Patent ID: 8078888

Claim:
An image forming apparatus that is included in a plurality of image forming apparatuses, which are coupled to each other through a communication network in such a manner that the plurality of image forming apparatuses can bilaterally communicate with each other, the image forming apparatus comprising: an electric power consumption notifying section that calculates an own electric power consumption, representing an amount of electric power to be consumed by the image forming apparatus itself, so as to notify other image forming apparatuses of the own electric power consumption; a priority degree determining section to determine an implementation priority degree of a job, based on a kind of the job; a job implementation electric-power calculating section to calculate an estimated value of the own electric power consumption in regard to electric power to be consumed when the image forming apparatus implements an implementation scheduled job; and an arbitration controlling section that calculates a total electric power consumption to be consumed by the plurality of image forming apparatuses when the image forming apparatus implements the implementation scheduled job, based on electric power consumptions notified by the other image forming apparatuses and the estimated value of the own electric power consumption, so as to transmit an instruction for reducing electric power consumption to a specific image forming apparatus that currently implements a job whose implementation priority degree is lower than that of the implementation scheduled job, when the total electric power consumption calculated in the above exceeds an upper limit electric power consumption established in advance, wherein when receiving the instruction for reducing electric power consumption from another image forming apparatus, the image forming apparatus makes itself enter into a power saving mode, and then, transmits a power-saving mode shift completion notification to the other image forming apparatus serving as a sender of the instruction for reducing electric power consumption; and wherein when transmitting the instruction for reducing electric power consumption to another image forming apparatus preceding to implementing the implementation scheduled job, the image forming apparatus commences processing of the implementation scheduled job after receiving the power-saving mode shift completion notification from the other image forming apparatus serving as a receiver of the instruction.