NEWS

2009

Konica Minolta sets new standards in digital colour expertise

Langenhagen, Germany, July 2009

Digital colour printing is becoming more and more important for customers in production printing. They also increasingly require reliable services and consultancy in standardised results and colour output. Konica Minolta engineers already best meet these demands with the company’s Outward education programme. They can now attend a three-day assessment to reach the crown of digital colour production training: the Outward Diploma of Color. In combination with Konica Minolta’s Color Care, users can count on always achieving colour output of consistent and standardised quality.

 

A premiere took place at Konica Minolta’s European headquarters in Langenhagen, Germany, recently. "In a three-day hands-on assessment the first two European colour experts, Hans Scheeling of Konica Minolta Business Solutions Netherlands b.v. and Martin Thelen of Konica Minolta Business Solutions Deutschland GmbH, fulfilled several tasks to obtain the Outward Diploma of Color," reports Bernd Scheibner who led the assessment as Technical Product Manager at Konica Minolta Business Solutions Europe. “The diploma is the highest certification of Konica Minolta’s professional education, which is second to none in its design and scope in the entire printing market.”

As a prerequisite for the crown of Konica Minolta’s extensive Outward technical education programme the two candidates each had to pass 54 Outward exams to reach certification levels such as Outward Associate, Professional, Expert Color, Master of Color and an additional Expert level – all in the past few months. Hideki Okamura, President of Konica Minolta Business Solutions Europe, presented the diplomas to Hans and Martin in a small ceremony. This also marked the starting point for future assessments, because they are just the first Konica Minolta experts in Europe to obtain the Outward Diploma of Color – others will follow.

While Bernd Scheibner was one of the first diploma holders worldwide, he is also the mastermind behind Konica Minolta Color Care. The Outward education programme thus also includes basic knowledge on Konica Minolta’s efficient Color Care application package. This smart and powerful tool delivers guaranteed product-specific quality standards – putting an end to unsatisfactory different colour outputs. Applicable for Konica Minolta bizhub and bizhub PRO colour systems, customers can choose between Color Care as a professional service (Color Care Pro) offering precise calibration and regular maintenance for colour production printing environments or as a software product (Color Care Suite), which entails self-reliance in adjusting and maintaining the desired quality.

The Color Care Suite consists of three modules. Color Care Catch measures and controls the colour output. It ensures that the quality corresponds to the Color Care target, the level defined for a colour bizhub system. Color Care Profiler is responsible for creating a high-quality ICC printer profile. A third module, the Color Care MatchPatch, further optimises and refines the ICC profile in day-to-day business.

The Color Care Pro level certifies that a printing system’s output is in compliance with the defined target level based on industry standard ISO 12647-7.

"Implementing Color Care on their Konica Minolta systems, graphic arts professionals and users from the commercial printing environment particularly benefit from highly consistent print quality and clearly defined quality standards," Bernd Scheibner adds.

 

Product images are available at www.konicaminolta-images.eu

 

Terms and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders and are hereby acknowledged.

 

Contact:

 

Bernd Scheibner

Konica Minolta Business Solutions Europe GmbH

Phone: +49 (0)511 7404-5851

Bernd.Scheibner(at)konicaminolta.eu

 

Heiko Willrett

Pleon GmbH

Phone: +49 (0)711 21099-425

KonicaMinoltaTeam(at)pleon.com