Oce Arizona 550 GT Printer Helps Print Professionals Save Money and Boost Business

CHICAGO, Oct. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Oce, an international leader in digital document management, is pleased to offer new ways for graphic arts printers to reduce their large format digital printing costs and increase revenue by opening up new business opportunities with the Oce Arizona® 550 GT printer. Oce will be demonstrating the Oce Arizona 550 GT UV flatbed printer in its booth #1217 at the Graph Expo 2010 show in Chicago, October 3-6, 2010.

With high print speeds, the Oce Arizona 550 GT printer is capable of producing point of purchase- (POP) quality prints without sacrificing any of the award-winning print quality for which the Oce Arizona Series is famous. Production print speeds of 433 square feet per hour enable users to print more than 100 four- by eight-foot boards in a single eight-hour shift. With this productivity, print professionals can confidently take on peak demand and rush jobs. It reduces the risk for businesses wanting to make the transition from analog to digital printing by providing all the print quality they need at production speeds.

The Oce Arizona 550 GT printer uses UV curable inks and Oce VariaDot™ imaging technology to deliver near-photographic image quality for nearly any application. Designed as a true flatbed system, it can print on a wide variety of rigid substrates up to 49.2 by 98.4 inches in area and up to two inches thick. It also offers a Roll Media Option for printing onto flexible media up to 86.6 inches wide.

The Oce Arizona 550 GT printer is a member of the Oce Arizona Series of UV flatbed printers. With 2,000 platform shipments to date, the Oce Arizona Series is the world's number one selling UV flatbed product family, outselling all competitors combined.

Costs a third less than comparable systems

With minimal set up times and fast, high-quality printing, turnaround times are quick enabling more work to be produced per hour. The Oce Arizona Series was designed using an efficient and simple engineering approach that makes it much more affordable than comparable systems -- as much as 30-40% less than comparable, competitive UV-flatbed systems. That reduces capital outlay for printing firms and enables them to acquire best-in-class print quality and application versatility. The Oce Arizona 550 GT printer provides customers with an extremely low ongoing cost of operation through its variable dot imaging technology and associated low ink consumption rates with minimal waste.

Opens the door to new business and applications that command premium prices

With the Oce Arizona 550 GT printer, print professionals can offer premium priced services and achieve more competitive prices for their work. The Oce Arizona 550 GT printer can print on irregularly shaped or non-square items, heavy substrates such as glass, or materials that have an uneven surface such as wood. This is an important advantage over competitive rigid-capable printers that use belt or friction-based media feed systems, as they can only print on square-cornered, lightweight materials of uniform thickness. The true flatbed architecture of the Oce Arizona 550 GT printer enables printing on anything that is reasonably flat up to two inches thick -- from a hockey puck to a DVD to a door or a piece of painted aluminum. This creates many new revenue opportunities for print professionals, making short run jobs economical but with a high production speed to handle peak demands for rush jobs.

The White Ink Option enables under-printing for non-white media or objects, over-printing for backlit applications on transparent media and/or printing white as a spot color. Under-printing white ink provides a base for non-white surfaces upon which color can be added, giving print professionals the ability to expand their range of offerings to include specialty applications. Over-printing white ink provides a diffusion layer for backlit applications that will be viewed from the unprinted side, enabling print professionals to produce high quality backlit images for point of purchase applications. The ability to also print white ink as a spot color enables white features of images to be highlighted for greater effect.

The Roll Media Option gives print professionals the ability to print onto flexible media including vinyl, self-adhesive vinyl, scrim banner, paper and blue backed paper without compromising the rigid printing workflow.

Print professionals can use the Oce Arizona 550 GT printer to expand into more exotic applications that command premium prices, from parts templates for manufacturing, CD covers and wallpaper, to fast food menus and fabric, and anything needed for sign and display.

Oce Display Graphics Systems

Oce Display Graphics Systems is a leading provider of professional, large format solutions for indoor and outdoor color display graphics applications. Oce solutions are specifically designed to enhance the revenue and profit opportunities for service providers by combining hardware with workflow software and the expertise to help companies expand into digital large format color. From extremely high-quality UV curable flatbed printers to outdoor-durable roll-based systems, Oce offers a total solution including hardware, software, imaging supplies, finishing systems, service & support, and financing. Customers benefit in working with a full-service partner they can count on to help their businesses grow.

About Oce

Oce is a leading international provider of digital document management technology and services. The company's solutions are based on Oce'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 Oce digital printers and scanners, considered the most reliable and productive in the world. Oce also offers a wide range of display graphics, consulting and outsourcing solutions.

Oce 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. Oce 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 American revenues represent approximately half of Oce's worldwide business, and employment is approximately 10,000. For more information about Oce, visit www.oceusa.com. Outside the U.S., consult http://global.oce.com.

"Oce" and the Oce logo are registered trademarks of, and "Oce VariaDot" is a trademark of, Oce-Technologies B.V. "Oce Arizona" is a registered trademark of Oce Display Graphics Systems. All other product and company names are trademarks or registered trademarks and are the property of their owners and are respectfully acknowledged.

SOURCE Oce North America