BM: First of all, why has Canon moved into 3D printing, and why now?

DS: We've been looking at making 3D printing part of our European operations for a while now. We could see that a market exists that is large and growing quickly; typical estimates suggest an average growth of 20 percent year-on-year. A large number of our existing customer base has been asking us about 3D printing, while a lot of the markets that we wish to target are similarly interested in the technology. These factors were key in leading us towards this deal.
 

You've joined forces with 3D Systems to enter this area. What is the game plan?

We signed the distribution deal with 3D Systems for its portfolio of professional and production machines earlier this year; what we've been doing since then is building up a dedicated 3D printing team, creating a showroom at our European headquarters in Stockley Park, UK and ensure that we have a compelling offering before going to market.

We've brought in technical specialists and a group of sales people and aim to provide a full solution to customers – we're looking beyond just the printer, to include consumables and full service support. Additionally, we're looking at flexible financing options so we can open up revenue avenues for customers.

Which market is your primary focus with 3D printing?

The area that we've targeted in particular is architecture, engineering and construction (AEC), as this is a market already showing a good deal of interest. That said, we're also looking at manufacturing and people we talk to through our wide-format printing range. We've seen interest from print service providers as well as educational buyers. With print houses, this comes from businesses looking to expand and find points of differentiation.

There is quite a large portfolio of products at entry and consumer level – and we're not going there. It is a B2B proposition that we are looking at; it is an area that is growing quite rapidly and one where we can add value.

How does Canon intend to differentiate itself as a 3D print reseller?

Canon will sell the Projet series in the UK and Ireland

We want to be in a position where prospective customers can come to us and have a partnership arrangement with us. We believe that people see value in such an approach. Also, by having pre- and post-sales support in the UK and flexible financing options we can make it easier for people looking to buy this type of machine.

We are keeping this agreement strictly to the UK and Ireland at the moment. We have had a fair amount of interest in Canon as a 3D print provider and, as we hear more of this type of feedback we will look to roll this agreement further out into other countries.

Where is Canon in respect to its wide-format plans? What are the main trends that are affecting how you approach this market?

What we're seeing now in 2015 is not anything new but a continuation of some of the trends that we've seen before. The wide-format market is growing because more people are coming in at entry level and shifting the way they go about printing. This is the same driver that I mentioned with regards to 3D print, in that wide-format print is seen as a differentiator for their businesses.

Many print organisations are looking for something that has a bit more value to be added and that will give them a competitive edge. We're seeing continued demand for higher productivity machinery: for example, the new Arizona 6100 XTS series that we released in Autumn last year is attracting interest due to being able to deliver the same level of quality [as previous models] at a higher speed. We're seeing both high- and low-end growth in this regard.

Businesses are increasingly demanding faster turnaround, shorter runs and personalisation as they look to grow through web-to-print. Again, this is not a new phenomenon but it is a shift that is continuing and accelerating.

We have a growth market with an awful lot of choice and this can be confusing for many prospective customers. We place a lot of focus on personal relationships and providing a depth of resources in order to guide them and help them understand what they want to achieve with their investment, both before and after the sale. A large part of our proposition is not just to provide a product but also a partnership: this is a key driver behind our success.

In terms of keeping our vendors happy, we have stepped up our offering to include higher volume machines and moved onto the next level in terms of performance, and this has been well received. A number of our users are also showing interest in the flat-bed cutters we offer through our relationship with Zünd, which shows that we are well geared to meet the trends that I've just described.