xpedx Technology Center Integrates Print Production

Most of the leading graphic equipment manufacturers have demonstration centers and they’re all worth visiting. The problem is that you’d have to visit all of them if you wanted to understand what now represents state-of-the-art in prepress, press, and postpress.

Even then, you would only be seeing these technologies in isolation from one another, not as an interconnected whole. It’s the same with trade shows: although they do a great job of bringing everything together under one roof, a true sense of process integration is usually missing.

As the industry’s leading distributor of equipment and supplies for all phases of graphic production, xpedx realized that its customers needed a focal point—an all-in-one location for evaluating systems and software in a realistic production environment with the guidance of experts. 

xpedx has created just such a showplace at its national headquarters in Cincinnati, OH: the all-new xpedx Technology Center, a fully equipped, 11,000-sq.-ft. facility where for the first time, printers can inspect, test, and purchase new prepress, press and post press equipment and technologies.

Contest Attracts Printers Seeking Strategic Growth

There will be many good reasons to see the new xpedx Technology Center after it opens next month at the company’s metropolitan Cincinnati headquarters. For a lucky few, there’ll be an added bonus: the opportunity to visit the facility as special guests of xpedx.

Winners of the company’s Invest to Win contest will consult with experts, test-drive equipment, and learn how xpedx can help them profitably grow their businesses. Entries will be accepted until May 31.

A 2008 study by the National Association for Printing Leadership Research and Educational Foundation reports that 61 percent of printers polled seek diversification and want to enter new markets. The study lists bindery and finishing equipment, digital printing and mailing capabilities among printers’ top investment priorities.

“The xpedx Technology Center will showcase all this and more,” says John Torrey, vice president and general manager of xpedx Printing Technologies. “We are catering to commercial and in-plant printers who want to stop outsourcing their opportunities. We’ll show them how to create more efficient workflows, and save by investing in automation. This trip may not excite everybody, but it will attract printers who are ready to strategically grow their businesses.”

Invest to Win Through Judicious Borrowing

Today’s economic climate has given some printers second thoughts about borrowing money to finance equipment purchases. But when a strong capital investment strategy lacks only financial backing, xpedx customers can look to a disciplined, proven supplier for the support they need.

“The strategic replacement of outdated production machinery can help printers pave a path toward long-term growth,” says John Torrey, vice president and general manager of xpedx Printing Technologies. “Judicious borrowing is a bet on the future, not a hedge against it.”

With financing in place and a solid investment plan printers can position themselves for prosperity when the economy recovers. Until then, it’s important to avoid being distracted by all of the negative economic news.