CINCINNATI & ROCHESTER, N.Y.--Oct. 28, 2004-- Gordon Bernard Company LLC, the oldest nationwide fund-raising company, has installed a Xerox iGen3 Digital Production Press that boosts print quality and cuts production costs by 20 percent on its line of customized calendars. "The iGen3 press will revolutionize our business," said Bob Sherman, president and owner, Gordon Bernard Company. "It is revitalizing our calendar products and allowing us to produce short-run, personalized documents to expand our commercial printing business. We are now in a whole different ballpark in terms of what we can provide to the market." Production of customized fund-raising calendars for civic, school, church groups, fire departments and other nonprofit organizations has been the company's bread-and-butter since its founding in 1949, spanning three generations of family ownership. According to the company, with the Xerox iGen3 press, customized calendar covers are now produced in a single pass, eliminating outsourcing and overprinting onto offset printing shells while cutting staff labor. The new process results in a 20 percent cost reduction as well as improved print quality and turnaround time. "The experienced four-color print professionals who have seen the iGen3's finished product could not tell the difference between digital and traditional offset printing," Sherman said. "And I doubt that any of our customers will recognize the difference either." The digital printing process offers the company new revenue opportunities. Previously the calendars only had one static photo used for the year. Now the calendars can be customized with different full-color pictures for each month. The ability to include full-color advertisements is an added bonus. Gordon Bernard Company and its client fund-raising organizations share the additional revenue from full-color ads that command more attention, Sherman stated. The decision to acquire an iGen3 press began when Sherman learned Xerox was expanding the press's maximum paper size to accommodate the 22 inches the calendar requires. The firm looked at other competitive offerings and had applications tested on each company's press. "The iGen3 press had by far the best quality," Sherman said. The company also plans to use its new digital press to more than double its general commercial printing business, including booklets, brochures, newsletters, direct mail pieces, and business forms. To help build this business, Gordon Bernard recently added a second commercial print sales representative, who is experienced in sales and marketing of variable imaging, or personalized printing. "He heard we were getting an Xerox iGen3, and he approached us about working here," Sherman said. "Personalized printing is where the real growth potential is." In addition to supporting Gordon Bernard Company's installation of the press and providing operator training, Xerox also provides business development guidance, Sherman said. Assistance includes application support, pricing recommendations, and introductions to advertising agencies that specialize in digital design. The iGen3 press is Gordon Bernard Company's first Xerox product. It has subsequently acquired its second, a Xerox Phaser 7750GX tabloid-size network color printer for proofing color selections and copy in the calendars. An efficient workflow using the Xerox DocuSP controller and proprietary Gordon Bernard software for collecting personalized information helps automate and streamline calendar production.