Press release 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
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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 productspecific 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.
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Press photos
The first two Konica Minolta engineers to reach the Outward Diploma of Color in Europe, Hans Scheeling (left) and Martin Thelen (right), proudly present their certificates handed over by Hideki Okamura, President of Konica Minolta Business Solutions Europe.
The bizhub PRO C6501 is just one of the printing systems that can be equipped with Konica Minolta’s Color Care Suite and Color Care Pro.
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About Konica Minolta Business Solutions Europe: Konica Minolta Business Solutions Europe GmbH, based in Langenhagen, Germany, is a subsidiary of Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc., Tokyo, Japan. The company distributes products, systems and solutions that fulfil all the requirements of office and production printing. Its product range extends from colour and monochrome multifunctional and production printing systems, laser printers and allin-ones to modern software that integrates devices seamlessly into work processes and IT environments. To support customers such as printing and industrial companies optimally with powerful and sustainable solutions, technology leader Konica Minolta invests continuously in research and development work and regularly sets new standards for the entire printing industry. Konica Minolta Business Solutions Europe is represented by subsidiaries and distributors in more than 50 countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). With 22,500 employees around the world, Konica Minolta Business Technologies earned net sales of over EUR 4.3 billion in fiscal year 2008/09. For further information about the company, visit www.konicaminolta.eu 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@konicaminolta.eu Heiko Willrett Pleon GmbH Phone: +49 (0)711 21099-425 KonicaMinoltaTeam@pleon.com
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