Executive Q&A: Eric Armour, President of Graphic Communication Business Group at Xerox Corp.

• Q: Tell us about your company, the segment of the market it serves, and who you consider to be your core users.

A: Xerox Corporation was founded in 1906 and is a $22 billion global enterprise for business process and document management. We employ more than 136,000 people worldwide in more than 160 countries and serve all types and sizes of organizations – including commercial printers, schools, small businesses, government agencies, healthcare providers, and Fortune 1000 companies.

We’re top of mind with Printing News readers because of our focus on developing document technology, services, and software for our graphic communications clients. But after acquiring Affiliated Computer Services (ACS) last year, we also offer business process outsourcing and IT outsourcing services, such as data processing, HR benefits management. and customer relationship management services.

• Q: What is your background and how did you get involved with your company?

A: After earning my bachelor of science degree from the U.S. Naval Academy, I was a U.S. Navy fighter pilot from 1981 to 1988. I also earned my M.B.A. from Harvard University, but the leadership positions I held during my time in the Navy taught me even more important lessons that still shape how I approach my work at Xerox today.

I joined the company in May 2007 and have been in my current position since May 2010. Prior to Xerox, I held positions with several different companies, including the investment firm RHJI, The Gillette Company, and the international consulting firm Marakon Associates.

All of that experience prepared me to take on the worldwide management of Xerox’s $4 billion graphic communications business, where I assist in strategic planning, product marketing, and launches for high-end production customers.

• Q: What do you consider to be your greatest achievement in this market?

A: We are the market leader in this industry, and by leading through innovation and inspiration we are bringing increasingly more valuable solutions to our customers that are helping them take their business to the next level. This ability to fundamentally help our customers evolve their businesses to meet new market challenges and opportunities they face, and enable them to grow their business, is core to our DNA at Xerox and the thing I am most proud of as the leader of this outstanding team.

Good example are recent introductions into the high-end production color market. The Xerox Color 800/1000 Presses, for instance, offer the sharp images and quick turnaround times needed to help print providers expand their digital businesses. Also, print providers can expand their use of their Xerox iGen4 EXP with matte dry ink -- a new ink that provides offset-quality photo prints, as well as consistent and uniform appearance across highlights, mid-tones and shadows -- critical for ink-heavy applications such as marketing collateral, collages in photo books, and full-page photographs for calendars and greeting cards.

•  Q: If you could change anything, either about your career, your company, or the market as a whole, what would it be and why?

A: I’d like to see print providers continue to expand their business from ink on paper and work on building their capabilities to become true marketing service providers.

The worlds of marketing and graphic communications — and the media they use to communicate — are changing. By helping their clients develop effective communications strategies in today’s evolving landscape, graphic communications companies can provide amazing value in the sales and marketing cycle. Print is dynamic -- and it’s up to us as an industry to continue to drive that point home.

• Q: What do you consider to be the greatest challenge and asset for the industry right now?

A: The biggest challenge stems from the road blocks our customers are facing, whether it’s quick turnaround times, shrinking budgets, or even the broad challenge of protecting print’s role in the marketing mix. They look to us to provide them with the equipment and insight to turn these challenges to opportunities.

The industry’s greatest asset is that for every challenge a print provider runs up against, there are partners -- such as Xerox -- to help guide them through. In our case, we consider the advancements in digital print and expertise to be a major asset. Digital printing remains an industry bright spot, especially as its quality is now indistinguishable from offset, and the burgeoning inkjet market is poised to drive digital adoption even further.

• Q: What are the biggest changes to the way we communicate with one another in the past few years? How would you recommend this industry take advantage of that?

A: I see the rise of social media as the major shift in the way we communicate. And I think this new form of communications -- from email and text messages to Tweets and check-ins -- can be difficult to digest at times while figuring out what information actually impacts you.

That’s where a new opportunity has risen for print providers to step in and help. By getting the appropriate information to the right people in a way they prefer to consume it, such as pairing print with email and personalized URLs, print providers can create more targeted information that drives ROI.

• Q: Looking ahead, what major innovations or technologies do you believe will shape the future of the industry, and why?

A: Right now the industry is focused on high-speed inkjet as the next big thing -- a way to offer extremely large runs of true 1:1 print. While Xerox is very close to bringing its innovative dry ink high-speed inkjet device to market (stay tuned at GRAPH EXPO!), in terms of technology innovation, we’re careful to not just concentrate on one technology.

Our focus is on developing devices that meet our customers’ needs for run size, speed, image quality, substrate flexibility, cost, etc., so I really see inkjet, digital -- high volume and short-run -- and offset printing coexisting well into the future, each chosen based on its strength for specific applications.

It’s not just about technology innovations, though. Combining technology with workflow tools and business development support helps pull the whole package together for our customers, giving them new ways to increase productivity, reduce costs, and provide additional value to their clients.

• Q: What one piece of advice would you like to give to printers and others involved in this industry?

A: Embrace change. The industry and the world are changing in fundamental ways. While this can be uncomfortable and even disconcerting at times, it is also creating tremendous new opportunities. Print providers do not need to take this change on by themselves. There are many capable and motivated partners such as Xerox who are here to help them navigate these fascinating times and grow their capabilities and business for years to come.