AI influence being felt across print world

Some of the big operators in the print industry have been cutting the ribbon on fresh offerings and pointing partners to research that highlights their market credentials.

The latest developments highlight the importance of delivering secure devices and services that take advantage of the latest innovations in artificial intelligence (AI).

Vasion, formerly PrinterLogic, has launched Intelligent Print Automation (IPA) to prevent data from going dark after it has been sent to a printer.

Fears around information ending up being dumped in unmanaged folders, or PDFs being created after a scan, are legitimate, with the problem growing thanks to AI, according to analysts, including IDC.

“The market that was supposed to solve this problem was full of companies rolling up acquisitions, squeezing margins, killing innovation and calling old hosted software SaaS,” said Ryan Wedig, co-founder and CEO of Vasion.

“We took a different path: a substantial, multi-year R&D investment to build a cloud-native, multi-tenant platform with fully immutable microservices that was ready for single-click AI integration. Intelligent Print Automation is here, and we built it,” he added.

Meanwhile, PFU, a Ricoh company, has introduced a compact, standalone document scanner, with the firm looking to deliver a device that appeals to those seeking to accelerate document sharing and workflow processes.

The scanner has been designed for regular use, is easy to use, and features technology to ensure documents are scanned at high quality.

Satoshi Kubo, president and CEO of PFU America, said customers not only want high performance, but also demand ease of use in their scanner products.

“As businesses work to digitise documents with limited IT resources, the [latest scanner] delivers consistent, high-quality results across shared environments, with the flexibility to process scans directly on the device when a PC is not available,” he said.

Over at Canon, there is a celebratory air as the firm highlights to partners that it has been named a leader in Quocirca’s AI, cloud and technology (ACT) print industry ecosystem leadership report.

The analyst firm noted that Canon is using AI tools to increase the level of support it provides partners and customers. The firm also got a thumbs up for integrating more machine learning into its devices, along with software to support workflow automation and security.

Canon ticked a lot of the boxes Quocirca was looking for in innovation, AI and security, where artificial intelligence is seen as a positive if it can help improve operational resilience, workflow intelligence and greater user efficiency.

Khalid Aziz, marketing director for the integrated printing and services group at Canon UK and Ireland, said there was a recognition in the industry of the need to adopt the latest technologies.

“Quocirca’s ACT report comes at a time of ongoing opportunities for the print industry, with growing demand for AI-enabled solutions, advanced lifecycle management and a critical requirement to build operational resilience and efficiencies,” said Aziz. “The evolving needs of our customers and partners have shifted our focus towards more integrated digital services, real-time AI insights and more strategic partnerships.”