Canon’s Leadership and Commitment Toward Roll-Fed Digital Print

Canon’s market leadership and commitment to roll-fed strengthens with the addition of a new product to their portfolio. The recent announcement of the new ColorStream 8000 aims to provide additional value to PSPs serving the transactional, publishing, and direct mail markets (and their print buyers). The new press offers advantages in terms of productivity and image quality compared to its predecessor, the ColorStream 6000, without reaching the commercial print quality of their ProStream 1800.

This announcement occurs as one of their competitors (Xerox) exits the roll-fed market to focus more on cut-sheet. Even though cut-sheet offers more flexibility than roll-fed in terms of paper input sources, it is estimated that roll-fed might benefit from lower paper costs and speed when it comes to longer runs.

Even though application and job run-lengths should drive the right technology and press, there are always opportunities for improvement and growth within existing technologies. The new ColorStream 8000 sits between the ColorStream 6000 and the ProStream 1800 when it comes to quality, but with superior productivity and a possible lower running cost vs. the ProStream 1800 (which could increase some PSP sales opportunities).

ColorStream 6000 customers or prospects do not have to go to the 1200 x 1200 dpi commercial print quality of the ProStream if what they need is just a slight boost to print quality in order to increase the value of their transactional, publishing, or direct mail applications. The print quality enhancements of the ColorStream 8000 compared to the 6000 (while still possibly managing lower running costs) could offer additional value for print buyers to keep investing in print.   

PSPs look at new presses in terms of print quality, productivity, and costs. The new ColorStream 8000 provides enhancements in the following areas:

• Print Quality: Features printhead resolution from 600 x 600 dpi to 1200 x 720 dpi at 436 fpm and 1,200 x 600 dpi at 525 fpm, as well as smaller drop sizes (from 5 to 12 pl, to 2 to 5 pl), which improves the print quality of the ColorStream 8000 compared to the ColorStream 6000.
  • Additionally, an integrated web cleaner that minimizes paper dust (especially on low cost papers), as well as dryers that can adapt to the different applications being printed also helps enhance print quality.
• Productivity: Speed increase of 25% from 417 fpm to 525 fpm on the ColorStream 8160. Additionally, the new and easy-to-use touch screen, as well as automated printhead cleaning, should make operators more productive. Reliability is expected to be high (95%) and maintenance time has been reduced, which improves uptime. Last (but not least), the new and larger ink containers reduce operator interventions, which also drives more productivity.
• Cost: The automatic printhead cleaning and waste-free printing are expected to reduce ink usage. Canon also claims to offer competitive running costs.

The new ColorStream can print on lighter paper weights (40 gsm), increasing the number of applications that a PSP can sell. Conversely, coated papers can’t be used on the new ColorStream (which are often used in commercial applications). While the ColorStream 6000 is still available for purchase, the two new versions of the 8000 series (the 8133 at 436 fpm and 8160 at 525 fpm) will be for sale immediately.

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