Posted: Feb 28, 2023 in Whitepapers
INTRODUCTION
The Canon ColorStream is the most installed inkjet web press in the world and Canon’s partnership with its customers plays a significant role in that achievement. Many of the innovations in the product line are the result of listening to customers and incorporating their needs into the press.
The recent launch of the Canon ColorStream 8000 series represents the next stage in the evolution of this flagship production inkjet press.
This report will focus on the heritage of innovation of the ColorStream product family, the latest product in the series, and the experiences of customers.
The ColorStream’s Legacy of Innovation
Since its launch in 2010, the Canon ColorStream has become a dominant webfed inkjet press option. Canon reports there are more than 1,500 ColorStreams installed worldwide with more than 40% of those customers having more than one ColorStream press.
The success of the ColorStream product family traces back to the launch of Canon’s JetStream line in 2007 — the company’s first entry into continuous-feed inkjet.
Reflecting on Canon’s history of developing the webfed inkjet presses, Ed Jansen, vice-president of category marketing for Canon Solutions America (CSA) reports, “The development of the first ColorStream press was a combination of what we learned from our first entry into the continuous-feed inkjet world with the JetStream family, our long history in producing continuous-feed toner devices, and discussions with our customers.”
Jansen also points out that carrying through each generation of the ColorStream is Canon’s more than 40 years of experience in developing production digital presses and its commitment to integrating customer requests in product development. Another validation point of Canon’s commitment to innovation is that for 36 years, it has ranked in the top five for the number of U.S. Patents issued. The first generation ColorStream, the 3000 series, was aimed at supporting customers in making the transition from high-volume monochrome digital printing to color. It was designed for providers looking to gradually ramp up their color print volume in transactional materials, direct mail, books, and manuals.
Game-Changing Features
Jansen reports the ColorStream’s inkjet heads were a critical factor in the device’s development. He says Canon selected Kyocera piezo inkjet printheads because they offered the best print quality, the longest life, and highest level of reliability. Jansen says, “We are a customer-first company and new features of the ColorStream 8000 are in direct response to customer feedback on challenges corporate and commercial print operations are facing.”
With the ColorStream 8000 series, Canon builds on the strengths and innovations of previous generations and continues its heritage of customer-driven evolution.
The ColorStream 8000 series represents the next stage in the evolution of the press family.
“Our motto for the ColorStream 8000 series is ‘elevate efficiency and accelerate their growth’, two key aspects customers tell us they need to succeed” explains Lucy Perez-Sierra, CSA’s category marketing manager for the ColorStream.
The ColorStream 8000 series expands on features that contribute to productivity and efficiency.
DMM: Pursing New Opportunities
DMM, Inc., headquartered in Scarborough, Maine, recently became a 100% Canon shop, adding
two additional ColorStream 3900s. The business was founded as a data service bureau 40 years ago and has since evolved into a document solutions provider specializing in transactional printing, mission-critical document output, direct mail production, marketing communications, and fulfillment distribution services.
It added its first ColorStream 3900 in 2018 to onboard an important Fortune 100 insurance company with approximately 250 unique applications and very complex workflows. As a result of its success with the press, DMM has continued to invest in Canon inkjet technology and added the varioPRINT i300 cutsheet inkjet press and a second ColorStream 3900.
The company operates two innovation centers located in Scarborough and North Wales, Pa.; both have redundant equipment to load balance production volume and offer customers continuity assurance. In 2021, DMM converted to a 100% Canon shop.
Most of DMM’s print work supports clients’ efforts in meeting regulatory compliance requirements, including insurance, healthcare, utility, and financial services providers. Having the right print production workflow is critical for DMM in meeting the strict guidelines and daily SLA’s on federally regulated client work the company manages today.
John Cloutier, DMM’s president and CEO, reports, “A key reason we added the ColorStreams was to offer customers high-speed, high-value color output to improve the overall effectiveness of their client’s communications to their customers, thus improving their relationship and life-time value.”
While DMM’s inkjet presses are mostly used for mission-critical print work, the company plans to increase its production of marketing communications on the presses.
Cloutier explains, “We recently added two new contracts to our portfolio which will increase our annual inkjet production by over 1.2 billion images annually.”
Since adding the ColorStream, Cloutier reports DMM increased print capacity, improved time-to-market, decreased operating costs, and improved its ability to customize jobs.
Cloutier reports, “Our biggest differentiator is our ability to understand quickly and integrate complex business-critical output into our innovation centers with best-in-class software, automated workflows, and Canon technology utilizing Prisma-to-Prisma load balancing between our innovation centers to achieve and maintain 100% SLA compliance.”
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