PRESSIdeas speaks to C Sukumaran, Senior Director – Consumer Systems Products and Imaging Communication Products (B2C and B2B), Canon (India) on the changing digital printing landscape and Canon in India.
Canon is one of the top players in digital printing landscape. Digital printing, with commercial at its heart, will continue to grow in India and Canon is among the leaders when it comes to production printing equipment sales accompanied by the workflow automation in the enterprise printing, says C Sukumaran, Senior Director – Consumer Systems Products and Imaging Communication Products (B2C and B2B), Canon (India).
“Post covid there has been a rapid adoption of digital printing all across the region. Phenomenal growth is being seen in the packaging and labeling arena which is expected to continue in the coming decade, if not more,” says C Sukumaran. Sustainability is another aspect that Canon has always been a leading proponent of with continued commitment we see in every new development that it brings to market. “The energy efficiency of our latest range of printers is something towards the sustainability and eco-friendliness aspect of the Canon philosophy. For example, the printers have higher toner carrying capacity which further establishes our eco-friendly approach to the industry,” he asserts.
At drupa 2024, Canon displayed to the world its latest label printing digital offerings. “We shall shortly be bringing a range of printers for the Indian Label Printing industry showing our commitment to the Indian printing market in general and label printing market in particular,” reveals C Sukumaran.
Canon has proved its commitment towards Indian market needs by adapting to changing preferences. The usual 300 gsm that a printer was expected to handle as standard substrate thickness has today changed to 400-500 gsm in India. Likewise, the coated media and textured media have now reached out as standard. Canon took note of these changes and passed on to its R&D department to develop products on those lines.
“Tier II & Tier III cities are taking a leap of faith in their own way as far as digital printing is concerned,” says Sukumaran. “We are now looking at a decentralised approach; a shift from the centralised approach. Today a customer does not wish to travel to Delhi or Mumbai for his printing requirement. He wishes to have it in his own city and Canon is already having products to cater to this demand,” he explains.
Drawing attention towards the challenge of trained staff availability in the industry, Mr. Sukumaran says, “Today, we face a lack of trained staff to handle the operations in the industry and automation is the only solution in the long run. Canon already provides the engines equipped with the front ends which are ready for integration with third party hardware for post press, finishing, dispatch and invoicing.” He emphasised that Canon is shortly coming up with products which will cater to the entire Label industry – be it paper or film. “We are also looking into aggressively entering into the packaging industry especially the mono-carton and corrugated segment in the B2 format,” adds Sukumaran.
The smart choice to meet modern digital printing demands is to have a machine that is capable of providing excellent print quality, high speed, substrate versatility, colour consistency and last but not the least front and back registration. “We have designed our latest machines to answer all these demands in a professional manner. The latest V1000 series of imagePRESS engines now have suction feeding replacing friction feeding thus increasing the efficiency in substrate handling all the while keeping up with the increased speed of operation,” says Sukumaran.
The key focus for Canon in the Indian market in the next decade would be the sustainable and eco-friendly inkjet technology for the label and packaging industry, hints Sukumaran. “In the short term, Canon would like to maintain its No.1 position in the wide format printing with the imageprograf series. Our mid-term plans are to get to the top spot in the production printing category too,” he adds.
Canon India is further improving its service infrastructure with focus on direct as well as indirect channels for the tier II and III cities in the coming three years. Presently Canon provides direct services (as in providing servicing support) through Canon engineers at 180 locations and indirect servicing to others with an expectation to reach about 400 cities and towns in India.
“Henkaku for Canon refers to a corporate strategy and theme, an initiative for transformation and growth at Canon India, standing for “Parivartan” (the Hindi word for transformation),” says Sukumaran. The term was used to describe the company’s strategic shift and expansion into new areas like surveillance, professional printing, and cyber security, as well as reinforcing its existing products and customer experiences. Henkaku, a Japanese word for transformation, was chosen by Canon India to represent its strategic direction. It aims to drive growth by integrating imaging solutions into more diverse fields and enhancing customer experience through new infrastructure and tailored offerings. The strategy is implemented through various actions, such as opening new ‘Live Office’ infrastructure, developing new product portfolios, and expanding into growing sectors like surveillance and professional printing. Additionally, the ‘Henkaku’ strategy has also been aligned with Canon India’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, such as its ‘Adopt a Village’ programme.
Recently Canon signed up with Future Schoolz for India’s 1st Digital Press Certification Programme. Talking about it, Sukumaran emphasises, “It is an effort for the industry as a whole. We believe that the certification will help the industry and this will help us all in return.” Through this initiative, Canon India and Future Schoolz are together building a robust ecosystem of certified specialists, equipped to deliver exceptional results with cutting-edge digital imaging technologies. “This endeavour not only enhances individual careers but also elevates the digital printing industry in India to global benchmarks,” says Sukumaran. Canon & Future Schoolz expect to add at least 200 such professionals in next couple of years who will add value to current ecosystem of Cutsheet Digital Printing Industry in India. Good luck Canon India for the wonderful effort for our industry in general!
