A system and method for maintenance and supplying of a fleet of multifunction peripheral devices includes two or more networked devices including a decision engine. Devices discover one another and one device is designated as a server. The server creates a virtual lobby accessible by other devices and its decision engine is enabled. The server invites other devices into its virtual lobby, and these devices join the lobby in response. Devices provide their device state information to the lobby. The enabled decision engine generates recommendations for consumable replenishment, device servicing or device configuration, relaying the recommendations to a system administrator's tablet or smartphone. The administrator may accept, reject, modify or implement received suggestions. Consumable supplies or servicing recommendations can be done automatically if enabled. Administrator actions are fed back to the server for machine learning to improve future suggestions.

A printing system includes a printer unit configured to print an image on a recording sheet, an inserter configured to insert a sheet into a print product obtained by printing the image on the recording sheet, and one or more controllers having one or more processors and one or more memories. The one or more controllers are configured to generate scanned images by causing the printing system to read the print product and the inserted sheet, register a reference image, inspect the print product based on a scanned image generated by reading the print product and the reference image, set an insertion position of the sheet to be inserted, and perform control so that a scanned image corresponding to the set insertion position of the sheet is not to be inspected.

An information processing system includes a reading device configured to perform reading processing for reading an original, and one or more controllers configured to function as an acquisition unit that acquires a number of processing operations per unit time period of the reading processing, and an acquisition unit that acquires operation rate information about the reading device based on the number of processing operations per unit time period of the reading processing and a predetermined number of processing operations of the reading processing.

An image forming apparatus includes a printer engine, a sensor and a processor. The printer engine forms an image. The sensor outputs vibration information associated with a vibration of the printer engine. The processor determines whether at least one component of the printer engine has an abnormality based on the output vibration information.

There is provided with an information processing apparatus. A first obtaining unit obtains data of a reference image indicating a target of printing output to be performed by a printing apparatus. A second obtaining unit obtains data of an image printed by the printing apparatus. A correcting unit corrects a local image density difference or the reference image based on a global image density difference between the reference image and the printed image. An evaluating unit evaluates quality of the printed image based on the local image density difference between the corrected reference image and the printed image.

As set forth herein, methods and systems for automated image defect detection. An input image is subjected to skew detection and contaminant detection. Upon detection of skew of and/or contaminants in the image data, correction data, including indicia of the contaminants/skew, correction angles and directions are calculated and displayed on an electronic representation of the document. Automatic correction may then be performed to correct the detected defects, allow the defects to remain, or re-scan the original document to generate new image data without the detected defects.

An image evaluation device includes: a reading unit that reads a sample image included in a sample printout recognized as a non-defective printout and that reads an inspection object image included in an inspection object printout obtained by printing an image corresponding to the sample image on a recording medium using a printing device based on image data representing the image; an extraction unit that extracts a line defect including a linear pattern formed in a specific direction from the inspection object image represented by inspection object image data, based on a difference value between sample image data obtained by reading the sample image and the inspection object image data; and an evaluation unit that evaluates a visibility of the line defect extracted by the extraction unit.

A system and method for maintenance and supplying of a fleet of multifunction peripheral devices includes two or more networked devices including a decision engine. Devices discover one another and one device is designated as a server. The server creates a virtual lobby accessible by other devices and its decision engine is enabled. The server invites other devices into its virtual lobby, and these devices join the lobby in response. Devices provide their device state information to the lobby. The enabled decision engine generates recommendations for consumable replenishment, device servicing or device configuration, relaying the recommendations to a system administrator's tablet or smartphone. The administrator may accept, reject, modify or implement received suggestions. Consumable supplies or servicing recommendations can be done automatically if enabled. Administrator actions are fed back to the server for machine learning to improve future suggestions.

An image inspection apparatus for checking an image printed on a recording medium includes: a reference pixel obtaining unit configured to generate a reference image and obtain a first pixel value from the reference image; a print pixel obtaining unit configured to extract an image printed area and obtain a second pixel value from the image; an offset processing unit configured to add a non-image-printed area; and an image checking unit configured to compute a difference between the first image pixel value and the second image pixel value and detect an error when the difference is higher than a predetermined threshold value, wherein the non-image-printed area contains a third pixel value that is different from the first pixel value or the second pixel value, and the image checking unit suspends a determination whether or not there is an error in the image printed area associated with the non-image-printed area.

An image processing apparatus includes a printing instruction unit which instructs printing a plurality of times in which the same print data is printed on a plurality of media; an obtaining unit which obtains the number of printing failures in the printing of a plurality of times; a display unit which displays the number of defective items (low quality), and the number of defective items (incomplete items) by default, and with which it is possible to select whether or not to perform reprinting; and a CPU which controls the printing instruction unit so as to perform reprinting when reprinting is selected in the display unit.