The Titan range, which has a starting price of around £85,000, will be given its official launch at an event today (29 August) at the Porsche factory in Leipzig, Germany, and will then be showcased at a customer event in Canon’s Munich showroom next month.
The series comprises four models, the 6180, 6220, 6270 and 6330, with each model then available in three versions: standard, Transactional Print (TP) and Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) for security applications. The 6330 is not available in MICR.
The machines are intended as an upgrade on the VarioPrint 6000 (VP6000) platform, printing at higher speeds and taking a larger selection of media weights and formats, with a new Titan Light Weight Media (LWM) option allowing for printing on 45gsm substrates. They utilise the same Gemini Instant Duplex technology as the original VP6000s.
Wayne Barlow, Canon head of graphics and communications business group, industrial print solutions, said the launch comes after around two years of development work on the VP6000.
“Because the VP6000 has been in the marketplace for about 10 years we tend to find that there is development taking place constantly on these devices,” said Barlow.
“Over the last two years the guys from Venlo [Océ's site in Holland] have been meeting with people in the UK and across Europe to look at what other developments they would like to utilise as a priority on the VP6000 range.
“As a result of that there has been a complete rebuild of what has been a very good product for us, which is the VP6000. Whilst that is an established platform, the rebuild of it is what has come from what print service providers have been asking for.”
Supporting volumes of up to 10 million A4 impressions per month, Canon said the presses are ideally suited to producers of commercial print materials, books and transactional documents, as well as for large in-plants. The fastest model, the 6330, prints at 328 A4ipm, with the 270 printing at 272ipm, the 220 at 221ipm and the 180 at 182ipm.
Canon also offers a temporary speed licence for the slower devices, meaning that, for example, 6180 users could apply for a licence to bring the speed of the device up to that of the 6330 during peak printing periods.
Barlow said: “We see the VP products as being unique purely because of our Gemini Technology. If you are duplexing work in particular because of the registration accuracy and the speed, we see this for us as a de facto product in the market. If you are serious in the market then this is the only product you’re going to be looking at.
“Other manufacturers can be quite neglectful of mono but the Titan gives us an added edge, particularly with the lighter media in new markets.”
The machines can print at a maximum resolution of 1,200dpi, taking a maximum substrate weight of 300gsm at a maximum size of 320x490mm or 350x500mm with an additional XL pin.
Each machine has a range of optional finishing options, including bookletmaking, perfect binding, die-punching and trimming, along with offering a Document Finishing Device (DFD) interface.
Supported by Canon’s Prismasync print server v7, which allows for advanced job scheduling of up to eight hours, the machines offer a range of automation tools, including the Prismasync Remote Manager remote control app and the Prismalytics dashboard for remote management and monitoring of multiple engines.
Last month, Canon launched a new large-format imagePrograf printer and it launched its VarioPrint 140 series in June.
