An image forming apparatus comprises an accommodating unit that accommodates recording materials and a feeding unit that feeds an accommodated recording material, detects a fed recording material, and measures time from a predetermined timing until a recording material is detected. An information processing apparatus receives measured time data from the image forming apparatus, classifies the received plurality of time data into a first group and a second group in accordance with a length of time, selects a group for predicting a remaining life time of the feeding unit from the classified first group and second group, and predicts a remaining life time of the feeding unit using time data included in the selected group.

A procedure and installation of the same for the control of image processing devices using only the data required; thus, avoiding saturation of the memories of the components involved and/or the communications bandwidth. The procedure and installation are simple and reliable such as not to require the involvement of an expert user or a service staff member. The procedure includes the standardization of the data identifiers for each image processing device via the identification of the identifier containing a value for each data point and checking that the scale of each data point is equivalent to a predetermined scale. The installation includes a standardization system for such purpose.

An image forming apparatus, having a recorder, a display, an input interface, a memory, and a controller, is provided. The controller is configured to control the recorder to consume colorant to print images on sheets, count a consumption value and a quantity of the sheets consumed, determine an average usage value based on the consumption value and the quantity of the sheets, obtain a filled amount value and determine a first printable quantity, determine a second printable quantity, control the display to display a first screen including a first object indicating the first printable quantity in the display, control the display to display a second screen including a second object indicating the second printable quantity in the display, and control the display to display a screen including a third object, through which one of the first object and the second object to be displayed in the display is selectable.

A computer-implemented method according to an example of the present disclosure includes obtaining, for each of a plurality of PPMs of an organization, a profile that indicates operating parameters of the PPM. IECs for a plurality of print-related tasks are stored in a database, the IECs including material costs and labor costs for the print-related tasks. For each print job received, an optimal PPM set is determined that includes one or a combination of the eligible PPMs to use for the print job based on the PPM profiles, the print-related tasks needed for the print job, and the itemized estimated costs of the print-related tasks. IACs are determined for received print jobs based on shop floor data from the organization. A notification that proposes a change to a particular IEC is transmitted based on a difference between the IEC and its corresponding IAC differing by more than a predefined threshold.

A printing apparatus includes a receiving unit configured to receive a print job from a print server configured to provide a logical printer, using an Internet Printing Protocol, IPP, a printing unit configured to perform printing based on the print job, and a storage control unit configured to store a downloaded portion of print data specified by the print job, to a storage region. When download of the print data is restarted after download of the print data is canceled, the receiving unit is configured to download a portion of the print data that is not stored in the storage region, using a Hypertext Transfer Protocol, HTTP, range request.

The present invention aims to prevent degradation of printing performance and also respond to a connection request. To do so, there is provided a controlling method for an image forming apparatus, comprising: determining whether or not a connection destination is a connection destination periodically transmitting a situation inquiry after transmitting data; and controlling to continue connection to the connection destination in a case where it is determined that the connection destination is the connection destination periodically transmitting the situation inquiry, and controlling to disconnect the connection to the connection destination in a case where it is determined that the connection destination is not the connection destination periodically transmitting the situation inquiry.

In a client machine that collects first data that is operation information of an apparatus and second data related to a use situation of a plurality of pieces of hardware including a processor, a memory, and a storage, control is performed so that, in a case where the client machine is in a power-saving state at a timing when data that is collected in the apparatus is transmitted to an external system, recovery from the power-saving state is performed and transmission of the first data is not restricted, and transmission of the second data is restricted, and in a case where the client machine is not in the power-saving state at the timing, the transmission of the first data and the transmission of the second data are not restricted.

A method and system for recommending a transaction to replace a target device by calculating a total cost of ownership based upon actual device usage data. Based, at least in part, on the TCO for the target device, a recommendation is provided to replace the target device with a replacement device that has a lower TCO than the target device, or a TCO difference compared to the TCO of the target device that is within a predefined range.

A communication device may output information according to a first scheme in a case where a first instruction is obtained in a first state, shift to a second state in a case where the first instruction is obtained in the first state, and shift to a third state in a case where a second instruction is obtained in the second state. In the first state, an authentication request according to the first scheme is not responded to and a search signal according to a second scheme is not responded to. In the second state, the authentication request using only a target channel can responded to and the search signal is not responded to. In the third state, the authentication request using only the target channel can be responded and the search signal using only the target channel can be responded to.

An image forming apparatus includes a printing device, a controller that controls the printing device, and a print job management unit that executes a secure print job by the controller based on a job request from a user. The controller executes calibration of the printing device when the controller detects that a predetermined parameter measured from a previous calibration exceeds a predetermined value. The print job management unit, upon receiving a job request for the secure print job, determines whether or not a difference between a current value of the predetermined parameter and the predetermined value is less than a predetermined threshold, and if the difference is less than the predetermined threshold, the print job management unit cancels the secure print job.