New York, NY – April 7, 2003 – Océ, the leading provider of production-class printing and copying solutions, today announced an enhanced 19” paper width for its industry-leading Océ VarioStream? 7000 family of digital printing systems, giving graphic arts professionals the greater productivity they need, especially for book publishing. The new capability is the latest in a series of refinements and improvements designed to deliver the application versatility and cost-effective performance that experts in the graphic arts market have come to count on from Océ. The new wider paper path enhances productivity and efficiency by enabling increased output from a single print run. Three-up 6”x9” applications can now print at up to 2,335 impressions per minute, the equivalent of 560 250-page books per hour on the VarioStream 7650cx. Supporting both pinless and pinfed paper, the 19” capability provides the application versatility needed to fully meet customer needs. Building on the scalability and adaptability of the VarioStream family and the Océ commitment to investment protection, customers who have already purchased a VarioStream product can take advantage of this new functionality at any time and at no charge, while on an Océ service plan. “The introduction of the Océ VarioStream 7000 production-class printing systems family last October provided the greatest production capacity, application versatility, and lowest operating cost of ownership in the industry. With the introduction of this wider paper path, we are further extending our standard-setting low operating costs by dramatically increasing productivity, especially for book publishing,” said Carl Joachim, vice president of marketing for Océ Printing Systems USA. “The latest advances to the Océ VarioStream family, the most upgradeable production-class printing systems in the industry, demonstrate Océ’s long-term commitment to the graphic arts market. Our Océ VarioStream family provides the rock-solid reliability and efficiency these customers depend on to deliver the bottom-line benefits and shorter time to profit they seek in today’s difficult business climate.” Meeting customer requirements for flexibility and adaptability, the ready-to-grow Océ VarioStream 7000 production-class printing system family offers the 19” paper path option across 18 product models. This new capability can be added to any of the supported VarioStream 7000 products upon installation or in the future should a new application require a wider paper path. There is no charge to add this capability for customers on an Océ service plan. As a result, customers can work without worry, confident in their ability to take advantage of increased functionality, capacity and performance when their business requirements dictate. Océ will be demonstrating the 19” paper path producing different book publishing applications in Booth 2501 at the On Demand Conference. This option is available immediately for VarioStream 7000 production-class printing systems.