5 questions to ask your print supplier about reliability

When you’re investing in print technology, the installation of your devices should never be the end of your relationship with the supplier. It’s their responsibility to keep your devices and solutions working as expected, helping you get the job done quickly and easily. You deserve – and should expect – support that goes beyond simple IT troubleshooting. How can they help you add value across your business? Can they help you meet your security concerns, meet your sustainability goals, and provide a device that lasts?

To help our customers get the most from our technology, we’ve spent decades building an extensive ecosystem of value-added services, service technology infrastructure, and customer support. That’s why you can rely on Canon, as well as our partners worldwide, whenever you need help. With 3200 experts (including 1800 engineers) across Europe, and a Gold Award from the European Contact Centre & Customer Service Awards, you’ll never have to deal with any challenges alone.

When you’re talking to a vendor, you may come across competing claims relating to build quality and lifespan. But how can you look past the sales pitch and find durable hardware that has been built to last, using high-quality materials and best practice manufacturing techniques?

The key is asking for data that shows how well print and scan technology performs outside the testing lab. Over five years, Keypoint Intelligence research showed that Canon devices produced 4,455,000 pages with just six misfeeds and only two minor service calls. In fact, our devices can produce 500,000 prints before they suffer even one paper jam¹.

With each new iteration, we strive to take that commitment to quality even further. For example, the Canon imageFORCE C3150 - 8100 A3 range features a welded steel frame to ensure high performance year after year – similar to the techniques uses in high-end car manufacturing.

When servicing a print and scan fleet, current best practice is to adopt a data-driven model. Our leading print and scan technology collects usage data from thousands of devices every day to predict the expected lifecycle of components, in order to offer you a targeted and efficient approach to service scheduling.

That ultimately leads to reduced downtime, by catching impending faults before they progress to failure. As part of our smart servicing offering to our customers, we make use of predictive maintenance – supported by firmware pre-trained with machine learning AI – to drive better reliability and performance over the lifespan of our flagship imageFORCE devices. It’s truly cutting-edge reliability, powered by next-gen technology.

Your new print and scan devices should be easy to service too, saving valuable time for your teams. The most advanced service models will offer remote serviceability, meaning there’s no unwanted downtime waiting around for technicians, and fewer carbon emissions from visits. We prioritise serviceability right from the start of product design, and we were therefore proud to receive the BLI 2024-2025 Pacesetter Award in Serviceability in recognition of our continuous innovation.

There are few bigger red flags than a print and scan technology supplier that doesn’t invest in improving their products. A consistent commitment to quality demands a consistent commitment to R&D. It’s not just about keeping up with market trends – it’s about shaping the market with powerful new innovations.

That’s why any prospective partner should be constantly striving to improve, even if they’re at the top of their game already. And this is why at Canon, we invest 8% of our revenue into R&D every year, so you will always benefit from the latest advances in print and scan technology.

You wouldn’t buy a car without reading any reviews. Similarly, you wouldn’t invest in print solutions without conducting thorough research first. Your print and scan partner might consider their technology to be outstanding, but what really matters is independent validation from industry analysts that you can trust. These organisations put in a lot of work to assess and validate the performance and overall propositions from across the industry, helping you make the best long-term decision.

As a result of the consistent work we’ve put into our print and scan portfolio, we’ve received a host of awards from different independent organisations. Keypoint Intelligence has selected Canon for the BLI 2022 A3 Line of the Year and BLI 2022-2024 Most Reliable A3 Brand Awards, and, recognising our uniFLOW Online solution, has presented us with the BLI Pick Award for Outstanding Cloud Output Management Solution seven years running.

Finally, with sustainability constantly climbing the corporate agenda, it’s ever more crucial to choose print and scan technology that lasts. Reliable technology needs replacing and repairing less often. That means fewer new resources used, and fewer carbon emissions. With that in mind, we were delighted to win the EcoVadis Platinum medal, placing Canon in the top 1% of companies globally for sustainability, alongside our recognition as a ‘Leader’ in the Quocirca Sustainability Leaders Report 2024². We were also proud to be acknowledged in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Sustainability Programmes and Services Hardcopy 2023³.

When you make your next print and scan investment, how far will you think ahead? Are you happy with devices that will last for two or three years before becoming outdated? Or will you look to future-proof your business with durable technology that will keep you ahead of the game and offer you lasting peace-of-mind as well as a predictable cost of ownership?

By moving away from short-term decision-making and opting for future-ready solutions, you lay the foundation for success in the years to come.

And when you partner with Canon, you're not just getting exceptional technology. You're joining a vast ecosystem of solutions, services, and experienced people, with quality baked-in from research, development and design through to production and operation.

We do our best so you can do yours. Get in touch today and experience reliable devices and solutions that work as expected, helping you get the job done – over and over again.