OKI Europe has won the prestigious VISCOM ‘Best of 2013’ Award with its LED five colour A3 printer, the ES9541, showcased at the recent VISCOM exhibitions in Paris, Milan and Düsseldorf.

OKI’s participation at all three VISCOM 2013 events across Europe, reflects the company’s focus on diversifying into new markets through innovation as announced last week at a press conference ahead of the VISCOM event in Düsseldorf. “We have reinforced our strategy of offering print solutions and specialised products for professional and vertical markets such as graphic arts,” confirmed Terry Kawshima, managing director, OKI Europe.

“As a result, the VISCOM 2013 award is an important independent endorsement of how we are successfully developing products which offer the potential for creative and graphic arts businesses to open up new revenue streams.”

The VISCOM awards are given to outstanding new products that add value in helping visual communications companies become more profitable and ecologically friendly. The ES9541 was the clear winner in the Textile Finishing category, due to the innovation and versatility to print in five colours, shown for the first time at VISCOM. The enhanced media flexibility and quality of the end output contributed decisively to the award, as the colour integrity is maintained during printing, with results that compare favourably to the direct printing method. The expert jury also praised the ES9541’s ease-of-use, competitive price and quality of toner cartridges, as well as the longer product life and total cost of ownership.

This is the third award in the past month for OKI’s ground-breaking new printer designed for the graphic arts market. The five colour printer has also recently received Japan’s highest design accolade, the 2013 Good Design Award, as well as winning the Print.IT Editor’s Choice award for Autumn 2013.

Kawashima concludes “The VISCOM 2013 award reflects the positive response of those who visited our stands at all three VISCOM shows. This demonstrates how once again OKI is leading the field in developing highly innovative products that meet the real needs of its target markets.”