Xerox researchers recently received six technology industry awards recognising their research and innovation efforts in colour science and advanced document systems and services.
The awards were made by:
* R&D magazine for its Top 100 Innovation awards;
* The Product Development and Management Association (PDMA);
* The AMA Association for Sensor Technology;
* The American Chemical Society;
* The Connecticut Quality Improvement Award Partnership; and
* The annual World Investment Conference.
"Innovation is at the heart of what Xerox does, and winning these awards is a particularly gratifying experience as they encapsulate highly prized recognition from industry peers," says Rob Abraham, MD of Bytes Document Solutions, sole authorised distributor of Xerox products and solutions to 24 sub-Saharan countries.
"Xerox holds more than 16 000 US patents and is ranked as one of the world's top technology innovators. It operates research and technology centres in the US, Canada and Europe where work and research is conducted in the fields of colour science, computing, systems, novel materials and other disciplines connected to our expertise in printing and document management.
"Xerox employs more than 1 100 researchers, scientists, engineers, patent and IP experts, and business development managers to explore the unknown, invent next-generation technology, architect product platforms, manage intellectual property and create new business opportunities."
As the premier global advocate for product development and management professionals, the PDMA presented Xerox with its highest honour: Outstanding Corporate Innovator for 2006. The award recognises organisations demonstrating sustained excellence in the development and profitable commercialisation of new products and services.
Xerox was cited by PDMA for employing: "A very broad range of highly disciplined exploratory and planning processes while still maintaining a creative and risk-taking environment and culture."
"At the World Investment Conference, Xerox was presented with an award for the innovative research being conducted at the Xerox Research Centre Europe (XRCE)," Abraham says. "It is one of three corporations honoured for its investment in technology in Europe. Researchers at XRCE were cited for shaping the document of the future, helping people move freely from paper to digital worlds, and making documents smarter using advanced content analysis and data mining."
A team of researchers from Xerox's Wilson Research Centre in New York won two prestigious awards for their innovation inside a light-emitting diode (LED) spectrophotometer that enables Xerox production colour printers to calibrate themselves to ensure every colour print comes out exactly the same, every time.
Available for Xerox iGen3 Digital Production Press customers, the innovation is included in a specifically tailored software called Automated Colour Calibration, a feature in the Xerox iGen3 FreeFlow DocuSP colour server. The software and spectrophotometer automate labour-intensive pre-press activity, providing colour adjustments on demand.
"Finally, a team of researchers from Xerox Research Centre of Canada won two awards for Xerox's patented emulsion aggregation (EA) toner, micro particles of dry ink that are fused on paper to form the words and images in a xerographic copy or print," Abraham says. "The process involves a new chemical method for growing the particles instead of physically grinding them, resulting in more uniform particle size and shape for sharper image quality with less toner."
EA toner uses an environmentally friendly manufacturing process that consumes an estimated 25% less energy than traditional toner. As a result, Xerox is well on the way to saving more than 30 million kilowatt hours of electricity by 2008 - enough power to light more than 24 000 US households for a year - and making strides towards its goal to cut global greenhouse gas emissions.
Xerox also received the American Chemical Society Industrial Innovation Award for its teams whose creative innovations have contributed to the commercial success of their company and community.
The Connecticut Quality Innovation Award presented Xerox with a gold prize for its EA toner process at the organisation's 19th annual conference. Using the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award criteria for performance excellence, the prize is awarded by the CQIAP to organisations that exemplify quality while fostering innovation.
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As the authorised Xerox distributor to 24 sub-Saharan countries, Bytes Document Solutions, previously known as Xerox South Africa, is engaged in the marketing and servicing of the complete range of Xerox document equipment, software, solutions and services, and operating through an extensive network of distributors, dealers, concessionaires and channel partners. With black economic empowerment partner Kagiso Trust owning a 27% stake of the business, it is a wholly owned member of the JSE Securities Exchange-listed Bytes Technology Group.
For more information on Bytes Document Solutions and Xerox, visit www.xerox.com/news.
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