Venlo, The Netherlands -- Océ, an international leader in digital document management and delivery, today announced innovative demonstrations of digital newspaper production at IFRA Expo in Vienna from October 12–15, 2009.

At IFRA Expo

In booth 230 in Hall B at IFRA Expo, Océ will present digital newspapers printed on the Océ JetStream 2200 and the Océ JetStream 2800 systems. The award-winning Océ JetStream full-color inkjet family is known for quality, speed and reliability. Detailed comparisons indicate that Océ JetStream technology is competitive with offset up to run lengths of several thousand copies.

In addition, Océ will show a life-production on an entry-level digital newspaper solution at IFRA Expo based on the sheetfed Océ CS665 Pro digital color press. The Océ CS 665 Pro systems deliver outstanding, consistent color for reliable output quality.

Targeted and personalized newspapers

Océ pioneered the digital newspaper market with its Digital Newspaper Network. More than 20 million copies have been produced globally since 2001, making Océ the market leader in digital newspaper production.

With the growth of the Océ JetStream series, Océ has helped customers expand from decentralized production of international newspapers to support regional, ethnic minority and other micro-targeted editions with a typical run length of 5,000 or less copies. These increasingly popular versions had been uneconomical and impractical using traditional offset production. However, the newspaper industry is extremely interested in these new digital approaches to help revive a struggling market.

Whereas the Océ JetStream 2200 provides a 21"4 (543 mm) paper width, the new Océ JetStream 2800 has an extended paper width of 30" (762 mm). With this paper width, most newspapers can be produced 2-up.  This productivity increase will further help to drive adoption of digital newspaper production. The Océ JetStream 2800 system provides 130 m/min line speeds. The result makes a compelling case for full-color digital newspapers, such as 1,250 36-page broadsheet newspapers or 2,500 tabloid newspapers per hour without scaling. A two-shift operation can reach maximum daily production of 20,000 or 40,000 copies respectively.

Short-run production for international titles

One of the first Graphic Arts customers to benefit from these new Océ solutions for digital newspaper printing is Imcodávila, located near Madrid. Imcodávila is the world's first short-run production site for domestic and international newspaper titles. The newspapers are produced in color on the Océ JetStream 2200 inkjet color web-fed press, with average daily print runs of 6,000 80-page color newspapers. The first newspapers rolled off the press in June 2009, demonstrating digital flexibility and quality printing at offset speed. The volume is expected to grow continually.

In another example, a successful proof of concept generated personalized versions of The Washington Times National Weekly Edition in cooperation with Océ. Syntops GmbH from Germany compiled the personalized papers in PDF format for printing on an Océ JetStream 2200 system.

"Our Océ JetStream product line is a unique offering in the market of ultra-high speed production color printing, confirming Océ's commitment to continuously offer latest technology for utmost application versatility. The Océ JetStream's award-winning DigiDot technology combined with Océ's proven controller intelligence enables our customers to process most complex and diverse applications on an unparalleled range of substrates and in perfect quality", says Peter Wolff, Vice President Graphic Arts, Océ Production Printing. "With an Océ JetStream, newspaper printers in particular find answers to very specific requirements in terms of color quality and output on very light newsprint paper. Océ today offers the most complete and most versatile product line of inkjet printers worldwide, in terms of both speed levels available, application versatility and output quality."

Niiu: Readers create their own daily paper

The latest project is "niiu": the very first individualized newspaper in the world. The "niiu"-reader creates his own daily paper according to his wishes: He selects content from regional, national and international newspapers and the internet. All this content will be merged into one single new newspaper: the readers' unique "niiu". "niiu" will be printed on an Océ JetStream 2200 system every night and will be delivered to the readers postbox in the mornings. "niiu" is going to be launched in Berlin in October 2009.

The "niiu" press conference is going to take place in Berlin and Vienna during IFRA Expo.

"niiu" is published by InterTi GmbH; the print production will be realised by the RT Reprotechnik Gruppe.