Sharp is answering a demand for affordable, high performance black & white MFPs with a family of A3 models aimed at medium- to large-sized workgroups. The new products, which are intended for everyday use in typical busy offices, incorporate some of the advanced features that have proved popular in the manufacturer’s colour MFPs.

Three models have been launched, allowing customers to choose the price and performance that best suits their business. Choices include the top of the range MX-M503N, which prints and copies at 50 pages per minute (ppm), the mid-range 45-ppm MX-M453N, and the MX-M363N, which performs at speeds of 36 ppm.

Easy to own, use and manage

The new machines underpin Sharp’s commitment to raising workgroup productivity by making MFPs as easy to use as possible. User-friendly features include a larger-than-average 8.5-inch touch-screen colour LCD panel with thumbnail previews for easy filing, and a full size retractable keyboard which makes it easier to add data to scanned documents and/or distributing them via email.
In addition, the touch-screen display can be customised to meet the individual needs of everyone in the workgroup, with ‘buttons’ on the home screen configured to give immediate access to the current user’s most frequently used features. The screen’s colour is also configurable.

IT Administrators will also benefit from the intelligent design, which features a new ‘remote operation’ utility. This simplifies support by allowing technicians to view and operate the machine’s front panel display from across the network, letting them take control, change settings, fix problems and even provide ad-hoc user training, without attending the MFP in person.

High-end specifications

The print resolution is a true 1200 x 1200 dpi (even while operating at maximum speeds); network colour scanning comes as standard and each machine features Sharp’s contemporary grained exterior design for increased aesthetic appeal.
Finishing options include a high capacity 4,000-sheet finisher, a bi-folding saddle stitch finisher and a space-saving inner finisher which provides basic sorting, stapling and offset stacking capabilities.

“The market has been calling for increased functionality in black & white MFPs. We’ve answered that call, giving businesses all the productivity features they need to get the maximum benefit from the high quality and fast print speeds of the new machines. Think of them as a ‘central document platform - the hub of the everyday office workflow’,” said Keiichi Katsuta, President of the Division Sharp Information Systems Europe.

Integrated device management

Like all Sharp MFPs, the MX-M363N, MX-M453N and MX-M503N are easy to configure, deploy and support. Multiple devices can be managed from a single remote location, configuration settings can be copied from one machine to another, the operating status can be monitored remotely and automatic email alerts are generated when corrective action is required to prevent downtime.
The new machines also share many of the other innovations that feature in Sharp’s high-end MFPs including Sharp OSA® (Open Systems Architecture), which third party software developers have harnessed to create applications that automate everyday office tasks, plus advanced security options to safeguard sensitive data and ‘harden’ the MFP against unauthorised attempts to access or compromise it.

Designed with the environment in mind

The Energy Star- certified MX-M363N, MX-M453N and MX-M503N support Sharp’s commitment to green principles. A manual power save button has been added to help save energy and reduce running costs, night energy consumption is just a single watt (the amount required to receive faxes) and they are fully RoHS-compliant which means that they are completely free from harmful chromium and lead.

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With its global environment strategy, Sharp has made environmental protection an integral part of its corporate culture. What we call the Sharp Super Green Strategy covers the production of energy-saving and energy-generating products in ecologically advanced plants, along with responsible recycling. One of the company's main aims on the road to becoming an "environmentally advanced company" is to significantly reduce both direct and indirect CO² emissions in our operations and products. Throughout the world, Sharp has defined environmental standards that apply to all our plants and products, and these are being continuously revised and dynamically improved.