leading Manufactures by Cindy Krushenisky

From its beginnings in business machines and typewriters, Lexmark International Inc. has grown into a name to know in the laser and inkjet printer world. The company takes high technology and makes it affordable to home and office users.
Although Lexmark has not been in the industry as long as other printer companies, it was established through a long tradition of building machines—International Business Machines (IBM), that is.

Lexmark was formed in March 1991 when an investment firm by the name of Clayton, Dubilier & Rice acquired the Information Products portion of IBM.

IBM's Information Products division previously focused on building office equipment, most notably typewriters. In the mid-1980s, IBM started making printers based on the Wheelwriter typewriter. Later the IBM division manufactured dot matrix printers, and in the late 1980s, laser printers.

But it wasn't until 1992, when the company was known as Lexmark, that it made color inkjet printers. And it wasn't until 1995 that the company made its first color laser printer, the Optra C.

Lexmark has about 7,000 employees worldwide. The company boasts that it has reduced the cycle time for most new product announcements from 24 to 12 months, reduced its debt, and achieved a position among the top companies producing laser printers.

And these claims are backed by cold, hard cash. Lexmark reported that sales of "printers and associated supplies" amounted to approximately $1.8 billion in 1996.

Printing Products.

Lexmark's product line includes black-and-white and color laser printers, color inkjets, and a couple of dot matrix printers. All of Lexmark's models support IBM and compatible computers, but not Macintosh systems.

Lexmark has made it as easy as possible for home and small-business computer users to find its inkjet printers; it has placed them in more than 12,000 retail stores nationwide. And with reasonable prices and easy-to-use technologies, Lexmark's target markets for its color inkjet printers are the small-office users, home users, and students.

Lexmark's JetPrinter line offers something for all segments of its inkjet printing markets, and includes the 1020 Color JetPrinter. This printer is aimed at families and small businesses that want affordable color printing. And the Color JetPrinter PS 4079 Plus is aimed at those who want color and wide-format printing for proofs and sketches.

The laser printers, on the other hand, are marketed for high-volume business users. Lexmark's new line of Optra Plus 16 pages per minute (ppm) laser printers pushes the majority of the company's laser printers into the high-speed laser category. The Optra C remains Lexmark's only color laser printer with a 600 x 600 dots per inch (dpi) resolution for photo-quality printing.

The company develops and owns most of the technology it uses in its printers, unlike many other printer companies, who purchase engines for their laser printers from a third party. Lexmark also has been able to find the right mix of manufacturing and marketing, which enables it to develop printers with specialized features that are attractive to certain customer groups, such as banking, retail/pharmacy, and health care.

Finishing off Lexmark's line of printers are a couple of dot matrix printers. These printers are kept on the market to target business users who still need to print single or multipart forms. For instance, the Lexmark 4227 Forms printer lets businesses print forms unattended, and the Forms Printer 2300 Plus also handles labels, postcards, spreadsheets, envelopes, and bar codes.

Support & Warranty Options.

Each of Lexmark's printers comes with a product warranty, but the warranties vary by printer. Extended service contracts are available for a fee, but the price also varies from printer to printer.

Technical support is available for any Lexmark printer, as long as it is still under warranty. Support is available, via a toll telephone number, Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. EST and from noon to 6 p.m. EST on weekends.

For Lexmark printer users who want technical support for products that have passed out of warranty or for products that have been discontinued, Lexmark charges an additional fee. These customers can pay $25 for the call or $2.50 per minute.

Automated support for popular products is also available at (800) 553-9457 or at Lexmark's Web site at http://www.lexmark.com/tsc/tsc. html. CompuServe members also have access to a user support forum by typing lexmark at the Go prompt.