| Published
June 16, 2009 |
Volume
17, Number 6
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New Xerox
Multifunction Printer Aims to Make Color Affordable for
All

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Xerox’s
Hacienda staff oversees the company’s only Bay Area
training center.
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By Nicole Zaro Stahl
NETWORK Editor
The persuasive power of color is a time-honored principle in
ink-on-paper circles, but the cost premium over black-and-white
printing has often tempered its use. With last month’s introduction of
the ColorQube™ 9200 Series multifunction printer, Xerox Corp.
is
about to shift that paradigm.
Xerox opened its Hacienda office,
at 4301 Hacienda Drive, in August 2006, after an extensive location
selection process. The local branch is a sales and service office, as
well as a support hub. It also houses a showroom for demonstrating a
range of products, including wide-format engineering products, from
plotters and scanners to the printers that can produce advertising
banners up to 80” wide. Xerox has similar offices in San Francisco,
Palo Alto, and Sacramento, but the Hacienda location is the only Bay
Area site to house a technical training center, which serves both
internal personnel and customers throughout northern California.
Bill
Byrd, senior operations manager at Xerox’s Hacienda, branch, is very
enthusiastic about the new multifunction printer. “We view our new
ColorQube series as game-changing technology, putting color at
everyone’s fingertips,” he remarks. While pricing levels vary
according to ink coverage, the ColorQube will print a standard page
with highlight color for the same cost as a black and white copy,
roughly a penny per page, he reports. Intense color coverage—a
PowerPoint slide or photograph, for example—will come in at a very
reasonable eight to 10 cents per page. “The average customer will save
about $2,000 a year on color printing compared to current costs,” he
comments.
The inexpensive printer is a good fit in the current
business environment, Byrd points out. The new design eliminates the
need for scheduled maintenance, part of the Xerox push toward more
“customer-manageable” products that require minimal field support. “Our
focus is on helping our customers get through difficult times by
becoming more productive. This new product is one way to help them do
that.”
The emphasis on affordability has brought real benefits
to Xerox as well. “With our ability to contribute to customers’
cost-control efforts, we’ve come through this downturn better than many
other companies,” Byrd notes.
The new product line also
reflects current concerns with another environmental issue,
sustainability. Xerox's proprietary solid ink technology reduces the
environmental impact of office printing across many fronts, Byrd
explains.. Unlike cartridge-based ink, the ink sticks are completely
consumed, leaving no further material for disposal. With ink as the
only customer replaceable unit--no fuser, no drum, etc.—packaging and
waste also diminish.
There is no compromise on speed, either.
At up to 85 pages per minute, the printer speed is “as competitive as
you can get,” Byrd contends.
Approximately 25 employees are
permanently stationed at the Hacienda facility, while several hundred
across the region use the office from time to time. They will all be
attending demonstrations when the ColorCube multifunction printers
arrive at the local branch early in the third quarter. For more
information, visit www.FinallyColorIsLess.com,
call 1-800-ASK-XEROX, or contact the branch at (925) 251-3252.
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