Big News at Canon Anniversary Event

Canon Solutions America (CSA) executives painted a positive picture of continued growth during an event in Delray Beach, FL, last month marking CSA's second anniversary.

"We think we can grow our business 40 percent in the next three years," remarked Malkon Baboyian, executive vice president of CSA's Large Format Solutions (LFS) and Production Print Solutions (PPS) divisions. In 2014, he said, PPS revenue grew 6 percent over the previous year, while LFS revenue grew 7 percent. In 2015, the company plans to continue that trend, he promised, by aggressively engaging new markets, such as book, packaging and commercial printing. Canon now claims 32 percent of the market share of continuous-feed inkjet placements in the US, he said.

Baboyian discussed new production inkjet products, like the ImageStream 3500, which prints 525 feet per minute at 1,200x1,200 dpi on an extensive range of papers without needing a bonding agent or primer.

Canon's much-anticipated cut-sheet inkjet printer (formerly Project Niagara, now the Océ Vario­Print i300), is set for a third quarter release, but has already been installed at T Systems, in Germany, part of the Deutsche Telekom group. Baboyian said he anticipates receiving three times the number of orders for the VarioPrint i300 than CSA will be able to deliver.

The i300 will run at 300 A4 images a minute (on standard offset media), with sheets taking just two seconds to dry. It can produce monthly volumes of up to 10 million letter/A4 images. The i300 uses Canon ColorStream inkjet print head technology and Canon-developed aqueous inks. The B3-format printer offers integrated end-to-end digital workflows with its Océ PRISMAsync digital front end and Océ PRISMA software platform. Users will also have access to finishing capabilities compatible with the Océ VarioPrint 6000 series.

On the large-format front, CSA announced two new ColorWave products, the 500 and 700, which can print on a flexible range of substrates including thicker materials. The ColorWave 700 can print up to 640 posters or 1,800 A1/D-size CAD drawings per working day, using low-cost, uncoated media (up to 32mil) as well as vinyl and canvas. Up to six different rolls of media can be loaded simultaneously. Using Océ CrystalPoint technology, the 700 produces waterfast prints with sharp lines, high readability of fine details and smooth, even area fills.

Designed as a walk-up system for producing CAD, GIS and color graphics, the Océ ColorWave 500 lets multiple users simultaneously print, copy and scan up to 225 A1/D-size black-and-white or color prints per hour. Prints come out dry, cut to size and ready to use.

Educating the customer's customer is a top focus of Canon, remarked Francis McMahon, vice president of marketing for Production Print Solutions, so they can help drive more volume to inkjet presses. He showed copies of a new Canon publication called the "Designers' Guide to Inkjet," full of best practices and real-world recommendations to help designers optimize print pieces for production on inkjet presses. It includes practical information on inks, media and color gamut values.

McMahon also announced the formation of a users group, named thINK, which will hold its first conference September 8-10, during Canon Expo in New York. More than 300 inkjet service providers are expected. Ten CSA customers comprise the steering committee, which began meeting in April of 2014 to shape the group's direction and goals. It will focus on innovation, best practices and world-class education.

Wrapping up CSA's Anniversary Event was a visit to its Customer Experience Center (CEC) in Boca Raton, where visitors got a close look at numerous Canon technologies, and heard more about several soon-to-be-released devices. Though the VarioPrint i300 was not physically installed at the CEC, Canon representatives revealed that one was on its way to Florida.