think the IGen 3 was just to big for us right now. have been doing some searchs on Xerox site and they do have a few more machines that would suit us other than the MONSTER one! thanks for the input!

 

Late reply

Staff-lew-

First off, welcome to the forum. I can appreciate someone who does their "homework" before asking defining questions, as you have.

You've touched on several important points in your post. Some of which I can answer off line, so not to stir the pot or step on any toes.

So to begin I need to say that the problem was resolved and it was a matter of my own lack of education. I eventually spoke with the right person and performed a diagnostic procedure called Image Uniformity (dC0614) and it corrected the issue.

I can't speak for the other operators out there but I know that most of the issues with color build up, streaks, etc. are due to irregular maintenance and inexperience. 95% of the time, now, I'm able to see a problem arise and handle it within 15 minutes. The average occurrence for such is only a handful of times per month, if that. The regular maintenance simply needs to be scheduled into the work week and you'll be looking at 99%+ uptime.

Color between runs will always vary based on the control of your environment, age of developer and paper acclimation. You can request (from your Xerox Specialist) a booklet showing the allowable shifts in color "during a run" and "between runs" to better gauge if your press is out of spec or not.

I hope this helps.

 

DDIGEN3-

thanks for the input, how long have you had your IGen3 and how long did it take you to feel comfortable with the customer maintance it takes to get the material to the color that it was needed ??

 

I walked in with a background in operating an HP Indigo for a year, so I picked up on the similarities quickly. However, the 2 weeks of training is quite thorough and very informative. I felt Xerox did a great job of helping a new operator "hit the ground running".

But you said "comfortable". I'd say it wasn't until 6 months of using what I'd been taught mixed with regular calls to the technician & analyst before I felt I could soundly make overall judgment calls (good or bad).

In regards to color, I don't know if it was Grace from above, but the color shifting stayed consistent thru the beginning months, and as I got wiser, it began to be more challenging. Maybe my ignorance was bliss?

Again, from what I've heard & experienced, maintaining a steady atmosphere & keeping the press running for long periods minimize a huge portion of any needed adjustments.

What sort of documents would you be printing? ie. heavy coverage (artistic, photographic, magazine-type coverage), medium coverage (stationary, inside marketing, business cards, etc) or mostly text (manuals, annual reports, etc)

 

From my understanding the IGen doesnt run well under 600,000 copies its like a warm up time, to keep the press running
for a long period of time of the day since we are just running one shift I am not sure if the machine is right for our company. If this machine come to us we will be running alot of gloss bulletins plus black and white material using it as a second machine, with a three blade knife and booklet maker. I understand the IGen has its own air system in the machine to help keep it cool, but my room has an air conditioner to help it along. Hopefully it will work good since there will be another black and white in room also. May be to much for the cooling part, not sure on that end.
Alot of money and big decision just looking at all the options. thanks for all your input it helps alot.

 

I do have another question does your IGen have the ACQS on it ??

 

iGen3 our worst nightmare

From tonal spitting, to breakdowns, to ridiculous xerox service rates, after 4 years we are ready to dump this money sucking pit. We are a small print shop and were poorly advised by our "trusted" long term xerox partners to go with the iGen, which from day 1 was our worst nightmare. We have decided to move forward with the Kodak Nexpress, and not the igen4 as initially planned.
I strongly advise based on our experience, AGAINST iGen.

 

no punches pulled. I have used both... service, Kodak nexpress wins (FOR NOW). However, my xerox service is getting better.I no longer have anxiety attacks about calling in Xerox. I use the online service call system. SO MUCH NICER!

for materials cost and up-time, igen will destroy nexpress. Just in image cylinders alone. Nexpress seems better suited to low volume, high quality printing.


they are both money sucking pits. In fact, I called the Nexpress a "boat anchor"