More than three-thousand customers from over 70 countries attended the Océ OpenHouse 2003 in Poing, outside Munich, Germany, in May this year. The OpenHouse celebrated its 10th anniversary this year and has evolved from modest beginnings into a large annual event for digital printing and document management.

The event slogan was "The Enterprise Place" and the 6000 m² show had something for every working environment. This year the focus was on the special-event days for particular industries or sectors, providing an opportunity for people from these segments to attend presentations and workshops about printing and document management in their fields.

Special focus days were held for the various sectors, including the public service, education, commercial printing, finance, and for companies from trade and industry. Other events were the focus day for facility services and a discussion forum for digital colour print issues.

Océ again showcased a huge array of print solutions for just about every demand profile. The focus was on real-life systems: the solutions that customers actually use to meet their printing challenges. These ranged from a direct-mail print line with special coding on envelopes by means of invisible computer-readable ink, to graphic arts applications such as book-scanning.

OpenHouse 2003 saw the unveiling of the new VarioPrint 3090. Designed for monthly print volumes of 150 000 to 500 000 pages, this high volume printer facilitates long, unattended print runs. This digital press is ideal both for classic print service providers and for transactional-type printing.

Software is becoming ever more important for Océ. Not only did software feature in every single print line in the exhibition hall, it also took a starring role at two large booths - one with software solutions for commercial printing and one for corporate printing.

A second development stage of the popular digital continuous feed printing system VarioStream 7000 was introduced at the OpenHouse. The Enhanced Print Quality option is new patented technology for toner transfer that achieves a new standard in printing quality - and at high speeds. The second generation VarioStream manages 1000 A4 pages per minute. Companies in the graphic arts industry can now achieve decisive competitive advantages for Print on Demand.

Also on show this year was the VarioPrint 5000, the digital production presses for cutsheet printing. After a six-month trial period, the VarioPrint 5115 and 5160 are now officially available. The printer offers high quality and printing speed on a variety of print media, a wide choice of print formats and, particularly with Océ CustomTone, printing with deco and corporate colours. Users profit from minimal downtime and brief cleaning cycles, as well as fewer paper jams.

For more information contact Océ SA, 011 661 9449.