How Canon Enables Companies to Build Business Resilience
CIO Bulletin has named Canon Business Process Services (Canon) as one of the “10 Best Service Providers 2023.” This is the second time that the publication has recognized Canon for its comprehensive business process outsourcing methodology and successful track record in helping companies build a more resilient enterprise.
It is clear that many industries are facing significant challenges as we move further into 2023. The after- effects of the global Covid-19 pandemic still impact businesses as they grapple with a host of issues. These include ongoing supply chain disruptions, labor shortages, technology disruption, and getting the workforce efficiently back into the office, often on a hybrid work schedule. In response, the priority at many organizations is to leverage digital transformation to build a more resilient business.
“Resilient enterprises,” according to company President and CEO Joe Marciano, “are those that are strategically prepared to cope with disruption. This can come in the form of a pandemic, economic downturn, skills shortage, fast moving technology changes, or any other business risks that may be on the horizon.”
Canon Delivers Operational Excellence with A Holistic Approach
To help organizations solve these challenges, Canon offers a holistic approach that leverages its people, processes, technology and analytics capabilities to enable clients to maintain and improve their business operations in sustainable ways over the long term. The company has differentiated itself from competitors by delivering services in a way that is underscored by at least two key elements.
One is Canon’s ability to deliver operational excellence by providing a greater level of customization than competitors; integrating more tightly with the client’s culture and technology when implementing a solution. The other is Canon’s integrated global service delivery model, which enables clients to run their business processes more efficiently. Canon can deliver document capture and other data processing services onsite at the client’s location; offsite in Canon U.S. business processing centers; and via Canon’s offshore operations.
Canon Earns IAOP Industry Recognition
In addition to its wide-ranging services, industry recognition is another key factor supporting Canon’s status as one of the ten best service providers for 2023. The company was recently named to the Leader’s Category of the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals’ (IAOP®) Global Outsourcing 100 list for the 17th straight year. For a number of those years, Canon earned additional IAOP recognition by receiving top honors in the “Programs for Innovation” category, which recognizes a company’s ability to implement specific programs and achieve results that produce new forms of value for clients.
Canon Drives Innovation With Canon Digital Mailroom Services
An example of driving innovation and value for clients is Canon’s digital mailroom services. Canon’s solution helps companies to better navigate the hybrid workforce, improve response times, and gain visibility and insight into the mail they receive.
“Physical-to-digital mail is the latest evolution in managing incoming and accountable business mail. Most importantly, a digital mailroom can move an organization into the forefront of mail center efficiency, security and safety,” notes Joe Marciano. When it comes to driving efficiency in particular, Marciano adds that, based on implementing digital mail systems for a number of major clients, Canon estimates that 99.5% of physical mail did not require delivery. That’s a huge opportunity to leverage digitization for productivity gains and cost savings.
The Canon system enables consolidating physical and digital correspondence into a single process flow. Canon’s end-to-end service includes mail center staff, digital mailroom system and installation, imaging hardware, mail processing workflow design based on Six Sigma methodology, customer service support and comprehensive reporting. Business benefits of this comprehensive approach include:
- Speed: A friction-free document workflow and processing can quickly generate productivity gains by cutting time from paper–based processes. The Canon system can go live in 30 days or less.
- Simplicity: Because Canon’s system does not require code, it can be implemented with minimal disruption. Company teams can work anywhere on any device, and Canon’s user-friendly system requires minimal training to go live.
- Security: Canon's digital mailroom can reduce risk of loss, fraud, failure and penalty.
- Scalability: Canon’s agile architecture allows a company to grow at its own pace with no constraints on volume.
Canon Return Mail Services Helps Ensure Regulatory Compliance
Canon also offers digital return mail services, and with so many businesses needing to contain costs and increase efficiency, Canon’s solution couldn’t be timelier.
One key reason is that, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, 27.1 million Americans moved last year. If even a small percentage of them did not submit a change of address, that creates a big problem for companies that send mail. Processing returned mail is costly and time-consuming — and it can lead to dissatisfied customers. And if a company is sending legally required notifications or time-sensitive information, it can actually put the business at risk.
It is important to consider that manual return mail processes are very labor intensive, which can potentially lead to inadvertent errors. That means a company could be wasting postage sending mail to the wrong address again and again. Additionally, an organization using high-value, highly paid employees for data entry may not be making the best use of their people. Digital return mail services leverage automation to process returned mail efficiently and help ensure that a company’s records are up to date. Other business advantages include boosting customer satisfaction and helping to ensure regulatory compliance.
Canon Return Mail Automation leverages Canon’s intelligent automation to offer fast and accurate returned mail processing. For example, a company’s returned mail can be redirected to a Canon business processing center, where a Canon team extracts the name, address and other pertinent information for updating the company’s mailing lists. Or the company can digitize the entire return mail system and manage it onsite inside the company’s mailroom. Canon provides a cloud-based digital platform so the company can scan mail, automatically extracting and updating each customer’s name, address, and account number for future outgoing mail.
“For companies considering a digital mailroom and return mail automation services, it’s crucial to find the right partner to guide them through their digital transition,” Joe Marciano says. “Leveraging our years of experience in managing mailroom operations and our wide range of digital mailroom services can help organizations become more resilient and better prepared for the future.”
Meet the CEO
Joe Marciano, President and CEO: Joe provides the vision for driving improved processes that enable clients to become future-ready enterprises. In 1980, Joe joined Arkwright, Inc., a subsidiary of Océ USA Holdings. Arkwright manufactured and marketed digital imaging supplies for Océ and other brand owners. In 1998, when he was named President & CEO of Arkwright, Joe integrated the manufacturing, logistics and R&D of Océ Imaging Supplies with Arkwright. Joe was appointed President & CEO of Océ Business Services, Inc. in 2004. His leadership helped drive the company’s rebranding as Canon Business Process Services, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Canon USA, Inc. on January 1, 2013.
Published in CIO Bulletin Magazine, May 2023