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The ground-breaking Xerox DocuTech
135 Production Publisher is 25 years
old. When it was introduced on
October 2 1990, it revolutionised the
way businesses produced common
office items, such as advertising
brochures, newsletters and sales
reports, by joining the dots between
documents and electronic office
equipment.
For the first time, it made it possible
to receive electronic images of documents
from remote computers, store them, edit
and share them over computer networks,
and produce documents of print-shop
quality at high speed.
DocuTech’s innovation lay in joining
together different stages of the printing
process – job preparation (prepress),
printing and finishing – in electronic
workflows that led to faster, nearly
immediate turnarounds and low-cost short
runs.
In this way, the Xerox DocuTech
spawned digital print-on-demand and
revolutionised the business of printing by
enabling an ‘order-then-distribute-then-
print’ business model. It also played a big
role in the transition from analogue office
copiers to multifunction digital devices and
the development of variable data printing.
In recognition of its legacy, Xerox
received a 2005 National Medal of
Technology and Innovation award, the
highest technology honour the United
States confers upon its citizens, for having
‘created the modern reprographics, digital
printing, and print-on-demand industries’.
The original DocuTech featured a
number of technical highlights including
a print speed of 135ppm – the fastest at
the time; a print resolution of 600 dpi,
twice the industry standard; advanced
electronics; and an operator interface
comprising a computer with a graphical
user interface and mouse – a descendant
of the first personal computer created at
PARC.
After launching the Xerox DocuTech
135 Production Publisher, Xerox continued
to refine the product, bringing out a
further two dozen models. More than
1,500 DocuTech systems are still in use
worldwide.
Sam Hirji, president of Samco Printers in
Vancouver, Canada, which uses an original
DocuTech 135 Production Publisher in its
daily production cycle, said: “It’s hard to
imagine a day when there was no viable
means for a commercial printer to print
directly from a computer to a high-speed
production printer. The DocuTech forever
changed that.”
The view from over here
Kevin O’Donnell, graphic
communications marketing manager,
Xerox UK, looks back on the launch
of the DocuTech in the UK.
PITR:
What was so revolutionary
about the DocuTech system?
O'Donnell:
There are a few times in your
life when you become part of something
that changes everything. I can remember
the first Netscape searched web page I
clicked and the first mobile phone I owned.
When the Xerox DocuTech was launched, I
was working in Xerox’s Woking office as a
customer support analyst and experienced,
many times, that penny-dropping moment
during a demonstration that said ‘Wow,
now I get it’.
The launch of the Xerox DocuTech
135 Production Publisher was a seminal
moment in printing technology; there
The Xerox DocuTech is 25 years old
The birth of
print-on-demand
had been nothing like it before, and it
forever changed printing. It used Xerox
digital processing know-how and intuitive
operation that allowed an operator to
multi-task – composing one job, whilst
scanning in another, printing a third and
finishing a fourth.
In doing so, it also brought together, in
one device, the worlds of analogue (you
could copy) and digital (you could scan or
upload digital print pages). But what was
really cool was that you could combine
both together and produce just the
quantities you needed, when you needed
them; the world of print-on-demand was
truly born.
PITR:
How did the market react to it?
O'Donnell:
It didn’t just meet the
demands of the market, it made a new
market and those who ‘got it’ created new
profitable revenue streams fast. Those who
didn’t, soon did. And, as they say, the rest
is history.
PITR:
What objections did people
have and how were they overcome?
O'Donnell:
The only objections I can
remember were fleeting – it’s big and
expensive for a copier and why do I have
to pay a click charge? Xerox invested
heavily in sales, technical and service
support and, together with DocuTech users,
a pioneering community was created.
Those who invested really did never look
back.
PITR:
What impact has the DocuTech
system had on printing today?
O'Donnell:
It certainly sounded the
death knell for the mono offset market.
This may sound like a negative, but
actually many forward-thinking businesses
invested in Xerox DocuTech and moved
into a significantly more profitable and
sustainable market. The Xerox DocuTech
still impacts today’s print market – print-
on-demand, multi-tasking, integrated and
automated workflows are all relevant
today. Strange to think that 25 years ago
the Xerox DocuTech had them all covered.
A few times in
your life you
become part
of something
that changes
everything
Kevin O’Donnell,
graphic
communications
marketing manager,
Xerox UK
