Canon’s “Power to Move” demonstrated in Düsseldorf

Canon Europe, a provider of print and imaging technology, has debuted several new releases at this year’s drupa as well as used the exhibition as a chance to showcase its many projects and offerings.

The banner of Canon’s drupa presence was “The Power to Move” which demonstrated its many technologies, expertise, and partners that it hopes are inspiring customers and businesses in pushing themselves forward.

Across its large stand in Hall 8a, Booth B41-1 – B41-8, the company has showcased and demonstrated its solutions by industry segments: Commercial Print, Publishing, Promotional Communications, Labels and Packaging, Interior Décor, Inhouse, and CAD printing.

Canon has helped and looked to inspire customers via its different development areas including Printworks, an area where visitors can discuss strategic and operational challenges with business development, workflow, and application specialists.

Releases included the new varioPRINT ix1700 sheetfed inkjet press, which made its European debut and will be available in 2025. 

The press is positioned between the varioPRINT ix3200 B3 sheetfed inkjet press and the imagePRESS V series of colour toner presses.

Also announced was the new heavy-duty, B2 sheetfed press, the varioPRESS iV7 which is scheduled for first installations in the second half of 2025.

Jennifer Kolloczek, senior director of Marketing & Innovation for Production Printing at Canon EMEA, says: “With a large global base of both web-fed and sheetfed inkjet presses installed, we’ve accumulated deep expertise that we have channelled into the development of this B2 sheetfed press, the varioPRESS iV7, to address printers’ production challenges and open up further application opportunities. 

“In particular, we aim to help printers offload the more labour-intensive, short runs, currently printed on offset presses, to the most productive sheetfed inkjet press in the market without the need to change media or bindery set-ups as the B2 format is kept.”

Kolloczek continues: “By introducing the varioPRESS iV7 to join the varioPRINT iX1700 and iX3200, both of which we’re exhibiting at drupa, we’re making sheetfed inkjet printing an attractive proposition for operations with volumes as low as 300,000 A4 images per month all the way up to 4.5 million B2 images per month.”

Regarding its ultra-high volume inkjet area Canon made drupa the global launch platform for its latest high-speed webfed inkjet presses: the ProStream 2000 series and the ColorStream 8200.

The 8200 is being shown in a smart book-block end-to-end solution in collaboration with Hunkeler to try and push the boundaries of automated on-demand book production.

Another new press, the ProStream 2133 web-fed inkjet press has been producing direct mail, books, and magazines in variable formats on the fly to highlight its productivity and production capabilities.

In the wide-format space, Canon has showcased the recently launched Arizona 2300 FLXflow flatbed wide-format printer with optional PRISMAelevate XL software as well as the new imagePROGRAF PRO and GP series of large-format printers. 

Other innovations include the plotWAVE and colorWAVE T-series, the next generation of Canon’s large-format printers for technical documentation printing as well as the Colorado M-series including the new UVgel Packaging Factory FLXture (a five-ink-layer printing technology that adds micro-texture to the printed image).

Kolloczek comments: “We’re exhibiting our broadest ever portfolio of powerful digital production print, label, and packaging solutions, and showing how we work with customers in all segments to unlock their commercial and creative potential.

“Our two new B3 and B2 sheetfed inkjet technologies are great examples of how Canon innovations keep pushing boundaries and of our commitment to the commercial print market. We’re showcasing our strength in a segment that Canon has pioneered and grown with the best-selling varioPRINT iX3200 platform and extending the inkjet advantage to PSPs of all volumes, whether they transition volumes from other technologies to inkjet or work in hybrid operations.”

Other solutions on the Canon stand have included the new Red Label Zero A4 paper range for office and professional printing, as well as innovations in the labels and packaging sector.

Canon has shown live productions of labels as well as corrugated and folding carton applications alongside its Edale FL5 carton production line integrated with FDC6000 flatbed die-cutter for single-pass carton embellishment and finishing. 

Finally, Canon gave its first live demonstrations outside of Japan of the new LabelStream LS2000 water-based digital label press, slated to be available in 2025.

Drupa 2024 is taking place from May 28th to June 7th in the Dusseldorf Exhibition Centre, Germany.

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