Well over 100 guests were treated to an outstanding experience last night when they became the first in the country to explore Océ Australia’s expansive new Customer Experience Centre at its head office facility in Clayton.
The impressive facility, which the company says has been designed to ‘inspire the world of print, to print the world’, takes up most of the ground floor of the building which has been transformed to showcase an inspirational product range while providing a ‘best in class’ customer experience.
Craig Nethercott, Océ Australia’s Managing Director, was clearly delighted with the realisation of his vision as he welcomed guests to the new facility, saying the launch event represented the culmination of a long and exciting period of planning and development, and a company-wide commitment to building stronger customer relationships.
The result of these endeavours is an open, welcoming and innovative space that reinforces the Australian arm of the Netherlands-based print leader at the forefront of its global network – but was designed with just one person in mind: the Océ customer.
“Océ’s vision is to ‘inspire the world of print, to print the world’ – and in this Customer Experience Centre we are bringing the very best print technology to our world-leading print service providers right here in Australia, so that they can explore the possibilities for their own businesses,” Nethercott said.
Using a range of flexible and rigid media, the team illustrated the versatility and superiority of their products, producing a diverse array of applications on the spot, while more were on show in what Nethercott calls the ‘Ideas Lab’ – a space packed full of inspirational applications designed to get print service providers thinking ‘outside the box’.
“In an increasingly competitive market, innovation is important for two reasons,” he said. “Firstly, it gives you a point of difference – something to take to new prospects and a reason to go back to your existing customers. Secondly, it adds value, allowing you to improve profitability with higher-margin products.”
Those high-value products are very much in evidence in the new Centre. The glass entry doors feature printed decals and lead directly into the Ideas Lab’s, which is dominated by a floor-to-ceiling, seductively tactile, faux-brick wall created using Océ’s dimensional Touchstone print technology.
Available only on Océ Arizona printers, this technology has made a major impression recently at local and international shows, including winning a prestigious European Digital Press Association (EDP) Award at FESPA recently.
Printed coffee cup holders and ceramic tile coasters adorn a range of print-topped tables and even a printed canvas ottoman, bathed in the glow from a lamp with a printed shade. Vibrant posters produced on the Océ ColorWave printer using a number of different media provide a practical illustration of the different effects which can be achieved.
The unrivalled media versatility of Océ’s printer range is further demonstrated in the CEC’s showpiece – a multi-media printed wall featuring everything from acrylics and MDF, to glass and ceramic tiles, display boards and corrugated iron. The company has even printed a pair of thongs and an electric guitar to demonstrate the potential.
And it’s not all about wide-format. Océ’s innovative continuous feed and sheet fed inkjet presses haven’t been forgotten, with plenty of applications created on these devices also showcased at the facility.
“The Ideas Lab is central to the concept of this Customer Experience Centre – it demonstrates in practice how ideas and inspiration can be translated into a profitable reality using Océ technology,” Nethercott says.
“Here, our technical experts will push our products to the limit to create exciting new applications, and our customers can come to gather ideas, see our technology in action, and talk to product specialists about how it can create new opportunities for their businesses.”
In an adjacent, glass-panelled area, vistors could see the company’s range of market-leading machines from both the Display Graphics (DG) and Technical Document Systems (TDS) ranges in action – and what a line up it was.
Headed by the flagship Océ Colorado 1640 roll-to-roll printer featuring the company’s revolutionary UVgel technology and an Océ Arizona 1380 model from its recently-released 1300 range it also features a ProCut digital cutting system – all powered by ONYX end-to-end PDF workflow software and ProCut digital workflow and cut preparation software, and integrated Océ Arizona Xpert self-learning technology. ColorWave and PlotWave printers, for both display graphics and architectural, engineering and construction applications, were also on show.
Importantly, visitors to the CEC can also see straight into the company’s new, open plan office area where the full Océ Australia team is on hand to meet, greet and support customers – something Nethercott says is vital to building the kind of strong, long-term partnerships on which the company prides itself.
“This new CEC is at the heart of our headquarters, providing us with an unique opportunity to connect with our customers,” he says, indicating that the team is planning regular events and is also keen to welcome customers and prospects to meet there at any time by appointment, for what he calls the ‘full Océ experience’.
“We believe Océ is quite unique in the market, in that we understand that it’s not just about the product – it’s about what our brand means, the experience we create for and with our customers, and the vision we share, for our business and for theirs.
“Above all, it’s about the relationships we build. We want our customers to come here and explore new opportunities, but also to connect with as many of our people as possible, from operations and logistics, to our service personnel, the customer service team who are our first point of contact for sales and service calls, to our marketing team, finance and HR experts.
“We want our customers to get to know us – all of us – just as we like to get to know them, and their businesses, so that we can genuinely partner with them in their future success.”
