Oce Collaborates with Michelin to Help Preserve a National Treasure

CHICAGO, Oct. 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Oce, a Canon Group Company and an international leader in digital document management, today announced an exciting collaboration that's playing a key role in helping to preserve one of America's most awe-inspiring wonderlands.

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Oce has joined Michelin North America in supporting the Yellowstone Park Foundation, the official fund-raising partner of Yellowstone National Park. At the heart of the collaboration is the publication of the inaugural edition of "The Yellowstone Park Foundation's Official Guide to Yellowstone National Park." 

More than a maker of tires, Michelin has also established itself as one of the world's foremost providers of travel guides. Yet the company had never produced a national park guide. So when Michelin approached the Foundation about producing the first official guide to Yellowstone National Park, the Foundation immediately recognized the tremendous potential. The only question that remained was how the nonprofit organization was going to fund its production.

"This Guide was an enormous opportunity to help spread the message of the Park, but we didn't quite know how we were going to be able to afford to produce it," says Tom Porter, corporate relations manager, Yellowstone Park Foundation. "A major hurdle was cleared for us when Oce stepped up and offered to print the Guide."

High Expectations, Impressive Results
Oce printed the Guide on the Oce ColorStream® 3000 series inkjet printing system with covers printed on the Canon imagePRESS® system. The resulting 106-page publication captures the magic of a visit to Yellowstone National Park through in-depth, carefully curated content that includes tours, time-maximizing itineraries, insider tips from park experts, and reliable recommendations for sightseeing and shopping, along with full color photos and maps of the park.

"Oce exceeded all of our expectations in terms of the quality of the printing, the quality of the paper, and ultimately what this guide would deliver in terms of its impression upon a visitor or a potential buyer that picks it up," says Porter. "It feels like a high-quality piece that's worth the price that's on the cover and that's worthy of the Michelin name."

"The Oce ColorStream 3000 series inkjet press was the ideal choice because its high-resolution, vivid full-color inkjet printing brings all the wonders of Yellowstone to life," said Kris Albee, Director, Product Marketing, Production Printing Systems division of Oce North America, a Canon Group company.

Attendees of Graph Expo can see a demonstration of the Guide being printed in the Canon booth #400. Limited quantities will be available for attendees to take home with them.

The Foundation expects to raise upwards of a quarter-million dollars from sales of the Guide's initial run of 100,000 copies. That kind of funding is crucial to preserving one of America's most beloved natural treasures for generations to come. The success of the venture also speaks to the larger message of how great things can be accomplished when public and private entities join forces to benefit the greater good.

"The Michelin Guide is a great example of what can be accomplished with a public/private partnership," says Porter. "It really embodies how we work by bringing in partners with expertise to work together for a common purpose, which is to help spread the message of protecting and preserving Yellowstone National Park."

The official fundraising partner organization to Yellowstone National Park since 1996, the Foundation has raised $65 million for over 200 projects in the last 15 years.  In addition to donations from private individuals, the Foundation relies on corporate partners to help fund key projects that are not covered by federal appropriations. Since 2002, Canon USA has been a proud partner of the Foundation, contributing millions of dollars to aid in the preservation of endangered wildlife. Through its Eyes on Yellowstone program, Canon also provides the web cam and supportive technology that makes it possible to feature live streaming video of Old Faithful, allowing millions of people to experience the wonders of Yellowstone.

"The Yellowstone Park Foundation's Official Guide to Yellowstone National Park" can be ordered at http://www.shopmichelin.com or purchased on-site at the park.

About the Yellowstone Park Foundation
The nonprofit Yellowstone Park Foundation (www.ypf.org) has been Yellowstone National Park's official fundraising partner organization since 1996. The foundation works in cooperation with the National Park Service to fund projects and programs that protect, preserve and enhance the natural and cultural resources and the visitor experience of Yellowstone.  The foundation receives no annual government funding; it relies instead upon generous contributions from private citizens, foundations and corporations to help ensure that Yellowstone's great gifts to the world will never diminish. 

About Michelin
Dedicated to the improvement of sustainable mobility, Michelin designs, manufactures and sells tires for every type of vehicle, including airplanes, automobiles, bicycles, earthmovers, farm equipment, heavy-duty trucks and motorcycles. The company also publishes travel guides, hotel and restaurant guides, maps and road atlases. Headquartered in Greenville, S.C., Michelin North America (www.michelin-us.com) employs more than 23,000 and operates 18 major manufacturing plants in 16 locations.

About the Oce ColorStream 3000 Series Inkjet Printing Systems
The Oce ColorStream® 3500 inkjet printing system was unveiled at Canon Expo in Tokyo in November 2010. The series was then expanded in May 2012 at drupa in Dusseldorf, Germany with the announcement of three additional models. The high-speed, high-quality, full-color inkjet printers simplify the transition from monochrome to full-color or even five or six colors. They offer productivity and flexibility for high-speed color and monochrome production of transaction, transpromo, direct mail, book and manual applications. Industry-leading reliability, print quality and media range are testaments to Oce DigiDot® multilevel dot modulation technology.

The Oce ColorStream 3000 series include the entry level Oce ColorStream 3200 printing at 157 feet per minute with a maximum print width of 17", the Oce ColorStream 3500 system which prints at 246 feet per minute with a maximum print width of 21.25", the Oce ColorStream 3700 system at 328 feet per minute with a maximum print width of 21.25", and finally the high speed Oce ColorStream 3900 system which prints at 417 feet per minute with a maximum print width of 21.25". That translates to a range of 344 536 letter images per minute for a single unit to 1818 letter images per minute for a twin configuration – all at high-resolution, vivid full-color, and maximum monthly print volumes ranging from 10 million to 56 million letter images.

Enhanced usability and productivity is made possible by a combination of unique features:

• HeadSafe technology helps prevent nozzle clogging and minimizes lengthy purging processes. The ability to transition between monochrome-only and full-color printing promotes higher uptime and productivity levels.
• Using passive RFID technology, the Oce InkSafe® feature monitors both the proper placement of the ink containers in the press and the ink's shelf-life.
• The ability to print at varying speeds during ramp-up acceleration and ramp-down deceleration phases and to stop and restart without paper waste, increases operational efficiency and decreases turn-around time.

The Oce ColorStream 3000 series inkjet printing systems provide a modular offering in various single and twin configurations from monochrome to full-color up to six color including MICR and spot colors. The production and media flexibility contribute to forward looking solutions that simplify the transition of applications and business models to more sophisticated documents with variable personalization and smarter communication in color.

About Oce
Oce is one of the leading providers of document management and printing for professionals. The Oce offering includes office printing and copying systems, high speed digital production printers and wide format printing systems for both technical documentation and color display graphics. Oce is also a foremost supplier of document management outsourcing. Many of the Fortune Global 500 companies and leading commercial printers are Oce customers. The company was founded in 1877. With headquarters in Venlo, The Netherlands, Oce is active in over 100 countries and employs more than 20,000 people worldwide.  Oce North America is headquartered in Trumbull, CT, with additional business units in Chicago, IL and Boca Raton, FL.  For more information, visit www.oce.com.

Oce and Canon: Stronger together
In 2010 Oce joined the Canon Group of companies with headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, to create the global leader in the printing industry. Canon develops, manufactures and markets a growing line-up of copying machines, printers, cameras, optical and other products that meet a diverse range of customer needs. The Canon Group comprises over 198,000 employees worldwide. Global net sales in 2011 totalled USD 45.6 billion. Visit the Canon Inc. website at www.canon.com.

About Canon U.S.A., Inc.
Canon U.S.A., Inc., is a leading provider of consumer, business-to-business, and industrial digital imaging solutions. With approximately $45.6 billion in global revenue, its parent company, Canon Inc. (NYSE:CAJ), ranks third overall in U.S. patents registered in 2011* and is one of Fortune Magazine's World's Most Admired Companies in 2012. In 2012, for the ninth consecutive year, Canon U.S.A. has received the PCMag.com Readers' Choice Award for Service and Reliability. Committed to the highest level of customer satisfaction and loyalty, Canon U.S.A. provides 100 percent U.S.-based consumer service and support for all of the products it distributes. Canon U.S.A. is dedicated to its Kyosei philosophy of social and environmental responsibility. To keep apprised of the latest news from Canon U.S.A., sign up for the Company's RSS news feed by visiting www.usa.canon.com/rss.

*Based on weekly patent counts issued by United States Patent and Trademark Office.

All referenced product names, and other marks, are trademarks of their respective owners.

SOURCE Oce North America