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PRINT.IT
MFPs
The launch of a new range
of solutions-enabled MFPs
so soon after announcing its
decision to withdraw from
the inkjet printer market
provided Lexmark with the
perfect opportunity to explain
how it plans to meet the
needs of business customers
by providing MFPs that can
be fully integrated with its
expanding software portfolio.
But, as Lexmark UK general
manager Gary Bourland told
PrintIT
, Lexmark has been
developing solutions for many
years.
Joining the dots
Following the launch of Lexmark’s expanded range of solutions-
enabled MFPs,
PrintIT
spoke to Lexmark UK & Ireland general
manager Gary Bourland about the company’s new strategy
“We developed our first
solutions – a combination
of hardware, software and
sometimes services that are put
together to solve a particular
issue for customers – in the
mid ‘90s when we produced
specific solutions to enable
retail customers to print shelf
edges. Over the last 17 years,
we have developed many other
solutions and we’ve seen that
part of the business grow as
customers have continued to
ask us to solve printer issues.
As a result of those requests
we started making acquisitions.
Two and a half years ago we
bought Perceptive Software and
since then we have made four
additional acquisitions. All have
a common objective: to help
us address a specific need a
customer may have.”
Having business process
and content management
specialist Perceptive Software,
enterprise search company
ISYS Search Software and
web-based document imaging
and workflow platform provider
Nolij Corporation in its portfolio
enables Lexmark to offer
solutions that are device-
agnostic and often not even
output-related.
“One of the things we see is
that customers have made lots
of investments in infrastructure
– SAP, Oracle, Peoplesoft
and the like – but find that
much of the information they
use to run their business, the
digital content that is flooding
businesses today, such as
WAV files, video and MS Office
documents, doesn’t fit neatly
into these enterprise systems
and applications. So when
they need one of these files
to escalate a workflow, it is
often hard to find,” Bourland
explained.
“This is what we are
addressing with the acquisition
of Perceptive and other systems.
We are helping customers to
address content that doesn’t
fit neatly while leveraging the
investments they have already
made. We are connecting the
dots to make sure documents
flow more freely into their
systems. I read recently that the
amount of digital information
businesses have to deal with is
doubling every 18 months and
when that happens it creates
new needs.”
Examples of recent solutions
based on Perceptive Software
technology include:
•
Distributed Intelligent
Capture Solution with
Brainware software, which
extracts and validates critical
information from hard copy
documents scanned at an
MFP, eliminating the need
for manual data entry and
removing the need for rules-
based extraction linked to
templates, zones etc.; and
•
Lexmark Secure Content
Manager, which can identify
when an MFP is used to
copy, scan or fax sensitive/
confidential paper documents
and send an alert to
supervisors. It monitors
and keeps a record of all
information being printed
from computers and mobile
devices as well as documents
that are copied, scanned or
faxed on an MFP. Searching
on a keyword will bring up all
documents containing the
word along with information
on who did what with the
document and on what
device. It can also be used to
alert administrators whenever
a document containing pre-
defined keywords is printed,
copied, scanned or faxed.
Despite year-on-year sales
growth of more than 80% in
Q3 2012, Perceptive Software
is still a relatively small part
of Lexmark’s business. Most
solutions provided by Lexmark
are still hardware-oriented, either
because they are facilitated
by a printer or MFP feature
(e.g. scanning) or because
they are designed to provide
management capabilities for
a fleet of assets sometimes as
part of a managed print service
(MPS).
“I would say that probably
70% of customers are using the
most basic solutions,” Bourland
said. “A basic solution might be
an eco-copy solution that allows
users to make more intelligent
choices, e.g. to print in a lower
resolution, or it might be a
remote colour copy solution so
that a small real estate office
with a mono MFP and a colour
printer can scan a document on
the MFP and print it out on the
colour printer. They are business
solutions. A few get into more
The Best of the New Products
n
CX510 colour laser MFP:
The Lexmark CX510 produces
professional-quality colour thanks to Lexmark’s calibration
technology for the PANTONE colour system and Lexmark
Named Color Replacement true colour matching;
n
MX812 monochrome laser MFP:
This high-performance
MFP is the first A4 monochrome laser MFP to print and copy
at up to 66 pages per minute. Highlights include a first page
out in just four seconds and an extra high-yield 45,000-page
Unison toner cartridge.
n
MX611 monochrome laser MFP:
The 47ppm Lexmark
MX611 is claimed to be the only MFP in its class to offer an
automatic inline stapler finishing option.
n
MX410 monochrome laser MFP:
The 38ppm Lexmark
MX410 lowers the entry point for a solutions-capable MFP to
less than 600 Euros.
n
MS610 monochrome laser printer:
Starting at 649 Euros,
the 47ppm Lexmark MS610 is described as the fastest
compact A4 monochrome laser printer. The easy-to-use 10.9
cm color touch screen enables users to manage jobs right at
the device.
www.lexmark.com
Continued...