Xerox Courts In-plants With Renewed Production Print Focus
Xerox is signaling it wants back into the in-plant conversation after what looked, for a time, like a retreat from production printing. At a four-day event in the UK last week (Feb. 24-27) called “The Future of Xerox Production Print – Accelerating the Pace,” executives described a deliberate, “very intentional” push to win back respect, backed by a new global production and services division, according to Printweek. The message was unmistakable: Xerox wants customers to view it as a serious, long-term production player, not a legacy vendor.
"Production print is a strategic pillar for Xerox, and we are investing boldly in high-speed inkjet, AI-driven workflow and digital embellishment to help our clients enter a new era of print," said Terry Antinora, president of Global Production Print Services at Xerox.
That stance matters to in-plants because Xerox’s recent history has not left them confident. The company shuttered its Baltoro platform a few years ago and stepped away from inkjet manufacturing, moves that disappointed operations that had invested in Xerox. Layer on the exit from long-standing platforms such as iGen and Nuvera, and it’s understandable why many in-plants became wary of betting future capacity on Xerox.
Against that backdrop, Xerox’s launch of the Xerox IJP900 Inkjet Press, which it showed at PRINTING United Expo, read as a first step toward re-establishing credibility and signaling that inkjet production is back on the table.
Now Xerox is trying to rebuild trust with a product pipeline that is both broad and specific, as detailed in an article in Printweek. At the UK event, executives discussed a planned 1,200x1,200-dpi, 150-ppm Xerox inkjet press; a 300-ppm B3 sheetfed inkjet press, which a spokesman called a “Canon killer,” nodding to Canon’s iX3200; and a 70-mpm inkjet label press that would mark Xerox’s first move into labels.
Alongside those longer-horizon launches, Xerox also previewed near-term updates like new PrimeLink mono and color devices and an Iridesse with updated electronics, shown running with a new in-line laminator. It was all part of an effort to convince cautious in-plants that this time, the commitment is meant to stick.
Related story: Xerox Re-enters Inkjet Market With Launch of Cut-Sheet Press
Bob has served as editor of In-plant Impressions since October of 1994. Prior to that he served for three years as managing editor of Printing Impressions, a commercial printing publication. Mr. Neubauer is very active in the U.S. in-plant industry. He attends all the major in-plant conferences and has visited 200 in-plant operations around the world. He has given presentations to numerous in-plant groups in the U.S., Canada and Australia, including the Association of College and University Printers and the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association. He also coordinates the annual In-Print contest, co-sponsored by IPMA and In-plant Impressions.







