The Corlet Imprimeur 360° group has been present in the printing world for more than 60 years now and is the 3rd largest French book printer. This event organized in Paris was intended to present our new investments in digital printing to meet the demands of publishers.
By holding this event at Canon’s headquarters in Paris, we aimed to be close to our publishing customers. Our main objective was to present our investments in the digital department, amounting to more than two million euros. Indeed, our digital press supplier being located in the capital, this allowed many people to meet their interlocutors face to face and ask their questions about our machines, our know-how, our present and future innovations. Much more than a simple presentation, it was a real moment of exchange around the world of printing.
Review of the conference
After an introduction by Mr. Patrick CHAPUIS, President of Canon France, the conference began with a presentation of the different sites of the group by Jean-Luc CORLET, President and CEO. He then explained the dynamics of the different departments which justifies the 360° of the company. The audience present, listening attentively, was able to discover or rediscover the history of the third largest book printing company in France.
Short history of the Corlet group
Jean-Luc CORLET continued the presentation by Corlet Imprimeur, historical reference in the field of printing for small to large quantities. The offset department offers our customers a wide choice of printing and finishing solutions. Then, Corlet Roto, web offset department with our KBA C 16. Finally, Corlet Logistic and Corlet Routage, our logistics and distribution services for books, direct marketing and the trade press.
Our social and environmental actions
This was followed by a presentation of the numerous actions carried out by the group, the labels and certificates held, demonstrating our social and environmental responsibility. For example, our printing plants are Imprim’Vert and PEFC certified. We recycle 100% of our paper and our waste is reprocessed by a specialized company. Gaël D’Ovidio, Account Manager at Canon, then spoke about the environmental partnership between Corlet and Canon. The inks of the inkjet machines are water-based and manufactured by Canon in Europe. Their de-inkability score is very high since no dyes are used to manufacture them. It is a clean technology that does not emit ozone or VOCs. The carbon impact is therefore controlled since the machines are manufactured in the Netherlands. In addition, the piezoelectric print head technology has a very long life span.
“In inkjet technology there are several types of technology. Here, we are on piezoelectric heads which are among those which have the longest life expectancy. We are looking at 10, 15 years on this type of equipment.”
Gaël D’Ovidio, Account Manager at Canon
We then got to the heart of the matter, talking about our core business, for over 60 years, printing. First of all offset printing, then rotary printing from 5000 copies. For black or color for catalogs, magazines but also for publishing. Finally, digital printing, present since the 1990s at Corlet, proof that the group has always been at the forefront of innovation.
“Today we are reaching a level of maturity that is equivalent to offset printing.”
Hervé LE MOYNE, Industrial Director
Investments in digital printing presses
This technology is intended for short and medium runs. Canon, a partner for almost 30 years, has accompanied us in the renewal of this digital equipment. The Canon VarioPRINT VPiX, which combines quality and competitiveness, was presented first. It allows today to print color (35 x 50 cm format) in a quality equivalent to offset.
The VarioPRINT TITAN 6000 press is the second to join the group’s digital department. It has been designed to meet the current requirements of the different production environments that are constantly evolving. The TITAN is the ultimate. It is the most powerful single sheet black duplex production press on the market.
Finally, the latest arrival, the CORLORSTREAM 8160, offers exceptional quality without paper waste. It is more competitive than the Jetstream on short runs, with a quality equivalent to offset and allows to widen the spectrum of black printing which, all technologies combined, covers quantities from 1 to 50 000 copies.
These three presses complete a digital park where there was already the JetStream and the Imagepress as well as the Imagepress long sheets.
The opportunity to present the new version of Rapidbook
Mr. Philippe FREULON, General Manager of the Corlet Group, then presented Rapidbook, the ally of digital printing. This platform allows you to order books online from one copy with a delivery in 48 to 72 hours from the end of the manufacturing process. The larger the order, the better the price. It is also a tool allowing the comfort for a publisher, who can order at any time of the day and night, from one to five hundred copies or even more.
With version two coming soon, editors were able to preview the new features of the platform. To be continued…