Océ is a niche player. We choose our markets very carefully. And we not only survive in those markets. We are one of the strongest players. First, because of our focus. And second, because we constantly innovate our offering to our customers.

 

Océ is, and always has been, innovative by nature. It's in our culture. Even during the economic downturn of the past years, we continued to invest 7% of revenues in innovation. You will see the results here at OpenHouse.

 

What's more, during these turbulent years, we have taken strong measures to continually strengthen our company. We reduced our workforce by 1500 positions. We cut annual costs to the amount of 95 million euros. We withdrew 24,000 low volume machines from the market. We sold the vast majority of our lease portfolio. We shifted 20% of our production to the Far East. And we transformed our organisation, aligning our company more closely to our strategic markets.

 

Ladies and gentlemen, this is an extreme makeover. An extreme operational makeover, to create a leaner, meaner Océ. And you know what? It worked! And it's working.

 

Last year, Océ sold 7% more systems than the year before. After three years of declining sales, we started growing again. This compensated for the decline in service revenues. So our total revenues for 2004 were equal to 2003. Here too we stopped a three year decline. Now, if machine sales increased by 7%, then you can project the growth in service revenues down the road. 2004 proved we are on the right track.

 

Today, Océ addresses its customers with a fully market-focused organisation. We focus on Corporate Printing in large companies and government organisations. These use documents in offices, central printrooms and transaction printing. We focus on Commercial Printing for digital print providers, marketing services and graphic arts. In wide format, we focus on the technical drawing office, or engineering department, and central printrooms. We have dedicated programmes for commercial reprographers and for display graphics. All supported by Océ Imaging Supplies and Business Services.

 

My colleagues Mr. Frequin and Mr. Egelund will tell you all about this in a moment. You can see it all in full glory in the OpenHouse hall.

 

We are not organised according to our product lines. We are organised according to the activities of our customers in our strategic markets. Based on this, we build our proposition on three pillars. On services, software and hardware for professionals.

 

Direct, face to face contact with our customers is the cornerstone of our approach. Océ maintains 15,000 printing and document professionals on the front line. We invest heavily in this organisation to develop the knowledge that our customers need. In consultancy services and training, workflow management, colour and many other areas. In fact, last year, we were rated by our customers as the Best IT Services Provider in the Netherlands. As you can imagine, we are proud of this. It proves what you can do if you focus.

 

The second pillar of our offering is software. Our professional customers know the importance of information for their competitive position. They want tools that improve document handling. That demands output management software.

 

Océ offers leading software in every market we address. We employ more than 500 developers, dedicated to workflow software. In the past 5 years, we have invested more than 250 million US dollars in software product development. And that investment is paying off.

 

This year, Océ PRISMA workflow software was recognised by a growing number of analysts. We saw positive reviews from Gartner, CAP/InfoTrends and MWA Consulting, Better Buys for Business, IDC, IT Strategies and Madison Advisors. Why? Because Océ PRISMA covers the entire document workflow. It's for Océ and for competitive hardware. And it addresses the entire enterprise. Here at OpenHouse, we unveil the latest innovation. We are launching a new Océ PRISMA architecture that further aligns our software with our customers' operations.

 

And the third pillar: hardware systems for professionals. Here at OpenHouse, we show the latest developments. In high speed, continuous feed printing. In cutsheet production printing. In wide format printing, for technical documentation and display graphics.

 

Finally, at this OpenHouse, we highlight a series of programmes dedicated to our corporate customers. The Océ Professional Office Programme. The Professional Printroom Programme. And today the Professional Transaction Programme. Each bundles our hardware, software and services into a smart combination for our customers. Each helps them evolve their document management to improve their competitive position.

 

Ladies and gentlemen, Océ invests heavily in innovation. We have a market-oriented organisation. We have a clear focus. We are leaner and meaner than ever. We have a fantastic portfolio of document solutions. Just take a look in the OpenHouse hall.

 

So let me end with this. Steady growth is also a key goal for our company. And geographical expansion is a part of that. Today, Océ China has 4 main sales and service offices and an established relationship with more than 30 dealers.

 

In a moment, I'd like to give you a glimpse of Océ at work in this foremost growth market. And having said that, I wish you all a pleasant and newsworthy day here at Océ OpenHouse 2005. Europe's largest annual digital printing fair.

 

Thank you for your attention.