WEP printers are used for high-speed printing applications in industries such as manufacturing, banking, supply chain and back office environments. In these high-volume printing industries, line matrix printers are used to produce invoices, bank statements, product shipment and transportation documentation as well as product compliance labels.

Line matrix printers can print text, bar codes and graphics. Line matrix printers were originally popularized by the mini-computer craze and continued its growth as a bar code printer. Today they are sold in virtually every corner of the world and while they print as rapidly as lineprinters, they can print bar codes and other graphics as well. When implemented as impact printers, they can be the least expensive to operate per page.