Leading-edge billing system deal signed for FTSE 100 company   Poing, Germany, April 19, 2002 - Hays Document Technologies (Hays DT), a division of the FTSE 100 listed company Hays plc, has today formally signed an agreement for a new printing system, the first of its kind in Europe, with Oce, the global digital printing company. Hays DT, the UK´s specialist provider of outsourced transactional document management services, will implement an Oce Pagestream 200DSC Twin printing system-capable of producing 72 million A4 images annually-in order to improve productivity and reduce costs. Oce, the market leader in direct mail printing solutions, will install the system at the Hays DT´s plant at Stockport, near Manchester. A key application will involve printing highlight colour bills for Telewest, one of the UK´s leading broadband communications and media groups. Hays DT currently produces over 180 million transactional documents every year, providing value-added print and mail services to some of the UK’s largest companies in the telecommunications, financial services, utility and local government sectors. Senior executives of Hays DT first saw the system when it was shown at the Xplor conference in Orlando last September. Central to the deal is a 24x7 service and maintenance agreement for the new printing system, which will be running continuously after production starts in May. Alan Bennett, general manager of Hays DT, said: “This is a significant investment in advanced technology that will have many business benefits for us. This digital system, the first of its kind to be installed in Europe, will provide us with higher quality and quicker turnaround, which means better service for our customers.” "Our high volume requirements are well served by the new Twin system and the machine will enable us to add capacity and improve efficiency. We had stringent requirements for a fully integrated printing system and the Oce solution, from roll-fed input to A4 cut sheet output, coupled with the appropriate print management software, meets our needs very well. Oce has an impressive understanding of this market, a robust and highly functional technology platform and a proven track record in the printing of this type of application.” Simon Wheeler, director of Oce UK Printing Systems, said: “This is excellent news and we are delighted to have signed the agreement at IPEX. We are very excited to be working with Hays DT, a UK leader in the production of outsourced transactional customer communications." He added: "We see this as the beginning of a business partnership and we look forward to many more opportunities of working closely together." At the heart of the system are two Oce Pagestream 200 DSC web-fed print engines- the first twin system installed in Europe-that will operate on a 24 hour x7 days per week basis. The combined engines produce output at 100 A4 pages per minute, double-sided and with highlight colour. Oce´s high volume production software called PRISMA, with the LCDS module (line conditioned data stream), enables Oce printers to handle Xerox data streams.