Hailing high speed: Midrange and desktop printers reach new heights in custom options and service

As bar-code labeling compliance reaches deeper into the supply chain, manufacturers and distributors have more options for industrial thermal printing in solutions of all sizes. In fact, traditional printer powerhouses such as Zebra Technologies and newcomer-to-thermal TallyGenicom are showcasing less-expensive desktop and midrange printers just as sales for larger systems begin to cool.

Natick, Mass.-based Venture Development Corporation (VDC) finds total thermal printer sales to the industrial/manufacturing and transportation/logistics markets in 2007 at more than $920 million, and expects the market to reach $1.35 billion by 2012.

“The Tier 1 market is 90-percent saturated, but by focusing on Tier 2, Tier 3, and smaller, these vendors have their finger on the pulse of what's going on, where growth will be into double digits,” says Andrew Nathanson, practice director for VDC's auto-ID data collection market.

The TallyGenicom 7000 Series offers hybrid/midrange and rugged desktop thermal printing solutions.

The midrange units usually are ruggedized too, but offer fewer features and lower throughput. The distinction between the midrange and the newer entry-level desktop class tends to blur in terms of functionality and performance, but typically costs less than $1,000.

TallyGenicom formed in 2003 viaCaol the merger of German supplier Tally, and Genicom, a company with a strong base in the United States.

“TallyGenicom is the best little company nobody has heard of,” says Thuy LeDinh, marketing director. “We service and supply all Fortune 500 companies, but we sit in the back room.”

"If companies are at all sophisticated, they’ll have their printers networked. Being wireless eliminates the need to pull expensive cable in the plant." —Craig Swanson, director of marketing, Zebra Technologies

Zebra, long a leader in thermal printing, has responded with its new sub-$1,000 G Series line of desktop printers.

“The big units are still chugging along, but they're not where the growth and dollar volumes are,” says Swanson. “The G Series is one of the first in that category to have internal wireless options. If companies are at all sophisticated, they'll have their printers networked. Being wireless eliminates the need to pull expensive cable in the plant.”

Lower-cost networked computers also enable distributed printing capabilities, even in large-volume shops where it is now cost-effective to buy several desktop machines and place them where they're needed to enhance labor efficiency.