Our journey: From print provider to transformation partner

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Our journey: From print provider to transformation partner

Taz Nakamasu
Taz Nakamasu

Executive Vice President of B2B Document Solutions, Canon Europe


As an organisation, we’ve changed a lot over the years. From our origins as a print provider, to today, as a digital transformation partner. That’s all down to our investment and focus on innovation. Over the years, we’ve changed our business to respond to how our world is evolving. After all, companies today are very different to how they were just five or ten years ago – they’re no longer tied to a single office and employees might work anywhere, from their spare room to a café. What brings them together is not one location, but the technology which connects them. That’s why we’ve spent time perfecting technology which allows our customers to connect, collaborate and be productive, no matter where they are. 
 
It’s always great to see these technologies making a genuine impact. We were proud to receive three awards for our hardware and software at this year’s Document Manager Awards. At the event, which recognises outstanding document workflow technology, we were awarded Product of the Year and Artificial Intelligence (AI) Product of the Year for our IRISXtract solution, and Workgroup/Departmental Product of the Year for our new imageFORMULA DR-S150 scanner. 
 
At the heart of our workflow technology is digital transformation. The important thing about transformation, and the technologies behind it, is that they’re designed to make your business be more effective. Cut down admin, reduce time spent on less critical things, and ultimately to focus on what you do best. But as we move away from the traditional view of workspaces, transforming isn’t just nice to have – it’s a necessity. You simply can’t work effectively without the tools to help teams work together, even when they’re miles apart. 
 
Take paperwork. Painful at the best of times, but even more time-consuming when you aren’t sat next to one another. Typical workflows like HR onboarding and invoice processing can involve multiple steps and multiple layers of approval. Things move a lot faster when they’re not slowed down at each stage by jobs like manual data entry. Our IRISXtract software uses AI to recognise and categorise documents of all types, then extract relevant information, such as the customer name, PO and addresses of an invoice and turn it into digital records. The smart AI even learns your business over time, understanding common documents you tend to use and becoming more accurate over time.
 
Not every company has reached the fabled ‘paperless office’ and your company still needs to run properly, even if your workers are not based in the office. That’s where our imageFORMULA scanners come in. The DR-S150 desktop scanners are perfect for remote and home offices, but still offer smart, secure scanning and cloud connectivity to IRISXtract. Team members can scan in anything – from a passport to a contract, and information is extracted automatically and transcribed into your normal workflow software. 
 
We know the IT team can’t be everywhere, so the device can be set up and user workflows managed remotely by an IT Administrator from any location on the company network. It’s flexible too, connecting to either WiFi, LAN or through USB to help workers get it online, whatever their set up.
 
The way we work is always changing, and it’s certainly true that we seem to be moving towards a future where work isn’t tied to a location. But it’s important to note that transformation is important no matter what your future business model looks like. It’s not just about providing the basis for remote connection. Whether you’re in the office, at home, or however you want to work, every company needs technology that supports better, more efficient ways of working. We’ve created a comprehensive ecosystem of technologies that support customers with this journey by providing the tools to digitise and automate everyday company workflows. So that’s why, no matter what your tomorrow looks like, our portfolio gives you the tools you need to make it a success.  
 
Want to know more about our digital transformation ecosystem? Click here.

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