DUSSELDORF, Germany--May 5, 2004-- Commercial printing customers are looking for better ways to streamline and cut costs associated with printing workflows - the path that print jobs follow from creation to final billing. Furthering the company's strategy to develop open workflow systems, Xerox Corporation at drupa 2004 will demonstrate a workflow system, based on industry standards, that allows printers to use technology from multiple vendors to manage jobs from creation to completion. Giving printers the freedom to integrate solutions from various vendors, the new workflow system combines software from Xerox, Creo Inc. and Adobe Systems Inc. It employs two industry standards - PDF for print files and JDF (job definition format) for electronic job tickets - that make the print process faster and simpler. Because of these open standards, all stages of the production process speak the same language, ensuring a more efficient workflow from start to finish. Xerox also has a new program for certifying the integration of partner products with the Xerox FreeFlow(TM) Digital Workflow Collection. The Xerox FreeFlow Digital Workflow Collection includes modular software offerings from Xerox and more than 100 business partner products. Maintaining momentum in its FreeFlow initiative, Xerox will demonstrate workflow software technologies currently under development that offer insight into the direction of Xerox FreeFlow. These solutions build on the path blazed by Xerox Print Manager, announced in March as the first workflow system to manage both digital and offset jobs with a single interface. "Our customers want their workflow to take costs out of their business, streamline processes, add new capabilities, and ultimately, to grow revenue," said Michael Kucharski, vice president, workflow business team, Xerox Production Systems Group. "It's not about any one standard or product; it's about how we put it all together to create a solution that solves customer problems and drives the opportunities available through The New Business of Printing." Breakthrough JDF Workflow Xerox, along with partners Adobe and Creo, will demonstrate how the new JDF-based workflow can take a job from the desktop of the creative department right through to the final production. For example, a marketing brochure can be created by a designer using Adobe technology, then passed into the prepress stage where Creo technology assigns the specific instructions for layout and print specifications and adjusts for print quality. Instructions are then interpreted by Xerox digital equipment to produce the final output. The end result: Print providers experience a simpler, error-free, cost-efficient process. Xerox is committed to open industry standards like JDF and PDF because they help eliminate steps in the workflow process, saving time and money for customers. By having different technology from various vendors all understand the print specifications through each stage of workflow, print providers no longer have to deal with hand-written job tickets and manual machine programming to guide print jobs along their production path. This allows printers to respond to customer demands with fewer errors and faster turnaround times. Partner Program Enhanced Xerox's Business Partner Program now recognizes partners that have created integrated solutions with Xerox products, using FreeFlow software development kits to take advantage of Xerox's open architecture. The new Xerox FreeFlow partner certification program establishes rigorous testing procedures to ensure that Xerox and partner products work together seamlessly for optimal performance. Passing the tests earns partners the right to use the "Optimized for Xerox FreeFlow" logo. To date, 31 partners have products that have received the "Optimized for Xerox FreeFlow" certification and another 40 are now integrating their offerings with FreeFlow products. A complete list of FreeFlow capabilities offered by Xerox and its partners is published in a workflow solutions catalog available at www.xerox.com/freeflow.