‘Outstanding achievement’ technology award and colour recognition for Océ printing systems

Brentwood, Essex – 07 October 2008 – Océ has won an ‘Outstanding Achievement’ award from Buyers’ Lab Inc (BLI) for its highly acclaimed Gemini instant duplex technology found in the Océ VarioPrint 6250 printing system.

The Gemini technology, which involves imaging both sides of the paper at the same time using dual-imaging organic photoconductor (OPC) belts and fuser (TTF) modules, is also available on Océ’s VarioPrint 6140, 6160 and 6200 printing systems. Speeds of up to 250 impressions can be reached in duplex mode across a wide range of media types and weights.

BLI, a world leading independent source of intelligence on document printing products and solutions, said that the Océ VarioPrint 6250 has the simplest paper path of models in the marketplace. It added that, unlike rival devices, there is no need for reverse direction clutches, flipping of sheets or dual printing steps for double-sided tab printing. This ‘all helps minimize reliability issues and operator errors.’ This was seen during BLI’s extensive 10-million impression test, in which the unit proved to be highly reliable, experiencing a misfeed of just one per 333,333 impressions.

The award follows on from other awards, made by Wokingham -based BLI, for a range of Océ’s office colour printing systems – the Océ CS231, Océ CS240 and Océ CS250, which are different-speed versions of the same engine. Those won 2008 ‘Pick of the Year’ for Outstanding Segment 4 Business Colour MFP in the 41- to 50-ppm, 51- to 60-ppm and 61- to 69-ppm speed ranges.

David Sweetnam, BLI European Lab and Research Manager, said; “During the course of our extensive four-month evaluation of the Océ VarioPrint 6250, the true value of Gemini technology quickly became apparent with very impressive paper feeding reliability across all supported media weights, perfect front-to-back registration capabilities and double-sided output at the same rate as single-sided output.”

Bron Curley, Managing Director of Océ UK Ltd, said: “Rather than simply putting two engines in-line, with the reliability risks inherent with that architecture, Océ developed a real single-engine perfecting pass. Customer feedback and the BLI results show that this was the right decision, as all praise the image registration accuracy, media flexibility, intrinsic printer reliability and low energy use as well as its ‘green’ credentials.”

He added: “The ‘2008 Pick of the Year accolade from BLI for our office colour systems is a further acknowledgement of Océ’s growing presence as a best-in-class colour provider. It complements our long-established reputation for providing world-leading digital printing systems and workflow software in monochrome market. Our versatile product is well balanced and can be customised to satisfy the most stringent customer requirements in all markets.”

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For further information, please contact:
Amanda Hill or Emma Buzzle
0870 600 5544
amanda.hill@oce.com / emma.buzzle@oce.com