ColorStream prints 67 million secure ballot papers ahead of schedule for elections in the Republic of the Philippines

Canon ColorStream 6000 printers produced 67 million official ballot papers in time for the national and local elections in the Philippines on 9th May 2022. This goal was achieved following the installation of two additional ColorStream printers to cope with the increase in demand and to meet production deadlines.

Joining an existing line-up of four ColorStreams at the National Printing Office (NPO) in the Philippines, one of the new engines was installed to handle the production of ballot papers and the second new engine was set up at Holy Family Printing Corporation to print the Voter Information Sheets. The NPO and the Holy Family Printing Corporation are just two of the many organisations that depend on the productivity and reliability of the continuous feed inkjet ColorStream. With over 1,600 towers sold to date globally, the ColorStream range holds 27% of the worldwide market for all sold continuous feed inkjet printers and 40% of the Western European market .

Despite the challenges imposed by the pandemic, production of the ballot papers began on schedule on 23 January and was completed 13 days ahead of schedule on 2 April 2022. With print speeds of up to 127 metres per minute and an uptime of 94%, the NPO and the Holy Family Printing Corporation were confident in the ColorStream 6000 engines’ ability to deliver on the order.

As well as meeting the tight production deadlines, accuracy and security were also of paramount importance. The engines printed 67 million ballot papers on 146 million feet of security paper in just 70 days. Wastage caused by misprints and defective ballot papers was minimal at just 0.18% thanks to the engine’s excellent performance and print quality. The inclusion of tamper-proof features including serial numbers, QR codes and timing marks could also easily be handled by the ColorStream 6000 engines. For additional security, UV authentication marks were added inline by adding fluorescent ink as the fifth ink in the printing process, saving time and resources.

With the engine’s ability to handle complex demands in variable data printing, the Holy Family Printing Corporation used the ColorStream 6000 to produce the Voter Information Sheets, each containing a unique combination of the voter’s name, registered address, precinct and voting instructions. Handling the production of over 35 different designs to incorporate the voters’ variable data, the printer produced the required Voter Information Sheets for each of the 67 million ballot papers within 29 days.

Speaking about the performance of the ColorStream 6000 and its ability of to handle an order of such significance in terms of volume and importance, Leopoldo Gomez, CEO of the Holy Family Printing Corporation says, “The reputation of our company rests on our ability to deliver top quality output, on time and on budget. Having worked with Canon for the past ten years, we know we can be confident in company to provide us with a market-leading technology solution that meets every requirement and delivers an exceptional price-performance ratio. As our trusted partner, Canon proved its commitment to us by working tirelessly to deliver on its promise to install the additional two ColorStream engines on time and provide us with all the after-sales support and training we needed to be able to meet the deadline for this important and high-profile order.”

Commenting on the success of the ColorStream 6000 series to date, Peter Wolff, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Canon Production Printing, says: “The ColorStream 6000 excels at tasks where accuracy and speed, plus the incorporation of sophisticated security features, are of paramount importance. We were very happy to support Holy Family Printing Corporation in their delivery of this critical element of the democratic process. The press’s ability to maintain 94% uptime at such a fast pace with minimal errors makes the ColorStream 6000 the ideal and trusted choice for today’s demanding commercial print environments.”

To find out more about the ColorStream 6000 printers here.