While a lot of people may think of companies like Kodak or Canon when they think of printers, the Lexmark company has worked hard to gain ground among its competitors. Operating in locations such as France, Australia, Scotland, Mexico, and Kentucky and Colorado, Lexmark is a spinoff of the IBM company. In a short period of time, Lexmark has grown to be a multi-billion dollar company with a strong international presence. In the later portion of the 1980’s, IBM was faced with a lot of competition chipping away at its market share. IBM downsized and spun off some of its divisions, one of which included Lexmark in 1991. There were a number of new innovations in they way the smaller company did business, one of which included teams of employees on the production lines, intended to make the process more efficient. It was one of the first times decisions were left to the workers instead of management. Following a few bumpy starts, these employees created new products that stood out in the market, and Lexmark quickly gained a reputation as being a great place to work.
Reducing the middle management team meant relying on an aggressive sales force to spread the word about the Lexmark product. Their line included a dot matrix printer for home and work, a PostScript-compatible inkjet printer, and research and development in the field of laser printing. The first of these laser printers bearing the Lexmark name were Macintosh compatible and cutting edge.
Over the course of the next five years, Lexmark grew its international division, including its presence in the Pacific Rim. There was an introduction of a new series of network laser printers in 1993, and by 1994, Lexmark was a respected member of the printing community. In 1995, the MarkVision printer was introduced and was considered the most comprehensive printer management system of its time. This system allows office workers to view all available printers on their computer and to check on the print status of a job right from their desktop. This meant no more unnecessary trips to the printer room just to “check on things.” It also allowed printer settings to be easily changed through a remote operator panel. This meant that a systems administrator could handle printer issues from one central location. By the end of that year, nearly 40% of Lexmark’s revenue was coming from outside of the United States.
Today, Lexmark continues to be one of the most popular printer brands on the market. Both home and office users rely on Lexmark products to meet their printing needs. The future is bright for this once small company, and they plan to take advantage of the various growing markets and printer developments.