In some implementations, a device may identify, for a printing operation, a media type associated with media involved in the printing operation. The device may receive, from a sensor, a sensor measurement associated with an ambient condition of the printer. The device may determine, using a print optimization model, a printing configuration for the printing operation based on the media type and the ambient condition, wherein the print optimization model is trained based on reference data associated with historical printing operations associated with one or more printers, wherein the reference data includes reference configurations associated with the historical printing operations, respective media types of media used in the historical printing operations, and corresponding ambient conditions of the one or more printers during the historical printing operations. The device may cause the printer to perform the printing operation according to the printing configuration.

An image forming control method is applied to an image forming apparatus. The method includes, after the image forming apparatus is connected to an image processing apparatus, sending information related to a halftone parameter of the image forming apparatus to the image processing apparatus for storage, obtaining halftone-processed intermediate data that is to be printed sent by the image processing apparatus, and outputting the halftone-processed intermediate data that is to be printed to an image generator to perform an image forming operation.

A server device receives a request over a network for settings for a printing device having an identifier. The server device determines whether the settings for the printing device were previously received from the printing device and responsively saved by the server device, based on the identifier of the printing device. In response to determining that the settings for the printing device were previously received from the printing device and responsively saved by the server device, the server device transmits the settings over the network to reconfigure the printing device according to the settings.

A printer, capable of appropriately extending an existing replacement recommendation time of a component determined based on a life prescribed for the component, includes: a time determination unit (timer), a comparison examination unit (comparator), and a notification unit (notifier). The timer determines a time at which replacement of a component is recommended based on tendency information indicating a deterioration tendency of the component with respect to an operation status. The tendency information is generated from collection and storage of information on the operation status collected from a plurality of printers and information on a degree of deterioration at a disposal time of the component. The comparator compares a time output by the time determination unit with a predetermined life of the component, and examines whether to perform recommendation for component replacement. The notifier notifies of information on recommendation for component replacement based on an examination result of the comparator.

Examples for determining printing device functionality based on consumption and payment are described herein. In some examples, signals indicative of an amount of utilized print consumable by a printing device and signals indicative of payment for the amount of utilized print consumable are received at a computing device. Signals to cause the printing device to alter a functionality based on the signals indicative of an amount of utilized print consumable and the signals indicative of payment for the amount of utilized print consumable are transmitted by the computing device.

A system and method for minimizing customer churn in device service businesses commences with execution of a customer service contract. Ongoing customer data capture is made for each contract. Customer data includes contract events, environmental events, service events, device usage analytics and personnel events. Machine learning is applied to captured customer data, which machine learning is based on a state of customer data at the time of contract determination. Customer data is assigned weights, and aggregate data for each customer is compared to a preselected threshold level. Customers above a threshold are deemed happy and customers below the threshold are deemed to be at risk. Remedial measures relative to at risk customer data generates levels of automated remediation followed by remedial measure suggestions to an administrator when not sufficiently successful.

A method comprises obtaining a training dataset, the training dataset comprising sheet passage interval information associated with conveyance of a plurality of sheets in a sheet conveyance path of a training sheet processing apparatus, at least a portion of the sheets of the plurality of sheets having a known sheet classification of a set of sheet classifications; obtaining sheet timing data associated with the classifying, the sheet timing data comprising sheet passage interval information associated with conveyance of a predetermined number of sheets in the sheet conveyance path of a deployed sheet processing apparatus; classifying, using a machine learning model and the training dataset and the sheet timing data, for each interval window of a plurality of different interval windows, a predetermined number of sheets in a sheet conveyance path of a deployed sheet processing apparatus as a particular classification of the set of sheet classifications; and adjusting, based on the classifying, one or more operational parameters of a deployed sheet processing apparatus.

A print management device includes a control unit that performs a control for displaying of information indicating a spare capacity of at least one printing device based on a print plan and a print status of the at least one printing device that is performing printing. The print plan is derived based on capability information of the at least one printing device.

A sheet processing apparatus for processing sheets each with a wireless tag, includes a roller, a wireless tag reader/writer, and a controller configured to control the roller to convey a first sheet with a first tag along a path, control the reader/writer to acquire first strengths of radio signals received from the first tag during the conveyance and second strengths of radio signals received from wireless tags of sheets not being conveyed, determine a threshold value of signal strength for distinguishing a wireless tag being conveyed from wireless tags not being conveyed based on the first and second strengths, and control the roller to convey a second sheet with a second tag and control the reader/writer to write to the second tag when a strength of a radio signal from the second tag is greater than or equal to the threshold value.

An image forming apparatus capable of recording an error that occurs before inputting a job in a job execution history. The image forming apparatus includes a network communication unit, a print unit that prints image data included in an input print job, a job-history recording unit that records a print result by the print unit as a job history, and an application manager that executes an application based on occurrence of a start factor. The application includes an obtainment unit that obtains image data via a network using the network communication unit, a job input unit that inputs a print job of the obtained image data into the image forming apparatus, and an error-recording-job input unit that inputs an error recording job into the image forming apparatus when an error occurs in execution of the application and the job input unit does not input the print job.