InfoPrint Solutions Company, a joint venture between IBM and Ricoh, announced its rugged InfoPrint 6700 thermal printer family is now available with additional capabilities to lower costs and improve supply chain operations.

The upgraded InfoPrint 6700 R40, R60 and R80 models are among the first thermal printers to offer Energy Star® compliance, which can lower energy consumption across warehouse operations and reduce carbon footprint.

Also, the InfoPrint 6700 family R-models now includes no-charge Ethernet connectivity, a savings of up to $400. In addition, standard memory has been expanded to 16 megabytes for additional flexibility in managing printer resources.

"We have continued to upgrade the leading-edge InfoPrint 6700 thermal printer line since its launch five years ago," said Doug Seitz, Worldwide Director, Industrial Solutions at InfoPrint Solutions. "Continuous improvement provides our customers with the latest media handling capabilities, additional datastreams and emulations, support for barcodes and RFID tags, as well as powerful remote management capabilities. These features are designed for reliable output in industrial environments, which is critical to supply chain efficiency."

InfoPrint Printer Management Utility (PMU), powerful remote management software, continues to be offered as a free download to InfoPrint 6700 customers. It provides monitoring capabilities for printer activities and output processes. The printer control panel is displayed and is fully operational from a web accessible support desk. Technicians can perform printer tasks, such as configuration changes, microcode updates and diagnostics remotely. Technicians do not need to be on-site to troubleshoot printers, increasing productivity and lowering support costs.

The R40, R60 and R80 models provide choices in media width, including:

• 203 or 300 dpi resolution and customer interchangeable printheads, which increase operational flexibility
• High-volume capacity with print speeds of up to ten inches per second (ips)/254 mm per second1 to support on-time printing
• Factory or field-upgradeable RFID support on the R40 4-inch model, which ease the transition to RFID for customers globally
• Remote management capability for enhanced productivity and lower support costs
• One of the largest available ribbon capacities, which minimizes operator intervention
• Intelligent media detection capabilities, which simplifies setup and operation
• Multiple datastream emulations with auto switch interpreter, which provide flexible application support and multiple print queues for enhanced operation
• Integration with IBM® Tivoli® device management software to facilitate centralized device management
• Support for Intelligent Mail® barcode printing to aid compliance with USPS regulations

For more information, go to www.infoprintsolutionscompany.com/internet/wwsites.nsf/vwwebpublished/print_ip6700home_us.

About InfoPrint Solutions Company
InfoPrint Solutions Company is a joint venture between IBM and Ricoh built on IBM's 50 years in the production print space and Ricoh's excellence in technology innovation. Go to www.infoprint.com for more information.