Canon has extended the reach of its successful business analysis tool, the Business and Innovation Scan, to provide the print operations of Corporate Data Centres involved in transaction printing with strategic direction and a plan of recommendations to adapt to the changes in their marketplace.
Canon’s Business and Innovation Scan has been tailored to help Corporate Data Centre managers gain a greater understanding of the impact that current trends in transactional applications are having on their operations, and provide a set of recommendations to re-align their department’s capabilities to maximise future business potential in this sector.
Central to the new offering is the broad scope of its auditing and benchmarking process, which covers five key strategic business areas that are vital to transactional and direct mail applications: cost control, sustainability, productivity, security and integration. This provides a comprehensive insight into the entire workflow, from the integration of data via the host system through to final despatch and distribution of both printed and electronic documents.
The Scan involves a two-step process. This consists of an initial on-site audit and face-to-face discussion between a Canon consultant and the customer to establish a thorough review of current operations and gain a full understanding of the customer’s future ambitions. This audit is followed by a detailed and customised action plan with a set of recommendations highlighting areas of improvement and ways in which the customer can adapt their business to achieve long-term goals, cost and production efficiencies and future business growth.
Canon can then work with the customer to help them follow the action plan by using development tools such as Canon’s Essential Business Builder Program (EBBP) through which independent industry experts are deployed to support them through their process of change.
The concept of the Business and Innovation Scan was first introduced by Canon in response to market insight intelligence. According to the latest independent Canon Insight Report 2014 Building your future with print, despite 80% of PSPs recognising the need to change their current business model, less than 50% have a plan in place to help them to make that change.
Commenting on the launch of the new Business and Innovation Scan offering, Jimmy de Waal, Production Print Product Manager, Business Imaging Group Canon South Africa said, ‘Although the transactional and direct mail sector is facing considerable challenges as with many areas of the print industry, there are still growth opportunities to be had for print service providers (PSPs) willing to address the issues and adapt their businesses accordingly.’
He continued, ‘By understanding the drivers and pressure points within transactional print workflows, we have adapted our Business and Innovation Scan model to provide customers operating in this sector with a much broader review of inter-related business departments covering the full production workflow. This enables us to assist their strategic planning and develop a clear set of recommendations to adapt to changing demands, enhance cross-department integration and maximise production and cost efficiencies that will future-proof their business.’
