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iGen3 Helps Grow Sumi Printing Revenue By Nearly 40%

Press release from the issuing company

CARSON, Calif., & ROCHESTER, N.Y.--June 4, 2003-- Sumi Printing & Binding, Inc. has acquired a Xerox DocuColor iGen3(TM) Digital Production Press that is driving new business development and contributing to nearly 40 percent revenue growth in 2003. The new press and the full range of Sumi's printing, packaging and binding services are being showcased today to customers and prospects at an invitation-only open house at the firm's nine-month-old, 30,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility in Carson. "This technology opens doors for us," said Roland Sumi, partner, Sumi Printing & Binding, Inc. "When I make a cold call and say, 'Hey, I want to talk to you about the new Xerox DocuColor iGen3,' they want to listen. And when people see print samples, they can't believe it's digital." The DocuColor iGen3 press offers image quality that compares favorably with offset, while enabling economical production of short runs that are not cost-effective on traditional presses. In addition, the DocuColor iGen3 offers something that traditional offset presses cannot -- personalized, or variable information printing, which permits content to vary from page to page. Further, the DocuColor iGen3's 100 pages-per-minute operating speed and its cost-effectiveness for variable printing are unmatched among cut-sheet digital presses. The Xerox press complements Sumi Printing's extensive offset printing, packaging and binding capabilities, while bolstering its fast-growing digital printing business. According to Sumi, the firm selected the DocuColor iGen3 after comparing it with offerings from Hewlett-Packard/Indigo and NexPress. "The decision to get the iGen3 was simple for us," Sumi explained. "We felt if we didn't get it someone else would, and they would beat us to the punch. The iGen3's potential is huge. It will totally change our business." Sumi noted that the DocuColor iGen3 enables printing on a wider sheet size and on a broader range of paper stocks than other toner-based digital printers, bringing on-demand turnarounds and variable printing to a new set of applications. In addition, the DocuColor iGen3 is Sumi's first digital printer that can run mixed color and black-and-white jobs cost-effectively, eliminating staff-intensive manual collation while lowering costs and improving turnaround and image quality for Sumi customers. Sumi said that the DocuColor iGen3 will also help in developing the company's variable printing business, which accounts for between 10 percent and 20 percent of digitally printed pages and continues to grow. Among the successful VI applications to date: direct mail to software company customers promoting modules they do not own for their currently installed applications, and postcards for the real estate industry. Perhaps most important, the DocuColor iGen3 will contribute powerful new capabilities to Sumi's one-stop shopping services. "Our customers want binders, tabs and printing handled under one roof, so when the job's done it's all ready to go," Sumi said. "Digital color is definitely exploding, but in our shop, one business feeds the others, so everything is growing." "The iGen3 offers print providers a wealth of opportunities to profit and grow with services that offer significant value to their customers," said Frank D. Steenburgh, senior vice president and general manager, Xerox Production Color Solutions Business. "Just as important, Xerox has a major commitment to helping Sumi Printing and our other customers develop their businesses." Sumi Printing & Binding, Inc. is a 17-year-old company that has transformed from a home-garage-based business into one of Southern California's most highly regarded full-service printing, packaging and binding providers. Sumi began as a binding equipment and supply company, adding offset printing in 1988 and digital printing in 1999. The company has been a Xerox customer since 1999, and currently has two Xerox DocuColor 2060 Digital Color Presses and a Xerox DocuTech 6115 Publisher in addition to the Xerox DocuColor iGen3.