First Océ ColorStream 3500 installed in Belgium
Inkjet color printing will improve document flow at NRB
Venlo, The Netherlands, 29 May 2012 — Océ, an international leader in digital document management and delivery and a Canon Group company, today announced that NRB, one of the main suppliers of information and communication technologies (ICT) in Belgium, has just inaugurated an Océ ColorStream® 3500 printing line. An investment which is part of the renewal of its offering for managing document flows.
70 million color pages per year and more
Last January, NRB was the first Belgian company to roll out the inkjet-based continuous feed production press Océ ColorStream 3500. In fact, NRB installed two twin machines that offer unrivalled flexibility. The systems work well for both single-sided and two-sided printing depending on whether the machines are coupled or not in their L-shaped Twin configuration. This configuration allows up to 1010 A4 size images per minute to be printed in one to four colors with the extremely efficient HeadSafe technology that protects unused color heads when printing monochrome.
The future proof Océ ColorStream 3500 systems leave room for growth at the NRB printing center, which produced 70 million pages in 2011 – mainly invoices, statements, pay slips, etc. NRB ensures total document flow management, from the time the data are received up to the time they are deposited with the postal services.
Sebastian Landesberger, Executive Vice President Océ Production Printing: “The Océ ColorStream 3500 offers productivity and flexibility for high-speed color of transaction, TransPromo and direct mail applications. The twin configuration installed at NRB easily supports monthly volumes up to 32 million A4 which will open up new chances and offer growth potential for NRB and their color business. Furthermore, the optional 5th and 6th color can be utilized to add extra value to applications by using special inks, e.g. customers’ corporate colors when needed.”
White paper printing
“NRB must offer complete, comprehensive document management,” said Georges Poÿsat, in charge of presales. “Up to now, we have printed mainly in black & white over preprinted color documents – something we wanted to overcome. Color has become an important element for our customers’ image, they want to be able to reproduce their logo and their graphic identity properly. But solutions available on the market up to now did not satisfy their requirements in terms of cost, speed and flexibility. Since the advent of inkjet, we have found the best solution is the Océ ColorStream 3500. We can now produce digital documents in color, with a totally variable content, both in terms of text and images, on a white paper web.”
According to Georges Poÿsat, thanks to the savings obtained, the overall cost for color printing is now comparable to black & white. Flexibility is the key word: upstream from printing, it is possible to manage all the workflow with the Océ PRISMA tools, whatever the data entry point, which varies for each customer. “The comprehensive Océ approach was also a selection criterion,” added Mr Poÿsat. “Océ supplies not only the technology but also the support for the whole of the value chain and valuable help with the color approach, which is a new business for us.”
docTalk
The new Océ ColorStream 3500 lines are part of a much larger NRB project to restructure the document management offering, called docTalk. The whole chain has been re-engineered, from the flow to stuffing envelopes.
Daniel Eycken, NRB Marketing Manager, explains: “We had two challenges: start using color and integrate the digital communication channels – internet, email, mobile telephony, tablets... As an ICT company, we wanted to offer end-to-end solutions to satisfy all requirements: paper or digital documents with the same look & feel, and with every possible interaction between the two. Our customers are very realistic. Even though they are increasingly using the digital channels, in parallel they are still using paper document flows. But they want to optimize them and to make the most of their advantages.”
Personalized digital color printing plays a major role in this project which is open to new communication models such as TransPromo, combining the transaction document and the promotional message. “Invoices cost money,” continues Daniel Eycken. “Why not make them more appealing by using them as an optimized method for communicating with customers? We are now running TransPromo pilots. We are ready.”
About NRB
With a turnover of 209 million euros and 1150 employees, NRB is one of the top three ICT service companies in Belgium. NRB was created in 1987 by a group of partners – headed by the Ethias insurance company – in order to pool their IT services. The company has progressively increased its offering and opened up to new customers. In addition to hosting services, they added all the elements of a global ICT solution: IT infrastructure design and management, applications development and maintenance, quality control and disaster recovery.
Over the past two years the company has acquired a new dimension with the acquisition of Adinfo (an ICT services specialist for the public sector) and the subsequent creation of xperthis (IT for hospitals). So it can now offer general solutions (datacenter & managed services) and tailormade services aimed at specific markets such as the financial market, the public sector, public utilities, the social sector and healthcare.
For more information, please contact:
Nick Gale
Manager Media Relations
Tel +31 77 359 5628
Email nick.gale@oce.com
About Océ
Océ is one of the leading providers of document management and printing for professionals. The Océ offering includes office printing and copying systems, high speed digital production printers and wide format printing systems for both technical documentation and colour display graphics. Océ is also a foremost supplier of document management outsourcing. Many of the Fortune Global 500 companies and leading commercial printers are Océ customers. The company was founded in 1877. With headquarters in Venlo, The Netherlands, Océ is active in over 100 countries and employs some 20,000 people worldwide. For more information visit www.oce.com.
Océ and Canon: Stronger together
In 2010 Océ 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 197,000 employees worldwide. Global net sales in 2011 totalled USD 45.6 billion. Visit the Canon Inc. website at www.canon.com.
About Canon Inc.
Canon Inc., headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leader in the fields of professional and consumer imaging equipment and information systems. Canon’s extensive range of products includes copying machines, inkjet and laser printers, cameras, video equipment, medical equipment and semiconductor-manufacturing equipment. Originally established in 1937 as Precision Optical Industry, Co., Ltd., a camera manufacturer, Canon has successfully diversified and globalised to become a worldwide industry leader in professional and consumer imaging systems and solutions. Now with over 197,000 employees worldwide, Canon has manufacturing and marketing subsidiaries in Japan, the Americas, Europe, Asia and Oceania; and a global R&D network with companies based in the United States, Europe, Asia and Australia. Canon’s consolidated net sales for fiscal 2011 totalled $45.6 billion. Visit the Canon Inc. website at: www.canon.com.