xerox magazine - edition 6 corporate...
TRANSCRIPT
THE FUTURE ON DEMANDHow Xerox on-demand technology revolutionised book publishing
SMARTER, QUICKER, CHEAPERInnovative ways to transformyour document management
MASTERS OF INVENTIONA glimpse into the secret world of the Xerox Research Centre
XEROXMAGAZINEMARCH 2006
Your exclusiveguide to IPEX 06 is inside >>>
SPOTLIGHT ON THE 495We put Xerox’s new continuousfeed star through its paces
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… to the latest issue of Xerox Magazine –
packed with the latest news, views and
developments.
The subject on everyone’s lips is IPEX 2006 – and
what better way to plan your trip to this unmissable
event than with the help of our XEROX Guide to
IPEX, included with this issue. IPEX 2006 will be better
than ever – and Xerox will have the biggest presence of
all the companies there. Our guide will make planning
your trip easier, and the experience itself rewarding
and enjoyable.
This issue, we wanted to show you behind the scenes at
Xerox, from software support at our Neuss customer service
centre, to developments at the Xerox Research Centre
Europe in Grenoble. I’m sure you’ll agree it makes
fascinating reading.
And if you’re looking to make your business more productive
in this coming year, our feature on page 24, which explores
how to ensure your document management is as efficient
as it can be, will make essential reading.
For more information on any of the products mentioned, visit
www.xerox.com/magazine. You can also let us know what
you think of Xerox Magazine. Email [email protected]
to post a query to our experts, or suggest a great case
study for a future issue – we’re always on the lookout
for inspiring stories.
I hope you enjoy your read.
InformationKeeping you up to date on
digital print developments
STOP PRESS
Your essential briefing: talking
to robots, IPEX 2006, cut your
print spend – and more
THE DOCUMENT
MANAGEMENT MYTH
They said that paper would be a
thing of the past – here’s why
it’s more essential than ever
POSTBOX
Write to us with your questions,
views and comments – and our
experts will answer
‘XEROX, WE HAVE A PROBLEM’
We map a Xerox customer
service call – across the world
IN THIS ISSUE…
WELCOME
Anthony Hyde
Editor-in-Chief
In the 1980s, trend forecasters predicted thatthe workplace would be paper free, with allour paper needs being met by computerFind out just how wrong they got it on page 25
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InspirationPlenty of bright ideas for
improving your business
A NEW CHAPTER IN
ON-DEMAND PRINTING
They’re the book publishers
who don’t do rejection letters.
Lulu can kick-start your literary
career – for just €9
PARTNER OR PERISH
Edward Russell-Walling on the
advantages of strategic
alliances – and what they could
mean for your business
WORDS FROM THE WISE
– CLIENT SERVICE
Expert tips for keeping your
customers satisfied
INTRODUCING THE
WORKPLACE OF THE FUTURE
How business can boom with
better print management
InnovationTroubleshooting solutions,
expert opinion and all the
latest technology
BRAVE NEW WORLD
The future of digital printing is
jealously guarded at the Xerox
Research Centre Europe. Our
reporter stepped boldly inside
SPOTLIGHT ON...
THE 495 CONTINUOUS FEED
472 A4 images per minute –
check. A footprint 50% that of
competitors – check. We boot
up the 495 to see what it can do
LIGHT FANTASTIC
Is it time you tried light
production print? We look at
the printers promising an
on-demand revolution
XEROXMAGAZINE 03
Des King is afreelance journalistwho specialises inhow digitaltechnology impactsthe print andpackaging sector
Mark Rushtonis a technical printjournalist with a special interestin the effect digitalprinting is havingon conventionalprinting
Jurgen Franck is a Swiss printjournalist with aparticular interestin advances indigital technology
Edward Russell-Wallingis a writer and editor who specialises in businessand financialaffairs
Contributors
Susan Wright is the editor ofPrint & PaperMonthly, theUK’s leadingmonthly printmagazine
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It’s the world’s biggest exhibition for
the printing and graphic arts industries
– plan your trip using the Xerox Guide
to IPEX 2006, included with this issue.
4-11 April 2006; NEC, Birmingham.
www.ipex.org/xerox
THE MAIN EVENT:IPEX 2006
04 XEROXMAGAZINE
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9 30
WHAT’S NEW IN DIGITAL PRINT – FROM XEROX AND BEYOND
STOPPRESS
HI, ROBOTThe science fiction staple of
conversing with machines has come a
step closer to reality. Clarissa is a voice-
operated ‘virtual crew assistant’ developed
by Xerox and NASA for the International Space
Station to talk astronauts through complex
procedures. Astronaut Michael Fincke is a fan: “Just
try to, say, analyse a sample while reading a
procedure manual on a computer monitor as you float
in microgravity – it’s almost impossble,” he says.
“This will be like having another crew member.”
Xerox Research Centre Europe (XRCE) in Grenoble used its
technology to improve the Clarissa voice system. It helps it to
categorise the astronauts’ speech as ‘relevant’ or ‘irrelevant’
and to ignore the latter. This has halved the number of
procedure errors. See page 7 for an exclusive look at XRCE
Impossible! Paper is made of carbon-
rich cellulose
You know your paper. But it’s
‘carbonless’ to distinguish it from carbon
paper – its predecessor in industries
like finance and insurance.
What’s put carbon out of a job?
Micro-encapsulated beads of dye. They coat the
back of the paper so that when you write on it, the
beads break open and release dye onto the sheet below.
What’s so great about Xerox carbonless paper?
It’s the only kind that can be used in black and white as well as colour
printers, because the beads stay in tact during printing.
Why do I need it?
Printing off your own customisable forms on demand is cheaper than
buying in large stocks of pre-printed forms. And Xerox research found
that colour application forms encourage fewer user errors.
OK, you’ve convinced me
Order forms in triplicate, please…
XEROX CARBONLESS PAPER:
A BLUFFER’S GUIDE…APRIL
iii1513_ENG_p4-5_stoppres#93F9A 30/1/06 18:25 Page 4
THE NUMBER OFPAGES PRODUCEDANNUALLY ONXEROX DIGITALPRODUCTIONCOLOUR SYSTEMSWORLDWIDE8NUMBER CRUN
CH
ING BILLION
“WHAT’S THE MOSTIMPORTANT FACTOR FOR YOU IN PURCHASINGDOCUMENT OUTPUTDEVICES?”A recent survey fromVNU/Xerox asked 1,236companies across Europethis question – and foundthe answer variedgreatly from countryto country...
Italy:Service andsupport
France, Spain and
Germany:
Price per page
The Netherlands:Total cost of ownership
United Kingdom:
Image quality
XEROXMAGAZINE 05
How to… slash print spend
Business cards, direct marketing,
point-of-sale displays… Print is
important to any business, but it’s
costly if every department buys
its own stock. In ePrintsourcing, Xerox
provides a simple way of outsourcing
print buying. Here’s how…
�
�
�
1Print request arrives from customer – Xerox
opens electronic job bag and uploads
creative files
2Xerox obtains quotes from approved
suppliers – customer chooses and Xerox
places order
3Xerox manages proofing process – customer
and other parties sign off finished product
4Xerox monitors production, quality controls
and delivers final product
5Xerox pays supplier and invoices customer.
All accounting is fully accessible online
EPRINTSOURCING
�
ii1513_ENG_p4-5_stoppress#49B00 19/1/06 16:16 Page 5
“Paper is dead,” proclaimed headlines in the1990s. “The paperless office is here to stay.”Here’s why the truth is (as usual) morecomplicated than that – and how it’ll affectyour document management processes…
06 XEROXMAGAZINE
Why paper is thrivingin the digital age
FAST FACTOvum predictsthat in thefuture the worldsof paper and digital will startto merge evenmore. Re-writeable and re-usable paper,along withelectronic paperdevelopments,are starting to come tofruition in labs.
*
did you know it’sthree timesquicker to read adocument on
paper than itis on screen?
V
Over the last ten years, paper document
generation – while dropping as a
proportion of all documents used in
businesses – has continued to grow in
absolute terms.
So why is paper so important to us?
Quite simply, it’s lightweight, flexible, durable
and it can be read without using electronic
equipment. And most importantly, it’s three
times quicker to read a document on paper
than it is on screen.
A recent study undertaken by Ovum,
in conjunction with Xerox Global Services,
reveals that over the next decade paper
will play an even larger role in organisations
than it does now. We still keep hard copies
of original documents, and regulatory
requirements mean that we’re keeping more
paper-based information for longer.
So what does that mean for document
management? After all, although many
companies have adopted digital document
management processes, they’ve mostly
stuck with an old-fashioned filing system for
paper documents. This didn’t seem a prob-
lem for years, as we expected paper to ‘die
out’.
Ovum and Xerox Global Services found
that having good document management
processes in place, both digital and
print-based, is the key to ensuring a robust
business. Xerox Global Services designs
document management systems specifically
to address particular aspects of sorting and
managing information, both printed and
digital, particular to individual organizations.
What’s clear is that there is no ‘one size fits
all’ approach to document management,
but the objectives are always the same:
to increase employee productivity and
customer satisfaction and save costs. �
i1513_ENG_p6_NGA_paper 16/1/06 14:40 Page 6
The people
creating your future
High in the French Alps, behind the security doors of a cluster of gleaming, anonymous buildings, a team of scientists are quietly changing all our lives. Led by a brilliant young scientist, Christopher Dance, they are tackling the unknowns at the digital frontier… withstartling results. Mark Rushton went to Grenoble tounearth the secrets of Xerox Research Centre Europe
Photography: Arsene Saheurs
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Next time you push the
production button on your Xerox
machine, or select ‘print’ from
the menu on your monitor, stop
and give a thought for the scientists that
develop the software that allows your
machines to do the remarkable things they
do. They are the vital, invisible driving
force in modern printing; their software
quietly powering demand in the document
management business.
Christopher Dance, laboratory manager
at Xerox Research Centre Europe (XRCE),
is the man at the centre of the creation of
this software and has been instrumental
in bringing to life dazzling technology we
have seen in the document management
world. His name appears again and again
on the 100-plus US Patent certificates that
decorate the reception at the site.
So what work is carried out here? “At
Grenoble we are creating ways of
maximising what can be done with text and
imaging,” says Dance. “We combine the
two in document management scenarios,
as well as analysing the data that provides
an insight into how our machines are
performing – we call it ‘machine learning’.”
Colour control
A main area of research at XRCE is the
maximisation of quality in the production
of colour printing and reproduction. “We
are looking at value-added services for
photo finishing that include automatically
enhancing the quality of digital
photographs,” says Dance.
“With software like Adobe Photoshop,
there is a measure of human intervention
to achieve the best result,” he continues.
“We are working on a system that will
allow automatic safe image enhancement,
which will deal with all the inherent
problems associated with images:
mixtures of outdoor and indoor
illuminations, for example. Our image
enhancement software automatically
spots any under or over-exposed areas and
automatically corrects them without any
human intervention.”
A true scientist, Dance is clearly
fascinated by the possibilities. “Another
common problem is handling ‘red eye’
when taking shots of people. Originally,
you would use a ‘hard’ method
to deal with this problem – but it is quite
08 XEROXMAGAZINE
CHRISTOPHER DANCE
An accomplished pianist and a keen
photographer, Christopher Dance
is at the coalface of digital imaging,
its capture, enhancement of quality
and its storing and distribution.
As most of us consumers enter
the virtual unknown world of digital
cameras and now mobile phones
with cameras on board, he has
pioneered 30 sophisticated techniques
to overcome the problems associated
with this type of image capture,
as opposed to the ones encountered
when using a scanner. Dance has also
trailblazed a way to reconstruct the
colours sensed by RGB pixels
in digital cameras, effectively doubling
sensor resolution.
Dance joined XRCE in 1997 after
completing a BA in Theoretical
Physics, a PhD in Information
Engineering and a Research
Assistantship at Cambridge University.
“WE ANALYSE HOW
OUR MACHINES
PERFORM.WE
CALL IT ‘MACHINE
LEARNING’.”
1513_ENG_p7-9_XRCev4_BOTH 19/1/06 16:25 Page 8
easy for the software to pick up red lips
instead of the red eye, and you might end
up with a black hole in the photograph.
We are developing a much softer method,
whereby the system will calculate the
probability of the object being a red eye
and, if it’s not sure, reduce the redness but
not remove it completely. The system will
not alter an image if it cannot improve it.”
Data mining
Data – and its simple and quick retrieval
– is fast becoming the bedrock of digital
printing. Xerox is putting it to use to
optimise its own hardware. “One area we
look at is mining device data for machines
that produce vectors in the form of long
lists of data about their states which allows
us – using prognostics and diagnostics
– to carry out ‘machine learning’,” says
Dance. “This quite literally means we can
plot when a machine is likely to break down
or when vital maintenance is needed. It
makes servicing much more efficient...”
Language processing
The lab very much centres on learning
and content analysis for doing things like
automatically routing, clustering and
extracting information from text. “This
means that when an enterprise has a lot of
documentation, recognition software
automatically sorts reams of documents
into like groups. For example, in mailrooms
it will sort requests for loans, insurance
clients, customer complaints etc and for
customer or employee surveys it will group
like comments together,” says Dance.
Grenoble’s content technology is also
attracting interest from organisations
concerned with search, risk analysis and
detection, product safety, and spotting
the correct or incorrect documentation
as it goes through nuggets of information.
“This allows them to mine for gold, or
detect smoking guns in mountains of
documents,” explains Dance.
“The whole reason for our research is to
ease the process, enhance flexibility and
reduce customer costs whether it be
putting pictures into categories or
automatically enhancing colour photos,
mining for certain data or predicting when
a machine will need service. We want
to shift the business model and empower
the customer.” �
XEROXMAGAZINE 09
FIVE HOT
RESEARCH AND
TECHNOLOGY
TOPICS AT XRCE
1MOBILE DOCUMENT
SERVICES: Those on the
move need easier ways to
work with documents. Grenoble
is finding new uses for handheld
devices: soon it will be common
to photograph and scan
documents and images using a
mobile phone camera, then send
it back to your office for printing.
2IMAGE CATEGORISATION:
Owning a digital camera
often means downloading
hundreds of pictures at a time,
untagged and with no order
or pattern of storage. Research
is ongoing into software where
Xerox will automatically sort
photos into categories.
3SEMANTIC PROCESSING:
Sophisticated text analysis
and extraction is becoming
the norm as mass use of data
evolves. Xerox has developed
Xerox Incremental Parsing, a set
of tools that is used to access,
retrieve and extract information
from document content.
4DOCUMENT
CONVERSION TO XML:
Extensible Markup
Language is the logical method
to represent documents. XRCE
uses an interactive approach to
conversions that has shown
high cost-savings within a
flexible framework and high
conversion accuracy.
5TRANSLATION OF
DOCUMENTS: Grenoble
is researching automatic
document translation at the
touch of a button or a click of
a mouse. Watch this space…
1513_ENG_p7-9_XRCev4_BOTH 19/1/06 16:25 Page 9
They say that everyone has one book in them.
With the help of Xerox digital on-demand
technology, US online publisher Lulu is turning
that literary dream into a printed reality for as
little as €9, reports Des King
Paperback
writer
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Over 200,000 new book
titles are published by
conventional means each
year in the US. A relative
handful of them go on to bestseller
status: their film rights snapped
up and the author’s future selling-
power secured for as long as
the words keep flowing. For
every Stephen King or Harlan
Coben, however, countless
other manuscripts head straight
to the slush pile: a repository of
work dismissed at the very first
hurdle on the path to publication.
It’s salutary to wonder just how
many potential masterpieces have
never seen the light of day.
Whilst the publishing industry
might be concerned with eroding
margins, risk on investment and
excessive retail and distribution
demands, the one thing in plentiful
supply is raw feedstock. Volume
out, however, doesn’t equate to
volume in. If the text doesn’t merit
a reasonable print-run in the
publisher’s opinion, then it’ll be
lucky to even elicit a rejection slip.
J K Rowling received 15 rejections
before Bloomsbury in the UK and
Scholastic in the US took a chance
on Harry Potter.
Online alternative
Happily for authors and readers
alike, the correlation of the internet
and Xerox digital print technology
is dramatically changing how the
book trade works.
Whilst a number of recent digital
technology start-ups have opted
to provide short-run services
– invariably for scientific and
technical publishers – North
Carolina-based Bob Young has gone
straight to the heart of the matter.
For the past two years, his online
publishing business www.lulu.com
has provided budding authors with
a direct, no-frills medium through
which to transpose digitally-filed
text and images into a finished
book format available for print
and despatch on demand.
Better still, 80 per cent of the
sales revenue achieved over and
above the cost of production goes
direct to the author, with Lulu only
picking up the smaller balance; the
antithesis of how the conventional
publishing industry operates.
The premise is simple: authors
are provided with a comprehensive
online step-by-step guide to
uploading their manuscript and can
select from a range of formats, the
most popular being 6in x 9in. The
final cost will depend upon
pagination, use of colour and
inclusion of images, but is unlikely
to exceed €10 per copy.
The Lulu print-on-demand
operation is akin to eBay in
facilitating trading on a one-to-one
basis, with the decision to buy
ungoverned by the dictates of
volume production/distribution
market rules.
“It’s the customer’s right to
decide what is good and not good;
it shouldn’t be the supplier’s,” says
Young. “We have a book on Lulu
on quantum physics written
by a professor at the Los Alamos
national laboratory. In his view,
it had a limited audience of maybe
two or three hundred: all other
quantum physicists. That book
would never have been published
but for Lulu, because no traditional
publisher would want a book that
would only sell so small a quantity.
“They need to sell 10,000 copies
of any given book to make money
on it. So anyone who has a really
valuable book that might have
an audience of only a couple of >
THE AVERAGE PRODUCTION TIME FOR A
BOOK FROM RECEIVED FILE TO FINISHED
PRODUCT IS JUST FOUR MINUTES
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thousand people on the planet
will never get published.”
Lulu is the perfect home for
books aimed at extremely niche
markets, such as Richard Brown’s
Replica Watch Report, on how
to spot a fake Omega or Rolex
watch. In championing the
cause of under-serviced authors
and readers, Bob Young has tapped
into a lucrative vein with minimal
risk. Lulu now has over 25,000
different titles on file. The website
is visited daily by over 30,000
prospective purchasers and the
online publisher’s printing partner,
ColorCentric – based in Rochester,
New York State – has three Xerox
iGen3 and four DocuTech 6180
presses producing Lulu titles at
a rate of 40,000 units per month.
ColorCentric is installing
additional Xerox equipment to keep
up with demand. Meanwhile, Lulu’s
turnover is growing by 10 per cent
month-on-month. If current rates
are maintained, total sales of
around €1.7m achieved during 2004
will have soared to €8.5m by the
end of this financial year.
The four-minute book
The average initial print run for a
Lulu title is less than two. At no
point in the process – from the
initial uploading of the manuscript
onto the Lulu website, the transfer
of the file to ColorCentric and its
passage through the Xerox iGen3
digital press to finished format – is
the book touched by human hand.
The average production time
for any book from receipt of file to
finished product is four minutes.
LULU’S BEST BOOKS
1 HOW TO START A WEDDING
PLANNING BUSINESS
2 FINDING THE CAN IN CANCER
3 LUCIFERIAN WITCHCRAFT
4 THE ULTIMATE TATTOO GUIDE
5 ACTING FOR IDIOTS
6 THE 21 MINUTE BIBLE
7 HOW TO BECOME AN ALPHA MALE
8 THE GOLDEN GIRLS TRIVIA BOOK
9 LISTEN TO WHAT YOUR KIDS AREN’T
TELLING YOU
10 JFK IS STILL ALIVE
12 XEROXMAGAZINE
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ON-DEMAND THESPANISH WAYSaid to be the largest digital printing centre in
Europe, Publidisa S.A. provided digitally printed
short-run services for book publishers in Spain and
Mexico for over five years. Equipped with two iGen3
presses, ten DocuTech 6180 and two DocuPrint 850
continuous feed machines, the Spanish company
prints millions of A3 sheets a month.
Once a text has been digitally stored, publishers
can call off quantities specifically printed to meet
distribution requirements, thus minimising initial
investment levels and inventory charges.
“The quality of books produced by Publidisa is a
recognised benchmark across Europe,” says Alfonso
Garcia Laiz, Xerox’s publishing manager for Spain.
“By integrating online services with the latest
digital technology, they’re providing a short-run on-
demand service for hundreds of customers and have
plans to expand their business to other countries.
Irrespective of location, the Publidisa service can
get the precise number of books required printed
and delivered to distributors within days.”
In reality, the popularity of Lulu
books is such that a 48-hour queue
is the norm. ColorCentric plans
to cut that by half with the new
Xerox machines.
Just as with the internet and
digital print technology, Lulu and
ColorCentric are a natural fit.
“In business, you’re always looking
for partners who get it; suppliers
you don’t have to convince to do
things the way you want because
they already know better than you
could ever have explained,” says
Bob Young. “We spoke to a lot of
print shops who had Xerox
equipment. ColorCentric were the
ones who said if you’re committed
to giving us a file that we can plug
into our system, and that can go
straight through the production
process without us getting involved
until it’s ready for distribution, then
we can do that for exactly the
same price for one book as for 100.
The printing engine doesn’t care.”
According to ColorCentric CEO
John Lacagnina, many offset
printers extending into digital still
fall into a habitual mind-set of
thinking in terms of print runs.
“On-demand printing requires
a totally different internal process.
If you’re talking hardware, forget
it – because if you’re not talking
bits, bytes and bandwidth, you’re
not talking on-demand printing.
Anyone can buy the equipment;
our value is the process.”
It’s a difference that’s paying
dividends. Lulu’s 40,000 books
represent only 50 per cent of
ColorCentric’s monthly production
on behalf of the book trade; the
balance going to publisher-
requested short-run reprints. The
company also applies its one-as-
standard approach to printing a
range of photographic material
and customised business cards.
And the next step? Lulu is
actively looking for other Xerox
users across Europe and Asia
– next stop, the world! �
LULU IS THE PERFECT HOME FOR BOOKSAIMED AT EXTREMELY NICHE MARKETS,SUCH AS ‘REPLICA WATCH REPORT’
i1513_ENG_p10-13_ondemand#4805B 12/1/06 10:51 Page 13
SS
14 XEROXMAGAZINE
A smart moverContinuous feed and continuous speed.
The 495 provides high resolution
printing at 472 ipm. It also has the
ability to operate long, unattended runs
for higher productivity using roll feed
unwinders and automated finishing.
Image is everythingHigh-quality output is assured
with Xerox’s small particle toner
and flash fusing technology: it
does not come into contact with the
substrate and causes minimal heat,
thus reducing shrinkage and keeping
moisture levels even.
Maintaining its increased focus on the
continuous feed print market, Xerox
recently launched the 495 Continuous Feed
Duplex Printer.
With a maximum speed of 472 A4 images
per minute, the printer excels at the quick
turnaround times that are crucial to this
market. The 495 is ideally suited to
transaction printing environments such as
high-volume data centres, service agencies,
financial institutions, insurance and direct
mail operations. Meanwhile, high quality
images are ensured by a 600 dpi resolution
and non-contact flash fusing.
Versatility is key to the 495’s success: it
can print on a range of substrates, including
plastic, RFID transponders, cards, labels and
paper. Want to know more? Read on…
Spotlight on the…
495 Continuous Feed
6.
5.
i1513_ENG_p14-15_DC495v2_BOTH 16/1/06 14:51 Page 14
Double billA duplex printer, the 495
uses a two-drum imaging and
development system, which
ensures the same print speed (472
ipm) when printing both sides of
the paper. The machine is also
ideal for simplex jobs.
“The Xerox 495
Continuous Feed
Duplex Printer will add
new ‘highs’ to any
print room outputting
transactional applications – high
speed, high quality, high reliability,
high efficiency. It offers a cost-
effective solution for the time-critical,
profit-driven continuous printing
market in the UK.
“In one machine, the Xerox 495
brings together simplex, duplex,
extensive flexibility, productivity,
crisp reproduction of text, fine lines
and images, consistency and the
ability to handle a stack of data. All
this and an amazingly small footprint
make it a continuous winner.”
Mark Rushton
Space raceBecause of its twin drum
configuration within one device,
the Xerox 495 is much smaller than
competitive machines, taking up about
50 per cent of the space used by
traditional continuous feed printers.
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XEROXMAGAZINE 15
Smooth operatorUsing a colour touch GUI
(graphical user interface) display
and the Xerox controller
common to all Xerox’s
continuous feed printers makes
for easy operation. All actions
can be performed from the
controller panel, including print
jobs and resource management.
3.Flexible friendThe 495 can operate with paper
weights from 64g/m2 to 157g/m2 and
with a range of speciality papers
and adhesive stocks. Web
widths from 165mm to 457mm
are handled with ease, with
an image size of up to
432mm x 711mm.
2.
1.
ii1513_ENG_p14-15_DC495v2_BOTH 19/1/06 16:36 Page 15
As manufacturers switch on to the newchallenges of light production printing, it’s well worth considering how they couldbenefit your business. By Theo Zavos
light
According to the latest research
based on data from Infosource,
light production devices are
becoming more and more popular
with the market growing by almost 20 per
cent each year. In line with its innovative
development philosophy Xerox is striving
to stay ahead of its competitors by launching
light production machines that offer
customers added value.
So how could a light production machine
benefit your business? Well, there are
a number of questions that you need to ask
yourself before making the investment:
� Do I take too long over time-sensitive jobs?
� Do I need to introduce any extended
colour options?
� Are my run lengths decreasing?
� Do I need to move into digital but can’t
afford to invest in high-end technology?
� Should I be moving with the times and
keeping up with customer demand?
� Are my volumes increasing, but not
enough to warrant an additional high-end
production machine?
� Do my lower-volume print runs need to
happen in a limited time-frame?
� Would I benefit from a more
flexible approach?
If the answer to any of these questions
is ‘yes’, then light production could be worth
thinking about seriously.
Packing a hefty punch
Although light production machines have a
smaller footprint and are compact in design,
they should not be underestimated, and pack
a hefty punch when it comes to benefits.
Essentially, light production is a cost-
effective alternative for those wishing
to enter the digital market without
making the significant investment of a full-
scale move to digital print. Without breaking
the bank, it allows companies to gauge what
benefits they will gain from introducing
variable data and personalisation. Light
production printers answer the needs of
today’s fast turnaround, on-demand market.
These machines are cost-effective, but
they’re also crammed with features that
allow them to work across a range of
applications, including printing, scanning,
proofing, copying and archiving, all in one
compact device. The printers offer many of
the benefits enjoyed by their bigger brothers,
such as high-quality output, runs as short as
one, variable data inclusion, versatility of
paper handling, finishing options and, in
many cases, the ability to print in full colour.
As production runs continue to fall,
the ability to print short runs, on-demand
and often locally is becoming the norm.
Light production printers allow you to move
smaller runs away from the high-productivity,
high-cost machines, to a device whose
output has the same quality and consistency.
So, those who run fast, high quality, low
volume jobs – in monochrome or colour – will
find they are suited to their business.
Light production also offers a great
opportunity to bring jobs in-house – it’s a
relatively inexpensive way to regain control
over jobs you need to print regularly such as
marketing collateral, booklets, brochures,
16 XEROXMAGAZINE
The
THE LIGHT PRODUCTION MARKET
IS EXPECTED TO DOUBLE IN SIZE
EACH YEAR FOR THE NEXT THREE
OR FOUR YEARS
fantastic
i1513_ENG_p16-17_light_NGA 19/1/06 17:25 Page 16
reports and company presentations.
Generally, light production machines
do not require a full-time operator, either.
This means you can reduce manpower
and shipping costs by controlling jobs
centrally but printing them locally.
Establishing what’s needed
What is the difference between a light
production machine and one of its big
brothers, for example, a DocuTech production
publisher? At first glance they seem to have
the same capabilities, so you may be
thinking, “If it’s more cost-effective, why not
transfer all my jobs from a high-end
production device to a number
of light production machines?”
A light production device, however, does
not fit everyone’s needs. To find out if it
does, you need to establish exactly what
output you require.
With a high-end production device – for
example, one of the DocuTech series
– you need to begin by looking at its
maximum monthly volumes. These machines
are designed to print extremely high monthly
volumes whereas light production devices
are suited to lower volumes. High-end
production devices are also better suited
to running peak volumes – for example,
a large run of wage slips or a set of
invoice returns.
Both types of device offer extensive
finishing facilities such as stacking, folding,
stitching, inserting etc. However, these
functions are built into a light production
device, which means it can produce pages as
complete documents. Because of this quality
light production machines are also preferable
if there is no off-line finishing equipment
available. High-end devices’ finishing
capabilities are similar to light production
machines’, but when you use the former the
finishing is undertaken either on off-line
equipment or on equipment connected to
the production printer. This work is also often
contracted out to specialist companies. While
light production offers extensive finishing, a
high-end device supports more capabilites
and offers higher throughput speeds.
Another difference between the two lies in
supported papers and capacity. Light
production offers an extensive range of
supported materials to print, but high-end
devices take this even further. They are
equipped to support long production runs
using various kinds of paper in one job.
Essentially, the two products serve two
different markets. The beauty is that Xerox
has a range of production devices that allow
it to cater for both. You can cherry-pick the
right machine for specific print jobs. In so
doing, you work more efficiently and create
new business opportunities. �
For information about XeroxProduction products or servicesfeatured in this magazine, justvisit www.xerox.com/magazine
XEROXMAGAZINE 17
THE MACHINESXerox DocuColor 250
� Print, copy and scanning options
� Runs 65 pages a minute black
and white, and 50 pages colour
� Handles up to 5,260 sheets in
weights up to 300gsm
� A range of finishing options
including stapling, hole punching
and saddle-stitched booklet making
� Increased toner capacity – runs
with two blacks and one each of
the C,M,Y colours
� First page out in 4.3 seconds
for black and white, and just 7.8
seconds for colour
Xerox 4110 Copier/Printer
� Offers copy, print, scan and
network scanning with email
� Both simplex and duplex printing
� Runs at 110 pages a minute at
2400 x 2400dpi
� Total paper capacity is
8,225 sheets
� Stapling and hole punch, with
optional booklet-maker and folder
� Easy operation through a simple
colour touchscreen interface
A choice of powerfulprinter controllers
Xerox 4110 Copier/Printer
� Fiery EXP4110
� Xerox Embedded Controller
Xerox DocuColor 250
� EFI® Fiery® EXP250
� Creo™ Spire™ CX250
� Xerox FreeFlow™ DXP250
GE
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i1513_ENG_p16-17_light_NGA 24/1/06 17:05 Page 17
t’s partner or perish,” declared Xerox
Chairman and CEO Anne Mulcahy in a
recent speech. She was highlighting
the growing role of partnerships in
delivering Xerox technology and services.
But she was also acknowledging the
wider truth that strategic alliances have
become the key to survival for many
businesses, both large and small.
Business leaders are discovering that
alliances are no longer just a strategic
option, but a necessity, particularly in
markets with a strong technological or
research base. This realisation has been
growing since the late 1990s. As early
as 2001, Matt Schifrin, then editor of
Forbes.com felt able to write: “Alliances
18 XEROXMAGAZINE
I
Partner or perish:
the smart way to grStrategic alliances will help youextend your product and serviceoffering without spending morecapital. By Edward Russell-Walling
Illustrations: Rebecca Halls
iii1513_ENG_p18-20_sallia#49F86 20/1/06 13:51 Page 18
XEROXMAGAZINE 19
may be the most powerful trend that has
swept business in the past 100 years.”
That's quite a statement. So what
exactly are strategic alliances?
“Agreements between firms in which
each commits resources to achieve a
common set of objectives,” explains
management consultancy Bain &
Company. Companies can form
these special relationships with a
wide variety of players – customers,
suppliers, competitors and even
universities or government agencies.
“Through strategic alliances, companies
can improve competitive positioning, gain
entry to new markets, supplement critical
skills and share the risk or cost of major
development projects,” Bain observes.
The alliances we hear about are those
that link big organisations. Xerox itself has
partnerships with companies including
Fuji and Adobe. It also works closely
with EDS on large document
management outsourcing contracts.
Some of the most successful alliances
have been created to accomplish very
specific goals. US telecoms group
BellSouth partnered with its Dutch
counterpart, KPN, to secure a foothold
in the German mobile phone market.
Nestlé and Häagen Dazs teamed up
to take on Unilever in the US ice cream
market. The alliance married Nestlé’s
manufacturing strength and presence in
the children’s market with Häagen Dazs’
brand superiority and adult focus.
Yet alliances have an important role for
smaller companies, too. In industries like
printing, which are becoming commoditised
and where price is crowding out other
competitive strategies, they can be >
“ALLIANCES MAY BE
THE MOST POWERFUL
TREND THAT HAS
SWEPT BUSINESS IN
THE PAST 100 YEARS”
o grow your business
iii1513_ENG_p18-20_sallia#49F86 20/1/06 13:51 Page 19
especially useful in diversifying the
product and service offering.
One common response to tough
market conditions has been consolidation
– mergers and acquisitions, in other
words. But mergers have a high failure
rate due to cost, customer dissatisfaction
and integration difficulties. Alliances allow
businesses to grow their profile while
avoiding those pitfalls. Some business
advisers now describe strategic alliances
as ‘virtual funding’, because they bring
all the benefits associated with a cash
infusion relatively quickly and without
having to borrow money or sell equity.
Of course, not all alliances succeed.
In the early 1990s, Apple Computer and
IBM famously created a strategic alliance,
Taligent, to co-develop a next-generation
microcomputer operating system. It
faded quietly, but don’t be put off –
manage the alliance correctly and it is
almost certain to work.
Two of the most popular styles are
marketing alliances and product alliances.
In a marketing alliance, firms exchange
client bases – you get access to another
company’s customers, and may earn a
royalty on their sales to your customers.
In a product alliance, you offer another
company’s complementary goods and
services to your customers – expanding
your range without costly investment.
Know-how alliances may incorporate
new software or support in an existing
offering. Combinations of all these may
extend innovation, geographic reach,
product range and service quality in
different ways. So, it is an attractive
proposition not just for a company aiming
to survive, but also for one that is looking
to consolidate and expand. �
20 XEROXMAGAZINE
TEMPTED TO GROW YOUR BUSINESS
THROUGH STRATEGIC ALLIANCES?
FOLLOW OUR EXPERT POINTERS FOR
POSITIVE RESULTS:
� KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU WANT from the partnership and why you are
entering it. Don’t fall into the trap of regarding the mere achievement of alliance
as a goal in itself.
� FIND THE RIGHT PARTNER That demands diligent research on the potential
partner’s market position, key strengths and financial status. If alliance is a recovery
strategy, a partner in as much trouble as you is unlikely to solve your problem. Their
strengths and goals should be compatible with yours – and their corporate culture not
completely the opposite.
� AVOID CONFLICTS The alliance and each partner’s role should be designed to
minimise unnecessary competition in the marketplace.
� SHARE INFORMATION Trust and respect are vital ingredients in a successful
alliance. An exchange of personnel can help to reinforce trust and understanding.
� SPECIALISE Let each partner do what it does best.
� INCENTIVISE Create incentives for co-operation – working together seldom comes
easily to begin with, particularly between former rivals.
� BE FLEXIBLE Alliances shouldn’t be set in stone. Circumstances change, new
opportunities arise, and the partnership must be fluid enough to adapt.
� IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE FOREVER Alliances should last only as long as they are
useful to both partners. Once the goal is achieved, they can be allowed to lapse
without rancour. That’s why some say many strategic alliances would be more
correctly labelled ‘tactical’ alliances. But it doesn’t sound quite as grand.
ALLIANCES CAN BE
PARTICULARLY
USEFUL IN THE
PRINT INDUSTRY
iii1513_ENG_p18-20_sallia#49F86 20/1/06 13:51 Page 20
POSTBOXEMAIL US AT [email protected]
�COLOUR BINDWhy don’t my digital colour chips match the ones
printed in the last issue of Xerox Magazine?
Gomes da Luna, Coimbra, PortugalMatching colour chips to examples of client copies is
possibly the greatest challenge a printer has. So much
can affect the final colour – from the type of proofing
device the designer is using, to the brand
of paper the job is being printed on. In this case, the
discrepancy in colours is most likely because Xerox
Magazine is produced on a different paper stock
and printer combination to that used by the
accredited Pantone chips.
Research into solutions to bring order to the
chaos of ‘colour standardisation’ between processes
is ongoing. Meanwhile, the key to these problems is
constant dialogue between client and printer. This
might be an old-fashioned method, but it is at least
a very good way to get closer to your customer!
STAR LETTER
My customers are particularly
concerned about green issues.
It was nice to show them your
feature on toner recycling last
issue. What else can I tell them?
Ludo Meitzner, Essen, Germany
Xerox is proud of its long-standing
commitment to the environment –
and that includes providing customers
with environment-friendly hardware.
Toner cartridges are just the tip of
the iceberg. All Xerox equipment is
energy efficient, with features like
easy two-sided printing to conserve
paper. The product life cycle is green
as can be: paper comes from
environmentally sound suppliers,
equipment contains re-usable parts,
and hazardous substances have
been eliminated. To find out more,
go to www.xerox.com/magazine
and download the Xerox 2005
Environment, Health and Safety
Progress Report.
GREEN MACHINES
XEROXMAGAZINE 21
I’m going to IPEX this year with a view to buying
finishing equipment for my digital press. I have
limited time, and have heard it’s a huge exhibition.
Any ideas how I can make the most of my visit?
Jennifer Stringer, Bristol, UKIn the past it has been difficult to find finishing products
that were compatible (in terms of speed, quality and
runnability) that could enhance digital output.
Thankfully, this is now being resolved, and IPEX will
host a raft of products suitable for optimising digital print
and turning it into products that will appeal to customers.
Visit Xerox in Hall 3a and our people will be able to guide
you through the options available. A number of partner
companies will also be exhibiting compatible products.
Pantone books – just the thing to ensure
your digital press is churning out what
your client asked for. We’re giving away
one of these indispensable colour
guides – worth £500.
For your chance to win, simply send
a postcard with your name, address,
email address and telephone number
by 21 April 2006 to: Xerox Magazine,
Xerox Europe Ltd, Riverview, Oxford
Road, Middlesex UB8 1HS, United Kingdom.
Alternatively, you can send an email with the
same information to [email protected]
See back cover for terms and conditions.
FINISHING SCHOOL
DON’T FORGET TO USE YOUR ‘XEROX GUIDE TO IPEX’ – INSIDE THIS MAGAZINE – to plan yourtrip. You’ll find exclusive previews of the show highlights with details of the integratedapplication zones and the comprehensive range of business-led seminars.*
WIN! PANTONE BOOKS
i1513_ENG_p21-22_postbox_BOTH 12/1/06 11:18 Page 21
If you have a question for Xerox
or our experts or just want to
comment on the magazine,
email [email protected] or
write to: Xerox Magazine, Xerox
Europe Ltd, Riverview, Oxford
Road, Uxbridge, Middlesex
UB8 1HS, United Kingdom
QI have been experiencing
problems with the paper I
am running on my digital
press. Any ideas?
Paper is often made to be optimised
for specific print technologies. So,
using an offset paper for digital
printing is rather like putting diesel in
a petrol engine – it just doesn’t work.
Make sure that the paper you are
using has been developed with the
digital print process in mind – you will
find the results speak for themselves.
Xerox has a whole range of papers,
which have been developed hand-in-
hand with the print technology,
optimising output results and
leading to productivity gains.
As well as regular printing papers,
Xerox also offers carbonless and
recycled stocks, and a selection of
speciality media for a wide range of
printing applications.
For peace of mind, all papers are
also covered by a ‘total satisfaction’
guarantee. So, if within 30 days of
receipt you find that you are not
satisfied with the paper, Xerox will
replace it free of charge as part of
its ‘no quibble’ guarantee.
ASK THE EXPERT
Des King says:
As an existing
Xerox user,
you’ll already
be aware
they have
a continuously updated
recommended media list (RML)
that ensures you select the
optimum paper stock for your
equipment. There are post-
consumer recycled stocks to mill
specification included in this list.
FSC, the Forestry Stewardship
Council, is an NGO initiative
aimed at raising awareness
of illegal or poorly managed
logging. Whilst using an FSC-
accredited stock is a reflection of
environmental concern, it has
nothing to do with paper pulp
performance attributes.
Xerox is naturally in favour of
any environmentally friendly
activity, and indeed, only sources
paper from mills that are ISO
140001 or EMAS certified. This
means that some RML grades
will by definition be FSC
accredited. This is not something
Xerox has felt the need to flag up
hitherto, largely because as
a major global corporation
Xerox have always insisted
upon responsible management
standards throughout its
supply chain. This self-imposed
interpretation of fitness for
purpose applies to every aspect
of the Xerox business model.
It is worth noting that FSC is
by no means the sole benchmark
by which to assess forestry best
practice. Xerox maintains a
policy of continuous assessment
in respect of a growing
proliferation of national
initiatives. For example, the
Canadian CSA scheme – as
well as the Programme for
the Endorsement of Forest
Certification (PEFC), which
has similar governmental
support to that accorded FSC.
Whilst Xerox has total
confidence in all RML-approved
paper grades, reputable paper
merchants can also advise
you on which FSC-accredited,
environmentally friendly or
recycled stocks are compatible
with the efficient running of
your particular machine.
QUICK CLINIC
We’ve been asked to supply print on either FSC-accredited or recycled stock. Will this impair productivity or performance?Stefano Agostino, Treviso, Italy
GOT A QUESTION?
POSTBOXEMAIL US AT [email protected]
PU
NC
HS
TO
CK
/BR
AN
D X
How important is FSC accreditation to your business? Email us at
[email protected] and your feedback could appear in the next issue.
22 XEROXMAGAZINE
ii1513_ENG_p21-22_postbox_BOTH 19/1/06 16:45 Page 22
8CAUSE A STIR
Have a menu
of drinks. Tea
and coffee are
expected. But
it doesn’t cost
much to provide
something a little more
interesting. And instead of just
biscuits, go for fruit and sweets
– retro favourites like lemon
sherberts will bring back misty-
eyed childhood memories.
9MAKE IT FUN
Make your shop
or office a fun
place to visit. It
has to be fun for
you, fun for your
team and fun
for your customers. If you’re
enjoying yourself, your
customers will too.
10A THOUSAND THANK YOUS
Understand the power of
“thank you”. Thank your
customers. Thank your team.
Thank your referral sources.
And try sending a “thank you”
note to customers that pay you
promptly – it can have an
amazing effect!
5KEEP IT CLEAN
Think about
your workplace –
chipped cups, a
scruffy reception
area or dirty
windows all tell
the customer that you don’t care.
6USE ANY
COMPLAINTS
TO YOUR
ADVANTAGE
Don’t moan:
accept complaints
graciously and
treat them as nuggets of pure
gold. Think of them as free
customer feedback – and a real
opportunity to improve service
and increase loyalty. And make
sure you fix, and follow-up on,
any complaints.
7BE HAPPY
Always smile
when you greet a
customer either in
person or on the
phone. The
customer can
sense if you are not pleased to
see them. And don’t forget to
make eye contact.
1WELCOME THEM
WITH OPEN ARMS
A welcome sign in
reception will make
customers feel valued
from the second they
arrive. To elicit that
extra warm, fuzzy feeling, tell
your team who is coming so
they can greet them by name.
2DELIVER EARLY
Under-promise
and over-deliver.
If a job will take
a week then
allow extra time
and amaze your
customer by delivering it early.
3MAKE IT
PERSONAL
Talk to your
customers about
their interests –
even if they’re not
related to your
business. Maybe a car show, a
rock concert or a business event.
4GIVE THEM A
GUARANTEE
Guarantee what
you do. If your
customer is not
happy with your
work, you would
probably move heaven and earth
to put things right. So why not
guarantee it?
CUSTOMER SERVICE
EXPERT:
DEREK WILLIAMS
Derek Williams is an
international speaker,
author and the UK guru
of customer service.
He is the creator of the
WOW! Awards™ for
outstanding customer
service and has created a
customer service network
spanning 34 countries.
Derek is also Chief
Executive for the Society
of Consumer Affairs
Professionals in Europe.
Words from the wise
10 simple ways toimpress customers
ii1513_ENG_p23_wise 19/1/06 16:53 Page 23
What’s made the
biggest difference to
your working life over
the past decade or
so? If you’ve answered the water
cooler or dress-down Friday, think
again. It’s more likely to have been
the digital printer, email, networked
computers or scanners. The
truth is that the ability to manage
documents efficiently (and cost-
effectively) has had – and will
continue to have – the most
impact on the modern workplace.
Take a look, below, at the
milestones in document
management inventions over the
past 60 years. If you had asked the
average person back in 1949 what
they thought their business needed
to survive, the answer might have
been “a typewriter”.
Now, it’s impossible to imagine
an office without a photocopier,
fax machine, computer or printer.
A recent Xerox study, conducted
with global information company
VNU, found that 61 per cent of
European companies agreed
document management is “critical
to the success of my organisation”.
Document management is the
automated control of electronic
documents through their entire life
cycle within an organisation, from
initial creation to final archiving.
According to research firm IDC,
by 2007, offices around the world
will produce 4.5 trillion pages of
hard copy information.
As businesses try to reduce
costs and improve productivity,
what’s going to be critical is not
eliminating paper, but streamlining
exactly how documents are
handled. We need to work smarter,
as well as quicker and cheaper. To
do so, more and more companies
24 XEROXMAGAZINE
Workplace of the
MILESTONES IN THE WORKPLACE
1949 Xerox introduces the first
xerographic copier, called Model A
1968 The facsimile comes into
common usage in offices around
the world (it takes six minutes to
transmit an A4 page)
1970 The floppy disk is invented
1973 Ethernet (local computer
network) is invented by Robert
Metcalfe and Xerox
1976 The ink-jet printer is invented
future
1950 1960 1970
Document management isdestined to remain critical to acompany’s success – are yourmachines in the right hands?
ii1513_ENG_p24-25_milestones_NGA 19/1/06 17:30 Page 24
1991 The internet as we know it is
made publicly available
1993 The Pentium processor
is invented
are finding that it pays to contract
their print management to an
external firm. For, by doing so,
they save significant cash and
improve efficiency.
Sound like a strange idea? Then,
consider this scenario. Your office
houses the full range of document
management devices: copiers,
printers, faxes. For large parts
of the day, they stand idle. When
they do need to be used, glitches
occur that can only be solved
by someone in IT, if it all.
These machines cost thousands
to buy and maintain, yet will
inevitably be replaced with new
models – a successful company
needs the latest technology,
after all. And the general opinion
among staff is that the printers
are expensive, unreliable and
frustratingly inefficient. Sound
sadly familiar? It doesn’t have
to be this way.
In 2004, Xerox assumed full
responsibility for document
management devices at Sun
Microsystems. That meant running
the printers, copiers, scanners and
faxes in 119 offices across 31
countries. “The benefits were
clear,” says Larry Matarazzi, Sun’s
director of workplace resources.
“We went from having to process
over 3,000 invoices per quarter
across Europe from all device,
consumables and maintenance
suppliers, to just one invoice per
country per month from Xerox.”
Offices that keep print
management in-house tend to rely
on staff that lack expertise in the
field, which means they take longer
to fix a problem than an expert
might. Xerox – who have similar
relationships with companies such
as Lloyds TSB and Carillion – has
found these companies hold twice
as many devices as they need,
particularly since the multifunction
system (see timeline below) hit the
market. Plus, the devices incur so
many costs that their financing is,
generally, poorly managed.
So it is not surprising that Sun
cut costs by 10 per cent when
it outsourced its document
management to Xerox.
Of course, there is a lot to
consider before you change how
an organisation works and it pays
to take the time to find a solution
that suits your needs. Fail to take
that step soon, though, and your
company could fall behind. �
THE PRINT PREDICTIONTHEY GOT WRONG...
In the 1980s, trend forecasters predicted that by the
year 2000, we wouldn’t need paper any more: all our
paper needs would be met by computers. The rise
and rise of computers and word processors in the
1990s, coupled with the staggering growth of email
and the internet, made it seem even more likely. The
paperless office seemed a certainty, and the printing
world readied itself for big changes.
But instead of paper disappearing, there was a
demand for more paper than ever. The reason is
simple: the sheer amount of content available over
the internet, plus the ease of sending documents
between computers and organisations, has created a
need to print material that was formerly either not
obtainable, or available through different media.
What’s more, easy access to advanced technology
has made virtually anyone with a penchant for
desktop publishing able to produce, say,
professional-looking newsletters, flyers and
invitations – or even print their own photos.
The print world as we knew it in the 1980s has
changed, but the need for fast, efficient printing
solutions is greater than ever...
1981 The IBM-PC is invented, and
Xerox introduces the 8010 Star
Information System, the first to
interlink office computers on a
central network with a unique,
bitmapped screen, windows,
mouse-driven interface and icons
1985 Windows is invented
2000 The widespread introduction
of the multifunction system,
a device that acts as a fax,
scanner, digital printer and
photocopier
1980 1990 2000
“WE WENT FROM 3,000 INVOICES PERQUARTER FROM ACROSS EUROPE TO ONEPER COUNTRY PER MONTH FROM XEROX”
www.@
XEROXMAGAZINE 25
GE
TTY
i1513_ENG_p24-25_milestones_NGA 12/1/06 11:27 Page 25
Xerox customer service
26 XEROXMAGAZINE
Photography: Marcus Pietrek
To learn more about Xerox’s customer service options, c
STEP 1 DublinAll European calls initially head to
Xerox’s Welcome & Support Centre in
Dublin. This ISO 9001-certified facility
is a centralised source of expertise
and Xerox agents will quickly direct
your call to the right place. If your
problem is related to hardware, Xerox
will rapidly arrange a visit from a local
engineer. If it is to do with software,
a Dublin agent will transfer your call to
your country’s support centre. Here,
Xerox analysts have access to Eureka,
an award-winning database of
potential faults and appropriate
solutions. They use state-of-the-art
remote customer-assistance tools
to work towards a solution over the
phone. More than 75 per cent
of software problems are fixed in this
way, but if yours is not, Xerox will
send an expert to your office. In the
unlikely event that this does not solve
your problem, Xerox will escalate it to
the next level. >
Calling outaround the worldYou may have benefited from Xerox’s expertsoftware support, but did you realise that in onetelephone call you might speak to specialistsin several countries? We map your potential route
IF A PROBLEM CAN
BE FIXED, XEROX
SCIENTISTS ACROSS
THE WORLD WILL FIX IT
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STEP 2 Aulnay, Welwyn and Neuss> You’re now directed to one of Xerox’s three European specialist support
centres in Aulnay, France; Welwyn Garden City, England; and the German
centre in Neuss. The location depends on your product and the nature
of the problem. For example, if your call concerns a continuous feed
problem, you’re put through to Aulnay; if it is to do with an iGen3, then your
call is directed to Welwyn; and a query relating to Nuvera is directed to
Neuss. At each destination, specialists apply sophisticated scientific
methods to diagnose and fix the problem. They have access to Eureka, but
they can also use dedicated printer laboratories to replicate your
problem and try potential resolutions. Usually, they are able to
resolve the matter swiftly. On the rare occasion they cannot
help, crack teams around the world are ready and waiting. >
e options, contact your Xerox representative
STEP 3 New York State, USA> Your call has now reached Level 3. For most, this happens once
in a working lifetime and involves being hooked up to one of Xerox’s
advanced support and development teams across the world. Many
are located in and around the Xerox HQ in New York State, the nerve
centre of the company’s global network. Here, your Level 2 contact will
speak to the scientists and futurologists who develop Xerox’s products
and who train consultants and specialists throughout the company.
Rest assured that if a problem can be fixed, they will fix it. �
XEROXMAGAZINE 27
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There’s a new way to look at things.Xerox Europe Limited, Riverview, Oxford Road, Uxbridge, Middlesex UB8 1HS, United Kingdom. www.xerox.com © Xerox 2006
2006 Xerox Corporation. XEROX©, DocuColor©, DocuTech©, NuveraTM, iGen3©, DocuPrint© and FreeFlowTM are trademarks of XEROX CORPORATION.
All non-Xerox brands and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.
Printed using the Xerox iGen3 on Colotech plus Silk 120gsm and 210gsm
Prize draw terms & conditions
By entering the competition on page 21, the entrant will be deemed to have read and understood these Terms and Conditions and to be bound by them.
1. The prize draw is open to all recipients of Xerox Magazine who are over the age of 16 and residents of the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France,
Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. 2. Employees of Xerox Limited (“Xerox”) together with the judges and their
respective subsidiaries, affiliates, advertising and promotional agencies, their immediate family members and persons living in the same household as such persons are not
eligible to enter this competition 3. Only one entry per person is allowed. 4. The winner will be the first drawn entry (by an independent person) after the closing date of 21
April 2006. 5. Proof of posting is not proof of delivery. Entries that are lost, mislaid, damaged or delayed due to the post will be disqualified. 6. The winner will be drawn on 25
April 2006 and notified in writing by 16 May 2006. 7. There is one prize of a digital Pantone book. 8. There is no cash alternative. 9. No purchase necessary. 10. This is a
UK-based prize draw and governed by the laws of England. This draw is void where prohibited by law. Promoter: Xerox Ltd
Our cover photo shows the XeroxMagazine paper stock in its virginform – before the iGen3 works its magic!Photograph: Paul Taylor; Getty
XM
6/U
K/N
ON
GA
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