LAS VEGAS, May 12 -- Oce, a global leader in digital document management and delivery solutions, unveiled Version 2.0 of its Repro Desk print submission and workflow automation software at the IRgA Annual Convention and Trade Show being held in Las Vegas, May 11-13, 2005. This entirely new product platform provides many new advantages to commercial reprographers seeking to streamline print job workflow from the design desktop to the digital print room. At the IRgA show, Oce highlighted three customer-centric elements of Oce Repro Desk 2.0: Oce Client Tools - automates the batch conversion of multiple file types within AutoCAD to save time and maximize print fidelity for architect, engineering and construction (AEC) clients; Oce Plan Center and Oce Drop Box - leverages the security and reliability of the Internet to speed the communication and delivery of print jobs from clients to reprographers; and Oce Repro Desk Professional -- centralizes print job management for improved workflow, job tracking, and job archiving. "Reprographers are increasingly focused on ways to reduce project completion times for their AEC customers as well as to expand and improve the business services they provide. In addition, they continue to investigate ways to reduce operating costs and minimize operator involvement in their print shops," commented Sal Sheikh, Vice President, Marketing, Oce Wide Format Printing Systems division of Oce North America, Inc. "Achieving optimum workflow productivity requires combining pre-production, production and post- production printing tasks into a more cohesive process -- and having the right technology that can automate, integrate and manage entire document workflows from end-to-end. Oce Repro Desk 2.0 software meets these needs head-on," he added. Workflow Made Easy: New Oce Repro Desk 2.0 Brings More Benefits to Reprographers Of primary interest to reprographers are several new capabilities inherent in Repro Desk 2.0 software, which helps them to better receive, preview, route and print jobs in a more integrated and flexible workflow process. These include: Single Workstation -- Multiple Printer Support Oce Repro Desk Professional 2.0 centralizes workflow management. Only one server is required to receive print jobs and work orders from clients or scanners and send jobs to multiple Oce TDS printers. Centralized job management saves time with simplified job load balancing and job splitting, reduces costs by making it possible to balance print volume with service contract minimums across multiple devices, and lowers personnel costs by easily distributing print volume to reduce overtime labor. A single operator of Oce Repro Desk can use the Job Center feature to manage all incoming orders in a central "in-box" and drag-and-drop orders to any device, thereby reducing steps and increasing productivity. Centralized Database -- Easier Retrieval A central database of archived jobs allows for better job tracking and speeds retrieval of files for reprints. Oce Repro Desk 2.0 software includes a built-in archiving system for managing print-ready files. The Document Center feature of Oce Repro Desk saves time searching for files by simplifying the storage and retrieval of documents. It also improves turn-around times with easy reprinting and bid set management. Integration with Oce Plan Center Oce Repro Desk 2.0 offers integration of the Oce Plan Center digital plan room system as an option to Oce Repro Desk Professional. Accessibility to Oce Plan Center allows architects and designers using free Oce Client Tools software to select plan sets from their local archive and instantly publish them for online viewing and ordering by contractors. Clients benefit from reduced costs and time savings by gaining 24x7 access to project plans while authorized host reprographers are better able to promote Oce Plan Center services to their customers, penetrate new markets and ultimately increase their competitive market share. Support for AutoCAD 2006 Reprographers can now offer their AEC clients another important benefit: support for AutoCAD 2006 DWG and DWF files. The Oce Repro Desk Client Tools and Oce Repro Desk products help end-users save time and reduce mistakes by batch-processing the newest AutoCAD file formats. Flexible Network Scalability -- Faster Job Turn-Around Utilizing XML technology and the Microsoft .NET platform, Oce Repro Desk 2.0 provides flexible network scalability. The Microsoft .NET architecture allows Oce Repro Desk work processes to be distributed across multiple PCs. For reprographers, this speeds up throughput by eliminating processing bottlenecks and increases flexibility by allowing hardware to be easily replaced and relocated. Internet Order Submission -- New Jobs, More Business Leveraging the power and security of the Internet, Oce Repro Desk 2.0 software provides a new Oce "Drop Box" service for online print job order submission using Microsoft Internet Explorer. Oce Drop Box overcomes many firewall, proxy server and security problems commonly associated with typical FTP job submission and provides for printing closest to the point of need. As a result, reprographers benefit from a reduction in job turnaround times, elimination of the headaches of troubleshooting FTP complications, and an improvement in business opportunities due to the creation of a true distribute-and-print business model. At the same time, Oce Drop Box gives reprographers' AEC clients tremendous flexibility to improve communication and even project timeliness. Drag-and-Drop Load-Balancing Reprographers can experience increased efficiency by another new feature of Oce Repro Desk 2.0: simplified job forwarding to other Oce Repro Desk locations. Using the Location Center feature of Oce Repro Desk software, print operators can drag-and-drop print-ready orders to other printing locations. This saves time by automating manual steps and allows for geographic load- balancing. Improved Client Software Utilities With Oce Repro Desk 2.0 software, reprographers can offer their AEC customers a better set of client software utilities. Oce Repro Desk Client Tools are user-installable, making them much easier to deploy than the former Oce Repro Desk Remote software. The addition of new submission methods and destinations reduces clicks, increases flexibility and improves customer satisfaction. Scanning Made Simple The latest Oce Repro Desk introduction now effectively separates scanning and printing functions. Using the Oce Repro Desk Scan Center feature, reprographers can easily scan-to-archive, scan-to-print, or scan-to-plan room. This allows for easy specialization of operator roles for more flexible workflow management. Multi-Language Support The entire Oce Repro Desk 2.0 product suite is now available in 12 languages including Japanese. Now Oce Repro Desk AEC customers can easily send work to and receive work from foreign countries. This allows users to simplify workflow in international projects and for reprographers to expand their own business and partnerships overseas. Availability Oce Repro Desk Version 2.0 software will maintain compatibility with Oce Repro Desk Server 1.6, but is designed to replace this earlier version. Version 2.0 will be available later in 2005. For more information, call 800-714-4427 or visit http://www.oceusa.com .