Océ, a technology company, to my surprise is now 130 years old. Having it’s roots in Holland, the company now boasts more than 24,000 employees world-wide, spread-out over 90+ countries. This team generates in excess of $4.5 billion in annual revenues. Here in North America, the company’s 11,000 employees generate roughly $2 billion in yearly revenues from their four divisions (document printing, production printing, wide format printing, and business services). This number will likely grow with the addition of  the first wide-format printing solution taking advantage of the company’s new, patented Crystal Point Technology, The ColourWave 600.

 Driving this technology innovation, according to Patrick Chapuis, President of the Wide Format Printing Systems division of Océ North America, is the accelerated shift in the market demand for color output . As an example, Chapuis referenced Océ customers in Germany who are doing in excess of 50% of their wide-format printing in color. Helping drive the demand for color, the Crystal Point Technology offers users the best qualities of Inkjet Technology (traditional) combined with the best features of LED/Toner printing. Recall, Inkjet technology (used typically by traditional GIS customers) provides: rapid output, ease of use, affordability, and a relatively green solution.

 So what is this Crystal Point Technology you speak of…

 At the heart of the Crystal Point Technology are small, solid, berry-sized objects, otherwise known as Océ color toner pearls. Fed via gravity, the pearls essentially replace ink and are housed in a transparent (woohoo) cartridge – imagine, you can actually see how much you have left (let’s see you do that HP ;0). The crystals are solid and one can draw on paper with them, similar to using a crayon… apparently, they are environmentally sound enough that you could eat them… not suggested though!

 Once ingested by the printer, the pearls are heated to roughly 300 degrees (Fahrenheit) . The heat essentially jellifies the pear into a toner gel and is then jetted onto the media with no feathering. According to the 600’s specs, 1200 dpi resolution is provided. The final step in the process is for the toner to crystallize on to the media. A bond media is required as the jellified pearls need a fiber to grab and adhere to. Benefits of this process include:

- An immediate dry print
- Strong adhesion – try to wrinkle or scratch it, I dare ya!
- an even, semi-gloss finish.
- output is 100% UV resistant to 6 weeks – dependent on the dyes in the toner.

 Some characteristics of the Pearls:

-          available for purchase online from Océ
-          ~500 grams per cartridge at a cost of ~$400 each
-          no shelf life
-          odorless
-          up to 20,000 square feet of CAD output per cartridge

Océ CrystalPoint technology offers significant environmental benefits. The solid Océ TonerPearls used in tonergel jetting release no ozone, odor or fine powder. This makes Océ CrystalPoint technology ultra-low when it comes to emissions. (Image Credit: Oce)

The resulting, fast, dry, solid output is proudly referred to by the company as their “Solid-In, Solid-Out” solution. Essentially… Solid in – pearls – jellify – crystallize – solid-out.

 Perhaps one of the coolest, and most impressive characteristics of this technology is that no special media (like expensive, heavy, glossy paper) is needed in order to obtain a glossy or semi-glossy print… imagine the financial savings… this is huge!

 For the technologist charged with handling the machine, the toner waste is solid, resulting in simple, and clean handling when replacing the cartridges or media.

 Who’s it for?

 Before you rush out and buy one of these bad boys, you’ll need to keep in mind that the ColorWave 600 is ideally suited for mid-volume production houses that crank out at least 10-15,000 square feet of output per month (some of you may consider this to be high-volume). I’m not talking $$$ quite yet but this number will be useful in determining if this would be a cost-effective solution for you. If you start thinking about this, Océ has software that will enable any interested parties to input some numbers, trying multiple scenarios, and determining what your true costs and revenues would be if a ColourWave 600 were to be placed in your workshop.

The Océ ColorWave 600 – A Mid-Volume Workhorse

Created essentially to “ride the wave of color”, the “600” sports the following characteristics:

-          up to 6 rolls of media – 2 or 4 roll version is also an option, each providing 650 feet of paper via 2” or 3” cores
-          direct dry
-          easy load technology
-          no odor, no ozone emissions
-          1200 dpi output
-          internal Linux OS
-          optional post script drivers, accounting software, and drawers
-          42” media width – this could be an issue for those wanting 48” wide output.
-          Target volume of 10,000 – 60,000 square feet p/month
-          Example output speed, 1575 square ft hr in economy mode, 750 square feet per hour in production mode, 250 square feet per hour in presentation mode.
-          A workhorse! The “600” can run non-stop at a 2-day show and churn out some 12,000 square feet of output.
-          Provided reproduction desk software (optional ??) helps to monitor and manage your workflows.

  "With the introduction of Océ CrystalPoint technology, we are unleashing an important wave of innovation that’s changing the face of the wide format printing industry," says Rokus van Iperen, CEO of Océ N.V. "We will deliver high quality color on plain paper and recycled paper. Since the mid-90s, we have been developing this groundbreaking technology. Océ has invested approximately Euro 150 million in developing this technology and anticipates for the coming 15 to 20 years it will be fundamental for developing new generations of Océ color printing systems. Océ CrystalPoint technology represents a major milestone for our company in a market segment we have led since the 1920s. Customer trials with the Océ ColorWave 600 began in March of 2008. Based on these trials, market demand for the product is already very high."  Image Credit: Océ
 

If you were to ask a sales person about the corporate benefits you could realize, they might tell you:
-          this is a single source for your wide-format printing
-          the device can easily replace a 4 or 5 printer shop, resulting in reduced costs for supply, service, admin, office space.
-          Realize a dramatic reduction in your overall production time being 4x or even 6x faster than competing products (think HP 650 or 750)

 The following examples show you a comparison of time to output a project using various devices. For example, to churn out 8 sets of 14 drawings 30” x 42” in size might take:
Hp 5000 – approx 19 hrs.
TCS 500 – 6.5 hours
ColorWave 600 – 1.25 hours

 An example output job was presented where an actual customer who required 4 sets of 5 red line CAD drawings (20 prints total received his job of some 750 square feet of plots in 30 minutes to complete in total.

 If your wondering if your company can afford a ColorWave 600, the company suggests a lease that will run you $2400 per year to start – this cost will vary depending on use. Océ lease program is similar to a car leas where you pay based on mileage, nonetheless, still a very attractive option. As a sample scenario, Océ used a company that might churn out 9650 square feet of output at a rate of $1 per square foot. Costs would run approx $3250, generating a profit of $6400 or a 66% margin. Again, for those interested, the company sales team can provide numerous example scenarios that use a “SmartClick” pricing model to explain exactly what your costs and margin would be based on any sample scenario. SmartClick is the model that the company uses to determine lease costs, enabling users to identify true costs for wide-format color printing – this takes me back to the day when I used to be charged with generating CAD and GIS output for clients or for project bids, then determine exactly what the costs would be – this was often a painful task and resulted in marginal at best estimates.

Indeed this device is beyond the ordinary!

 I applaud the company for coming right out with the pricing of the 600. The lease of $2249 per month may seem confusing at first, however, when you consider that this will include 1,000 smart clicks of output it should be very clear when you see that a standard D-size (24”x36) business graphic (photo realistic) will consume ~4 smart-clicks… that’s about 250 of these at your cost of about $4 each. Note, a typical CAD or GIS plot (D-size) showing 3D output would use up about 2 of your smartclicks.

 To lease a ColorWave 600 you’ll get the following:
-          A 4 roll printer
-          The Océ account center application
-          Adobe postscript and PDF drivers
-          Delivery and insurance
-          Training
-          A service agreement
-          48 month contract

 So, when can I get one?

 If your wondering when you can get one, Océ anticipates that Canadian customers will start seeing the device this fall, US customers can start receiving their ColorWave 600 inn September 08. European customers are already up and running, with more than 30 already in use.

 There’s no doubt in my mind that the ColorWave technology will help production firms and CAD or GIS shops with mid-level volume of output to generate affordable, high quality, color output.  Not bad coming from a company that started off with a group of chemists developing methods for adding the color to butter! IfI had to describe the ColorWave 600 in three words I'd have to say it's: Fast, Clean, and Affordable!

 Pros:
Affordable lease program
Full service, installation, and training package
High quality, fast (11 square. Ft ½ min.) output
All output on bond media
60%+ profit margin on output potential
Optional account center software
A green solution

 Cons:
Lease and smartclick pricing may scare away those who don’t understand it fully

Bond media only - although, does take plain bond or recycled bond media, but also can print onto polyester or backlit film, vellum, translucent paper, or Tyvek

Cartridges seem costly up front (but save substantially in the long-run)
$60-$70k purchase price.

To purchase or lease one of these swanky devices, contact Oce directly. Correction on original comment, ESRI is not a reseller of the 600, rather, re-sellers of the Océ TCS300 and Océ TCS500 aqueous inkjet printers, but not the Océ ColorWave 600.

See Also:

• www.oceusa.com
• Introduction of New Océ CrystalPoint Color Technology
• Images from the event in Chicago