xerox magazine - edition 6 graphic arts...

THE FUTURE ON DEMANDHow Xerox on-demand technology revolutionised book publishing

SURE-FIRE TIPS FORSUCCESSFUL SALESEasy ways to grow your digital business

SPOTLIGHT ON THE 495We put Xerox’s new continuousfeed star through its paces

MASTERS OF INVENTIONA glimpse into the secret world of the Xerox Research Centre

XEROXMAGAZINEMARCH 2006

Your exclusive guide to IPEX 06 is inside >>>

1513_ENG_p1_cover_GA 30/1/06 16:18

… to the latest issue of Xerox Magazine –

packed with the latest news, views and

developments in the world of digital print.

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 bigger and

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 show what goes on 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

compelling reading.

And if you’re looking for new business opportunities for

2006, you’ll find plenty of inspiration right here. We speak to

two of the pioneers of on-demand publishing on page 10,

and meet two Dutch entrepreneurs who’ve made a success

of their personalised greetings card business on page 24.

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, eprint sourcing,

cutting print spend – and more

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

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IN THIS ISSUE…

WELCOME

Anthony Hyde

Editor-in-Chief

“Digital printing is the future of this industry – it takes $3-5 of offset printing revenue toequal the profit from $1 of digital” Xerox Chairman and CEO, Anne Mulcahy

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ii1513_ENG_p2-3_conts_GA 2/2/06 15:44

InspirationPlenty of bright ideas for

improving your business

MARKETING MASTERCLASS

Des King delivers fresh ideas

for selling in digital print

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

MANY HAPPY RETURNS –

ON INVESTMENT

How two Dutch entrepreneurs

used the iGen3 to make their

greetings card venture personal

InnovationTroubleshooting solutions,

expert opinion and all the

latest technology

BRAVE NEW WORLD

The future of digital printing

is in the making at the Xerox

Research Centre Europe

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

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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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4 2006

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

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

1“It’s solutions, solutions,

solutions” Your manufacturing expertise

goes without saying. And unless it’s of

interest to your prospective customer,

that’s how it should stay. Digital print is a

marketing solution first, and an engineering

tool second. The hardwiring of the iGen3 or

Nuvera 144 might fascinate your production team, but

for the customer it’s what it can do for them that

counts. So, give them a customised solution, not a

technical tutorial. The technology has put you in

contention for new business, but it’s how you apply it

that will maintain a profitable commercial relationship.

2“There’s more to digital than

short-run” Print to the power of one

might suggest a long-haul route to

profitability, but it’s a far better platform

on which to grow your business than

raising the start-point to 10, 100 or

even 1,000 copies. On-demand print

solutions should never be pre-conditioned by volume.

A thousand individual single-sheet orders delivered on

time equates to a thousand satisfied customers.

For a quicker and more effective service, use Press-

Sense iWay software, part of the Freeflow suite of

workflow solutions, available at www.xerox.com. This

allows a client to upload and edit their personal details

on your server – perfect, say, for business cards. They

‘THERE’S MORETO DIGITAL THANSHORT-RUN’

You’ve bought the kit. You’ve sized up the prospectmarket. You’ve got the best available digitaltechnology. Now what happens? Here are three sure-win lines for successful selling...

06 XEROXMAGAZINE

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can also place an order online and

expect to see, say, the business

cards at their office by first post.

That way, you avoid having to send

a client an order preview and

reduce the risk of making a

mistake in the order.

3“We’re not just

suppliers.

We’re partners”

From receipt of a

pdf file to finished

print in one

seamless operation,

on-demand print is a service with

no surprises. Providing a product

that delivers what it says on the

can doesn’t exclude added value.

It’s simply how you evaluate it.

Delivery at the right time and the

right price builds trust. Anybody

seeking to improve their business

armoury should consider attending

one of the eight training courses

that Xerox runs on how to sell

digital print. The courses run over

one or two days. For details, contact

your local Xerox representative. �

How to sell digital print

THEPRINT HINTBecome yourtechnology’sextra customer.Digitally printyour own salesand marketingcollateral,personalisedgreetings cards,and packagingand labels forcorporate gifts.Make sureeverything isslick, sexy and has the all important‘wow’ factor.Every opportunitytaken to show offyour technology’scapabilities is apositive steptaken towardsgrowing your on-demandbusiness.

*

1513_ENG_p6_digitalprintV4_GA 9/1/06 09:35

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

1513_ENG_p7-9_XRCev4_BOTH 20/1/06 15:30

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

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

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

1513_ENG_p10-13_ondemandv5_BOTH 3/1/06 12:07 pm

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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ii1513_ENG_p10-13_ondeman#49AED 24/1/06 17:04

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

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

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.

EXPERT’S VIEW

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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

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 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 I need to complete my lower-volume

print runs 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 print market

without making the significant investment

of a full-scale switch. Without breaking the

bank, it allows companies to gauge what

benefits they will gain from introducing

variable data and personalisation. It is likely

they will find that light production printers

answer the needs of today’s fast turnaround,

on-demand market.

Light production 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, versatile

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

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.

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.

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_GA 12/1/06 10:58

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 customer order that needs to be printed

to tight deadlines. Similarly, light production

devices can work around the clock but their

high-end production counterparts can

be geared to run, say, five 16-hour or seven

24-hour shifts, and so are better suited

to large volume throughput.

Both types of device offer extensive

finishing facilities such as stacking, folding,

stitching, inserting etc. These functions are

built into a light production device, which

means it can produce pages as complete

documents. However, there is already

finishing equipment available in the graphic

arts marketplace. Plus, the customer might

demand high-end finishing such as binding

or wire-o. High-end production devices offer

the capability to connect such devices

directly to the printer. They can support

high capacity paper output when the

printed pages need to be taken to off-line

equipment, too. So, while light production

offers extensive finishing, high-end devices

support more capabilities and offer higher

throughput speeds.

Essentially, the two products serve

different markets. The beauty is that Xerox

has a broad range of production devices that

allows it to cater for both. �

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_GA 12/1/06 10:58

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

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

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

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

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

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TO

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AN

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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

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

Johan van Vulpen and Simen

Schimmel formed their company

Venspro five years ago as students

looking for a way of raising some

extra spending money to tide them

over the final few months of their

college business administration

course. Their original idea was to

tap into public sentimentality for

the redundant Dutch guilder as it

made way for the Euro, and the

reality sparked consumer attention

sufficiently for them to temporarily

defer completing their course.

Identifying the opportunity

In searching for a longer life cycle

product on which to build their

fledgling business, they next came

up with a novel way of presenting

a greetings card: inside a tin can.

That too was fine as far as it

went. However, Venspro really took

off when it dispensed with the

packaging to focus exclusively on

content instead. Harnessing a

shrewd grasp of dot.com logistics

and the customisation possibilities

achievable through digital print,

Greetz was launched as Europe’s

first personalised greetings card

online service in late 2004.

Its arrival has revolutionised

thinking in the ‘greet and gift’ retail

sector. Hallmark rapidly came on

board as one of a number of major

distributors – other partners include

Microsoft and Sony – and the

company is now responsible for

generating over 100,000 different

Des King speaks to Johan van Vulpen and SimenSchimmel, Dutchentrepreneurs whocreated a thrivingpersonalised greetings card business using the iGen3

The

Cards

House of

There are greetings cards for

every conceivable occasion:

from passing an exam to

moving house. So why is it so

difficult to find the one that’s right

for the person you have in mind?

It seems that the wider the

selection, the greater the

frustration at being unable to find

quite what you’re looking for.

Well, not any longer. Thanks to

an inspired marketing idea dreamt

up by a couple of young Dutch

entrepreneurs and made possible

by the practical assistance of Xerox

digital technology, the personalised

greetings card is now an on-

demand reality. And not only

does it convey precisely the right

message for whom it’s intended,

chances are it’ll cost the same, if

not less, than anything to be found

in a card shop.

1513_ENG_p24-25_greetz_v3_GA 16/1/06 15:03

Choose the image

for the front of the

card and the

message for the

front and the

inside of the card

Thank you for your

business over the

past year. We’re

looking forward to

working with you

in 2006.

Kind regards,

�

Greetz allows you

to personalise a

card with your

own message

In addition to directing a rapidly

expanding level of business

towards The Finishing Touch,

Venspro has also invested in its

print partner to assist in developing

its technology base.

As the Greetz operation

becomes increasingly international,

Schimmel confirms that there will

be a need for additional Xerox

iGen3 users based in key countries.

Future innovations

In the meantime, whilst an

extended range of customised

greetings formats is being actively

assessed, cards will remain the

core product for at least the next

12 months. “We have one mission

for the coming year, and that’s to

become the world’s best online

greetings card company, so we’ll

keep on focusing upon quality,

product development, and

innovation, aided by our partners

like Xerox and Hallmark,” says

Simen Schimmel. “There are

still many more people who

have to get used to this way of

sending greetings cards.” �

orders each month, ranging from

one-off cards for that special

occasion to short-run individually

customised invitations.

Pushing the envelope

The service has already extended

beyond the Netherlands to

Belgium, Switzerland, Germany,

France and the UK. Demand has

grown at such a pace that

Venspro’s exclusive print partner

The Finishing Touch has added an

iGen3 to its DocuColor 2045.

In addition to being able to

create an individualised design

and text online or adapt, say,

an existing Hallmark one, the

Greetz service includes print,

production and onward postage.

Customers are guaranteed next-

day delivery on all orders uploaded

by 3pm, and that will be extended

to 6pm within the next few

months. For distribution within the

Netherlands, the total cost can be

as little as €2 per card.

“A greetings card should be a

mirror of the relationship between

sender and recipient,” says Simen

Schimmel. “If you went to a store,

you could find a really great design,

but maybe the caption isn’t quite

what you want it to say. We give

you the tools to create something

unique so you’ll always score a hit.”

While old favourites like Christmas

and Valentine’s Day have fuelled

individual consumer demand,

Schimmel sees further growth

opportunities within the corporate

sector. “We haven’t had time to

fully develop the B2B market

yet, but what if a HR

manager could upload an

Excel file with their

employees’ birthdays so

they automatically

receive a card tailor-

made just for them

each year?”

THE GREETZ EFFECT

IT’S A GREAT WAY TO MARK A WHOLE HOST OF

EVENTS FOR STAFF AND CLIENTS ALIKE:

� Promotions

� Personal achievements, eg running a marathon

� Birthdays

� New business wins

� Invitations

� Announcements

A CARD’S NOT JUST FOR

CHRISTMAS…

Choose from a

range of envelope

designs, and

personalise the

envelope with

your own choice

of stamp

DEMAND HAS GROWN AT SUCH A PACE

THAT VENSPRO’S EXCLUSIVE PRINT

PARTNER HAS ADDED AN IGEN3 TO

ITS DOCUCOLOR 2045

1.

2.3.

GE

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ii1513_ENG_p24-25_greetz_v3_GA 30/1/06 17:50

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

1513_ENG_p26-27XCustServV2_BOTH 25/1/06 16:54

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

1513_ENG_p26-27XCustServV2_BOTH 25/1/06 16:54

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

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