Production, Next-Gen Wide Format and Impressive Array of Solutions and Future Tech
“It was a year like no other for us in terms of new products and technology,” said Brian Dollard, director of marketing for Canon U.S.A.’s Production Solutions Division, pointing out that Canon now holds the No. 1 U.S. and worldwide market share position for continuous-feed ink jet production print.
One of the highlights in the professional print area of the expo was the company’s first cut-sheet production inkjet printer, the VarioPrint i300, for on-demand short-run printing. Introduced earlier this year, the product became available this summer. Winner of a Printing Industries of America 2015 InterTech Technology Award, the VarioPrint i300 is intended to accelerate the transition from offset to digital and addresses an opportunity in the market that falls between high-end sheet-fed toner-based products and entry-level continuous-feed inkjet devices. With a speed of 300 A4-size impressions, it is suitable for monthly volumes of between 1 million and 10 million impressions, with average monthly volume expected to be 3 million impressions, according to Canon.
“It was a year like no other for us in terms of new products and technology.” –Brian Dollard
Canon also launched the imagePRESS C10000VP and imagePRESS C8000VP, which feature dual fusing technology to print at 100 and 80 images per minute, respectively, on all supported media. This series incorporates enhancements over the C7000 Series based on customer feedback. These include higher, 2400 x 2400-dpi resolution; support for 350 gsm media, up from 325 gsm; a standard built-in spectrophotometer vs. the predecessor’s densitometer; redesigned toner with more consistent particles; increased part life; and easier maintenance. It features a creaser for the GBC binder—which Canon says no other vendor offers—that gives documents a “nice, clean fold without cracking at the edge,” as demonstrated by documents produced by the device at the show. Slated for availability in November, it has a monthly duty cycle of 1.5 million impressions, with 450,000 impressions expected to be the average monthly volume. It can be configured with either EFI Fiery print controllers or the new PRISMAsync color print server.
The imagePRESS C10000VP was shown in conjunction with PRISMAdirect, a new order processing and management solution for in-plant and commercial printers that supports job submission via a wide range of methods—email, USB drive, hard copy, network folders, etc.—while an optional web shop module enables customers to submit purchase orders via the web. It includes a range of imposition templates to facilitate the make-ready process and can integrate smoothly with the Océ PRISMAprepare make-ready solution. PRISMAdirect and the optional order and workflow module drives Océ, Canon and select third-party devices. The solution is slated for availability at the end of October.
Also introduced was a new version of the Océ ColorStream continuous-feed inkjet color press—the ColorStream 3000 Z Series. Another addition to what Dollard described as “the broadest portfolio of print devices on the market,” the Z Series features print quality improvements and is one-third smaller than the 3000 Series. The system supports four speed bands up to 417 feet per minute (1,818 letter-size images per minute) and a duty cycle of 59 million impressions a month.
New Horizons in Wide Format
Canon continues to make strides in the wide format market. The company announced that it was developing a wide format device that uses UV curable ink for higher productivity, and it displayed prototypes of a number of upcoming wide format devices. The UV wide format device would fit in the market between devices that use solvent inks and those that use latex. Positioned as a mid- to high-volume device, the 64" device will feature roll switching and flexible media handling for both indoor and outdoor applications, as well as auto calibration and nozzle fail detection and correction.
A 17" 12-color device is expected to debut later this year, while 24" and 44" 12-color models are slated to debut next year. Also on display were 44" and 60" 8-color devices, which are expected to be introduced in the first half of next year. Completely redesigned, the new devices are significantly smaller than existing models, with a prototype 60" unit more akin to the size of a current 44" unit. The upcoming products will use a new printhead and a new generation of inks—still Canon made—that will provide a wider color gamut and allow for faster printing and more consistency of the printed output over time. A new processor will contribute to increased productivity, and the devices also have a USB port. Output from some of the prototypes was featured in a gallery of photographs highlighting the depth and detail of images.
Wow-inducing future technologies shown at the expo included elevated printing—or near 3D printing—in which output is textured, with raised areas to resemble wood, brick, fabric or other materials. A technology for packaging printing, dubbed Océ InfiniStream, was used to print boxes that were stacked to form an image of the New York City skyline. The 7-color system uses liquid toner technology and inline coating. With speeds of up to 14,400 B2 sheets an hour on cardboard, the 800-box display at Canon Expo was produced in a 3-minute print run, according to Canon.
Endless Array of Solutions
Canon showed a seemingly endless array of solutions for various industries that incorporate technologies from multiple Canon divisions as well as partners. In fact, aside from the production and wide format announcements, everything highlighted on the show floor was a solution; office products were there, but no signs drew attention to them as new or upcoming products. We would come across them during the course of a demonstration of a solution of some kind. For example, in a demonstration of Nuance eCopy ShareScan and the latest version of imageRUNNER ADVANCE Desktop, we saw a prototype of the next-generation imageRUNNER ADVANCE A3 MFP with a new white exterior and a tablet-style control panel. Availability information was vague—limited to “next year.” In another solution demo, we spied a next-generation 65-ppm imageCLASS, also featuring a white exterior.
A number of features in development for office MFPs were also demonstrated, though that does not mean all will come to market. Canon was gauging interest from expo attendees. These included a Match and Share app for Canon MFPs that uses IRIS OCR technology. After scanning a document and identifying it as an invoice, the next time an invoice is scanned, the system will recognize it as such and route the document to the designated application or folder, automatically indexing needed fields. Also demonstrated was a capability for users to easily transfer information from their smartphone to the MFP via Bluetooth. This capability would work in conjunction with a mobile app released in June, although the phone data transfer capability is not incorporated in that release. With another, dubbed MyADVANCE, all of a user’s email addresses, for example, would be accessible from any imageRUNNER ADVANCE MFP based upon login.
Another impressive technology seen at the show was user login at MFPs via facial recognition. Intended for large enterprise customers, it uses a Canon network camera to confirm the user’s identity. Canon representatives demonstrated the system continuously recording video to show that unauthorized users who pick up sensitive or top-secret information from the MFP could later be identified. With its camera technology, surveillance systems in general—well beyond the corporate world—are a big focus for Canon, aided by partnerships with companies including Axis Communications and Milestone Systems.
“The Internet of Things is already here and opening up new worlds, much of it depending on the imaging of things. Our sensor, lens and processor technology is the best in the world, and we have the right technology, the right talent and the right model to make the most of that promise.” –Fujio Mitarai
The vast array of solutions—which covered the gamut from surveillance cameras that provide clarity without the need for any external light source, to 3D breast imaging, to telescope mirrors to collaboration systems and so much more—was extremely impressive and shone a light on the innovation that comes from investing heavily in R & D and consistently ranking among the top companies for patents.
In his keynote address to industry press and VIP customers and dealers, Canon Inc. Chairman and CEO Fujio Mitarai said that being at Canon Expo in New York was like coming home for him in a way because he had worked at Canon U.S.A. in Lake Success for 23 years. As one of the first to work there, he described the energy and possibility he felt when he arrived in 1966 when Canon was not well known, saying that it felt like a dream. Coming back to New York for Canon Expo 2015, with Canon now such a renowned company, he said he felt the dream had come true.
“The Internet of Things is already here and opening up new worlds, much of it depending on the imaging of things,” said Mitarai. “Our sensor, lens and processor technology is the best in the world and we have the right technology, the right talent and the right model to make the most of that promise.”
And keep an eye out on the Editor’s Desk for our Canon Expo 2015 solutions story!