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Over 130 years ago..... a pharmacist was searching for a new side-line and found it when researching into the production of butter colouring. The year was 1877 - now regarded as the year that today's Océ was born.
The Inception of Paper Production
The first steps made by Océ in to the printing market were into the production of blueprint paper, popularly used in the 1920s to replicate line drawings. These were not the black and white copies common today: they produced blue paper with a white line drawing. Hence the name 'blueprint'. The light-sensitive clothing of the blueprint paper caused great difficulties when copying originals. The first attempts to correct these problems led to the production of a paper with a longer life cycle, but with a longer development time. This was the diazo paper that had an important international success. In 1927 Van der Grinten, the founder of Océ, presented his own development of a light-sensitive diazo paper, Primulin paper, giving strong black lines on a white background. The Océ diazo process then saw the light of day. Development occurred using a thin layer of liquid applied by a developing machine.
RetOcé
Following Océ technology, Van der Grinten developed a reflectographic method, known as the raster process, in order to make Océ paper copies of double-sided prints or non-translucent originals, by adding an intermediate stage. In 1936 the first diazo equipment developed by Van der Grinten was brought onto the market under the name Rétocé.
Copying on plain paper
In the 1960s copying on 'plain paper', or the xerographic process, became important. Océ did
not lag behind these developments and developed its own plain paper copier for the office market: the Océ 1700, which was available from the start of the 1970s. The Océ 1700's developing process was the model for the development of the Océ 1900 which was introduced in 1981. This equipment was designed for toner and transfusion technology developed within Océ. These technologies are still applied in Océ equipment.
Introducing large formats
Following the line of copiers for the office market, Océ introduced electro photography for the drawing office as well. In 1983 the Océ 7500 was the first large format copier equipment which could make black and white copies on plain paper up to A0 format. By the end of the 1980s it was also possible to make large format colour prints, with the Océ 7900, using pen plotting technology.
Digital technology and colour
The trends during the nineties were: the environment, digital technology and colour. Océ was the forerunner in all these fields. Its achievements in the environmental field have been internationally recognized with various prizes. In 1995 Océ introduced its first digital high volume printer/copier for office environments and for technical documentation (broad format). In 2001 Océ presented a colour printer based on its own totally new seven-colour print technology, the Océ CPS700.
Building an international network
In answer to enquiries from abroad, Océ's owners issued sales licences to foreign companies, rather than establishing their own branches. As a general rule there was just one licensee per country. This international network of sellers expanded rapidly throughout the Twenties and Thirties. The expansion continued through to the Fifties.
Mergers and take-overs
1959 marked the start of a 'new policy' - the phase in which the network of retailers and licensees was replaced by individual foreign branches. The first of these was opened in Germany. A series of mergers and take-overs followed. In 1964, the company took over the activities of the Belgian Jobé. Take-overs of companies in Sweden, Austria, Denmark, Norway, Italy and France followed. The first branch in the United States became a fact in 1970 as the result of the take-over of Elliot in Pittsburgh, at the time a licensee. During the seventies, Océ also set up branches in South America and in Australia.
Current figures
Now, Océ is active in 80 countries, with its own branches in more than 30 of these. It employs about 24,000 people who were jointly responsible for generating a turnover of about EUR 3.1 billion in 2007.
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