ARC’s AbacusPCR™ Software to be distributed by OCE North America

On March 31^st, I posted an article on “Reprographics 101” about ARC’s AbacusPCR™ Software being added to OCE’s arsenal of software solutions. However, shortly after I posted that article, one of my industry friends asked me to remove it. That request probably happened because “the news” was not yet ready for release. I’m an obliging kind of guy, so, as a favor, I deleted that post. I’m only mentioning this because, after I put the post up and then pulled it down, I received several e-mail inquiries which, basically, asked, “Joel, what happened to that post? Where’d it go?”

This afternoon, I found a “Press Release” – about AbacusPCR™ and OCE – on ARC’s web-site, so the news is now official.

When I publish “press releases” on “Reprographics 101”, I normally show the press release and, if I have comments to make about the press release, I post my comments “after” the press release. Today, I’m going to reverse the order – my comments will appear first, then you’ll see the Press Release.

Joel’s comments:

When I visited OCE’s web-site this afternoon, I looked at OCE’s “Partner Programs” page and found this description:

OCE “Partner” Programs…..

* Enabling exceptional integrated technology solutions

* Extending the reach of the Océ sales organization

A key to developing and efficiently delivering the industry's best document solutions to the people who need them is – partnerships. The strength of these partnerships enables us to provide the industry's most comprehensive end-to-end document solutions and make them accessible to customers who need them through the most convenient channels. Find out more about Océ partnerships:

http://www.oceusa.com/main/partners.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302163817&bmUID=1301509520260

If you clicked on the above link, then you would have seen that OCE already offers, through its “partner programs”, print-cost-recovery software from:

* Technesis

* SepiaLine

* Control Systems

My guess is that OCE now needs to update its “partner programs” page to also list ARC’s AbacusPCR cost-recovery-software solution. It’s not yet there, but I suspect that OCE’s “web-meisters” will “get to it” at some point in the near future.

And, that brings me to the last point I want to make – this point being related to “cost-recovery-software”, in general. I’ve always found it quite amusing that equipment-solutions-providers, such as OCE (and many others), have not, for some strange reason, developed their own cost-tracking, cost-recovery software. (Or, at the very least, they could have purchased a company that offers that type of software.) (And, no, OCE’s “account center” did not do the trick.) Do they not recognize that many, many different types of businesses (A/E/C and non-A/E/C as well) want to, or would like to, “track” output for either, or both, “cost-accounting” or “cost-recovery” purposes? What I’m talking about is a “cost-recovery” software (and hardware) “solution” that would track and account for wide-format output and small-format output. For example, if I were a member of OCE’s “corporate” sales team (the team focused on selling to large, multi-faceted companies), would it not be a benefit to my sales presentation to be able to say to the technology-acquisitions guy/gal I’m selling to, “hey, I can not only provide you every bit of small-format and wide-format equipment your company needs, I can also provide you a very comprehensive solution for tracking, and accounting for, all output, regardless of whether output is produced “from hard-copy” or directly from digital files and regardless of whether output is produced on our wide-format equipment or on our small-format equipment. We’ve got a ‘total” solution.’ Well, that’s essentially what OCE’s OBS sales team members can say (and, I would imagine, they do say that), but, in the past, I never heard an OCE wide-format sales team member say that, nor did I see any OCE wide-format sales proposals (to OCE direct customers/prospects) say that. (Note; it was not out of the ordinary for customers to give us copies of the sales proposals they received from OCE’s wide-format sales team members.)

Okay, without further adieu, here’s most of the Press Release; if you want to read the full press release, which incudes information “about ARC” and information “about OCE” and “about Canon”, then go to e-arc.com and access the press release.

“ARC’s AbacusPCR™ Software to be distributed by OCE North America”

Walnut Creek, CA, April 21, 2011….

ARC (NYSE: ARC), the nation's leading provider of reprographics services and technology, today announced that the U.S. Wide Format Printing Systems division of Oce, a Canon Group Company and an international leader in digital document management and printing for professionals, has added AbacusPCR, ARC's print cost recovery software, to its portfolio for tracking and capturing print costs within an office environment.

"We're pleased that Oce has chosen AbacusPCR to add value to their printing and imaging offerings," said Rahul Roy, Chief Technology Officer of ARC. "Oce has always developed their solutions to enhance document management and production, and by adding print tracking and reimbursable cost analysis with Abacus, we're sure that customers in any business environment will be quick to recognize its value as a significant business process improvement tool."

"With the large amount of decentralized printing now done in AE firms and the need to accurately track and recover costs, Abacus is a great addition to our product portfolio," said Bob Honn, Director of Marketing Services, Wide Format Printing Systems division of Oce North America. "The functionality of AbacusPCR will enable our customers to not only track Oce devices but also all non-Oce narrow and wide format devices."

Used for keeping track of printing costs and reimbursable print jobs, AbacusPCR software is easily configured to fit into any office environment. From rules-based printing and workstation billing pop-ups, to broad administration tools and its characteristic easy-to-use interface, printing activity can be tracked closely, analyzed for better equipment fleet management and cost controls, or used to capture reimbursable print jobs for a variety of industries.

AbacusPCR was recently upgraded to include print retrieval functions, rules-based printing, color and black & white recognition, phone call tracking, and greater third-party product integration. For a complete list of the features and capabilities of AbacusPCR, visit www.abacuspcr.com.

For business-related inquiries please contact Niro Perera at 925-658-0217 or via email at nirop@planwell.com