Polestar invests in fleet of Canon devices

Print Solutions

Polestar Applied Solutions has invested in an Océ ColorStream 3500 and four Canon Océ VarioStream 8650 continuous feed printers for its Nottingham site. The investments – the latest chapter in a six year partnership between Polestar and Canon – will provide the print company with the production capacity and print quality to win new contracts in the transactional, business critical mail and growth markets such as financial and retail.

Geoff Mordt, managing director, Polestar Applied Solutions, commented: ‘Following a comprehensive review of the available technologies, we believe that Canon's continuous feed systems are the best in the market. The print quality, reliability and seamless workflow are integral ingredients to create accurate, impactful and secure applications in the business critical mail and transactional markets and will help drive business growth across the board.’

The ColorStream 3500 will enable Polestar to offer its customers increased capacity in its end to end white paper solution, allowing for higher volumes of targeted business critical mail colour applications that can be tailored to each individual recipient. The ColorStream 3500 has been installed with pigment ink to complement the existing dye based Océ JetStream 2200 – which has also been upgraded to Canon's latest colour management software.

The four Océ VarioStream 8650 devices, which are set to replace some of the existing Océ VarioStream 9000 systems, will refresh the company's toner based production lines and demonstrate Polestar's continued requirement for toner technology. The superior image quality and non-stop production capability of the VarioStream machines strengthen Polestar's service offering in the transactional and transpromotional print markets while increasing overall capacity.

‘While we feel that inkjet is the future for our business, it's important to have both toner based and inkjet technologies, assigning the right production line for the right application,’ continued Geoff. ‘With Océ ColorStream and Océ VarioStream technology alongside our JetStream 2200, we now have an arsenal of flexible technology that, supported by Canon, allows us to cement our position as a leader in the transactional, and business critical mail fields. Meanwhile the capability for a white paper solution lays the foundations for substantial growth in the future.’

‘Also integral to the deal was Canon's Prismaproduction software,’ added Geoff. ‘It is the only workflow tool that is adaptable to meet our full PCI DSS compliance needs. With this secure solution, we are able to handle AFP or PDF data streams natively without having to go through lengthy RIP or conversion processes. The capability to preflight incoming files automatically and enrich print ready files is a key feature in driving production efficiencies.’