Canon Receives Three Keypoint Intelligence Awards in Buyers Lab Round-Up

Keypoint Intelligence has recognized the advances that Canon U.S.A. Inc., a leader in digital im-aging solutions, has made in production print and wide format/display graphics with the an-nouncement of BLI Outstanding Innovation Awards in Production Print for three Canon prod-ucts: the varioPRINT iX-series sheetfed inkjet press, the ProStream 1800 continuous feed inkjet press, and the Arizona 2300 flatbed printer series.

This award recognizes products that showcase exceptional performance and productivity, offer reliable tools and solutions, and whose capabilities make an impact in the print industry and set the standard for innovation.

Selected by a panel of expert analysts with years of combined experience in commercial print products and analyzing market trends, the products were judged against three key metrics: how ground-breaking or unique the product innovation was, its likely impact on the market segment it addresses, and the expected timeline for availability to the market.

“In the face of a challenging year for our industry, developers and engineers continued to deliv-er innovative products—and with in-person tradeshows having been cancelled or put on hold, we felt it was even more imperative to showcase these accomplishments,” said Aaron Hale, group director and chief analyst, Keypoint Intelligence. “The winners of our Outstanding Innova-tion Awards feature technologies that improve output quality, enhance productivity, deliver workflow efficiencies, impact sustainability, and advance their product segments in meaningful ways.”

• Canon varioPRINT iX-Series: Keypoint Intelligence highlighted that the varioPRINT iX-series is “the first true sheetfed inkjet press capable of handling different formats and weights of coated and uncoated media. The press’ maximum speed of 320 A4 images per minute and monthly volumes of up to 10 million images per month were also recognized as being impres-sive for its class.”

Since its launch in April 2020, the varioPRINT iX-series has seen more than 40 orders globally

• Canon ProStream 1800: The ProStream 1800 was noted as “an impressive evolution for its class,” with its ability to achieve offset print quality on standard coated stock with increased speeds of up to 133 meters per minute. Its air flotation drying system and Canon’s Inline Quali-ty Control high-performance camera system were also referenced as “other innovations” con-tributing to the ProStream’s superior print quality.

• Canon Arizona 2300 Series: Launched in September 2020, the Arizona 2300 was quickly recognized for its ground-breaking Arizona FLOW technology. Using an airflow suction tech-nique, it combines a zone-less, multi-origin table layout with easy-to-use registration pins to better secure a substrate in place on the table.

“We are humbled to have had these three printers recognized in the inaugural Keypoint Intelli-gence BLI Awards. We are as successful as the success of our customers and we are very proud of the feedback we have received thus far on our production print product portfolio,” said Shin-ichi Yoshida, EVP and GM, Canon U.S.A., Inc.