Company Interview: Seiko Instruments

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Christina Pfleiderer is Product Manager Thermal Printer Department, Seiko Instruments GmbH

CHRISTINA PFLEIDERER: The original Seiko Corporation was established way back in 1881, and Seiko Instruments Inc. (SII) was established in 1937 as part of the Seiko group of companies.SII invented micro thermal printer mechanisms up to 112mm print width in the late 1970s. SII has since grown their activity in this field to become the largest micro thermal printer supplier in the world, with around 40% of global market share today. SII released the first kiosk printer in 2001, with annual sales increases of 50% or more year after year up to the present day.

KE: What would you say are the key factors that put Seiko ahead as a printer supplier for kiosks?

KE:What would you say was the kiosk printer configuration that suits the most applications?

CP: Taking a simple, robust printer mechanism and adding only those peripherals necessary to the application will leave deployers the maximum design freedom. Sub-assembled, plug&play solutions allow customers easy integration into existing hardware and ensure the quickest possible time to market.

KE: What’s the biggest thing happening in kiosk printing technology at the moment?

CP: Right now, there is no better alternative to maintenance-free, direct thermal printing technology, as the servicing costs of any application network are so key to successful realisation of business objectives. Specification-wise, the trend towards faster paper ejection demands increased printing and cutting speeds, which may eliminate the need for mechanical presenters – and thus contribute to keeping manufacturing and servicing costs to a minimum. For SII as a supplier to the kiosk industry, we also know that that it is essential to keep track with major developments in terms of software, e.g. Linux and Windows Vista.

KE: Printers are obviously integral to many kiosk projects – but what would you say are the most important requirements for any kiosk printer, and why?

CP: Quality, reliability and durability of the printer and cutter, combined with defining the correct paper roll capacity for the specific application, in order to keep servicing cost to a minimum. When it comes to long-term operation, customers need to decide whether saving a small amount in initial hardware costs will really offset the long-term maintenance savings that a high-speed, presenter free solution will achieve in the field. Also, especially for vending machines and kiosks, size is becoming more and more of an issue. In most cases operating companies have to pay fees for setting up their kiosks in attractive locations, so they try to minimise the footprint of their machines in order to keep costs down for the rented area. Furthermore, we learn that companies are increasingly interested in complete solutions rather than single components. To make those solutions work and to attain a smooth integration of the printer products into the kiosks, Seiko Instruments’ technical support team continously works on integrative solutions and guarantees a one-to-one support. Apart from simply supplying the best products, our professional technical support network is one of the key factors in Seiko Instruments’ success.

KE: If a company is putting a kiosk together, even if they have selected a good printer supplier, how can they know that it will integrate well with all the other parts?

CP: I can only speak for SII, but our technical support team will always thoroughly investigate any integration issues with our customers before we recommend a printing solution. In general, though, you should always go for a unit that features standard interfaces like USB, serial or parallel.

KE: We often hear the view that the European kiosk market is very fragmented, due to different cultures, different languages, and so on. What do you make of the European kiosk market?

CP: The market is indeed quite fragmented, which is why one-to-one support for every customer is essential to identify the best possible fit for individual applications.

CP: From the orders that we are seeing coming through our books, banking & pay terminals, airline check-in, parking kiosks, public transport ticketing, pay-at-the-pump for petrol stations, information kiosks and couponing applications are definitely leading the way at the present time.

KE: Will we be seeing any more new products from Seiko this year?
 
CP: We’ve just released our new APU-9347 kiosk printer – a compact plug-and-play solution for ATMs and all kind of kiosk terminals. With a print speed of up to 200m/s and a resolution of 8 dots/mm it produces very clear and precise printouts on paper rolls up to 10" in diameter. It also comes with an autocutter, controller board, automatic paper sensor and cabling in one unit. As an added-value feature, we’ve included a range of pre-installed standard and two-dimensional barcodes and a ‘free page mode’ to give deployers a free layout of printed data.

CP: Crystal ball aside, Seiko Instruments will be there whenever end-users need hard copy records of their transactions, regardless of whatever applications the market decides will ultimately prevail.