CHICAGO, Sept. 6, 2001  -- Xerox Corporation today announced three continuous-feed digital printers that expand the company's industry-leading black and white production printing lineup while setting benchmarks for productivity, flexibility and ease-of-use. Behind the improvements: a new Xerox-exclusive Intelligent Print Line Manager control software and Print Line Bus with pre- and post-processing equipment, such as feeding and finishing devices. They provide a next-generation alternative to the hard-wired de facto industry standard Type 1 interface, which has limited the flexibility of continuous-feed printing systems. The three models are the * Xerox DocuPrint 350 CF. * Xerox DocuPrint 700 CFD that is made up of two DocuPrint 350 engines working in tandem (also known as a twin-engine). * Xerox DocuPrint 1000 CFD, which is a second twin-engine configuration based upon the Xerox DocuPrint 500 CF introduced earlier this year. All three printers are designed for high-speed production of publishing and transaction documents, such as booklets, invoices and statements. The two twin-engine products can print duplex for both these environments. The twin-engine models also introduce a number of industry firsts: * The first continuous printers to permit intelligent management and control of pre- and post-processing equipment from multiple vendors running in line together. This will allow customers to purchase best-of-breed publishing and transaction feeding and finishing equipment. * The first to permit jobs to start on either twin configuration printer without rewiring. * The first to store job setups for drag-and-drop reconfiguration on the fly at the controller. The result is a new level of flexibility and productivity for printers that produce both transaction and publishing documents, such as consolidated in-plant print shops, as well as service bureaus and commercial printers. The three new models plus the DocuPrint 500 share a Xerox-exclusive GUI-based controller, which provides streamlined, highly productive workflow processes and benchmark ease of use. The Xerox DocuSP controller also is available for printing PostScript and PDF files and running existing Xerox DocuTech applications. All major mainframe and publishing data streams can be accommodated through these controllers and third-party offerings. "This family of printers represents a commitment from Xerox to address the market for the highest speed digital printing with advanced capabilities that drive profit and growth for our customers," said Thomas J. Wetjen, vice president and general manager, Xerox Production Systems Group. "The Xerox-developed Print Line Manager technology brings unprecedented customer value in terms of flexibility, simplicity and productivity to the entire print line for both publishing and transaction printing environments." The DocuPrint 700 CFD prints with output resolutions of 600 and 480 dots per inch (dpi) at a speed of 162 feet per minute (708 ipm, or images per minute) with a monthly print volume up to 15 million impressions. The DocuPrint 350 CF runs at 353 ipm and can produce a monthly volume of 7.5 million impressions. The DocuPrint 1000 CFD prints at a speed of 229.5 feet per minute (1,002 ipm) with print resolutions of 240 and 300 dpi. It is recommended for average monthly print volumes up to 18 million impressions. Both the DocuPrint 500 and the DocuPrint 350 are field-upgradeable to a twin configuration. Price and Availability The printers are available for order taking immediately in North America with installations beginning in the fourth quarter 2001. In Europe, the DocuPrint 700 and 1000 are available immediately; the DocuPrint 350 was introduced last year. North American list prices for the printers start at: DocuPrint 1000, $808,000; DocuPrint 700, $688,000 and DocuPrint 350, $330,000. Pre- and post-processing equipment will be supplied by Xerox partners, including Stralfors, Hunkeler and Roll Systems, Inc.