Canon is evolving and becoming more business-oriented. It has decided to centralize operations in Europe and become a customer-based company. “We will become operative rather than bureaucratic,” exclaims Zenti. After years of experience with importers, Canon has established an aggressive commercial organization.

The company has established two different business groups. One, Canon Consumer Imaging (CCI), is focused on personal consumer equipment: cameras, calculators and personal electronics. The other group, Canon Business Solutions (CBS), focuses on office products. “The ‘solution’ in our name is becoming more and more important,” says Zenti. “The right price, reliability and innovation are important, but in the business environment the key element is flexibility. We need to understand what consumers need.”

“More important perhaps than the product itself is how the product can add value,” he continues. “When digital tech came out and became cheaper we built multifunction machines with the ability to do a number of different jobs -- scan, print, copy, e-mail and process documents. Through this we are developing our solutions base more and more. This is the new challenge for our market. Canon has to become more of an information technology oriented company than a mere product vendor.”

Besides doubling its sales turnover between 1995 and 2000, Canon Italia has grown to capture up to 6 percent of the total office machines market in Italy.

“In the past, consumers haven’t really paid much attention to the cost of consumables. We are seeing that change,” explains Zenti. “All-in-one document processing units are the solution.”

Canon’s Italian subsidiary has recognized the important of using local knowledge in its market. Its dealers gain exclusive rights to sell Canon products for their territory. In this way Canon secures a commitment from them and reciprocates with a duty to protect their interests. From them, Canon gathers customer knowledge and solutions that can then be devised for all of the multinational’s personal and business customers worldwide.