VISOgraphic Installs Océ Monochrome Press for On-demand Publishing

TRUMBULL, CT—September 8, 2010—Océ, an international leader in digital document management and delivery, announced that VISOgraphic Inc. has added an Océ VarioPrint 6160 Ultra digital press as part of a strategic expansion into on-demand publishing.

Since 1946, VISOgraphic has provided quality graphic design, stochastic, litho and digital printing to Chicago businesses of all kinds. These clients depend on VISOgraphic for brochures, direct mail, product sheets, catalogs, magazines, and other printed applications, plus digital and online communication solutions.

To expand its customized, on-demand publishing capabilities, VISOgraphic turned to the Océ VarioPrint 6000 Ultra line of cutsheet printers. As a result, it can now help clients control inventory and waste, while still maintaining the look of offset-quality output. The company expects to run tens of thousands of documents and millions of pages on the new digital press, including applications like short-run books, and static, variable and on-demand collateral.

“With the Océ VarioPrint 6160 Ultra system, we can now bring our customers the highest quality for all types of applications, along with the productivity and rapid turnaround times that are critical to our business success,” said VISOgraphic President Robert V. Dahlke. “We have set the highest standards for digital printing service and satisfaction. The new Océ VarioPrint 6160 Ultra system will enable us to expand our customized on-demand system to provide customers with professional documents that reflect their own high standards.”

Output Quality and Versatility Make an Impression

The Océ VarioPrint 6160 Ultra system is a member of the award-winning Océ VarioPrint 6000 Ultra line of high-speed, high-quality digital perfecting systems known for their groundbreaking productivity. Based on Océ Gemini Instant Duplex Technology, the Océ VarioPrint 6000 Ultra simultaneous duplex digital printers offer significant advances in speed, quality, productivity, media flexibility, scalability, connectivity and environmental sustainability. With up to eight hours of job queuing and scheduling, up to four hours of non-stop performance, and monthly volumes up to 10 million prints, print operations can complete more work in less time, thereby minimizing after-hours shifts and overtime.

“The Océ VarioPrint 6000 Ultra system is a great intro for us into the monochrome market that, until now, we have approached with a more conventional mindset,” said VISOgraphic Chief Operating Officer, John Dahlke. VISOgraphic was impressed with the Océ engine’s output and versatility, including the litho-quality look and the ability to run and duplex heavier cardstock and perforated sheets.

“There are still many applications and customers that need black and white output, and the Océ VarioPrint 6000 Ultra system lets us participate in these opportunities,” said John Dahlke. According to the InfoTrends report entitled “U.S. Production Printing and Copying Marketing Forecast: 2009 – 2014”, production monochrome pages represented 81 percent of all digitally produced pages in 2009, with a retail value of $10.5 billion. Although this market is moving towards color printing, InfoTrends projects that monochrome pages will still represent at least 63 percent of printed pages by 2014.

Moving into On-demand Publishing

“The Océ VarioPrint 6160 Ultra system gets us into the growing on-demand publishing arena and complements our current equipment and bindery options,” said Dahlke. “With the Océ VarioPrint 6160 Ultra system, we can run complete book blocks for our customers, print books on demand, and give clients options on additions and edits, while keeping their costs in line.”

VISOgraphic can now provide a full solution to produce finished variable and static documents, containing both black-and-white and color. The unique flexibility of the Océ VarioPrint 6000 Ultra drawer design will allow the shop to print longer process color runs on a litho press, and then insert these sheets through the Océ engine to produce variable color documents.

“This makes us more competitive in output and cost on this work than employing a color digital press like the Xerox iGEN,” said Dahlke. “With the Océ VarioPrint 6000 Ultra system, we can insert top quality litho sheets and either print on the inserts or seamlessly drop them into the book or document. This gives us the economies of an almost finished or finished product vs. litho and bindery. It saves us time and steps, and gives the customer a premium quality product for lower costs than digital/variable alone.”

Straightforward Productivity

With the Océ VarioPrint Ultra system, VISOgraphic expects to save time and reduce production set up, compared to conventional offset printing. VISOgraphic President, Bob Dahlke, also noted that the capabilities increase productivity without adding costs, such as inserting tabbed or Mylar sheets while a job is running without incurring a click charge. VISOgraphic can also run the heavy duty Océ system continuously across shifts with minimum operator supervision.

“VISOgraphic exemplifies the results that the Océ VarioPrint 6000 Ultra family was designed for – productivity, quality and versatility. With these capabilities, VISOgraphic has added a new chapter to their impressive history of meeting customer needs,” said Eric DeGoeijen, Vice President, Marketing, Océ North America, Production Printing Systems division. “We are pleased to be helping graphic arts providers take advantage of new market opportunities and make the transition to incorporate digital printing into their environment in new ways.”

About VISOgraphic, Inc.
VISOgraphic Inc., founded in 1946, is a full service graphics communications company located in Burr Ridge, Illinois. Its services include graphic design and layout, digital and conventional sheet-fed printing, bindery, mailing, and on-demand collateral management. For further information, please contact Linda LeClercq at 630-590-6100 or go to www.visographic.com.

About Océ
Océ is a leading international provider of digital document management technology and services. The company’s solutions are based on Océ’s advanced software applications that deliver documents and data over internal networks and the Internet to printing devices and archives -- locally and around the world. Supporting the workflow solutions are Océ digital printers and scanners, considered the most reliable and productive in the world. Océ also offers a wide range of display graphics, consulting and outsourcing solutions.

Océ employs around 22,000 people, with 2009 revenues of approximately $3.7 billion, operates in around 100 countries and maintains research and manufacturing centers in the Netherlands, the United States, Canada, Germany, France, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Romania and Singapore. Océ North America is headquartered in Trumbull, CT, with additional business units in Chicago, IL; New York City; Boca Raton, FL; Salt Lake City, UT and Vancouver, BC. North America represents over 37% of Océ’s worldwide revenues, and employment is over 9,000. For more information about Océ, visit www.oceusa.com. Outside the U.S., consult http://global.oce.com.

“Océ VarioPrint,” "Océ” and the Océ logo are registered trademarks of Océ-Technologies B.V. All product and company names are trademarks or registered trademarks, are the property of their owners, and are respectfully acknowledged.

Source: Company press release.