Maximum Monthly Duty Cycle vs. Optimum Monthly Volume
Most vendors of document imaging devices specify a “monthly duty cycle” for their products, which can usually be found on the spec sheet for the product. This number represents the maximum number of pages a product can produce in a month. It is not the volume at which the product should be used on a regular basis. Consistently running products at their duty cycle would result in the need for very frequent service visits and the products would not last the term of a three-year lease. In fact, Buyers Lab’s experience has been that for some products, it would require more than an eight-hour shift every day over the course of the month to run them at their duty cycle.
BLI’s article on monthly volumes reported that in the real world, products are being used for much lower volumes, ranging from 5 percent to 20 percent of the duty cycle in the case of monochrome products (depending on the speed range). For example, products with speeds of 31 to 40 ppm have an average maximum duty cycle of more than 100,000 impressions, but in the real world they are used on average for slightly less than 10,000 impressions a month.
To help buyers choose equipment that is most appropriate for their actual monthly volume, BLI publishes an Average Optimum Monthly Volume for products in each speed range.
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