Patent ID: 8270851

Claim:
A control apparatus configured to control output processing of a plurality of printing apparatuses having different characteristics, the control apparatus comprising: an information acquisition unit configured to acquire information including characteristics information indicating characteristics of a printing apparatus; a priority order determination unit configured to determine a priority order based on the characteristics information so that a printing apparatus in a power saving mode among the plurality of printing apparatuses has a relative priority; and a control unit configured to cause the printing apparatus to execute output of print data based on the determined priority order, wherein the characteristics information includes information regarding a method employed by a fixing device provided in the printing apparatus, the priority order determination unit further determines a priority order using an operation rate of the printing apparatus based on information related to the operation rate contained in the acquired apparatus information, and a priority order is determined so that another printing apparatus has a relative priority in order to suppress an operation rate of the printing apparatus according to a result of a comparison of a pre-set threshold and an operation rate of the printing apparatus which is to be prioritized to suppress power consumption based on information concerning the method employed by the fixing device provided in the printing apparatus, contained in the characteristics information.