(From Yesterday) On November 6, 2002, Oce announced that Ronald E. Daly would be taking over the helm of Oce-USA Holding, Inc., after 38 years with R. R. Donnelley.  Mr. Daly was President of R.R. Donnelley Print Solutions where he was responsible for magazine, book, telephone directory and catalog/retail insert printing as well as premedia services. The announcement caught industry-watchers by surprise. In this exclusive interview with WhatTheyThink, Daly speaks frankly about his transition to Oce and his plans for taking the company to the next level.


Part Two Topics:
- Oce flexibility unveiled at Xplor
- The commercial print market
- Color opportunities
- Books & success with Quebecor
- Engineering and wide-format business
- Archer’s “starring role” at Oce
- David versus a bunch of Goliaths


Part One Topics: From Yesterday - See Part One
- Leaving 38 years of Donnelley service
- Bringing digital experience to Oce
- Oce’s current organizational structure
- Daly’s top goals at Oce
- Restructuring update

WTT: Oce made significant product announcements at Xplor, repackaging the production printing line and enhancing front-end offerings. How was that message received at the show?

RD: Our product announcements at Xplor were extremely well received by the market as well as the press and analyst communities. More than ever, businesses today are driven by the need to do more with less, and Oce addresses that need with our new systems that are multi-functional and expandable. With new systems, Oce is again transforming the digital print marketplace with a fresh approach to digital print. Customers benefit from the elegant simplicity of a single highly functional, configurable product line to streamline processes; use fewer, more capable machines; improve equipment utilization; and reduce training requirements. This holistic product strategy represents a new era for the company and the industry.

Oce recognizes the need for a solution strategy that builds on the past, but creates a bridge to the future, and the AIA architecture seamlessly connects current customers to new capabilities. The result is a long-term investment protection strategy for customers with systems designed for easy customization and a migration path to more advanced technology. The outstanding response from the market to the recent product launch at Xplor using this new strategy tells us we are on the right track.


WTT: While Oce has some presence in commercial print in terms of high-speed digital black & white, the company has historically experienced the most success in the data center and office environments. With your strong commercial print heritage, do you see an opportunity to place more focus on that market?

RD: We certainly do see an opportunity here. Oce has had great success in the high-speed production market place. In the last few years, we have made very strong inroads in the book-publishing arena and have set a standard of high quality for commercial printers seeking the economic advantages of digital printing. With today’s market trend of convergence and the commercial printer’s interest in moving short run pages from offset presses to the flexible digital platform, Oce is well positioned to continue its success in this area. My grounding in the commercial print arena will help to sharpen Oce’s focus on delivering total solutions to this market.


WTT: What about color? You currently have some highlight color capability, a marketing relationship with Xeikon, and the Oce CS 700. Do you see a need to expand the color line, and if so, what are your thoughts about how that could best be done?

RD: We recognize that there is a lot of waste in offset printing as we know it today. In addition to the initial digital color printing applications like variable data printing and short run color, we see an enormous future in just-in-time printing of magazines and books. Our current capabilities are very effective in serving these needs today and will only get better as we introduce the faster additions to the Oce CPS700 line.


WTT: At R.R. Donnelley, you managed the book operation. We assume that includes the digital production line in Harrisonburg VA which has been operating for only a few months. Meanwhile, in the spring of this year, Oce and Quebecor World announced a partnership to implement a digital book printing solution in Martinsburg, West Virginia. Based on your experience, how important is book printing as a target market for Oce and how do you think Oce’s current solutions stack up against customer needs in that segment?

RD: Yes, there are significant opportunities in book publishing for Oce’s high-speed, high-quality digital devices. In today’s market, convergence continues to provide new areas of growth for Oce; and the company’s technological flexibility, inherent scalability, and stability of the product line are ideal for this arena. The management at Quebecor World has spoken publicly about its success with the Oce solution, and we as a company will continue to drive that success at Quebecor and other commercial print sites.


WTT: Oce is also a player in the large format market, primarily in the engineering segment. Do you see any changes in strategy there?

RD: The Wide Format Printing Systems business unit has plenty of momentum with a strong position in several segments. We have added the industry-leading Arizona and LightJet product lines this year in the large-format color graphics arena with the acquisition of the Raster Graphics/Cymbolic Sciences group from Gretag. We also added powerful new remote document management solutions with their exclusive development and marketing deal with Autodesk that brought Oce Plan Center and Oce ReproDesk into close alignment with our reprographic customers’ needs. The quality and range of their printers and scanners have made us a leader in the technical documentation segment. We have a strong position in the commercial reprographer market and will be working to expand our share in the corporate and government markets.


WTT: With Oce’s acquisition of Archer Management Services and Arkwright, the company moved into two new markets - facilities management and substrate manufacturing. You mentioned the success of Archer, but how do you see those two businesses fitting into the overall picture for Oce and what kind of growth rates are they contributing to the business?

RD: Archer Management Services has been in the starring role around the Oce Group for the last several years. Their growth rate is strong as customers embrace office service and document management outsourcing. Archer is enjoying great success demonstrating Oce document management solutions to their customer base which is helping gain incremental business. Archer is gaining new accounts at an impressive rate as their reputation spreads and customers recognize the passion these people bring to their business.

Arkwright has been in the fold for 25 years and operates in the media development space, which Oce pioneered 75 years ago. Media development is a critical element in the future of color printing technologies, and Arkwright is making a great impact on the display graphics market. The Oce Group has consolidated worldwide R&D in this area with Arkwright in the U.S., which also manages worldwide manufacturing and distribution. This is an important business for us.


WTT: Ron, you have only been at Oce a few weeks, but I am sure you already have a lot of great ideas about where you want to take the business. Any final words?

RD: Oce is a very strong company—financially, technologically, and people-wise. We have been expanding nicely—but are still not very well known. We are like David out to slay a bunch of Goliaths. I have my slingshots ready. This is going to be fun.


WTT: Thank you again for your time today, Ron. This has been a very informative discussion and certainly helpful for our members who include many of Oce’s customers and prospects. We will look forward to checking in with you in a few months to get an update.


See Part One.