Earlier this year I was lucky enough to visit Japan as part of Océ's celebrations to mark its 75th anniversary of trading in that country. It was fascinating to hear how much effort the company had gone to in establishing its business there, and in adapting some of its processes and products in order to successfully meet the exacting requirements of its Japanese customers and distribution partners. For example, in Japan if goods arrive at a customer with damaged packaging the consignment will be rejected, even if the goods themselves are undamaged. And when an engineer turns up, he or she had better be able to fix whatever fault is causing a problem.
It was during this trip that Océ chief Rokus van Iperen candidly stated that the company was effectively open to offers because it needed to be bigger in order to compete on the global stage, saying: "We are facing economies of scale issues and are looking at all alternatives to resolve this, including strategic alliances, joint developments and other forms of co-operation including full mergers - nothing is excluded."
Now it seems that the years of legwork in Japan have paid off in terms of Oce's future as it has found itself a suitable suitor in the shape of Canon, which this morning announced its intention to acquire Océ in a €1.5bn deal. This will bring some very interesting technology into Canon's portfolio - for example CrystalPoint imaging with its multifarious potential applications - while also catapulting it into some high-end print markets such as transactional print where Canon doesn't currently have a presence.
And, of course, it creates a new behemoth among our industry suppliers putting me in mind once again of former Heidelberg chief Hartmut Mehdorn's prescience when he pointed out more than a decade ago that Canon, Xerox, HP et al were the coming competition for the industry's traditional suppliers. The future he predicted is here now.
