CHICAGO, June 17 -- Oce, a global leader in digital document management and delivery solutions, announced that it has received two BERTL's Best 2004 Spring awards: Best Wide Format Printer Range for the five Oce Technical Document Systems and Technical Color Systems products and Best High-End Print Shop Spot-Color Device for the Oce VarioPrint 5160. This is the second year in a row that the Oce wide format printer range has won this award. In addition, the Oce VarioPrint 5160 received BERTL's Five Stars/Exceptional rating in October 2003. Diverse, Highly Functional Wide Format Printer Range BERTL recognized several product line additions and functionality enhancements that Oce made to its award-winning monochrome wide format printer range in determining the Best Wide Format Printer Range award this year. The new Oce TCS400 provides wide format color printing, copying, and scanning for CAD and GIS-related applications. Small departments and workgroups benefit from fast, easy, and economical walk-up digital copying with the new Oce TDS300. With the addition of these new products, BERTL states that "Oce has reaffirmed its position as the pace setter" in both the print for pay and corporate/government markets, from centralized high-volume applications to departmental walk-up systems. Enhancements to the entire line, which includes the Oce TDS400, Oce TDS600 and Oce TDS800, range from the new Oce Power Logic® XPe controller, driven by Microsoft® XP embedded technology for a secure, state-of-the art operating system, to two new software products. Oce Account Center cost recovery software enables users to capture and account for all printing, copying and scanning on the system with one interface. Oce Print Exec(TM) Workgroup streamlines wide format printing and eliminates desktop software requirements with web-based print job submission from any desktop in the enterprise right to the controller. The value of the quality and durability of Oce products again receives praise in this year's award citation. "In a world increasingly dominated by disposable electronics, it's good to know that there are still some companies who'd rather build a machine to last a decade than churn out a series of flimsy devices with built-in obsolescence." Reference is made to the Oce reputation for customer care. "Oce's customer service is also exceptional. The company is known for its quick resolution of problems, as well as its exceptionally high customer satisfaction ratings." Concluding its review of the Oce wide format products, BERTL states that while each particular model may have a different target market, "what each of these machines has in common is its overall reliability and valuable contribution to a print shop, CRD or department user." Flexibility is Key to Best High-End Print Shop Spot Color Device Award According to BERTL, the Oce VarioPrint 5160 received this award for "its combination of versatility, functionality and a build sturdy enough to withstand the rigors of heavy-duty production. The Oce VarioPrint 5160 is an exceptional print system for high-level print-for-pay operations, boasting several features that are not available anywhere else in the market." The Oce VarioPrint 5160 is the flagship system in the new Oce VarioPrint 5000 family -- the first family of cut-sheet digital printing and publishing solutions to deliver production-class advantages to corporate and commercial work centers. The Oce VarioPrint 5160 is also the first production system able to switch from single to two-color printing or MICR printing using its interchangeable Quick Change Developer Station (QCDS). The QCDS enables users to quickly switch toner so they only have to purchase a single system to print monochrome, MICR, and one-pass, two color Oce CustomTone(TM) highlight color applications. With two-tone printing and MICR printing available in a single device, commercial printers and other customers no longer need to purchase separate systems to offer specialized services. The BERTL report notes, "The Two Quick Change Developer Stations which make this possible are relatively easy to maintain and offer a level of flexibility not found elsewhere." The Oce VarioPrint 5160 has a print speed of up to 162 images per minute with a maximum monthly volume of up to four million pages. As a complete solution, Oce hardware, software, and professional and support services deliver the rock-solid reliability, application versatility, and cost- effective performance that define production-class. This award confirms the Oce commitment to providing superior, production-class digital printing solutions that deliver the versatility, reliability, productivity, and investment protection customers need in today's business environment. Included with the Oce VarioPrint 5160 is a basic version of Oce PRISMA(TM) architected workflow software. Combined with Oce PRISMA software, the Oce VarioPrint 5160 is a fully open system. It can receive data input and workflows from a wide variety of sources and can output those workflows to a wide variety of other devices. Document experts can count on Oce PRISMA software to maximize the performance and cost-effectiveness of their operations, independent of system, location or print device. "We are honored to have products from both Oce divisions distinguished by receipt of the BERTL's Best awards. This further underscores the Oce commitment to providing innovative and reliable solutions for professional printing environments that help our customers work more productively and return more to their bottom line," said Ron Daly, President and CEO of Oce North America, Inc. To view the BERTL report on the Oce VarioPrint 5160, visit http://www.oceusa.com/bertl5160 . For the BERTL report on the Oce wide format printer range, visit http://www.oceusa.com/bertltdstcs . For an online demonstration of the Oce TDS400, Oce TDS600 and Oce TCS400, visit http://www.peopleplacesprinters.com . BERTL's Best Spring Awards BERTL embarks on an intense period of research beginning in January. BERTL analysts review every major new corporate-level copier, printer, color, production and multifunctional device introduced to the market. As part of their research, BERTL analysts take into consideration overall value for money, competitive advantage, device use and accessibility, robustness of build, functionality that is delivered as part of the standard product offering, modularity of design and upgrade path to more extensive functionality, value-added software that is part of the product offering, network management utilities and potential return on investment. In addition to its own research, BERTL takes into consideration feedback from users, product resellers, and in-depth competitive studies. BERTL analysts then recognize a very small, select group of devices with the highly prestigious BERTL's Best Spring Awards.