Retail Systems 2006 Booth #315 MOUNT LAUREL, N.J.--May 22, 2006-- Oki Data Americas and AccessVia Selected to Deliver a Comprehensive Solution for Sam Ash That Improves Productivity, Increases in-Store Brand Impact and Streamlines Communication Oki Data Americas, which markets its products under the OKI Printing Solutions brand, announced that two months after Sam Ash Music Stores installed its color signage printing system, the #2 music instrument retailer has increased the turnaround of promotional campaigns, automated store communication, enhanced store appearance and saved money. "We constantly bring in new cutting-edge products and have frequent promotions at our stores, which means we must be able to create and distribute merchandising signs quickly," said David Ash, Chief Operating Officer, Sam Ash Music Stores. "By bringing sign printing capability in-store, we are now able to turnaround sign production quickly for last minute sales and new products; avoid the costs, delays and unreliability of shipping; and alleviate the day-to-day administrative workload of our marketing department, enabling them to instead focus on business priorities." The color signage printing solution integrates printing technology and expertise from Oki Data Americas and software from AccessVia, the leading provider of automated sign printing solutions and electronic display technologies for retailers. The solution enables store employees to print new signs and price tags automatically in each store that are designed at Sam Ash headquarters and available on its intranet as soon as new merchandise arrives or prices change. New professional color signs are printed each month to match Sam Ash's monthly promotional flyers and special signs are printed to help shoppers and sales associates focus on the best-valued merchandise. "During the decision-making process, we looked for technology vendors that had demonstrated success in retail sign printing. OKI Printing Solutions and AccessVia provided us the precise solution to meet our speed, reliability, and output needs," said Ash. "The signs we are currently printing have a professional look that helps to make our stores 'pop.' Our store managers are overjoyed with the color sign printing system, and have embraced it for its usability and speed." The automated solution puts at every Sam Ash store a C7350n color signage printer from OKI Printing Solutions, which is compatible with the Web dSignShop(R) Web printing software from AccessVia available via Sam Ash's intranet. Store employees can instantly select from several pieces of corporate-designed signage on the intranet and print whatever quantity they need in vibrant color. Every morning signs are generated at each store for all price changes and all products that arrived the previous day. This assures that new products are merchandised promptly and properly and that staff and customers will be alerted to the latest information. The efficiency and ease-of-use of the system will also allow for Sam Ash headquarters to share and distribute corporate information (i.e., employment forms, company newsletters) over the intranet for local printing. Known for offering the broadest range of music equipment and accessories in the country, Sam Ash was previously designing and printing signs at its headquarters in New York and shipping them overnight to the individual store locations, resulting in high shipping costs, occasional lost shipments and delays. In-store color signage printing eliminates the wasteful overproduction and shipping costs that are inherent in centralized, short-run outsourced printing. "We are proud of the successful results we are seeing with Sam Ash Music Stores' signage printing deployment," said Terry Cruikshank, Industry Marketing Consultant - Retail at Oki Data Americas. "Collaborating with companies like Sam Ash, well-known in the industry for its innovative and forward-thinking approach, and AccessVia, which is extremely well-respected for its depth of expertise and understanding of the retail industry, is an outstanding opportunity for us. We look forward to helping Sam Ash gain the most benefits from its color signage printing system and teaming with AccessVia again to grow our list of successes in this market." Oki Data Americas is showcasing its Color Signage Solution at Retail Systems 2006 in Chicago from May 21-24 in booth #315.