Océ introduces the world's fastest duplex printer

New Océ Gemini Instant Duplex technology is a breakthrough in high speed, double-sided digital printing

  • 250 double-sided A4 prints per minute sets new speed record in digital printing

  • Océ Gemini Instant Duplex technology establishes new productivity benchmark

  • Perfect image registration is new quality standard for digital duplex printing

Venlo, The Netherlands, 27 March  2006—Océ N.V., a global leader in digital document management and delivery solutions, today unveiled the Océ VarioPrint 6250 cutsheet printer featuring the new Océ Gemini Instant Duplex technology. Designed for high-end commercial and corporate printing markets, the Océ VarioPrint 6250 produces 250 duplex A4/letter or 132 duplex A3/ledger prints per minute, making it at least 70% faster than all other high volume, cutsheet duplex processes when printing on larger formats. The Océ VarioPrint 6250 was formally launched on March 27th at Océ OpenHouse 2006 near Munich, Germany.

For the way professionals print

The Océ VarioPrint 6250 matches the way professionals want to print today. product-varioprint6250_p2_modD.pngOver 80% of the jobs produced on high volume cutsheet systems are double-sided prints according to Océ market studies. But all existing systems are designed for simplex printing. To produce double-sided prints, each sheet must be fed through the printing process twice. The Océ VarioPrint 6250 uses Océ Gemini Instant Duplex technology to press toner images into both sides of the paper instantaneously. This results in perfect print registration and offset-like quality. 

The results for users will be higher print productivity, greater operational efficiency and lower printing costs. Gemini is Latin for 'twins' and is one of the constellations of the zodiac. Océ chose the name to underscore the new technological approach to double-sided printing.  

Leading the way in production printing

'This breakthrough technology reaffirms our commitment to lead the digital production printing market,' says Océ CEO Rokus van Iperen. 'We have backed that commitment with continuous R&D investments. The Océ VarioPrint 6250 and Océ Gemini Instant Duplex technology prove Océ's ability to innovate rapidly, to address ever-changing market opportunities and to surpass customer expectations. Our high speed printing organization has led the way in continuous-feed printing for decades. Now we bring the same kind of innovation to high speed cutsheet printing.'
 
The Océ VarioPrint 6250 will offer new opportunities to commercial printshops who can build their business by taking on more jobs, producing more double-sided output in less time and offering a higher service level to their customers. Thanks to its high speed and quality it is a new alternative for graphic arts printers for the short-run production of books. Another key market for the Océ VarioPrint 6250 is the in-house corporate printroom where higher speed duplex printing will mean more efficient production of manuals, technical documentation and other corporate information. The Océ VarioPrint 6250 is suitable for production volumes of between 600,000 and 8,000,000 prints per month. 

Paper Logic and other new printing techniques

In addition to Instant Duplexing, Océ Gemini features numerous technological innovations. Advanced Active Registration technology uses intelligent sensors and direct drive motors to ensure perfect sheet positioning and print registration. The single-pass technology supports perfect registration for books, manuals and other publications, since the system prints both sides simultaneously. To ensure correct printing on pre-printed and pre-punched stocks, Océ employs a new technique called Paper Logic which takes the guesswork out of paper orientation. The resulting system performance will enable printing professionals to move jobs from offset to on-demand digital printing. 
 
The Océ VarioPrint 6250 has the largest paper input/output capacity for larger media sizes such as A3, ledger and RA3. It supports A4, letter, A3, ledger, oversized and custom size media as well as tabs and inserts from any of its 12 trays. No additional, expensive interposer is needed. Users can load up to 13,800 sheets of any size at once to promote unattended printing for up to four hours. With 'load paper while you print' functionality, the system can print up to 16,000 prints per hour with minimal operator intervention. An optional output module of 12,000 sheets also supports this increased throughput. 

End-to-end modularity

The Océ VarioPrint 6250 is fully modular at every stage, from file submission to document delivery. Key components are the Océ Smart Imager Controller, which brings high performance, multi-tasking capabilities, high RIP speed and open architecture to a company's IT infrastructure. On-line finishing options include bookmakers, set finishers and a high-capacity stacker. Océ will also offer the state-of-the-art Watkiss PowerSquare 200 bookmaker. The integrated DFA interface of the Océ VarioPrint 6250 enables direct connection to many third-party finishing systems for perfect binding, cover binding, folding and punching. And the Océ VarioPrint 6250 is fully supported by the Océ PRISMA software suite, designed to promote high workflow efficiency and seamless integration in third-party printing environments. 

The first customer deliveries of the Océ VarioPrint 6250 are scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2006. 

For more information contact:

Nick Gale
Manager Media Relations
Océ Technologies
Tel.: +31.77.359.5628
Email: nick.gale@oce.com