MELVILLE, N.Y. - Canon Solutions America, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Canon U.S.A., Inc. today announced that Arna Marketing Group, Inc., a Branchburg, NJ-based direct mail marketing company, has installed the Océ VarioPrint i300 color inkjet press and two Océ ColorStream 3900Z monochrome inkjet presses, part of the renowned Océ ColorStream 3000Z Twin Series. The installations mark a momentous arrival into the inkjet age for Arna Marketing and add value to its already expansive fleet of Canon digital print equipment. 

Founded in 2005, Arna Marketing emerged in the print industry as primarily a direct mail print facility. Over the years, the company has evolved and shifted its approach to an information technology business that provides full-scale integrated marketing and communications services to regional, national, and international business-to-business companies, including Fortune 500 firms. With the more recent expansion of the business and its offerings, the need for a robust in-house printing fleet became apparent. Considering itself a technology company whose media is print, it decided early on to form an alliance with industry leader Canon Solutions America.

In a seven-year span, Arna Marketing has implemented about a dozen Canon print technologies to match ever-changing customer demands and exceed industry expectations as it pertains to uptime and productivity. The long-lasting and valued relationship was the driving force behind the company's most recent installation of the Océ VarioPrint i300. Furthermore, industry praise of both the Océ VarioPrint i300 and the Océ ColorStream 3000 Twin Series helped Arna Marketing recognize that it was an ideal time to embark on the inkjet journey in order to safeguard their position in the marketplace and prepare for future business needs. 

"Our customers are happy with the quality that comes off the i300," said Steven Hegna, president of Arna Marketing Group. "Arna Marketing is ecstatic with the production we get from the i300. It's been a win-win for everybody. With Canon Solutions America's expertise, we've added the proper equipment for the needs that our customers require from us."

Combining the reduced costs of inkjet with the media and application flexibility of sheet-fed production, the Océ VarioPrint i300 inkjet color digital press has allowed Arna Marketing to print a record-high nine million impressions within its first month of installation, while experiencing uptimes above ninety percent. The reliable high-speed sheet-fed inkjet production printing is powered by Océ iQuarius technologies, a range of innovations that allow for robust, high quality prints on sheets of paper, at high speed. According to Arna Marketing Group, the new technology has certainly exceeded their expectations with downtimes and maintenance times significantly lower than anticipated. Additionally, Arna Marketing is consistently meeting customer demands with this heightened and expansive technology. With the Océ VarioPrint i300, Arna Marketing can now consolidate sheet-fed black-and-white, highlight color and full-color digital workflows into one production printing system with continuous, intelligent, and automated quality control to ensure uninterrupted production. Perhaps most importantly, though, following the installation of the Océ VarioPrint i300, Arna Marketing Group has been able to streamline their operations and reduce associated print costs. 

Impressed with its capabilities, Arna Marketing chose to acquire two versatile Océ ColorStream 3900Z inkjet presses to complement the i300 and enable larger, more complex monochrome and color jobs. Since installing the Océ ColorStream 3900Z presses, the company has experienced faster throughputs and ran compound jobs together saving them significant time and money. The production and media flexibility contributes to a future-proof system that simplifies the transition of applications and business models to more sophisticated documents with variable personalization and smarter communication in color. 

"As we've brought in each piece of equipment it has made a significant difference in our ability to deliver for our customers, on-time and on-budget, and be profitable as an organization," added Anthony Mills, CIO at Arna Marketing Group. "Canon Solutions America has always met our needs and come up with solutions for us. From dealing with our sales rep to dealing with the tech support to dealing with the install to dealing with the support afterwards, the experience has been phenomenal." 

Prior to the shift from toner to inkjet, Arna Marketing lacked an operational workflow system to manage the entire production print force, which resulted in decreased flexibility and slower turnaround times for the company. Upon the implementation of the Océ PRISMA workflow software and its integration with the Océ ColorStream 3900Zs, Arna Marketing is using Canon Solutions America's Professional Document Composer (PDC)  for automated impositioning of book blocks through hot folders, while also printing monochrome statements. Moreover, it now benefits from increased predictability and flexibility, accelerated job turnarounds with fewer errors – and a smooth, highly productive workflow that can become a solid foundation for its business practices.

"Taking this leap into the industry-wide revolution will create endless possibilities for Arna Marketing Group," said Mal Baboyian, executive vice president, Large Format Solutions and Production Print Solutions, Canon Solutions America. "By maximizing the capabilities of multiple inkjet technologies they have opened the door to new business opportunities and positioned themselves for continuous success."