Océ Expands Display Graphics Sales Channel in the U.S.

Trumbull, CT – Océ, an international leader in digital document management and delivery solutions, today announced an agreement with Advantage Sign Supply, Inc. (ASSI) for ASSI to become an authorized reseller of Océ Arizona® Series of UV curable flatbed printers in the US. ASSI will be selling the Océ Arizona 200 GT, Océ Arizona 250 GT, Océ Arizona 350 GT and the Océ Arizona 350 XT printers. ASSI is the only authorized reseller of the Océ Arizona brand of printers in the US in addition to the Océ direct sales organization.

"This expansion of our display graphics sales capability increases customer access to the popular Océ Arizona Series printers and supports our goal of dramatically increasing Océ’s market presence in the US," says Patrick Chapuis, President, Wide Format Printing Systems division of Océ North America. "ASSI has a solid reputation for customer service, a strong leadership team and a large customer base. We look forward to a long term relationship with them."

By making use of ASSI’s national scope, Océ increases its sales coverage almost four fold. According to Lyra Research, the UV curable hardware and ink segment of the large format display graphics market is expected to grow 13 percent by 2012 (State of the Wide-Format Ink Jet Market: Observations from SGIA, November 2008, Lyra Research.). The strategic alliance with ASSI enables Océ to further penetrate the growing US market with the Océ Arizona flatbed printer series – a product range that has earned more awards than any other flatbed printer on the market today.

ASSI will focus its sales on the sign and graphics industry. Océ will support ASSI in its selling activities and provide additional services including delivery & installation, warranty support, and on-going, post-warranty maintenance services.

"Advantage Sign Supply is excited to become an authorized Océ reseller featuring the Océ Arizona flatbed line," says Russ Herman, President, ASSI. "This brings two strong brands together that will provide great value to our customers - Advantage Sign Supply with its national coverage of sales and service expertise combined with Oce's superior products that deliver high quality, high performance, and dependable output."

Océ Arizona Series Printers
The Océ Arizona Series of printers offers versatility to produce nearly any display graphics application. All can print directly onto a range of rigid media and are ideal for producing a wide variety of display graphics such as event and exhibit graphics, point-of-purchase displays, limited-term signage, transit advertising, and directional signage. The Océ Arizona 350 XT printer can print directly onto rigid media up to 98.4" x 120" and up to 1.89" thick; the Océ Arizona 350 GT, Océ Arizona 250 GT and Océ Arizona 200 GT models can print onto rigid media up to 49.2" x 98.4" and up to 1.89" thick.

All models can be equipped with a Roll Media Option, giving customers the ability to print onto flexible media including vinyl, self-adhesive vinyl, scrim banner, paper and blue backed paper.

The Océ Arizona 350 XT and the Océ Arizona 350 GT printers can be upgraded to include a White Ink Option to enable printing on non-white media and to create vivid backlit or day/night displays.

The Océ Arizona 200 GT printer – designed for light production environments – can be upgraded to the Océ Arizona 250 GT version to take advantage of higher production speeds.

All Océ Arizona Series printers use UV curable inks and Océ VariaDot™ imaging technology to deliver near-photographic image quality for nearly any application. And they all share the same robust architecture and deliberate design that offer the Océ values of quality, reliability, productivity and user-friendliness.

The Océ Arizona Series has been recognized throughout the world for exceptional print quality and design innovation since the introduction of the original Océ Arizona 250 GT printer in September 2006. Awards to date include:
- DPI Vision Award 2006, Océ Arizona 250 GT printer
- viscom INNOVATION Award 2007, Océ Arizona 250 GT printer
- DPI Product of the Year 2007, Océ Arizona 250 GT printer
- Digital Output® Readers’ Choice Top 50 2007, Océ Arizona 250 GT printer
- Gold Medal of Poznan 2008, Océ Arizona 250 GT printer
- DPI Product of the Year 2008, Honorable Mention 2008, Océ Arizona 350 GT printer
- GRAPH EXPO® Worth-A-Look 2008, Océ Arizona 350 GT printer
- Digital Output Readers’ Choice Top 50 2008, Océ Arizona 250 GT printer
- BERTL® 4.5 Star Outstanding Rating 2009, Océ Arizona 350 GT printer
- Wide-Format Imaging, Top Flatbed 2009, Océ Arizona 250 GT printer