Oc'e Direct Export in The Netherlands holds the South African market in such high esteem that it pulled out all of the stops to ensure that the latest printing technology was on display at the Print Expo, at Nasrec, in October.
Sean Burgers, product market manager for graphic arts at Oc'e Direct Export, says: “We identified the show as one of our top priorities for 2009. South Africa is an important market for Oc'e Direct Export, and Oc'e South Africa can be proud of its achievement in terms of the technology that it had on the show.”
Oc'e Direct Export is supporting Oc'e South Africa's efforts to penetrate the local graphic arts market further. Burgers says: “The company already has a stronghold in the continuous feed market, and the idea is to expand into this important market segment well prepared and with an understanding of what the customer needs. This ongoing programme kicked off with a PIFSA presentation to industry members at the Cross-Media training centre, in May this year, and has been gaining momentum since then.”
Burgers adds: “Oc'e Direct Export is building upon the vast experience of Oc'e South Africa with additional training specifically geared for the graphic arts market to ensure it reaches its full potential in penetrating this market. We are part of an extremely knowledgeable organisation and believe in sharing case studies and experience garnered from other Oc'e companies with the South African operation, a strategy that has been successful to date.”
The product market manager for Oc'e Direct Export, Jan Joris Raedts, believes that Oc'e's total solution that encompasses not just the exciting new technologies introduced at Print Expo, but also software and business solutions, is bound to ensure its continued success in the marketplace.
The VarioPrint 6000, VarioPrint 4000, VarioStream 7000, CS665 Pro and CPS series of machines all have applications in the graphic arts market, with each system having its own particular strength. For instance, the VS7000 is strong in terms of book printing, while the CS665 Pro is very versatile in terms of finishing options and quality. Oc'e was the first manufacturer in the world to achieve a Fogra system certification for a digital colour production solution with the CS665 Pro. This certification verifies that the system produces consistent and measurable quality according to set standards. This means that offset or litho printers who wish to produce smaller runs or variable data can do so with negligible difference in terms of quality.
“Oc'e's competitors have since initiated activities with regards to Fogra certification for their colour systems, but Oc'e was the pioneer in this and many other instances, leaving the rest of the market to follow its lead,” says Raedts.
Oc'e is extremely proud of the VP6320 Ultra, launched internationally on 10 September, in Chicago. “The Print Expo was the printer's first public showing since its launch,” says Burgers, “and the fact that Oc'e went to enormous lengths to get this brand new machine to a South African trade show underlines the importance that Oc'e attributes to the local market.”
Raedts adds: “The VP6320 Ultra is the fastest cutsheet machine in the world. Oc'e was already the title holder in terms of productivity and market leader in its segment with the VP6250, it is now also the titleholder in terms of print speed with this new 314 page per minute machine.”
The VP6320 Ultra has strong applications, ranging from the book printing market for short run and on-demand book printing to education and variable data printing.
Another new system on show was the ColorWave 600, launched last year as part of the technical document systems portfolio. However, this machine exhibited such good print quality that it also has strong applications in the display graphics market, straddling as it does the technical document and display graphics markets.
Raedts concludes: “Oc'e wants to bring its A-game to Africa and the technology that we had on display at the show underlines this commitment. We have some of the best printing technology in the world coming out of our research and development division and we are ensuring that the South African industry has access to the latest developments.”
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