At the dinner event, which was held at Darling Harbour seafood restaurant Flying Fish, guests were briefed by senior executives from Canon Australia and Océ Australia on the vendors’ synergies and their plans for the future in the local market.
Craig Manson, director of Canon Business Imaging, spoke of the two companies “integrating our customers” and described the convergence of “two different company cultures but ones that have a lot in common” in terms of innovation and product development.
Canon’s general manager for Production and Printing Services, Paul Thompson, who has also had roles in the past at Océ and Currie Group, emphasised the need “to find solutions for our customers” and said visitors to both the stands would find a new degree of flexibility in on-demand printing, variable-data and multimedia.
In a process that began last year, the Japanese and Dutch digital giants pooled their resources, combining Canon and Océ technology with the support of the Océ direct sales and service organisations.
The first machine jointly developed by Canon and Océ, the new ImagePress C7010VPS, is also on show at the Océ stand.
The digital press can print up to 70 pages per minute at 1,200dpi on stocks up to 325gsm. It combines Canon’s ImagePress C7010 VP platform, launched at Ipex last year, with Océ’s Prismasync controller front-end.
As the majority stakeholder of Océ shares, Canon has awarded Océ the official status of a Canon Group Company.
In Océ communication such as websites, printed matter and signage the Canon Group logo is now displayed together with the Océ logo.
Both companies are set to unveil a slate of new products in their first Australian print show as a combined force.
In addition, Océ is also talking up the newest members of its Arizona flatbed family, the 360GT and 360XT.
The wide-format duo packs a UV-curing system that is said to provide upgraded support for heat-sensitive media such as thin polystyrene or polyester films. The GT model is 1.25×2.5m while the XT is 2.5×3.05m, and both feature a high-definition print mode.
Océ claims this enables the printing of text from a two-point size – a scale in demand for technical and industrial applications.
Canon is also showcasing some wide-format products at PrintEx11, with two high-speed large-format ImagePrograf devices.
The vendor will be demonstrating the new 24-inch ImagePrograf 6300S and 44-inch 8300S.
The machines offer a wide colour gamut, outstanding image quality, high precision and fast speeds.
“The iPF6300S and iPF8300S are comprehensive solutions for the easy, timely and high-quality production of proofs, photographs, posters and point-of-sale display material,” said Troy Neighbour, product manager for large-format printing at Canon Australia.
Canon is also demonstrating its Helix Production Workflow v2.0.
Stephen Lockwood, product manager, production printing systems, Canon Business Imaging, said that Helix can “deliver real cost and time savings while helping to drive increased volumes through centralised print facilities in the print room”.
“The release of Helix Production Workflow v2.0 demonstrates our continued commitment to offering our customers complete solutions to support them in their drive to improve business performance,” he said.
Comment below to have your say on this story.
If you have a news story or tip-off, get in touch at editorial@sprinter.com.au.
Sign up to the Sprinter newsletter