ORLANDO, Fla., April 15 -- Oce will be demonstrating three new wide format printers at the International Sign Expo, Booth #1346. Designed to help sign shops evolve their businesses to the next level of productivity and profitability are the Oce Arizona T220UV flatbed printer, the solvent-based Oce Arizona 600 mid-sized production printer, and the entry-level Oce Arizona 60UV hybrid printer. This is the first showing of these three products to International Sign Expo attendees. Oce Arizona T220UV: Flatbed Inkjet Printer Images Directly onto Rigid and Flexible Substrates Many sign shops and digital printing service bureaus are looking for a competitive edge, and most have determined that reducing costs while increasing throughput is a key component to increasing profitability. The Oce Arizona T220UV can give these shops this advantage through reduced set-up costs, faster job turnaround, wider range of rigid and flexible substrates, reduced or eliminated workflow bottlenecks, and reduced materials and operating costs. Because the Oce Arizona T220UV can image directly onto the final, rigid mounting material, several costs are eliminated in the post- printing process including the paper (on which the image is printed), the adhesive for mounting the paper to the rigid material, and the labor involved in this step. The Oce Arizona T220UV flatbed digital printer uses piezo printing technology and UV-curable inks to produce outdoor-durable graphics. It can print directly onto rigid and flexible substrates up to 62" wide by 120" long by 2" thick. It holds substrates stationary on a flat vacuum table while the print head assembly moves across the table to create the print, eliminating image skew problems associated with manual-fed systems. It can print full bleeds, saving time and labor costs in finishing. There is no minimum print size, which eliminates the need to use more material than necessary. Support for digital die cutting workflow is available for the Oce Arizona T220UV with the purchase of Onyx ProductionHouse(TM) or Onyx PosterShop Color Production Software version 6.0 and the i-cut workflow add-on module from Onyx Graphics. i-cut, an automated digital cutting system from Mikkelsen Graphic Engineering Inc., reads cutter marks placed by the Onyx software and automatically cuts where specified, reducing manual labor in the finishing process. Oce ColorBlend(TM) technology is included, which adds light cyan and light magenta to achieve a wider color gamut, smoother mid-tones, and an apparent resolution of 600 dpi. With four print heads per color, the Oce Arizona T220UV can achieve print speeds of up 170 square feet per hour in four-pass mode and up to 85 square feet per hour in eight-pass mode. The z-axis adjusts to accommodate media up to 2 inches thick and ensures proper head height for optimal printing. The Oce Arizona T220UV can print directly onto a variety of uncoated rigid or flexible substrates such as foam-core style mounting board, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) sheets, styrene, aluminum-plastic composites, vinyl, and more. It is ideal for producing exhibit graphics, point-of-purchase displays, construction signage, and indoor and outdoor advertising. The Oce Arizona T220UV recently won the DIMA Printer Shoot-Out Award in the Creative Application, Alternative Substrate category for vinyl window mini-blinds. The Oce Arizona T220UV is expected to be commercially available in the U.S. in the second quarter of 2004. It will carry a U.S. list price of $211,755, including a one year warranty. Oce Arizona 7400UV inks are available from Oce Imaging Supplies, with a U.S. list price of $220 per liter. Media is available from existing sources. The Oce Arizona T220UV requires Onyx ProductionHouse or Onyx PosterShop Color Production Software version 6.0 or later, which can be licensed with the printer. Oce Arizona 600: Outdoor Durability, Production Print Speeds and High Resolution Output 'Faster, wider and higher quality' is the mantra for many shops that are already taking advantage of solvent-based digital printing systems. These shops have seen how solvent-based systems can cost-effectively produce banners, point-of-purchase displays, exhibit graphics and premium-priced vehicle graphics boasting the best warranty in the business. All of these benefits are available in the Oce Arizona 600, which offers production print speeds, a 75-inch print carriage and 618 x 618 addressable dpi output. The Oce Arizona 600 wide format inkjet printer is a reliable, high volume production device that cost effectively enables print providers to offer their customers a wide range of applications with the highest level of quality, making it a reassuring business proposition in today's crowded inkjet market place. With the Oce Arizona 600, print providers can gain a competitive edge by offering premium output on wider substrates with increased printer productivity. A mid-sized, industrial-grade production printer, the Oce Arizona 600 is designed to produce Scotchprint Graphics that are backed by the 3M(TM) MCS(TM) Warranty when produced by a 3M Scotchprint Graphic Authorized Manufacturer. When used with select 3M media and 3M(TM) Piezo Ink Jet Ink Series 5500, the Oce Arizona 600 delivers outdoor-durable graphics backed by a 3M(TM) MCS(TM) Warranty of up to three years outdoors without lamination or five years outdoors with lamination. It offers a near-seamless upgrade path for Oce Arizona 180 users looking for a faster printer that can support wider media, with no loss of 3M or Scotchprint output marketability. The Oce Arizona 600 delivers print resolutions of 618 x 618 addressable dpi and 309 x 309 addressable dpi. It includes Oce ColorBlend(TM) six-color printing technology for overall smoothness and increased detail in light to mid-tone colors. A variety of print speeds and modes are available from 125 square feet to 500 square feet per hour. The Oce Arizona 600 is ideal for both outdoor and indoor applications where image quality with outstanding highlights and production speeds and volumes are required. It offers flexible printing solutions for a number of applications; from banners to vehicle wraps, from paper-based posters to rich, saturated backlit prints. The 75-inch wide format lends itself to a number of applications including 6-foot wide graphics with full bleeds or running two 36-inch wide prints side-by-side, which greatly reduces media waste. The Oce Arizona 600 is expected to be commercially available in the U.S. in the second quarter of 2004. The U.S. list price of printer plus the Print & Go Module is $128,995, which includes a one-year warranty. The Oce Arizona 600 will utilize the 3M(TM) Piezo Ink Jet Inks Series 5500, available from Oce Imaging Supplies. Media is available from existing sources. The Oce Arizona 600 requires Onyx ProductionHouse or Onyx PosterShop Color Production Software version 6.0 or later, which can be licensed with the printer. Oce Arizona 60UV: Industry's First Entry-Level UV Curable Hybrid Inkjet Printer Many sign shops looking to take advantage of flatbed technology have had to decide between lower-cost units that cannot deliver the benefits of a UV-curable ink system or paying upwards of $150,000 for UV flatbed technology. The Oce Arizona 60UV now offers both: UV-curable ink technology at an affordable price of only $39,995 for a complete turnkey printing solution. There are no other printers at this price point that can deliver quality output on both rigid and roll-based media using UV (ultraviolet)-curable ink technology. Other hybrid models in its price range use either aqueous or solvent inks, and the list prices of comparable-quality UV-based models are about four times as much for the printer only. The Oce Arizona 60UV is an entry-level printer that uses UV curable inks to produce large format display graphics on rigid and flexible substrates. Using the collapsible, rigid-media tables included with the system, an operator can print directly onto rigid substrates up to 60 inches wide by 96 inches long by 3/8 inch thick. The Oce Arizona 60UV uses Oce ColorBlend six- color printing technology to deliver an apparent resolution of 600 dpi. Print speeds are up to 55 square feet per hour in four-pass mode. UV-curable inks promise several advantages over solvent-based inks. Since UV-curable inks "cure" instead of "dry," nozzle dropout caused by ink drying in the print heads is avoided. This reduces routine operator maintenance and increases printer productivity. UV-curable inks image well on a wide range of media and on certain materials deliver better printing performance than solvent-based systems. In addition, there is no concern regarding fume exhaust. This eliminates the need to install a fume extraction system and enables the Oce Arizona 60UV to be placed in most any working environment. Printing directly onto a variety of uncoated rigid substrates such as foam-core style mounting board, PVC sheets, styrene, aluminum-plastic composites and more is easy and profitable with the Oce Arizona 60UV. Roll- based media, such as banner and PSA vinyl, in widths up to 64 inches can also be used. Ideally suited for sign shops, reprographics houses and franchise operations, the Oce Arizona 60UV offers affordable, quality, outdoor durable graphics for a wide range of applications such as point-of-purchase displays, exhibit graphics, backlit signs, banners, real estate signs and more. Intended for operation in light production environments, it is user- installable. The U.S. list price of $39,995 includes the Oce Arizona 60UV printer, delivery and installation, a starter supply kit containing one set of inks and one roll of media, Onyx PosterShop Color Production Software and the Oce Arizona 60UV driver, customer training and a one-year warranty. Oce Arizona 7200UV inks will carry a U.S. list price of $150 per half-liter bottle. The Oce Arizona 60UV is expected to begin commercial shipments in the U.S. in Q3-2004.