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Improve Productivity and Profit by Restructuring Business Processes

Submitted by Webmaster on Mon, 06/21/2010 - 21:54

Are you looking for ways to improve your business? An excellent place to start is by looking at your business processes.

Regardless of what industry you are in, paper and digital documents are the vehicles by which information flows through your business. The efficiency of this process can greatly affect the productivity of your office and ultimately, your success.

The good news is that new technology can help improve your business by streamlining the flow of information. This process enhancement can make a tremendous impact including the following:

Increasing Profits
Enhancing Competitive Advantage
Improving Customer Service
Ensuring Regulatory Compliance

The first step when considering how to better organize a process is to ask, “What is the final goal of this process?” For example, the final goal of a delivery process is to get the invoice paid.

The second step is to plan out the process step by step, looking for inefficiencies and the use of manual labor. Mapping out all the steps reveals bottlenecks that can be eradicated and manual steps that can easily be automated. This makes it easy to create a faster and more predictable process.

Document management technology can easily be integrated into your processes to eliminate inefficiencies and enable you to do more with less.

Reasons for the Surge in Multifunction Popularity

Submitted by Webmaster on Tue, 06/15/2010 - 23:52

This year over 1.2 million office multifunction systems will be installed in the United States and the movement continues to grow. These systems provide printing, copying, faxing, and scanning features in one cost-effective device.

The basic logic behind these systems is obvious: it is just practical to combine these similar functions for cost savings and fewer devices to supply.

However, some of the largest reasons behind the rapid implementation of these systems extend beyond cost savings. Multifunction devices can merge with document management software to allow process automation and deliver bottom line results.

Modernized Communication: Multifunction systems email, fax and print together. Scan to email functionality delivers paper documents securely to their recipients as email attachments. Fax routing directs incoming faxes to email addresses.
Automated Business Processes: Multifunction systems offer a convenient on-ramp to get paper onto a digital network. New capture software provides the technology for information to be read from scanned documents where it can be routed through a pre-defined workflow.

Expanded Security Features: Security and compliance are hot new issues for virtually every industry. Multifunction systems can help enhance your corporate security with a secure Electronic Document Management System.

If you are looking for a corporate initiative to save money, then you likely are considering or have already implemented multifunctional technology. Even if you already have a multifunction device integrated into your business processes, there are always new features that can improve the efficiency of your office.

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Xerox's ColorQube 9200 Series Solid Ink Multifunction Printer Delivers on its Promise to Reduce Waste and Save Customers Money

Submitted by Webmaster on Thu, 05/20/2010 - 01:32

ROCHESTER, N.Y., May 19, 2010 - Last spring, Xerox Corporation (NYSE:XRX) introduced its ColorQube(tm) 9200 Series multifunction printer

(MFP) with a straightforward proposition - affordable color that lowers the environmental impact of office printing. One year later, organizations around the world say it's true - solid ink technology is making a positive impact on business and the environment.

"The technology behind the ColorQube 9200 Series, along with Xerox's marketing of the solution, has been very well-received in the marketplace," said Angele Boyd, GVP/GM, Imaging/Output/Document Solutions, IDC. "The MFP is answering a definite need for businesses worldwide and is a testimony to the benefits of Xerox's solid ink technology."

Customers using the ColorQube 9200 Series to cut costs and meet their sustainability goals include:

CityCenter (U.S.), an urban destination of hotels and residences, spas, dining and shopping on the Las Vegas Strip, recently installed 37 ColorQube 9200 MFPs to help meet sustainability goals. The MFPs generate 90 percent less supplies waste, 9 percent less lifecycle energy and 10 percent fewer greenhouse gases than a comparable laser-based product and are located in every property in the development, including the flagship ARIA Resort & Casino. CityCenter has achieved six LEED(r) gold certifications by the U.S. Green Building Council. The solid ink MFPs are just one part of its commitment to using sustainable elements and practices to create a healthier environment at CityCenter.

The ColorQube 9200 Series is helping businesses in Europe reduce their color printing costs, including Capespan (U.K.), a leading fresh produce company that installed two ColorQube 9200 MFPs at its headquarters earlier this year. The MFPs cut the cost of color pages by up to 62 percent compared to traditional color lasers, without compromising print quality, saving the company thousands of dollars. "When looking for new office printing equipment, our objective was to consolidate the total number of printers, while retaining productivity levels," said Jeremy Sykes, network manager, Capespan. "The ColorQube 9200s have accomplished this goal with a lower cost of ownership and impressive reliability."
Corus Entertainment Inc. (Canada), one of Canada's largest and most-successful media and entertainment companies, has entered into a five-year partnership with Xerox Global Services to run its Corus Print Centre. The deal enabled Corus to replace 240 older print devices with 43 new Xerox machines, including 30 ColorQube 9202 MFPs.

The MFPs will help Corus reduce costs, increase staff productivity and build on the sustainability initiatives associated with the company's new LEED gold-certified headquarters.

The ColorQube 9200 Series will be on display at IPEX 2010, May 18-25 in Birmingham, U.K. Xerox's booth is located in Hall 7.

This article was originally posted on Bertl. continue reading...

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Consolidate Your Information with a Document Management Program

Submitted by Webmaster on Thu, 05/13/2010 - 22:05

Tags: Document Management Systems

This is the challenge businesses face today—to take fragmented repositories of information and combine them into one, concise system. From copiers and fax machines to Microsoft Office and email, we expect these technologies to make our life simpler. Instead, they can tend to make it more complex.

Enter Document Management Programs

Many small businesses and corporate departments are enjoying the benefits of new document converging technology. Paper, digital and email documents are finally able to be handled by one system.

- Scanners and Multifunction Systems enable the rapid conversion of paper documents into common digital formats like PDF files. These documents can be sent as email attachments our directed to a network folder.

- Optical Character Recognition technologies convert scanned text into editable text. Documents can be scanned directly into applications like Microsoft Word where they can be edited.

- Electronic Document Management Systems provide a central repository for scanned images, electronic documents and emails. This means that you can find everything you need with one search.

Can Your Customer Service Be Improved by Document Management?

Fragmented systems delay customer service interactions and extend billing cycles. Misfiled information hampers audits and regulatory compliance efforts. Inaccessible information is not available to support management decisions.

You can take advantage of our expertise to help streamline the flow of information in your organization- and start being more productive today. continue reading...

Xerox’s iGen4 Press Drives Prints, Profits, and New Business Opportunities Around the Globe

Submitted by Webmaster on Thu, 05/13/2010 - 21:37

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Hailed as the “ideal press” for producing high-end collateral, direct marketing and photo specialty products, Xerox Corporation (NYSE: XRX) has added new product enhancements and a customization program to its Xerox iGen4™ press. The features extend the range of print jobs that generate new business opportunities and profits for print providers.

Dependable image quality key to Xerox iGen4 users; drives business

Print service providers from Maine to Russia rely on Xerox’s iGen4 press to expand their digital businesses with direct mail pieces, photo books and specialized calendars.

DMM, Inc., a direct marketing solutions provider based in Scarborough, Maine, produced a fundraising campaign for the Biodiversity Institute on its iGen4 press. “Adopt-a-Loon” postcards were designed to raise awareness and drive funding for the institute’s environmental efforts – sharp detail and accurate color reproduction were musts to preserve the quality of the wildlife photography.

Green production was essential since the Biodiversity Institute studies the impact of contaminants on the environment. The postcards were printed without chemically processed inks on Forest Stewardship Council certified paper. The campaign resulted in 80 new loon “adoptions” and a 14.4 percent increase in donations over the previous year.

Adlis SAS selected the iGen4 press when it expanded its business to include photo books. The Paris-based digital print company’s storefront near the Louvre Museum is the perfect location to showcase its artistic photo books and the image quality made possible with the iGen4 press.

Adlis’ diverse customer base – from governments, associations and museums to vacationers, newlyweds and youth groups – can easily create high-quality photo books by logging on to their website.

“Since we’re located in the heart of the art world, it’s only natural that we turned digital printing into our own art form,” said Philippe Houdain, president and founder, Adlis. “Productivity and high quality are imperative for us. When looking for a digital printing solution we knew the Xerox iGen4 press would deliver.”

Ciferblat, a quick printer in Saint Petersburg, Russia specializes in highly creative personalized calendars. In addition to printing the calendars on its iGen4 press, installed late last year, Ciferblat is pioneering personalized printing in Russia by using uDirect software from XMPie®, a Xerox company.

The combination of one-to-one marketing and excellent image quality has helped Ciferblat’s business soar. The company has doubled press volumes every month this year on its Xerox iGen4.

Enhancements streamline production; expand application range

At IPEX 2010, Xerox will showcase new features for the iGen4 press, each designed to help print service providers deliver cutting-edge applications. These options include:

*Expanded connectivity with Heidelberg Prinect Print Shop Workflow: Hybrid print jobs that incorporate digital and offset pages are on the rise. Xerox will demonstrate how its FreeFlow® Digital Workflow Collection and Prinect tools integrate to automatically direct hybrid applications to the appropriate print engine. For example, users can attach custom digital covers to an offset-run of photo books with the touch of a button.

*Mobile job submission: Using QR codes – a two dimensional bar code – Xerox will show an easy-to-use, mobile job submission workflow designed for businesses with remote ordering needs. The QR codes link to FreeFlow software that launches a web storefront; users can quickly select and approve orders, then send to the print queue. Xerox will use the remote ordering system to manage marketing collateral printed and distributed on the show floor at IPEX.

*Customization Program: Xerox iGen4 220 Perfecting Press owners can turn their device into a customized solution to meet certain demands, such as support for specific media inputs (thicker stocks), unique feeding or finishing solutions and additional data streams and formats. Solution experts design and implement hardware and software options to drive a range of innovative full-color applications, tailored to the specific requirements of the user.

*C.P. Bourg BMEx Booklet Maker: Produces 14.33" x 11.25" booklets; the largest saddle-stitching option in the industry. It gives print providers the unique capability to print oversized catalogs and poster-size calendars. There is also an optional three-sided full bleed trim module.

The iGen4 press and iGen4 220 Perfecting Press will be on display in the Xerox stand at IPEX 2010, Hall 7, May 18-25 in Birmingham, U.K.

Availability and pricing

The iGen4 Customization Program is available worldwide; pricing varies by solution specifications.

This article was originally posted on Buyer’s Laboratory. continue reading...

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