Xerox Hoping For A Monochrome Revolution

Xerox has high hopes for its new DocuTech product, built with iGen3 technology.

By Bob Neubauer

Recalling the way its DocuTech revolutionized black-and-white printing back in 1990, Xerox is hoping to establish another milestone with a new monochrome printer that incorporates technology used in its iGen3 digital color printer.

Targeted at what it has dubbed the "mid-production" space, the new DocuTech Copier/Printer was introduced privately to journalists in Xerox's Rochester, N.Y., headquarters in December, and then unveiled formally in New York on January 29.

Xerox officials could barely contain their excitement as they showed off the machine for the first time.

"This is an incredible day," gushed Mark Waxenberg, vice president and general manager of the Production Solutions Business Unit. "It's a really momentous occasion."

He then unveiled two versions of the new Xerox printer:

• The DocuTech 100, imaging 100 (8-1⁄2x11˝) pages per minute (60 ppm at 11x17˝), with targeted monthly print volumes from 60,000 to 400,000.

• The DocuTech 120, at 120 (8-1⁄2x11˝) ppm (72 ppm at 11x17˝), with volumes from 100,000 to 500,000 per month.

Both units have print resolutions of 4,800x600 dpi. Initial pricing will be $83,000 for the DocuTech 100 and $99,000 for the DocuTech 120.

Waxenberg said Xerox created a customer advisory council, which analyzed and picked apart early versions of the product, suggesting changes. As a result, the DocuTech Copier/Printer is very user friendly. It offers easy access to parts that might require maintenance—though with just half the moving parts of the DocuTech 135, that won't be many, Waxenberg says—plus innovative touches like a CD-ROM drive for printing from or recording to a CD.

Familiar Controller

At the heart of the new product—into which Xerox poured close to $400 million—lies DocuSP, the common controller used now on 28 of its products. As a result, users who have already learned DocuSP won't need a lot of new training.

The DocuTech Copier/Printer's integrated scanner can scan 120 (8-1⁄2x11˝) images per minute, both one-sided and two-sided, at 600x600 dpi. Dual scan heads allow single-pass scanning, which reduces wear on originals and improves front-to-back registration. Users can load 300 double-sided, mixed-size sheets into the Automatic Document Handler and five minutes later both sides of all sheets will be scanned. The resulting data can be printed, put on the network or burned to CD.

With a 5,800-sheet capacity—and the ability to double that by adding a second paper-feed unit—the machine can run for 90 minutes without intervention. Paper is center-registered in trays, not edge registered, and it can be loaded while the printer runs. An air shuttle feed system aids the smooth handling of material sizes from 5-1⁄2x8-1⁄2˝ to 12.2x18-1⁄2˝ and weights from 16-lb. bond to 80-lb. cover (56-216 gsm).

The DocuTech Copier/Printer uses ultrasound waves to detect whether or not pages are stuck together. Wide-radius turns in the paper path help avoid scuffing and scratching. They also support heavier stocks.

A Toner Cloud

Toner and developer are mixed in the toner canister and are delivered together. The toner is suspended in a cloud so that no toner touches the photo receptor, extending its life. (The receptor is also brush- and vacuum-cleaned so toner from one page doesn't get onto the next page.)

With Trickle Development, new developer constantly replaces the old, so quality stays high, instead of gradually decreasing. The developer is replenished every time toner canisters are changed.

Finishing options include a 2,000-sheet stacker, folder and dual-staple booklet maker. These allow booklets up to 60 pages long to be created by simply loading the originals and selecting "booklet" on the screen. The pages will automatically be reduced, folded and stapled.

Xerox says the DocuTech Copier/Printer is ideal for jobs using a wide mix of media sizes and weights or jobs that integrate hard copy originals and digital print files.

Aimed At In-plants

Xerox has targeted in-plants with this new product, among others, and hopes to convince them to trade in older DocuTechs (and competitive products) by offering generous trade-in allowances. Xerox also hopes the product will pique the interest of printers migrating from offset to digital; it sees $18 billion of opportunity worldwide from this migration, according to Valerie Blauvelt, vice president, Integrated Marketing, and wants to capture at least 10 percent of this.

"We invented the monochrome business, and we intend to defend it with a vengeance," she declared.