Leo:
At the printer applications I have been near to there are a number of things to consider....

1) The prices at DigiKey are in no way representative of what OEM prices would be if you contacted Citizen directly. That is unless of course you only intend to purchase 8 or 9 ... 100 units and then the prices like in a catalog are almost immaterial.

2) The cheapest paper for thermal printers is going to come on a roll.

3) The low power nature and small type mechanisms of these types of printers almost want to have the paper supply be on a spindle roller as opposed to a drag feed off the bottom of the roll. I know you see FAX machines with drag feed type draw of the paper off the roll but I would discourage this for these small printers.

4) Providing an axle in the packaging for the paper supply roll is normally so tied to the nature of the product overall packaging that this is the reason I have seen many small mechanisms without integral support for the paper roll.

5) I do not know if you dug into the Citizen web site very deep but they have many printer types that also have enclosures around the whole mechanism....see here for some example pictures. Maybe these can give you some ideas. One there is ready made for panel mounting!! Sometimes it is even possible to use a portion of a ready made enclosure and adapt its interface to your product.

Michael Karas