Just a few days watching this site illustrates the fast change in digital technology - even with many of the digital printing vendors. Much of this change has been a result of financial pressures while other changes have been made to adapt to market forces. On the financial side, HP and Indigo have teamed and there’s a new Xeikon and revived Nipson. On the strategic marketing front, Scitex Digital Printing and Xerox appear to have a renewed strategic effort to target mid to high volume commercial printers with digital products.

NexPress has probably experienced the least change - setting a target date for the NexPress launch, explaining their marketing strategy and taking orders from their customer base of commercial printers. All with the financial backing of their creators, Heidelberg and Kodak.

Chris Payne joined NexPress Solutions, LLC in 1999 as the chief marketing officer (CMO). In this function, he is responsible for the company’s worldwide market vision and strategy. Since July 2001, he has also served as the Channel Manager for worldwide Heidelberg channels for both the Black & White and Color product lines. Chris was named a vice president of NexPress in March 2001.

Mark Weber wrapped up his 25 year career at Kodak as the Global Equipment Supplies Manager after serving in several other executive management positions. He also joined NexPress in 1999 when Heidelberg acquired Kodak's Office Imaging division. His vast experience has prepared him for his current role as Executive Vice President of NexPress Solutions, the joint venture between Kodak and Heidelberg.

WTT: Since NexPress Solutions has both black-and-white and color business areas, tell us where each of you has responsibility.

Mark: My primary responsibility is in the black-and-white business, but I also play a role in color. My main focus is to work out the synergies and redundancies between Kodak, Heidelberg and NexPress in areas such as service, marketing and supply chain. We want to keep customer satisfaction high. In the field many NexPress color customers are also Digimaster customers and the same sales, service and software people are supporting them. We want this process to be seamless.

Although a NexPress employee, I report to Wolfgang Pfizenmaier, President of Heidelberg's Digital Solution Center. I work with Puru (Venkat Purushotham, President of NexPress) and Chris, on what is synergistic.

Chris: Reporting to the President of NexPress, my primary responsibility is Heidelberg sales, marketing and service with regard to color products. But I will coordinate and manage Digimaster activities when they exist with NexPress 2100 color customers. Mark and I have a dotted line to each other.


WTT: We have been getting the impression that the black-and-white and color businesses are operating less independently than before. Is this because you are finding marketing synergies?

Chris: Yes, we see a lot of synergies from the customer point of view. Once they embrace digital solutions, then black-and-white and color follows. Our biggest account for the Digimaster, Source 1to1, has 8 Digimasters and 2 NexPresses. Another account, Publish Down the Line, has 6 Digimasters and 1 NexPress. Other accounts, such as Spire Printing in Boston, replaced competitive equipment with a NexPress, and then added the Digimaster. Cohber Press in Rochester installed a 2100 first, and now has 2 Digimasters.

For a customer who wants to be in the digital business, both b/w and color are necessary to satisfy their customers. They want to be a one-stop shop. This includes traditional printing too. We continue to develop common workflow packages, not only for internal products but ask third party suppliers to do the same. Both products have an open architecture so when we enter a customer's environment, we can more easily adapt to their workflow.


WTT: NexPress has multiple distribution channels for the Digimaster 9110. Do you anticipate having other channels than Heidelberg for the 2100?

Mark: We did our color research from the beginning and determined that Heidelberg was clearly the leader in the market--in products, customer satisfaction and brand awareness. At this stage, Heidelberg is the most logical choice. All the focus and effort is paying off and we are beginning to see the dividends.


WTT: Both NexPress and Heidelberg issue marketing messages, especially regarding the NexPress 2100. Are both companies coming from one voice?

Mark: Since I am responsible for the Digimaster OEMs, such as Canon, Ikon, Danka and IBM, I can tell you that they all have a different message. But with Heidelberg, there is a concerted effort to sing from the same song book.

Chris: We have one team worldwide for all base messages to the marketplace. Then an OEM, such as Heidelberg, would take that information and adjust it to their own messages.


WTT: Chris, WhatTheyThink.com quoted you at the On Demand Show as saying there have been 170 NexPress 2100 orders. Why are printers buying the NexPress 2100 over the Xerox iGen3 or the HP/Indigo Platinum?

Chris: Not only have we taken 170 orders, but we shipped more than 50%. Regarding the iGen3, it is simply not a shipping product. Our customers want delivery in 2-3 months. The Xerox 2060 is a different product and it doesn't come up in the sales discussions we see. Customers today are buying the Heidelberg name, sales, support and history, particularly in existing Heidelberg accounts. They know the unique value of uptime and reliability. And color quality and consistency are included in that uptime. Most sales come from references.


WTT: Can you give our members a few reasons why a print buyer would prefer NexPress output to that of the competition?

Chris: Some buyers are specifying 2100 output because of the quality-- not just the first proof, but the consistent quality in a run. In many cases they won't go back to other competitive devices.


WTT: Do you have a profile for an ideal purchaser of the 2100 in terms of segment of the industry, prior digital knowledge, prior color knowledge, potential volume etc.?

Chris: In the early stages we did. We were looking for businesses with prior knowledge and experience in digital printing, those with competitive devices that already had a color digital business, those with digital black-and-white experience, and finally those with Quickmaster DIs. But now the market is opening up. We are looking for entrepreneurial ability--someone who can develop a new business within the business they already have. We want someone looking for a partnership, and after we sell the 2100 we can help develop their business. We see much greater interest in digital than before; there is a real trend toward change.

Mark: There is strong interest in variable data since studies are showing that responses are 2-3 times better.


WTT: With the Digimaster 9110, you just had your 3,000th shipment. Give a few reasons why a buyer of print would prefer the 9110 output to that of a competitive device.

Mark: We just won the BERTL's 'Best of the Best 2002' Digital Office Award as the best high-volume monochrome CRD production device. ( BERTL is a leading independent testing laboratory and winning products were chosen based on approximately 200 hands-on evaluations.) The image quality of the 9110 is the best in the market. Quality is consistent and the service and uptime are very good. The second feature is modularity. You can build your own Digimaster, adding the input and output capabilities you want. Because of the open architecture, it can blend easily into any workflow. The 9110 has high productivity.


WTT: Which segments of the industry have been the major purchasers of the Digimaster?

Mark: Half are in-plants and a growing number are commercial printers. One of our fastest growing segment is data centers. Then we have quick printers and facility management firms.


WTT: It has been generally agreed that to be successful in digital printing, and variable data in particular, commercial printers have to make many changes within their businesses and need support from the vendor. At On Demand, HP Indigo said their emphasis would be educating the corporate buyers directly and providing database and other tools so the printer can just print. What do you think of this approach?

Chris: It is different from ours, as they see the printer as an output bureau. There will be different models in the market. Some commercial printers will offer all the services--from campaign origination to shipping. Output Technologies, a long time transactional service bureau, is moving into color to complete their services. But others will offer just output. The majority of printers will offer one-stop shopping including management of data, depending on what the end customers' needs are. Sometimes they completely integrate with a customer's facility, and sometimes they do it all. I haven't seen any, though, that just print a file. That model seems far off from where the industry is today.

Mark: Heidelberg has 425,000 customers. The key that makes Heidelberg unique is ink and dry ink capabilities. You can take their current solutions and easily evolve into a digital capability. They are the only ones who can do that. MAN Roland has ink only, and the others have dry ink only.


WTT: Xerox has said they are offering SmartPress Production consultants on-site for 2 months to help with business and marketing plans, workflow and application coaching for the iGen3. What do you think of this approach?

Chris: I guess we'll see… when they start doing it. A system of that complexity will certainly need someone on site. I have respect for Frank Steenburgh but 2 months is a long time to have a dedicated person. I would like to hear Xerox explain it a little more.


WTT: What is NexPress and/or Heidelberg doing in the area of support?

Chris: Heidelberg has a group in Atlanta called Market Development. It is specifically focused on how to help customers in straightforward business development, practical help, business planning, and third party support, for both black-and-white and color. They also have a Solutions Group that looks at workflow issues.


WTT: It is a popular notion that printers should be able to support target marketing with customization, personalization, versioning. You mentioned before that the interest in variable data is growing. What are the obstacles you see to widespread use?

Chris: Access to more personalized data files is an obstacle. As they begin to exist more and grow more, we want printers to be ready with the right equipment.

Mark: The willingness to use variable data is growing faster than we imagined. The value of fast turnaround and the demands of the print buyer are pulling variable data printing. They [the printers] don’t want to deal in a commodity.


WTT: Regarding the 3 models for the 2100, one is for "simple" and another "complex" variable data. What do you mean by "simple" and "complex"?

Chris: Simple is the complexity of the variable data within a job. The difference between personalization and simple coloring etc. vs. a document that is multiple pages, changing on every page, changing graphic images. The amount changing is key. The second factor is run length. 1000-5000 can be simple, but 100,000 is complex. The systems are upgradeable and we have Systems Specialists looking at the customer's workflow to determine the appropriate model.


WTT: What support is NexPress or Heidelberg offering customers who want to get started with variable data?

Chris: We offer the software NexTreme and third party packages. Beyond the sales rep, we help with Digital Color Specialists. If the needs are more complex, we have another group of people.


WTT: What percent of your 9110 customers are using variable data?

Mark: Some segments, such as data centers, have 100% use. Others, such as CRDs, about 25%. When I look at all the segments I would say a total of 50% use variable data in some form.


WTT: Chris stated at On Demand that 70% of NexPress 2100 orders were from commercial printers. Do you have plans for penetrating the other segments of the Graphic Arts market, such as creative, transactional service bureaus, quick and franchise printers, prepress and publishing?

Chris: Yes, some of the existing accounts are already in other segments and we are selling to them today. For instance, Heidelberg already has a huge prepress business. I don't see creatives buying a 2100--just buying the output. So we are approaching print buyers in support of their customers.

Mark: The key is the print sales rep. They need training and tools. We offer both.


WTT: In a recent Trendwatch report, it was said that 50% of printers think the economy is getting better and 50% don't. What are you seeing with regard to the economy, both short term and longer term?

Mark: We look at two indicators--the Print Buyer Pulse Index and the Purchasing Managers Confidence rating. Both are showing confidence lately. The number of buyers is growing, the number buying less is shrinking and the middle is the same. Corporate purchasing took a dive after 9/11, but has returned to its former level and added some. We saw a strong March for color and b/w. April was good too. The recent warnings about more terrorist attacks are no help. But July, August could be hopping. The good news is that our customers tell us that advertising is increasing. Since advertising is the first to go in a recession, it should be first thing coming back.


WTT: Is there anything coming along we should know about for GraphExpo?

Mark: We are introducing a higher speed Digimaster in the Fall, probably at Graph Expo. We also have a new hole-puncher inline with future GBC and perforating capability. We are continually adding equipment and expanding our modular architecture.


Thank you both for your time. We wish NexPress the best.