In early February, Canon Solutions America – the Canon USA subsidiary that combines the components of Canon Business Solutions and Océ North America – celebrated its first anniversary in conjunction with a press briefing in Delray Beach, Florida.
“We are extremely thankful for the earnest efforts made by so many throughout our company and the support we received from our customers during the integration period,” says Toyo Kuwamura, president and CEO of Canon Solutions America (CSA). “This event helped celebrate the unique relationship our company shares with each of its customers as we continue our goal to meet their every need in the evolving market.”
The three-day event allowed provided attendees with the opportunity to hear updates and developments on various divisions within CSA and Canon USA. One panel discussion gave guests a chance to ask top executives questions regarding major initiatives for both companies throughout 2014. Another panel offered an opportunity to discuss the future of the industry with several Canon customers – Michael McCombs with RevSpring; Thomas Harter with Microdynamics Group; Steven Strooh with Beeline and Blue; and John Zulli with Arc.
“We wanted this event to focus on the voice of the customer and how Canon Solutions America is stronger than ever because of our commitment, as a unified company, to improving the efficiency of our vast customer base,” says Kuwamura.
Specific announcements of note included:
• The Production Print Division announced new user groups, including the Digital Print Advisory Council (DPAC) and the User Group Steering Committee.
• The company’s commitment to advancements in media and substrates.
• The Large Format division announced the installation of several ColorWave 900s.
“Probably the most interesting news to come out of the briefing was CSA’s announcement that it was forming a user group steering committee, and that it hoped to have its first convention in 2015,” says Jim Hamilton, group director of InfoTrends’ Production Printing and Media team. “The focus of this user group will be production digital print.”
“Exactly what form (or what name) the user group will take has yet to be determined. CSA intends to test the idea with a steering committee of 10 customers, who will begin meeting in April. The user group is another example of CSA’s recent push to work closely with a range of customers to get real-world feedback. During its briefing, CSA announced another initiative to continue these efforts – its Transactional Printers Advisory Council (TPAC) has just wrapped up two years of meetings and guidance. The next such CSA group will be the Digital Print Advisory Council (DPAC), which will include 13 CSA customers representing service providers across the book-printing, commercial-print, direct-mail, and financial-services sectors.”
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CANON SOLUTIONS AMERICA
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