-Innovative Software Tops Best Product/Service Range Category-

Slough, UK, 28 September 2010: OKI Printing Solutions today announced that its innovative Template Manager software has won Best Product/Service Range in the quarterly Best Business Awards, organised by Awards Intelligence, the UK’s leading provider of business awards support services, news and information to progressive organisations.

Commenting on OKI‘s success, Andrew Areoff, chairman of the judges said: “OKI’s in-house printing solution addresses a key concern for customers in that it incorporates a design facility enabling them to produce stationery and promotional materials without support from external suppliers. The Template Manager software, which comes free with most OKI printers, delivers a cost-effective solution while at the same time being simple to use. OKI has developed a product that could potentially reduce print budgets significantly while maintaining quality."

Graham Lowes, marketing director, OKI Printing Solutions said, “Template Manager is helping to facilitate a revolution in business printing by supporting the ongoing move away from outsourcing to more of an in-house focused approach – especially for short-run jobs. We are honoured and delighted to see it receive such important industry recognition.”

For many organisations today, OKI Printing Solutions’ Template Manager software provides a route to smarter, more efficient printing.  Castleford Tigers, the famous Rugby League Club, for example, uses it to customise material to its precise needs.

As Mark Wilson, the club’s lottery manager, puts it: “We use banners, posters and flyers in our campaigns in and around the local community and within schools in particular, so being able to design and create these quickly and easily using the OKI software is a major advantage.”

Most organisations understand the advantages of in-house printing, in terms of delivering cost savings and developing customised materials for general business and sales and marketing purposes. However, in the past, companies have shied away from bringing more jobs in-house due to a perception that they lacked the internal creative skills to make the most of the potential benefits.

OKI was among the first vendors in the printing solutions market to understand this dilemma and to develop pioneering software designed to tackle the challenges. In line with its core Look What You Can Do (LWYCD) philosophy, OKI developed Template Manager to make it easier for business users to create their own materials and in so doing to reduce wastage and drive efficiencies.

The Best Business Awards are open to private, public and third sector organisations of all sizes. There are four rounds each year in January, April, July and October and winners hold their title for 12 months. Entries are judged by an independent panel of past winners and other business experts. Each submission is scored against specific category criteria with particular emphasis on success and innovation.