A Conversation with Consortium Member Harry Krohmer, Canon
For decades, AFP has served as a foundation for high-volume, mission-critical document production, and few perspectives reflect that long-term evolution better than those of the companies building and supporting the ecosystem. As a longtime participant in the AFP Consortium, Canon has played an active role in shaping standards, ensuring interoperability, and supporting customers who depend on AFP for reliability at scale.
As the AFP Consortium prepares to gather for its Fall 2026 Meeting at Canon's Customer Experience Center in Poing, Germany, we spoke with Harry Krohmer, R&D professional at Canon, about the value of Consortium membership, AFP's greatest opportunities and challenges, and what must remain true as the technology continues to evolve.
What benefits do you or your company realize as a member of the AFP Consortium?
Membership in the AFP Consortium allows us to actively participate in guiding the technology’s direction while ensuring interoperability and standards compliance across products. It also gives us access to the latest documentation and developments and provides a clear signal to customers that our products are up to date, standards-based, and aligned with the broader market.
Has anything surprised you about AFP technology or the Consortium itself since you joined?
What surprised me most was the openness of the technical discussions within the Consortium. Despite differing interests among members, the group has still delivered significant enhancements—and has remained open to supporting other standards within the AFP ecosystem.
What do you consider the biggest opportunity for AFP technology?
AFP’s biggest opportunities lie in its high compatibility across products, its reliability and reproducibility, and its strong foundation in data security. The fact that documents can be both printed and archived—and that the technology has remained consistent across more than 35 years of product generations—gives AFP a unique and durable position in the industry.
And the biggest challenge?
One of the biggest challenges is preserving and passing on AFP knowledge to the next generation. At the same time, the Consortium must balance functional enhancements with long-term compatibility, while continuing to expand understanding of the AFP data stream and its benefits across the broader printing industry.
How do you see AFP evolving in the future?
AFP’s future lies in preserving industry knowledge while continuing to strengthen data security and document integrity. As it has for the past 35 years, the technology will need to maintain stable structures while evolving to meet new security and reliability requirements.
As the AFP Consortium prepares to gather for its Fall 2026 Meeting at Canon's Customer Experience Center in Poing, Germany, we spoke with Harry Krohmer, R&D professional at Canon, about the value of Consortium membership, AFP's greatest opportunities and challenges, and what must remain true as the technology continues to evolve.
What benefits do you or your company realize as a member of the AFP Consortium?
Membership in the AFP Consortium allows us to actively participate in guiding the technology’s direction while ensuring interoperability and standards compliance across products. It also gives us access to the latest documentation and developments and provides a clear signal to customers that our products are up to date, standards-based, and aligned with the broader market.
Has anything surprised you about AFP technology or the Consortium itself since you joined?
What surprised me most was the openness of the technical discussions within the Consortium. Despite differing interests among members, the group has still delivered significant enhancements—and has remained open to supporting other standards within the AFP ecosystem.
What do you consider the biggest opportunity for AFP technology?
AFP’s biggest opportunities lie in its high compatibility across products, its reliability and reproducibility, and its strong foundation in data security. The fact that documents can be both printed and archived—and that the technology has remained consistent across more than 35 years of product generations—gives AFP a unique and durable position in the industry.
And the biggest challenge?
One of the biggest challenges is preserving and passing on AFP knowledge to the next generation. At the same time, the Consortium must balance functional enhancements with long-term compatibility, while continuing to expand understanding of the AFP data stream and its benefits across the broader printing industry.
How do you see AFP evolving in the future?
AFP’s future lies in preserving industry knowledge while continuing to strengthen data security and document integrity. As it has for the past 35 years, the technology will need to maintain stable structures while evolving to meet new security and reliability requirements.
