Estimates are that over 8000 guests from around the world made the journey to Poing to what has become Europe’s largest annual print trade fair, with the exhibition halls filled to near capacity across the four day event.
Organised into seven industry islands, Océ exhibited a wide range of segment-specific document solutions comprised of Océ and industry-partner hardware, software, and business services. The commercial printing displays included Graphic Arts Industry, Marketing Services, Digital Newspaper Network, and Digital Print Providers. Meanwhile, the corporate printing segments included Finance, Telcos and Utilities; Public Services and Education; and Industry and Trade.
In addition, visitors were given the opportunity to witness demonstrations and receive information at the Océ PRISMA software booth, and also at the Océ Business Services stand.
These displays were accompanied by a regular artistic production highlighting three of the key releases at the show, the VarioStream 9000, the CPS900 and the Arizona 60UV. This was coupled with hourly presentations in the showroom’s three auditoriums, featuring speakers from around the world giving personal anecdotes of Océ products in action, as well as technical insights on the workings and applications of the various Océ products.
New products on display included the web-fed Océ VarioStream 7000 series production printer, featuring Oc’s new Enhanced Print Quality option, as well as the new, high performance, continuous-feed Océ VarioStream 9000 technology platform offering an ’intelligent’ migration path and simultaneous duplex colour printing.
The highly anticipated Océ CPS900 colour printing system also made its debut. The step up from the CPS700 that made its first appearance in mid-2002, the system features increased substrate support, and an increase in print resolution from 400dpi to 600dpi. The wide format Océ TCS400 colour system was also featured, demonstrating for the first time its new colour scan-to-file functionality.
On the display graphics side, there were three new products to capture the imagination. The new 1.9 metre wide Océ Arizona 600 mid-sized printer was in action, producing high quality, attention-grabbing graphics. It was in action alongside the Océ Arizona T220UV flatbed inkjet printer for outdoor-durable output. Océ says this printer is ideal for low to mid volume production runs that require high quality production on media up to 62″x120″, by two inches thick. This is Océ’s first entry into the ultraviolet curable digital printing marketplace.
The Océ Arizona 60UV hybrid inkjet sign printer was also a major crowd-drawer. Océ says this printer is the first inkjet printer to combine both flatbed and roll-to-roll printing capabilities with UV ink technology at an entry-level price.
Another important feature of the OpenHouse was the Océ PRISMA software solutions, with the new Océ PRISMAweb drawing top billing. PRISMA workflow management is a modular and scalable solution that can be customised for every business requirement.
PRISMAweb is a production-workflow management solution and e-commerce platform, designed to automate and integrate business-and-production processes using Internet technology. It comes in three price variations for automated quotations, billing, and accounting. Additionally, the new Océ PRISMAsatellite 1.1, an output management system for transaction printing in non-IPDS environments, was shown in eight demonstrations across three market segments.
The full on-the-ground report of the 2004 Océ OpenHouse will be featured in the March 2004 edition of Australian Printer.
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