NEW YORK--Sept. 14, 2004--Xerox Corporation's Global Services division has more than tripled the size of its Imaging Services Center in Hot Springs, Ark., to meet increasing customer demand for records retention, improved document processes and disaster recovery planning. The digital scanning and storage facility, which expanded from 51,000 square feet to 162,000 square feet, now has the capacity to handle more than 1 billion color, black-and-white and gray-scale images per year. Customers are using Xerox's Imaging Services Center to improve efficiency. Hormel Foods Corp.'s accounts payable department turned to Xerox to help digitize paper documents to create an automated, smarter system of coding, matching and validating invoices. "One of our main priorities was to reduce the amount of time spent looking for a paid invoice to accommodate requests from several departments," said Michael J. McCoy, executive vice president and chief financial officer, Hormel Foods Corp. "The Xerox solution has given time back to our staff and provides the company with a more efficient manner to handle internal requests for information." For more than 17 years, Xerox has helped clients around the world digitize and manage massive amounts of information from hardcopy documents. In addition to creating hosted repository Web sites to provide access to electronic information, the Xerox Imaging Services Center now offers high-volume color scanning technology and advanced image compression software allowing clients to store, back-up and access business-critical documents. Leading IT market research and advisory firm IDC projects spending on imaging and document management outsourcing will increase more than 20 percent annually through 2007*. Reflecting this growth, Xerox's Imaging Services Center is increasingly called upon by companies in various industries to support day-to-day business operations. With Xerox's help, for example: Healthcare organizations are transitioning hardcopy documents -- including patient admittance forms, insurance claims and Medicaid case files -- to Web-based archives, allowing staff 24/7 accessibility to critical information. -- Manufacturing and energy companies are capturing unique documents -- from large blueprints to faded research notes -- and maintaining them in electronic databases to respond to construction bids, preserve R&D findings and accelerate product time-to-market. Banking and insurance firms are meeting government regulations and court-ordered production schedules by having business-critical documents digitized, archived and accessible in as quickly as 24 hours. Online retailers are providing site visitors higher-quality images that open quickly with either dial-up or broadband Internet connections, allowing more effective displays of products on the Web. "Companies are finding that imaging services deployed to speed workflow, address regulatory requirements and streamline go-to-market initiatives can play a key role in helping increase customer retention, enhance sales and improve worker productivity," said Jerry Wallis, general manager, Global Imaging and Repository Services, Xerox Global Services. The Hot Springs location is Xerox's primary site for converting and uploading content of all types, including office documents, forms, building plans, invoices, contracts and a variety of digital file formats. For more information about Xerox Global Services, visit www.xerox.com/globalservices.