Islamic University of Technology

Department of Business & Technology Management

Topic

Xerography- 50 Years of Technological Innovation

Course Code : BTM 4803

Course Code: Technology Management
Instructor: Dr. Iftheker A Khan
Assistant Professor, Institute of Appropriate Technology (IAT)
Assistant Provost, Sher-e-Bangla Hall
BUET, Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh.

Submitted By:

Samia Jahan Ilma ID: 170061006

Maruf Hasan Rokoni ID: 170061072

Group No. 08
Tameem Sultan ID: 170061082

Introduction
Xerography has established itself as one of the most successful technical inventions in history in
the fifty years after Chester Carlson created the first xerographic copy, "10.- 22.- 38 Astoria," in
Astoria, New York. A variety of unrelated advancements in science, technology, and industry
collide and interact in Xerography. It makes use of a wide range of materials and physical
phenomena, including as non-crystalline or amorphous solids, polymers, photoconductivity, and
triboelectricity, for which there was little scientific knowledge at first. The roles of science and
technology in innovation are hotly debated, and research activities are sometimes categorized as
if cleanly dissectible using words like "basic or pure" science, "applied science," and
"technological innovation."

INVENTION: THE CREATION OF XEROGRAPHY

Xerography, like other technologies, did not appear out of nowhere. Various items for making
copies, for example, were available in the 1930s, but they were complicated, time-consuming,
and expensive. Carlson's innovation combined electrostatic charging and development with the
1870s discovery of photoconductivity in selenium crystals. The picture of a whole document to
be duplicated may be simply projected onto a page-sized photoconductive layer, the
photoreceptor, evenly charged with ions. The reflected light from the document causes selective
photo discharge in the photoreceptor that is proportionate to the incident light intensity. The
resulting picture, which is made up of the residual surface charge, duplicates the document's
information content and may be created using electrostatic attraction for charged powder. The
powder picture was transferred from the surface of the photoreceptor to waxed paper by simple
pressure in the initial reduction to practice. Carlson used the phrase "electrophotography" to
describe his idea.

TECHNOLOGY: THE DEVELOPMENT OF XEROGRAPHY

Carlson's first demonstration was not a technological demonstration at all. The photoreceptor
was a sublimed sulfur film with low visible light sensitivity; the developer was lycopodium
powder; and the sulfur was charged by rubbing with a handkerchief at first. Given this relatively
rudimentary state of affairs, it's not surprise that the image quality created merely proved the
invention's viability; considerably more effort was required to turn it into a marketable
technology.
Between 1944 and 1948, significant breakthroughs were made that paved the way for the
eventual commercialization of electrophotography. Two laboratories working for large-area thin-
layer photoconductors for applications in imaging systems separately found the highly
photosensitive amorphous form of selenium in the mid-1940s. The RCA Laboratories was one of
them, and it was working on vidicon technology, which involved the use of photosensors in
television cameras. The other was at Battelle, which was looking for improved photoreceptor
materials for Carlson's idea. In reality, the photoconductive layer in both methods must have a
sufficiently high resistance to guarantee that the voltage created across the film in the dark by
charging with an electron beam (vidicon) or ions (electrophotography) does not discharge until
the optical picture is exposed. Ion-charging techniques, electrostatic transfer, and dry-ink or
toner materials and manufacturing procedures were some of the other advancements.

SCIENCE: THE IMPROVEMENT OF XEROGRAPHY

With the necessity of on-demand printing, the advent of xerography – a rapid digital printing
process depending on chemical, electrical & software know-how, has eliminated document
obsolescence with low cost & reduced lead time by producing identical pages with color.

At the early evaluation phase of Xerography, glass including amorphous Se was being used in
Xerox photocopier as developers had minimum understanding about amorphous conductivity &
electrostatics so production problems were solved based on assumptions. Again glass was the
most feasible photoconductive material & high resistivity insulator which was produced from
non-crystalline amorphous solid. Since it was not restricted to positional order it could be
manufactured at low cost with any random shape. So before 1960 no relevant research on
amorphous material took place as scientists were more focused on crystalline solids and an
initiative of understanding processes involved in xerography started in the late 1950s. Eventually
some shortcomings of glass were identified which are – inflexible configuration, low cost
effectiveness and health & environment threat due to disposal & manufacture. Through gradual
development, the use of glass in photoreceptors was replaced by organic material–polymer
which was the best electrical insulator known then with other advantages: exceptional
adaptability, vigor of impact, chemical inertness, suitability of high volume applications and
significant cost effectiveness.

INNOVATION: THE MARKETING OF XEROGRAPHY

Xerox's marketing strategy examines the brand using the marketing mix framework, which
includes the four Ps.

Product: Xerox is a significant provider of printing solutions and printers around the world
which offers office & production solutions. Debut of the Xerox Copier Machine happened in
1949 which was the first product of the company but unfortunately created little value as it
required much manual processing with frequent errors, was difficult and messy to use.
Eventually it was unveiled that the masters made by xerography were excellent for offset
printing which cost little with producing copies within minutes receiving the original one. This
generated a motive to re-engineer Xerography & they expanded the market with the first
automated product CopyFlo printer which greatly influenced the cash-flow status of the
corporation. In 1958 they decided to penetrate the market of office solutions with Xerox 914 but
neither market researchers nor other businesses were ecstatic so they established their own
manufacturing capability & became a pioneer.
Price: Initially when printer prices were too expensive to buy, Xerox used to give out the
equipment and the first few prints for free, then charge a few cents each copy after that. When
the cost of printers and supplies of all kinds continues to decline significantly, the base cost was
adjusted to boost margins and minimize the cost of cartridges and the price gap between color
and monochrome printing.

Place: Apart from the U.S and Western Europe, Xerox has a variety of distribution platforms via
which it can reach its various target consumers.

Promotion: Besides print advertising in newspapers and magazines Xerox does ad camping
(BTL) via TV for b2b businesses & for displaying the company's latest product lines.

EVOLUTION: THE EXTENSION OF XEROGRAPHY

With the time being xerography developed steadily. Electronic publishing got revolutionized by
xerography. And then in the late 1930s xerographic computer printers started to be used in day to
day office works. The main factors behind technology capturing the market is its easy way of
effectively writing at a faster pace. At the beginning light beams were used for printing and
constant research and developing the technology took the entire printing industry to achieving
the next step of improved efficiency, which is laser printing. The technology was discovered in
the 1960s. This upgrade gave the printing system a more practical, affordable and reliable
device. The market for printers kept on growing with the gradual growth of use of electronic data
processing in the world of text and graphics. Despite factors like the absence of technical
limitations the main obstacle was the cost, then sudden reclining of the price of semiconductors
and increased computing power.

CONCLUSIONS: THE LESSONS OF XEROGRAPHY

The invention of xerography was considered to be a revolutionary invention in the workplace
throughout the world. This is a classic example of successful technological innovation which is
worthy. It was highly versatile and helpful in the workplace as it can create any number of
copies of whatever document, unlike conventional printing methods which were time consuming
and not easy. The invention of xerography was not that easy and customers getting used to the
process of printing took nearly no time at all. Not all new technology would be a successful
innovation, no matter how impressive they look it should not be permanently evaluated at the
first sight. Timing plays a great role in ultimate innovation. The story of xerograph has
similarities with other innovations that have been occurring in the world.
References
Braun, E., and MacDonald, S. (1978). Revolution in Miniature, Cambridge, Cambridge
University Press.
Carlson, C. F. (1965). Xerography and Related Processes, edited by J. H. Dessauer and H. E.
Clark. Chapter l: "History of Electrostatic Recording," New York, Focal Press.
Mort, J. (1983). "Amorphous Semiconductors: From Selenium to Silicon," Journal of Materials
Education, vol. 5, 197.
Mort, J. (1989). The Anatomy of xerography, and references therein, Jefferson, NC, McFarland
& Company Inc.
Starkweather, G. K. (1980). "High-Speed Laser Printing Systems," Laser Applications, vol. 4,
125.
Williams, E. M. (1984). The Physics and Technology of Xerographic Processes, John Wiley &
Sons, Inc., New York.