Canon India: gaining momentum in India’s digital print landscape
Puneet Datta, director for professional printing products, Canon India shares how one can improve digital print vis-à-vis and in doing so reaffirms inkjet’s future. Words: Noel D’cunha
20 Jul 2018 | 18256 Views | By Noel D'Cunha
Canon has achieved healthy numbers at more and more centres in India. What is the growth plan for the remainder of the year?
We aim to expand to nearly 125 cities in a span of three years with the support of our channel partners. This will be made possible through various innovative products for all the printing segments that we cater too. The long-term aim is to occupy 30% market share in the professional printing space by 2020.
Digital print maintenance contracts cover full support including toner, parts and fitting. Does Canon offer operator training?
Our relationship with our customers does not end at the sale of products. We believe that the user or the operator has to be fully trained to utilise the complete potential of the digital equipment. Hence a certain aspect of the training is given onsite immediately after equipment installation.
And the support for new digital printing applications…
We give onsite training to help customers with the development of newer applications. To substantiate this, Canon displays newer applications samples during most of the digital printing exhibitions. In 2017, Canon India commissioned CTEC (Canon Technical Excellence Centre) for the training of engineers from Canon and customer demo centre at Noida.
What about advanced training schemes for specifics such as workflow integration?
We have a dedicated workflow specialist in our team who supports the customer to optimise print operations.
Canon has now installed more than 1,000 continuous-feed inkjet (CIJ) printers worldwide since it began manufacturing and supplying the technology in 2008. What is the CIJ buzz in India?
A CIJ printer enables high volume production inkjet printing and it is the fastest growing sector in digital printing. High-speed, production inkjet presses can help printers capitalise on growing opportunities in colour books, personalised catalogues, transactional communications and direct mail. Apart from transactional, we are seeing a big traction and acceptability in the book printing market for inkjet technology. Colour book printing on inkjet is the next big shift that we are envisaging.
How long do you think before CIJ gains traction in India?
If we analyse the technology adaptation life cycle, we observe that two to three per cent who are innovators adopt newer technology immediately after launch. In the context of Indian print, this is no exception and we will witness many print companies adopting inkjet printers in the next two to three years.
What are the hindrances for CIJ right now?
We have observed so far that the main challenge of inkjet printing for book printing is acceptability of certain printing media and desired cost of printing in an Indian environment. With the launch of the Canon Prostream series, we are equipped to address this challenge.
400 customers and 100 cities. Satisfied or could Canon India have done more?
Last year we achieved the milestone of being in India for two decades and we are satisfied with it. Over the years, myriad professional printing products have been introduced keeping in mind the dynamic customer demands.
STAR CANON PRODUCT | ImagePress
What does it do?
Canon ImagePress is designed to meet the increasing demand for both commercial and in-house print service providers (PSPs) for higher production volumes without compromising on quality. It has helped commercial printers, jobbers (PFP), in-plant and production hubs, to produce a broader range of applications in shorter turnaround times. It has garnered maximum installation in jobbers and the commercial print segment of India. Both colour and mono ImagePress equipment have been adopted for short-run booking printing.
When was it launched? What has been the growth of the product over the years since its launch?
In 2007 as ImagePress C7000VP/C6000 series which were 70/60 ppm speed versions respectively. In September 2014, compact version ImagePress C800 series was launched to cater the customers who were willing to experience the technology but with a lower investment. This led to a strong expansion of installations in Tier I and II cities. The latest addition is C10000VP/C800VP series and an enhanced version of light-mid production ImagePress C850 series.
What aspect of the market is the ImagePress series aimed at?
A portfolio of industries like jobbers (PFP), commercial offset printers, copy shops, central reprographic departments (CRD), print room setup and advertising agencies, to produce a broader range of applications in shorter turnaround times.
How does it work?
ImagePress series printer platform is based on the four-colour electrophotographic printing process. It was developed by Canon to bring the results from a digital print near to offset printing. Essentially this technology was developed to bridge the gap between digital and offset printing.
What’s the USP?
For media handling, it has suction air assist feeding mechanism. Then there is a paper registration mechanism and image positioning corrections to ensure that the image is properly positioned on paper for perfect registration. ImagePress prints with 2400 x 2400 dpi print quality using the consistently vivid (CV) toner. It has a larger colour gamut and a new developer unit with reduced fusing temperature for improved colour consistency and accuracy. The print engines are driven by future ready EFI Fiery RIP servers with FS200/300 Pro platform.
What support is available?
Canon puts it equipment on an e-maintenance network to check the online status plus order consumables online. Predictive maintenance is another concept to learn the health of various spare parts on equipment and accordingly suggest the replacement. Canon lays great emphasis on training its engineers at its CTEC setup in Noida.
How much does it cost?
Canon ImagePress machines are available in various price brackets. Generally, choices and recommendations are made based on customer investment capacity, print volume, quality expectation, business objective and desired automation.
User Review:
Alex Anthony, owner, Digital House, Thiruvananthapuram
The print quality of the ImagePress C10000VP is better than most of the cut sheet digital colour printers in the market. It is almost like matte finish. The extra-long size, 13x30inches, was also an added attraction. The click charge by Canon is one of the best in the industry and is the same across the country
Dinesh Joshi, owner, DD Enterprises, Lucknow
Given the rapidly growing volume of our business and the evolving customer needs, the ImagePress C10000VP has enhanced our productivity and enabled us in delivering service excellence to our valued customers. The level of innovation that we are now able to offer with the C1000VP will set us apart in the market and set new standards