This fascinating snippet emerged during an event that was all about inkjet. Because while Xerox has very obviously been hugely successful in the toner-based production print space, until recently it hasn’t had the same sort of clout in the burgeoning inkjet arena. 

Inkjet is the emerging, and potentially huge, digital print market where everyone and their spotty dog is extremely interested in ensuring a piece of the action. Preferably a big juicy piece. Hence deals such as Heidelberg’s partnership with Fujifilm. And hence Xerox’s purchase of French inkjet developer Impika in February 2013. 

At a customer event to mark the official opening of Impika’s newly-expanded inkjet innovation centre, Infotrends director Jim Hamilton set the scene by highlighting the huge growth potential in production inkjet. “We are still predicting growth in toner, but growth in inkjet is in high double-digits,” Hamilton stated. “Since 2006 the market has gone from virtually zero to 140-150 engines being installed per annum.”

Xerox is a huge firm with a turnover of some $21bn (£12bn) across its operations. So it is a measure of the importance of its $53m outlay to buy Impika, and subsequent investment in expanding its facilities, that chairman and chief executive Ursula Burns was on hand to cut the ribbon on the new facility in Aubagne. 

Burns, along with her executive team, clearly recognises the potential growth opportunity for Xerox. And she visibly bristles at the suggestion that, in the light of Xerox’s publicly-stated commitment to growing its services business to two thirds of turnover by 2017, perhaps its print and documents business is becoming peripheral in the scheme of things? 

Although to put things into context, its document wing is still an $8.9bn business, 21% of which is high-end production print kit, so hardly small beer.

“Most companies are not nearly that size,” she states. “But we are not measuring importance by how big our businesses are. It’s not about size, it’s about penetration and value creation in the market. 

“If we are number one and it’s a tenth of revenue, I’m happy.”

Burns describes graphic communications as a space where Xerox can create an even bigger winning proposition, and she is willing to open the purse strings again should the right opportunity present itself. 

“We need to build the same depth of portfolio in inkjet as in Xerography – as we continue to grow, change and diversify our business you should not be surprised about us acquiring capabilities.”

The trick will be ensuring Xerox focuses its efforts on the most appropriate markets and applications. Questioned about its plans for inkjet in a raft of applications such as packaging, wide-format or functional printing, Burns says she expects her team to apply a suitable level of focus. “These are all options. None of them are impossible for us to go after, the team is going to have to pick. Some will be clear choices, some will be flyers. “If we try everything, we’re going to mess up everything.”

When it bought Impika, Xerox also acquired considerable expertise, not least in the shape of Paul Morgavi, Impika founder and now chief operating officer of Xerox’s inkjet operations.

He notes that digital printing is currently addressing only 2% of the total print market, providing a huge opportunity for companies like Xerox to jump into. 

“98% is still free. Many people predict that more than 50% of the total printing market will be addressed by inkjet – I agree!”

Morgavi predicts that within seven years inkjet will overcome its current barriers relating to image quality, restricted media choice, and the high price of some kit. 

“The goal for us, is to design a product that answers customer needs, not general needs. Never design a product based on an engineer’s idea,” he states. 

In the more immediate timeframe of Drupa 2016 Impika is readying a raft of new or enhanced products, including the 28in-wide iPrint eXtreme which will run at 250m/min initially, rising to 350m/min in time. “It will be the fastest printer in the world,” says Morgavi. 

As well as developing its roll-to-sheet device shown at Drupa 2012, it is also planning to enter the cut-sheet inkjet market, with Morgavi citing formats of “B2 and beyond”. 

However, rather than be fixated on format he prefers to focus on customer applications, and creating systems that can be upgraded. 

“It is in the DNA of Impika. Since the beginning we have designed products to be upgradeable, so customers can improve and update their printers. This is our approach.”

At its manufacturing facility each engine is effectively bespoke, with configurations built to each customer’s specification around a set of modules designed for easy access and maintenance. 

This could range from high-quality book-on-demand systems printing at 1,200dpi to transpromo at 600dpi or newspaper printing at 360dpi. 

Existing customers include transactional, direct mail and book printers, as well as security print and some hybrid installations on mailing and envelope lines. 

But the firm has ‘document factory’ and commercial printing applications very much in its sights, and chief operating officer of Xerox Technology Jeff Jacobson is forthright about the extent of its ambitions. 

“You will see how committed we are,” he states. “For years Xerox has been the leader in production printing with Xerography. I came to Xerox for one reason and that’s that we become number one overall in the commercial graphics space.”