XEROX LAYS CLAIM TO GRAPHIC ARTS MARKET LEADERSHIP, LAUNCHES POWERFUL PRODUCTS, SOLUTIONS, E-BUSINESS INITIATIVE.

Xerox Corporation (NYSE: XRX) blew into America's printing heartland this week, unleashing a slew of products, solutions and services that extend the company's range of color printing offerings, advance its position as a graphic arts leader.

Taking center stage at Graph Expo, the largest printing and graphic arts exhibition in North America, Xerox launched an online "Premier Partners" channel to funnel print jobs to qualified members on the Web; the Pixography Solution that produces color documents for walk-up users; and the DocuColor DI Series of digital offset color presses, the company's first foray into digital offset printing.

Xerox's new Premier Partners program is an innovative e-business initiative that turns graphic arts service providers into Web partners, providing access to new revenue opportunities and knowledge sharing. The program, involving quick and commercial printers and other graphic arts professionals worldwide, is designed as a virtual "channel" or hub to connect supply and demand in the printing industry.

In a related move, Xerox announced that it will no longer compete with quick and commercial printers for print production work through company-run print shops known as Document Technology Centers (DTCs). Over the next few months, Xerox will close selected DTCs and change the charter of the remaining facilities to focus on value-added document services that go beyond traditional print shop operations. The new mission of the remaining facilities will be to meet the requirements of pre-existing global account contracts and direct the flow of new print production work to Premier Partners.

As part of its focus on targeted solutions for high-growth markets, Xerox also launched a personal imaging center called the Pixography Solution. Designed for quick-print and retail stores, it allows consumers to create colorful personalized materials such as greeting cards, calendars, invitations, fliers and more. The system combines exclusive Xerox imaging software, a friendly touch screen and specially coated Xerox paper. Finished color documents are printed in minutes on the Xerox DocuColor 12 Copier/Printer. It is currently being used at Epcot(R) at Walt Disney World(R) Resort and tested in selected quick-print franchises and office superstores.