By Gina Ferrara, Senior Analyst

Xeikon held its first quarterly analyst and press update on February 22nd. Donna Covannon, Xeikon’s Director of Marketing, stated that these updates are a direct response to the numerous requests received from the analyst community who wanted to hear from Xeikon more frequently. Xeikon plans to conduct updates on a quarterly basis.

The agenda was brief, but packed with an abundance of information on Xeikon’s Blueprint, and its strategy in the carton packaging, graphic arts and labels segments. In addition, Xeikon discussed the new Inkjet Competence Center, located in Antwerp, Belgium, the upcoming Xeikon Café events and provided an update on its Panther technology.

Filip Weymans, VP of Global Marketing for Xeikon, began with Xeikon’s Blueprint Strategy and explained that the company had decided to move forward with two strategic goals – enhance electrophotography and become masters in inkjet technology. These two pillars will be layered with more software integration, allowing Xeikon the opportunity to assist and advise customers in the digital manufacturing of their environment rather than just focusing on digital printing. For Xeikon, the future lies in the opportunity to help and guide customers in this arena, including conversion of legacy applications, workflow and other aspects.

Xeikon has chosen to focus specifically on the carton packaging, graphic arts and labels segments. While Xeikon already has some unique offerings in the carton packaging market, the company plans to build an additional platform in the corrugated business. For the graphic arts business, Xeikon plans to focus more on high value specialized segments, including educational books, wall decorations, high-quality direct mail and signage. In the labels market, Xeikon has solidified the number two position; however, Flint, its parent company, holds the number one position in terms of ink and supply. Xeikon now offers a complete solution that goes from workflow to the print presses, all of which is driven out of one unified software integration.

Another strategic move by Xeikon includes the development of their Inkjet Competence Center. The purpose of the center, which is located in Antwerp, Belgium, is to continue to develop industry leading competencies in inkjet technology. The Center currently employs 20 people who are focusing on short-term projects related to the Panther series, along with longer-term projects conducting research and development in water-based inkjet.

Xeikon gave an update on the Jetrion customer base acquisition from EFI, which has been a terrific boost for North America. Xeikon announced its partnership with EFI in November 2017 to take on the sales and support of EFI Jetrion label printers. By acquiring this customer base, Xeikon became an even stronger player in the market with 700+ digital label presses installed, and became the #1 player in the UV inkjet market with an install base of 200+ presses.

There are two Xeikon Café events in 2018, one was in Antwerp in March and a second one will be in Chicago in May. The cafés provide a technical and educational forum for customers to learn, connect and discover innovative end-use applications and packaging techniques. Other workshops are designed to help customers acquire the knowledge and insights to improve their ROI.

Xeikon’s Panther technology, introduced at the Xeikon Café in 2017, is a UV inkjet printer for high-end labels. By integrating workflow technology, enhanced functionality, such as the ability to add variable elements to labels or separate labels within a flow, can be performed.  The UV ink uses a patented combination of mercury and LED curing, which exposes the labels to less heat. The Panther technology produces high-quality labels at high speeds and Xeikon will be targeting specific segments such as health and beauty, household detergents, fertilizer and industrial-type labels that are used for computer and machinery components.

Kudos to Xeikon on their first quarterly analyst and press update. This was a packed hour of information and Madison Advisors looks forward to their next update.

Madison Advisors Color Print Migration Market Update, published in December 2017, focused on the migration of monochrome to full color in transactional communications for both enterprise in-plants and print service providers. To conduct this research, we obtained image volume data from 22 organizations in the service provider and enterprise in-plant market. We found that in 2016, approximately 38% (15 billion) of the total image volume produced by the print service providers and in-plants who participated in this research were in color. Insurance and healthcare continue to lag, but our research to date indicates that there has been an increase in the volume of color output for these verticals. Madison Advisors updates color print migration statistics annually, with 2017 figures available in mid-2018, but even without those figures, we believe print will continue to enjoy a revival thanks to the color inkjet technology available in the market today.

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By Gina Ferrara, Senior Analyst

Canon Solutions America recently held its One Canon event on February 12-14^that The Diplomat Beach Resort in Hollywood, FL.  As a resident of New England, it is always a treat to escape the cold winter months and attend an event in the South.  This event was Canon’s second year celebrating the One Canon concept, which represents an inclusive approach toward delivering on the promise of more integrated solution offerings that are based on innovation, possibility and smart solutions.

Members of the press and industry analysts were invited to attend the event and get an update on the “customer first” principle of the One Canon initiative.  This event allows attendees to hear presentations from Canon executives but, more importantly, have the opportunity to schedule 1:1 sessions to speak directly with the Canon team.  In addition to hearing from the executives, Canon invites a few of its customers to share their success stories as well.

One of the highlights of the event, and an area of particular interest to us at Madison Advisors, was the update on the Production Print Solutions Division (PPS) which was shared by Francis McMahon, Executive Vice President for PPS.  The Production Print business had an exceptional year in 2017 with revenue and profit growth at 6% and 4%, respectively.  Canon experienced 22% growth in ColorStreams and 52% growth in VarioPrint i300s.  The transition to color is really starting to grow as evidenced by the fact that 53% of print pages by Canon customers were printed in color.  Canon holds a strong position with 38% of the market as of Q3, 2017, and customers who have purchased Canon equipment are starting to add a 2nd, 3rd and even a 4th machine to support volume.

Other Canon executives shared their respective business line results for 2017 and growth plans for 2018. Canon continues to make progress by enhancing its solutions through innovation and keeping up with emerging technology.  Madison Advisors looks forward to the new and inventive ways Canon will drive change in the industry with its best-in-class printing technology.

April 11, 2018, Colleyville, TX—Madison Advisors—Madison Advisors senior analyst, Gina Ferrara, will be speaking at and moderating three educational sessions at Xplor International’s Xploration® 18, The Customer Communications Conference. The conference, being held April 17-19 at Rosen Plaza in Orlando, Florida, brings together end users, analysts, consultants, industry experts and vendors who share the latest best practices and trends in the customer communications industry.

Ferrara’s session topics, covering Madison Advisors latest research on color inkjet, digital transformation and customer experience are as follows:

“Color Inkjet is the New BLACK” for Omnichannel and CX Strategies
Tuesday, April 17 at 4:30 p.m.

Ferrara will explore the latest trends in color inkjet technology and how they impact enterprise in-plants and print service providers with a focus on enhancing the customer experience. This session shares the benefits of color inkjet technology along with opportunities for differentiation, obtaining anticipated ROI, and adding value to clients and business lines. The implementation of color inkjet with best practices and guidance including document design, workflow and enterprise-wide strategy considerations will be covered as well.

Digital Transformation: Strategy Before Technology
Wednesday, April 18 at 2:30 p.m.

Customer experience (CX) is the new battleground, driven by digital transformation. However, digital transformation starts at the top with strong leaders, willing to create a strategy for seamless, connected and contextual digital engagements long before looking at the technologies needed to deliver. Ferrara will provide the practical steps needed to create a strategy thatultimately leads to better (CX) which is rapidly becoming the new frontier in which businesses compete.

PANEL – Customer Experience: Is the Perfect Customer Experience Out of Reach?
Wednesday, April 18 at 3:30 p.m.

Ferrara will also moderate a panel discussion featuring Emilee Christianson of Trekk, Scott Draeger of Quadient, Scott Mulkey of Quantre Solutions and Kathy Uhl of NEPS, Inc. It is slated to be an informative discussion that will take a deep dive into creating the perfect customer experience.

 For more information about Xploration 18 or to register, click here.

By Susan Cotter, Analyst, Madison Advisors

In the quest for greater operational efficiency, many organizations recognize the need to optimize document scanning and capture workflows within their operations. However, before selecting a capture hardware or software solution, it is important to understand your current workflows to avoid the common mistake of selecting technology and then trying to fit your workflow to it.  Your workflow processes should align with the desired outcomes for speed and cost reductions in conjunction with selecting the best technology to further those goals.

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April 3, 2018, Colleyville, TX—Madison Advisors—Madison Advisors president, Kemal Carr, will present “Transaction Print: Transitioning from Monochrome Toner to Color Inkjet” at the Inkjet Summit 2018. The Inkjet Summit is an invitation-only event where business executives and senior managers come together to have a deeper understanding of the way the disruptive force of inkjet production printing technology, software and solutions will impact their business. The event will be held April 9-11 at the Ponte Vedra Inn & Club in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

Carr’s presentation, scheduled for Wednesday, April 11 from 1:20 - 2:10 p.m., will share insights from owners of production inkjet presses on the mono toner to inkjet transition path, as well asexplore business experiences and best practices. Carr will also cover the benefits of transitioning to color in extending to omni-channel, along with practical steps companies can take to increase their return on investment in color inkjet.

As founder and president of Madison Advisors, Carr has helped to establish Madison Advisors’ reputation as the industry’s go-to independent analyst and market research organization, addressing the print and electronic Customer Communications Management (CCM) marketplace. Carr was awarded by Xplor International with the Brian Platte Lifetime Achievement Award 2017 for decades of contributions to the industry.

For more information on the Inkjet Summit, visit www.ijsummit.com.