Conducted by Molly Joss October 29, 2002 -- Xerox Corporation is a household name in the printing and publishing industries, so it needs no introduction. The company will have a big role at XPLOR this year, and we asked Mark Waxenberg, Vice President General Manager for the Monochrome Business Unit in the Printing Systems Group, to fill us in on some recent announcements. We also chatted with him about what the company will be doing at XPLOR. Xerox will be exhibiting in booth #900 under the theme, The New Business of Printing...Technology Leadership Today for a Changing Tomorrow. Mark joined Xerox in New York City as an Account Representative in 1973. He has held various assignments during his 28 years of service. In 1998 he was appointed Vice President General Manager of the Office Solutions Business Team. In October 2000, Mark was appointed to the position of Vice President General Manager of Marketing and Product Management in the Office Systems Group. Mark’s current assignment as Vice President General Manager, Monochrome Business Unit began in April 2002. WTT: Recently Xerox announced a new monochrome copier, the 1010. Please tell us about this new product and where it fits in your range of copiers. Waxenberg: The Xerox 1010 is our latest entry in the black-and-white light production segment. It operates at 101 pages-per-minute and can be used as either a production or office copier. It can also be connected to a network to function as a digital copier/printer. The Xerox 1010 features black-and-white and full color scanning capability. It also features a post fuser feeding interposer, 5O-sheet stapling and two-hole punching (three-hole punching optional). Our easy-to-use color touch screen user interface is ideal for these environments. These features enable our customers to easily produce complex documents in line. Our customers are very excited about the 1010s aggressive list price ($54,100 - copier, $62,600 - copier/printer). It is the least expensive and most advanced system in its class. WTT: Xerox had a big presence at Graph Expo and now at XPLOR. What’s the buzz from the floor about the economy and how it’s affecting the industry? Waxenberg: In a survey that Xerox conducted on the show floor of Graph Expo, nearly 80% of attendees said that the printing economy would improve in a year or less, while 42% expected improvements in the next six months. It seems that both our customers and industry professionals in general feel that they have weathered the worst of the economic storm. Though the economy is telling us that we are not completely out of the woods, our customers have told us that they are looking for products, solutions and support that will position them for sustained growth in the future. WTT: Challenging economic times can actually provide a way to show a level of customer service not seen (and sometimes not fully appreciated) during boom times. How are you helping customers in this economy? Waxenberg: We are helping our customers make the best use of their existing investments and remain adaptable to the demands of their markets. It is key for printers to place flexibility at a premium through these challenging times and to identify ways to increase their level of customer service by delivering high-value documents, such as integrated black and white and color books and one-to-one marketing applications. The printers who have remained flexible during economic downturns are the ones who remain stable and experience growth when better economic times return. WTT: I understand you will make some important announcements at XPLOR. Can you fill us in on some of them? Waxenberg: We have quite a few announcements happening exclusively at the conference that are of significant importance to the electronic document community. We’re announcing various workflow enhancements that will help printers leverage their current equipment and programming investments. We are also announcing a bar code printing solution that will help optimize throughput speed, improve design flexibility and reduce finishing errors. Lastly, we are announcing a new user group for our customers. It will be an opportunity for them to share best practices, as well as to access both educational information and business development tools. WTT: Will Xerox present at this year’s Joint Technology Council? Waxenberg: Yes and Xerox will be well represented at Xplor with executives participating in 14 sessions throughout the conference. They will be presenting on a variety of topics including digital color printing and applications, paper processing and finishing, variable data and the new business of printing, just to name a few. A presentation that should not be missed is the Xplor Joint Technology Council Partners Executive Forum. Anshoo Gupta, President, Xerox Production Systems Group, will be participating in the forum with seven other top technology suppliers and each will discuss the state of the industry, trends and their latest product offerings. WTT: Recently your company announced it would sponsor a digital printing awards program. Tell us about it: about the contest, who is eligible and why Xerox decided to create the program. Waxenberg: Xerox is sponsoring the Printing Innovation with Xerox Imaging (PIXI) Awards in an effort to continue developing awareness of the advantages and capabilities of digital color printing, as well as to honor the exceptional work of our customers and their customers who are using Xerox technology. Entries will be judged on aesthetics, business effectiveness, the use of digital technology and the amount of innovation that went into the creation. Submissions must be produced on a Xerox digital printer and entries will be accepted from January 1 through June 30, 2003.