Canon has launched a range of products to serve the commercial print market in the UK.


Heading up the range is the CLC 5000, a 50ppm digital colour printer, and the iR110, Canons version of the Heidelberg Digimaster 9110.


The CLC 5000 takes us to a new level alongside the Xerox DocuColor 2000, Xeikon and Indigo, said assistant product manager Glen Mason.


The CLC 5000, which will be driven by an EFI Fiery front-end and costs 89,964, will come with a days marketing training provided by an independent consultant.


Its a great way for us to add value, said Kerry Button, marketing operations manager for graphic industries. The biggest problem we have is getting printers to talk to their customers.


Canon is also looking to use its position as a supplier to corporates and printers to help its print customers win outsourced work from corporates. Later in the year it will launch V-Print, an internet-based document delivery product to build a distribute and print network.


Canon is hoping this will increase its share of the colour market above 5ppm, in which it is currently joint leader with Xerox with 27%.


Other products include the ink-jet proofers and wide-format printers that it previewed at Print UK. The range comprises the A3+ BJC-8500 for proofing, which will cost 1,850, and the 43in-wide BJ-W9000 priced at 8,995.


It is hoping to gain a significant share of the market by aggressive pricing and high levels of service and support, which it claims has been lacking in the large-format market to date.


Story by Barney Cox