We had already had excellent experience with the CF 3102's predecessor, the CF2001, which we had introduced about 15 months earlier. The CF2001 had given us over 350,000 pages of output. We did notice a slight loss of finish in printing performance (there were some problems with image quality). This is because the printing process introduced a characteristic sheen, which became a problem when we had to deal with orders from numerous customers. In some cases we had to reprint originals we had already produced using offset printing, and the problem was especially glaring when publishing matte images and illustrations. That was when our copier dealer recommended the CF3102, which uses polymer toner. This machine greatly reduces sheen and ably satisfies our and our customers' requirements. We decided to increase our stock of CF3102 copiers.

We use the CF3102 for customized color mailings (such as multicolor DM materials and items that include photos). The variety in our customers' orders is infinite. Sometimes we have to include customized data in catalogs and letters that have been prepared earlier, and at other times we print mailings illustrated with graphs and photos. With the exception of some unusual print jobs, the mailings we print with the CF3102 tend to be supplementary materials printed in relatively small lots.

Sometimes we need a really fast processing speed, like when we have to produce a large volume of materials in a short amount of time. We carry out our work under a certain set conditions, but we have to make up tens of thousands of versions, since our customers' requirements are so varied. This is one area where we're really satisfied with the CF3102. Even with large print jobs, the CF3102 causes little down time, as it rarely breaks down. We started using the CF3102 in January, and since that time we've used it to produce over 60,000 samples, yet we've never had to deal with paper jams or expensive, time-consuming cleaning.

Another important requirement is color reproduction. We have many customers who are quite particular about their corporate logos and need the colors to be reproduced accurately. In other cases, we have to print an existing text in a particular color. We've enjoyed some great results from Konica Minolta systems, for a large number of customers. In fact, in print jobs of several thousand copies, the color stability is outstanding.

The CF3102's best feature is its incredibly fast processing speed, followed by beautiful color reproduction and minimum printing cost. Needless to say, these are all important factors in the printing volumes we do.
In addition to great color reproduction and speed, what I really like about the CF3102 is that it requires much less maintenance than the CF2001 does. In fact, we've had to do virtually no maintenance on the CF3102 since we installed it. We still use its predecessor, the CF2001, but it often requires extensive cleaning (especially in the heater module set), particularly after a large printing job. With the new model, we haven't had to do any cleaning at all, and we can now start to work directly on a new order even after just finishing a large print job. We haven't experienced any of those bottlenecks with the CF3102.

On the whole I'm quite satisfied. However, when it's processing data streams, especially large volumes of variable data, the CF3102 is a little disappointing. These are cases in which we're not just dealing with customized text (such as names and addresses) but with large volumes of data that change with each individual sheet, such as different photos. In these situations we have to deal with very large volumes of data. When the volume of this sort of data runs to a large number of copies, we have to send the job out to a printing contractor or divide it among other segments with special conditions. Konica Minolta's solutions cannot solve problems of this nature for us. Machines that can handle these jobs include the Heidelberg NexPress and the Xerox DocColor 6060. To be fair, however, I should add that these two machines are far more expensive than the CF3102.