Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. (Konica Minolta) today announced that Buyers Laboratory LLC (BLI) has awarded Konica Minolta Summer 2012 “Pick” Awards recognizing the bizhub C754/C654 Color Multifunctional Products (MFP - print, copy, fax and scan all in one system) and the Konica Minolta Unity Document Suite 7 as determined by rigorous competitive testing.  The recently introduced Konica Minolta INFO-Palette Design also received Outstanding Achievement recognition.

“Both the bizhub C654 and bizhub C754 proved highly reliable over the course of more than 200,000 impressions each, and proved to be among the most productive models we’ve ever tested in their respective speed ranges,” said George Mikolay, BLI senior product editor for A3/Copier MFPs. “Not only did these models deliver scanning times up to twice as fast as competing units, but they were also much faster than average in all copy and print tests we ran.“

BLI recognized Konica Minolta with the following awards:

• bizhub C754 – “Pick” Award for “Outstanding 71- to 80-ppm A3 Color MFP”
• bizhub C654 – “Pick” Award for “Outstanding 61-to 70-ppm A3 Color MFP”
• Konica Minolta Unity Document Suite 7 – “Pick” Award for “Outstanding Desktop Document Imaging Suite”
• Konica Minolta INFO-Palette Design – “Outstanding Achievement in Control Panel Design”
  

Twice a year with its “Pick” awards, BLI gives special recognition to the hardware and software products that provide the most outstanding performances in BLI’s unique evaluations. For hardware, awards are based on a rigorous battery of lab tests that includes an extensive durability test along with an assessment of copy and print quality, productivity, ease of use and economy, as well as connectivity issues such as feedback to workstations, administration utilities, print drivers, multitasking and scanning solutions. Software solutions undergo an in-depth, hands-on review that focuses on key attributes for a solution’s target market and compares how well the product stacks up against leading competitors.  In addition, BLI’s coveted “Outstanding Achievement” awards acknowledge those products that bring capabilities that stand out for their extraordinary ingenuity, usefulness, energy efficiency or value.

“Konica Minolta continues to push the boundaries to simplify the overall user experience for its customers,” added Mikolay. “The new control panel allows users to switch to any of three interfaces they wish on the fly, providing unmatched flexibility for users to choose the interface that best fits their needs.”

“Extreme ease of use is the hallmark of Unity Document Suite,” noted BLI Senior Editor Lisa Reider. “The package can be installed without the help of an IT administrator and users can set up their own folders or simply use one of the pre-set standard folder destinations. This ensures that knowledge workers can be up and running quickly to take advantage of the suite’s productivity-enhancing features.“

“Receiving 'Pick' awards from BLI, as well as an award for our recently launched INFO-Palette Design, further supports the leading innovation, proven performance and exceptional capabilities of the bizhub MFP family of products and solutions,” said Kevin Kern, Senior Vice President, Marketing, Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc.  “We are always striving to ensure that customers can count on Konica Minolta for their entire scope of document management needs, and these awards further demonstrate our commitment to innovation that is necessary in obtaining this objective.”