Innovation in print Project Partner
Innovation in print Written by Nye Longman Produced by Danielle Harris
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Having merged with Canon in 2010, Océ is transforming its manufacturing and supply chain operations in order to meet the changing demands of a global consumer base
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cé was acquired by Canon in 2010 when it became clear that the company’s model of servicing, supplying, and manufacturing document management and printer technologies was set for long term success. Following a number of strategic executive appointments, the company has embarked on a large scale transformation focusing on innovation and driving maximum value from its manufacturing and supply chain processes. Having maintained a culture of innovation since its foundation in 1877, when founder Lodewijk van der Grinten developed a new colouring agent for margarine,
the company is not only keen to utilise the latest technology in its printing products, but across the entirety of its operations. “The focus has been on consolidating IT and on becoming a truly global company,” says Océ SVP CIO Martin Lohmeier. “The company’s focus is on being very innovative and that requires us to have our global operations working seamlessly together, both in terms of R&D as well across our supply chain and manufacturing operations. Our IT landscape is the result of a number of acquisitions we have made over the years and we are now bringing this all together.”
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“ Today, we have standardized our entire enterprise storage on NetApp. We also use SnapLock and SnapManager to run our enterprise backup and archiving operations and we couldn’t be happier! ”
MARTIN LOHMEIER SVP / Chief Information Officer, Océ-Technologies B.V.
Ahead with forward-looking strategies Leading organizations worldwide count on NetApp for software, systems and services to manage and store their data. As a continuous innovator in networked storage systems, storage and data management, and scale-out technologies, NetApp is dedicated to simplifying the complex world of enterprise data management. NetApp helps IT organizations reduce cost and complexity, lower risk while increasing control, and adapt quickly in response to change. Océ and NetApp share a long history of close cooperation to plan, build and run sophisticated data management and protection solutions based on NetApp technology for core IT services. These solutions ensure maximum uptime and performance for SAP applications, Oracle databases, VMware and file services. Most recent joint activities focus on modernizing Océ’s data management infrastructure with NetApp’s scale-out Clustered Data ONTAP storage solutions and a more comprehensive data protection strategy. Implementations will not only be in major data center locations, but also in Océ’s international business units.
Océ counts on NetApp to consolidate data center locations and infrastructure to improve efficiency and save costs. As a key IT infrastructure supplier to Océ, NetApp also enables the Océ IT department to create a state-of-theart cloud services portfolio with highly automated application and infrastructure services. Taking advantage of the economics of external cloud services, Océ chose NetApp data management and protection solutions. Océ is now able to move data seamlessly between internal and external cloud environments when required, thanks to the unique inherent characteristics of the Clustered Data ONTAP storage platform. In the long term, Océ trusts NetApp to be one of the key infrastructure solution providers to facilitate Industry 4.0 initiatives like predictive maintenance scenarios as well as comprehensive data analytics capabilities to better serve their customers.
“Alongside the countless efficiencies embedded in its products and services, OcĂŠ implements a range of sustainability initiatives across its operationsâ€?
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Contact-CE@zuken.com | www.zuken.com
Operations “We make large printers,” he explains. “We service them and we provide business services on behalf of our customers.” Océ’s remit therefore covers a range of innovative, patented printing technologies, application support and services which enable businesses to compete while delivering value. Océ’s footprint comprises 3,600 employees spread across eight locations in America, Europe and Asia. The company’s printing technologies cover large format, continuous feed, cutsheet and sheetfed printing, all of which are backed up by Océ’s dedicated business services, with the added option to utilise its tried and tested workflow software solutions. Much like its parent company Canon, a great deal of Océ’s
success can be attributed to its intellectual property. “Our markets are undergoing rapid digitalisation, and our mission is to lead our industry by bringing meaningful innovations to our customers faster than any competitor does. To this end, we have invested in state-of-the-art tools for product design and modeling, thereby allowing us to not only design specific components much faster, but also to truly leverage the potential of our R&D organisation working in virtual teams across the globe.” says Lohmeier. Operating increasingly on a buildto-order model, the importance of harmonising the company’s manufacturing, procurement and greater supply chain cannot be overstated. In line with its innovative ethos, the company is consolidating a variety of systems
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into a single, global ERP. While individual processes have been operating efficiently at a local level, the challenge for Lohmeier and his teams came when the global scale was applied, since many were not designed to work in tandem. He explains: “We want to use our industrial assets in such a way that we can really optimise our capacity utilisation and employees move from local OCÉ manufacturing to global so that we can serve the world faster. A lot of the products we are making are built to order, so we need to have a fast response in our supply chain and full utilisation of our industrial footprint.” “We apply lean principles,” he adds. “We have access to the
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world leaders in lean manufacturing that are on the Canon payroll in Tokyo, but we also have access to expertise from Japanese car manufacturers who have helped us set up our lean manufacturing. We are pretty much world class when it comes to lean manufacturing.” Sustainable grow th Alongside the countless efficiencies embedded in its products and services, Océ implements a range of sustainability initiatives across its operations. These activities are all reinforced by Canon Group’s central philosophy to grow while contributing to the prosperity and happiness of all, which also covers a range of talent retention and development strategies. Lohmeier explains: “Making sure our manufacturing processes are efficient is obviously
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important for sustainability but training and education is similarly also the composition of the inks multi-faceted. Both employees and themselves. We also make sure affiliated sales people have access that we have printer solutions that to international training centres, minimise paper consumption.” 3D guides and online classrooms, Océ has saved as much as 20 as well as a growing number of percent of its energy costs in its customer experience centres. centralised data centre in Fully aware that competition for Munich by replacing intelligent and innovative electrical cooling with engineering graduates is a bespoke ground tough, Océ is confident water cooling that its roles can system, and has deliver fulfilling career also utilised the paths, with limitless experience of a opportunities to OCÉ’s annual revenue strategic partner at develop. “We give the facility. Lohmeier employees a great says: “NetApp is degree of freedom so that one of our partners that they can spend their time on we use for storage. As you can what they think is good for them imagine when you centralise, you and us,” he says. The company also have substantial economic scale retains a great deal of patents and NetApp has some nifty technology intellectual property, which gives a that helps us to be energy friendly further incentive for those looking to in our storage operations.” truly innovate within the business. The company’s approach to Océ has grown to the point that
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it is central to Canon’s move into the B2B space. The expertise that the printing company has accrued, both in terms of lean manufacturing and operational efficiency, has been vast. Océ is therefore making a substantial effort to expand on its legacy of innovation, while keeping its eyes fixed firmly on the future. The Internet of Things will continue to disrupt every aspect of the modern business, and many will discover that knowing how to deliver value will be missioncritical. Given that this is part of Océ’s DNA, the foresight to develop its manufacturing and supply chain operations will prove to be both profitable and influential for years to come. Lohmeier adds: “We compete on the total cost of ownership of our solutions - that’s a different ball game than just competing on the actual sales price of the printer we eventually sell to the customer. So innovation to us really is of the essence and that is basically transparent for everything we do.”
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AP.O. Box 101 Venlo, The Netherlands, 5900 MA T +31 77 359 2222 F +31 77 354 4700 info@oce.com www.oce.com