Trend Offset Printing to Install First Océ ImageStream 2400 Inkjet Press in U.S.

MELVILLE, N.Y.—October 5, 2015—Canon Solutions America, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Canon U.S.A., today announced a monumental moment in the company’s history as its long-time partner, Trend Offset Printing (Trend), is set to become the first company in the U.S. to install the Océ ImageStream 2400 inkjet press. Trend, a nationally recognized commercial print business that specializes in the web offset printing of publications, catalogs, and direct mail for retail, healthcare, and financial services companies, made its formal announcement during the DMA &Then Marketing Conference, held Oct. 4-6, 2015 in Boston.

For nearly 20 years, Trend has focused on its "Distribute and Print" strategy of helping local, regional, and national companies reach their clients and consumers in the shortest time frame possible. With a national footprint of robust printing plants, Trend has maintained its success and relevancy through a commitment to delivering customer-focused print solutions on state-of-the-art equipment. Additionally, Trend Offset Printing is a full-service mail operation offering both inline and offline solutions for both local and national customers. All of its facilities are located within 20 minutes of U.S. Postal Periodical Bulk Mail Centers and its trained staff handles all classes of mail, and, as a practice, helps optimize postage savings for its clients. As time and turnaround is everything for the commercial print leader, Trend continues to adopt next-generation print and communication technologies to meet the demanding requirements of its customers.

To sustain its reputation of providing consumer-ready data and personalized consumer communications, Trend has a long history of working with its clients to streamline the flow of data through intuitive programing tools. When the commercial offset web printing company decided it was time to further expand its offerings, it looked for a manufacturing partner who was dedicated to inkjet imaging on industry standard paper stocks. To keep the price point in reach of its current offset printing, normal paper grades and stocks needed to work without any special coating applied. Enter the Océ ImageStream 2400. Launched earlier this year, the ImageStream series is Canon’s newest line of production inkjet technologies and is the first full-color inkjet press to print on standard offset-coated paper stock. Seamlessly fitting Trend’s needs, the company knew it had the right partner in Canon Solutions America.

"We took almost two years to research every available inkjet web press on the market," said Aaron Day, CEO of Trend Offset Printing. "With very specific requirements in place, we felt that Canon Solutions America, as a proven industry leader, was the right choice. In addition, the detail of our research and testing should give both Trend and Canon Solutions America advantages for the next few years based on the criteria we feel are vital for the industry to accept a major migration to inkjet web printing."

Focusing heavily on productivity, Day and his team understood the need for a reliable machine that could efficiently turn high-demand jobs around at accelerated rates. With the ability to run print jobs at 525 feet per minute at 1,200 dpi, the Océ ImageStream 2400 gives Trend the speed it needs for its evolving customer output. The unique efficiency and quality of Canon’s new inkjet product will allow the cost per unit to be more easily accessible by mainstream markets while offering the quality required by offset web printing companies like Trend. Known for its robust mailing solutions, Trend also wanted to stay ahead of the inkjet movement and ensure its customers that it continues to grow with the industry as it shifts.

"At Trend we are constantly listening to our customers and what they need to be successful," added Day. "We also spend an enormous amount of time thinking about what keeps print relevant in today’s environment of multichannel communication choices. There are so many ways for our clients to communicate with their customers, but we feel that print still has tremendous reach and the more we can personalize it and make it responsive, the longer it will stay vibrant."

Mal Baboyian, executive vice president, Large Format Solutions/Production Print Solutions, Canon Solutions America, also added, "Working together with leaders and innovative minds like Aaron Day and the rest of the Trend Offset team is what helps push this industry forward. We truly respect and value everything Trend is doing to evolve with the new technologies coming from Canon. Their recent acquisition of the Océ ImageStream 2400 is a major leap forward for both companies."

Designed to help customers like Trend expand their portfolio of offerings, the Océ ImageStream 2400 is suitable for a wide range of high-end applications, including books, brochures, magazines, and catalogs, combining the familiar image quality and feel of offset print with the power and versatility of a digital workflow, enabling shorter or combined print runs, personalized content, and print-on-demand.

As part of the valued partnership between Canon Solutions America and Trend, the two companies worked together to build a business model that would allow Trend to experience a mass adoption of Canon’s newest technology in expedited form. Day noted that working with a company that could provide a model that would push the cost per page down as ink and machine usage went up was paramount.

"As time goes by, the cost of the ink and the cost of the inkjet heads should come down substantially. Understanding that the printer can’t bear all the cost of the R&D process was what led us to choose Canon Solutions America and their proposed business model."

With a history of staying at the leading-edge of technology, Trend and Canon Solutions America have embarked on a historic partnership that will bring the newest ImageStream technology to the U.S. for the first time.

"We will benefit greatly by having a partner that fully understands the commercial offset web printing business," relayed Baboyian. "Our partnership with Trend puts us in place to grow in this segment."

Day also added, "The Océ ImageStream 2400 will give Trend Offset Printing the productivity to bring four-color personalized printing to the mainstream client. The flexibility we will have compared to the on press imaging option is even more dynamic. We are very excited at Trend to see where our clients will go with this new technology."

About Trend Offset Printing

Headquartered in Los Alamitos, California, and founded in 1986, privately held Trend has full-service, heatset and open web printing facilities in California, Texas and Florida that service the direct mail, publishing, retail and catalog industries. Using the most modern technology and strategically located plants, Trend provides high-quality printing, rapid turnaround times and innovative solutions for its valued clients.

About Canon Solutions America

Canon Solutions America provides industry leading enterprise, production, and large-format printing solutions, supported by exceptional professional service offerings. With the technology offerings of the Canon and Océ brands, Canon Solutions America helps companies of all sizes improve sustainability, increase efficiency, and control costs through high-volume, continuous-feed, digital and traditional printing, and document management solutions. A wholly-owned subsidiary of Canon U.S.A., Canon Solutions America is headquartered in Melville, New York, and has sales and service locations across the U.S.

Source: Canon Solutions America.