Océ-USA Wins Prestigious Award for Best-in-Class Field Service Organization

Chicago-based provider of digital document management and delivery technology tops 200 industry leaders (Xerox, Kodak, IBM North America, etc.) on 13 service metrics

Chicago, IL, October 9, 2002 – Océ-USA (NASDAQ: OCENY), a leading Chicago-based supplier of digital document management and delivery technology, won the First Annual Excellence in Service Business Optimization Award at the 32nd annual Association for Services Management International (AFSMI) Summit and Expo held in Atlanta, Georgia yesterday. The award was presented to Océ by AFSMI and D.F. Blumberg Associates, Inc. (BAI) – a leading management consulting firm dedicated to helping companies develop new strategic directions for their service businesses – which conducted a comprehensive service optimization study among nearly 200 organizations to identify the best in class across 13 key service metrics. These benchmark categories included call management, logistics operations, commitment to quality, field force utilization/automation and overall service revenue contributions to the company.

The 2002 AFSMI/BAI award is for “S-Business Optimization” where “S-Business” refers to the expanded definition of service and support delivered by today’ s high technology companies. Océ was recognized for best in class delivery on all 13 criteria – competing against participating industry leaders including the Hewlett Packard Indigo Division, IBM North America, IKON Office Solutions, Kodak, Pitney Bowes Inc., Ricoh Company Ltd., Sony, and Xerox Corporation, among others. This prestigious honor marks a milestone in Océ’s long heritage as a customer-focused, service-driven company with a strong emphasis on customer satisfaction based on excellent response times, continuous parts availability, and an overall assurance of reliability.

“We’re excited to be recognized among a distinguished set of the country’s most reputable service organizations. This substantiates Océ’s commitment to continually improving our business practices and applying the latest technology to the delivery of reliable service and support to our customers,” according to Dan Krzesinski, Vice President, Operations and Customer Service for Océ. “Critical to this achievement is our development of consistent procedures, a central experience knowledge base, and the integration of partner organizations to enhance our service offerings. Adding these strategic partnerships to Océ’s internal capabilities has allowed us to achieve tremendous operational efficiencies, cost savings and higher customer satisfaction ratings.”

Among the strategic partnerships, Océ utilizes Nextel phones to provide real-time information about local parts inventory through online data transfer and to enhance voice communication between representatives. Through an agreement with NCR, Océ is now able to provide true coast-to-coast service coverage using NCR technicians in areas where Océ does not have branches. Sykes Enterprises has helped to expand and optimize Océ’s call center operations.

As the first extensive study in S-Business Optimization, BAI and AFSMI conducted an independent and objective analysis of the survey results of approximately 200 small, medium and large service organizations. To determine the best-in-class for the latest in service optimization, 13 service metrics were evaluated. Océ received top ratings on the following measures:

• Call initial response time
• Total call closure time
• Efficiency of field force ratio (ratio of direct service time to total service time available)
• Average completed calls per day per field engineer
• Logistics operating costs as a percent of total costs
• Parts DOA (dead on arrival) when received in field from logistics
• Percent of calls or orders closed incomplete or extended due to a lack of parts
• Fill rate of logistics pipeline (central, regional, local)
• No trouble found (NTF) percent of returned materials at depots
• Inventory turnover
• Profit margin as a percent of revenue
• Service revenue contribution to corporate revenue
• Service profit contribution to corporate revenue

“We set stringent criteria for judging participating service organizations, and Océ excelled across the board,” said Michael R. Blumberg, Chief Operating Officer at D.F. Blumberg Associates, Inc. “As companies continue to weather today’s tough business climate, it’s becoming more and more critical that they increase customer satisfaction, and therefore profitability, through a stronger focus on strategic service. Océ is an excellent role model because they have invested heavily in process and technology to optimize their service and support delivery.”

About Océ

Océ is a leading supplier of digital document management and delivery technology. The company’s solutions are based on Océ’s advanced software applications that deliver documents and data over internal networks and the Internet to printing devices and archives -- locally and around the world. Supporting the workflow solutions are Océ digital printers and scanners, considered the most reliable and productive in the world. Océ also offers a wide range of consulting and outsourcing solutions.

Netherlands-based Océ N.V. (NASDAQ: OCENY), with a workforce of more than 23,000 people and 2001 revenues of $3.2 billion, maintains research and manufacturing centers in the Netherlands, the United States, Germany, France, Belgium, the Czech Republic, and Japan. Océ’s North American headquarters is located in Chicago with major business units in Chicago; New York City; Boca Raton, FL; San Jose, CA; Salt Lake City; and Fiskeville, RI. North American revenues were $1.2 billion for fiscal 2001, and employment is currently 9600. 

www.oceusa.com

About AFSMI

The Association for Services Management International (AFSMI) is the only global organization dedicated to furthering the knowledge, understanding, and career development of executives, managers, and professionals in the high-technology services and support industry. They were founded in 1975 with the mission of being the vital link for high-technology professionals who must stay on top in our fast-growing, ever-changing industry. Currently, over 5,000 members representing more than 1,500 organizations on almost every continent rely on AFSMI to be the voice of the services industry and their communications bridge to growth. 

www.afsmi.org

About BAI 

Established in 1969, Blumberg Associates, Inc. (BAI) of Fort Washington, PA is a management consulting firm and pioneer in helping companies to develop service as a strategic profit center. Their staff of consultants creates effective strategies to manage, control, and deliver service. Through their experience in the service industry, they are in a unique position to identify critical industry trends and position its clients strategically to meet new challenges or existing opportunities They have played a major role in the development of the third- and fourth-party maintenance markets. 

www.dfba.com

 

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