Panasonic Brings OS/400 Support to WORKiO MFPs

When Panasonic announced last week that it supports the iSeries with its WORKiO multifunction printers (MFPs), OS/400 shops looking to escape centralized printing prison gained another option. With print speeds ranging from 23 to 60 pages per minute, and list prices from $8,500 to $20,300, Panasonic says, its WORKiO line of MFPs eliminates the need to choose between high-volume centralized systems and lower-end printers that don’t offer finishing options.

Through collaboration with IBM, eight of Panasonic’s WORKiO line of MFPs–the DP-2310, DP-3010, DP-3510, DP-3520, DP-4510, DP-4520, DP-6010, and DP-6020–have been enabled for OS/400 printing. All of these devices are black-and-white laser printers that can provide resolutions of up to 600 dpi by 1,200 dpi.

What’s unique about Panasonic’s WORKiO line is its flexibility and upgradeability. Users can select from a range of add-ons and finishing options, including staplers, sorters, and hole punchers; exit trays and large paper stackers; PCL and PostScript printing modules; additional memory and disk units; and e-mail, standard fax, and Internet fax output modules.

Richard Heckelmann, Panasonic’s product development manager, says the WORKiO line of MFPs can help simplify iSeries shops’ document management strategies by offering decentralized printing. “It’s a simple, seamless way for iSeries users to take advantage of the benefits offered by MFP printing,” he says.

“Users want to be able to move pages from a centralized to a decentralized printing environment,” Heckelmann continued. “It’s obviously faster and more convenient to generate output locally. By using WORKiO MFPs as output support for AS/400 systems, we’ve substantially extended this capability.”

OS/400 V5R1 or V5R2 are required to use the WORKiO MFPs. Users of these OS releases must install certain PTFs to enable the WORKiO printers to function with their server. With OS/400 V5R3, all iSeries will support the Panasonic WORKiO MFPs, Panasonic says.

Panasonic, which is a division of Matsushita Electronic Corp., sells its WORKiO printers through a reseller network. Contact the company for a representative near you, or check out its Web page at www.panasonic.com/business/office.