The 150 guests attending the official opening of the Fuji Xerox epicenter watched with bated breath, as an aerial trapeze artist from Australia’s physical theatre company ‘Legs On The Wall’ whirled and spun in the spacious environs of the Australian Technology Park building on the night of August 24. Just as awe-inspiring, were the vibrant colours and modern art deco interiors of the Fuji Xerox epicenter at night, admired by guests, as they were taken on a personal tour after the official proceedings.
The Fuji Xerox epicenter is the company’s new ‘Centre of Competence’ and is an amalgamation of digital print technologies with Fuji Xerox services - designed to communicate the company’s leading digital print capabilities, as well as its quality and reliability in the digital print and graphic arts industries.
The idea spawned from the successful Fuji Xerox Australian Technology Centre at the, Australian Technology Park, which was first opened in 1997. This facility enabled the company and its prospective clients to try out and refine the latest printing solutions in an environment that mirrored that of a Fuji Xerox customer.
Injecting new life into the idea years after its conception, the new epicenter site took 200 people 15 weeks to complete and as the fourth centre of its kind in the world - following epicenters in Tokyo, Singapore and Shanghai - represents a multimillion dollar investment by Fuji Xerox, the project spearheaded by brand consultants and designers Landor Associates.
The main function of the centre will be to cater for a region-wide production print audience by showcasing the Fuji Xerox end-to-end solutions, as well as any collaborative products and services offered by the company’s third party partners and a variety of visitors. This includes, visitors with different interests spanning the printing industry; from traditional offset printers looking to go digital, to short run colour printers wanting to power their production efficiency.
Newly appointed CEO of Fuji Xerox Australia, and host of the opening, Andy Lambert, says the epicenter provides the company with a vehicle to transfer knowledge and expertise across the Asia-Pacific region.
“The establishment of the epicenter in Australia marks one of the most significant developments in the history of Fuji Xerox Australia. It blends best-in-class technology with industry knowledge and experience and enables us to truly articulate the value that we can offer both the industry and our customers,” says Lambert.
“Our vision is to offer our customers a complete digital experience where they will be able to enjoy a unique, personalised journey that will refect and address their own business needs and challenges,” he says.
File and application testing, business development, as well as education and training initiatives will form the cornerstone of the activities conducted on-site, as will important research and development into web-integration, personalisation, improved workflow processes and cross-media communication for the printing and graphic arts industries.
Given the honour of opening the new technology hub, was the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Helen Coonan, whose address was full of admiration for Fuji Xerox’s response to the digital technology revolution.
“The way we use digital technology in our work and our personal life and the impact it has on the way business is being done, will continue to change. This also presents a lot of opportunities and we have to continue to ask ourselves, what is possible today? And what is possible in the future?” she says.
“I am proud that Australia has been chosen to host one of the four Fuji Xerox centres of competence in the Asia-Pacific Region. The exciting and fast paced world of digital technology knows no bounds and Australia is well equipped to support the success of Fuji Xerox’s unique technology and services,” says Coonan.
The epicener will sport a range of print and digital communications technologies in dedicated solution-based zones. This includes the Fuji Xerox flagship DocuColor 5065 iGen3 Digial Production Press, as well the Fuji Xerox continuous feed printers, and a range of highlight colour platforms.
The different zones are revealed as visitors move from the immersion zone, through to the presentation zone and on to the digital pre-press zone and production systems and business partner zones of the epicenter. Additionally, the backend of the epicenter called ‘eTools,’ showcases an online booking system and applications warehouse, which facilitates the sending and receiving of best practises among the regional epicenters.
Already, the centre has attracted much attention and printers have hit the ground running to catch a glimpse of the epicenter’s offerings. For the month of September, Fuji Xerox innovation specialists have prepared a number of presentations including a “backstage tour” for Australian Direct Marketing Association (ADMA) members.
Lambert says the centre will help cultivate a shift in business value from mass production to mass customisation, which is sure to empower printers to take the business of printing to greater heights in the Asia-Pacific region.
“The dictionary defines epicenter as the ‘centre of an earthquake or a cataclysmic change,"’ he points out. “We believe that the epicenter will cause a seismic shift in the way we engage our customers and our partners, work with them and help them to achieve and exceed their business goals,” he says.
