With over 1,400 installations worldwide in high volume environments such as data centres, print service providers and specialised commercial printers, Canon’s ColorStream series has been recognised by customers across the globe as a productive and reliable solution for printing large volumes of a diverse range of mail, publishing and commercial applications.
A key consideration for many commercial printers when looking to invest in digital inkjet technology is the level of quality that a digital print solution can offer compared with existing devices.
Richard Vaughan, General Manager of Perth Based business services provider, Zipform Digital, highlighted why quality was a deciding factor when the company invested in the ColorStream.
“Zipform invested in full colour inkjet technology way back in 2005 with Kodak. In 2012 we tested the market with all the inkjet web providers and selected the Colorstream technology. Our decision was based on a number of factors but the most contributing influence in our decision was trust, and we felt that Canon Production Printing could deliver on what they promised” said Mr Vaughan. “Over 7 years later I can confirm it was the right decision. Implementation was high risk as it was rip out and replace. The Canon Production Printing team was professional and experienced in this, it was a smooth transition with no interruption to our critical essential mail services.
“The Print Engines have been bullet proof over these years and in particular the print head technology has proven to be highly available, stable and consistent. The print quality was ahead of its game in 2012 and today still provides us the quality that our customers expect in 2020.”
Canon Production Printing Australia boasts that with the ColorStream 6000, customers can be assured of 94% uptime. Operators no longer have to intervene during production, so staff have additional time to focus on exploring new market opportunities and growing the business.
Richard Vaughan goes on to comment “We have been able to migrate 100% of our essential mail production to the Colorstream, reducing the requirement for toner based print engines. Due to its considerable ability to print large volume work, we have been successful in migrating very high volume jobs that were previously a mix of commercial print and variable overprint, particularly for government work. We also gang up small volume work to run after each other, it truly is a very flexible technology.”
Customers have also commented on the ease-of-use of the printer, reducing manual intervention and increasing production efficiencies. This was a key reason for investing in the ColorStream for Melbourne based printer, ABCorp. Troy Croft, Plant Manager, ABCorp, explains, “The ease of use and high uptime availability of the Colorstream 3900 units ensure consistently high productivity levels. The units are extremely reliable and have very little day to day maintenance requirements ensuring production time is maximised and operator input limited.”
Since its introduction in 2011, Canon Production Printing have built on a decade of experience with the highly productive series, comprising the ColorStream 3000, 3000Z and 6000 series. Canon Production Printing estimate printing volumes of over 300 billion A4 pages across the globe, producing a mix of printed output such as bank statements, direct mailings, pharmaceutical leaflets and books.
The system has proved to be particularly popular in countries such as France, Germany, Italy, Australia and the USA, and over 40% of customers have installed more than one device, with one German customer having 18 towers across three production sites.
Craig Nethercott, Managing Director, Canon Production Printing Oceania, comments, “Since launching the ColorStream series, we’ve listened closely to the feedback of our customers and have continuously evolved the product series based on their needs. We are therefore encouraged to see that market demand for the ColorSteam series, now in its third generation, continues to be extremely positive.
“When we introduced the first printer in the range, it revolutionised digital inkjet technology and we’re proud to have remained the global market leader. By maintaining a close dialogue with our customers, we are able to ensure that we are meeting their requirements, with the highest reliability, productivity and quality.
“Each ColorStream can be tailored to a buyer’s needs – from speed and colour to custom inks and tailored inline finishing integration. There are so many optional upgrades to customise the ColorStream to specific customer requirements. We guarantee every buyer gets the right solution suited for their business needs to help them achieve growth.”
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