M&A, diversification, the onset of future office-type technologies, continued demand for A4 devices…these are but a few of the trends that have dominated the office technology dealership space in recent years and continue to have an impact in the way we do business going forward. But what about the less-heralded trends, those that are only beginning to rear their heads and are poised to have a significant impact in the years to come?
We canvassed our expert panel to gain insight into those trends that are only beginning to make themselves known.
Christian Pepper,
LD Products
Christian Pepper, president of LD Products Channel Partners Division, is an advocate of the conversion from remanufactured cartridges to new-build alternatives, which he feels is validated by ratifications of product quality by respected testing organizations. He is well aware of the splash-back warnings of patent litigation, with OEMs potentially targeting new-build concerns. He is skeptical that 2019 will be the trigger year the doomsayers have been predicting.
“The OEMs cannot sue just because a business model is gaining strength. They have to have a strong patent portfolio to bring and win cases,” Pepper maintained. “As it stands, new-builds have been taking remanufacturers’ market share more than the OEMs’, so it makes no sense that OEMs are going to invest in legal strategies and protect remanufacturers’ market share.”
In fact, Pepper has heard that several OEMs are embracing the aftermarket and are looking at examples such as Xerox’s XRC line as a successful business model to win market share from each other as well as the aftermarket. In the next two years, he predicts other OEMs will follow suit and launch multi-vendor aftermarket brands.
“All OEMs who have a direct MPS sales organization already buy aftermarket product to support fleet devices that are not their own brand,” Pepper noted. ”So where they compete one day, they collaborate the next.”
The Power of AI
Ondrej Krajicek, Y Soft
Ondrej Krajicek, chief technology strategist for Y Soft, believes one idea that has strong potential is the use of steganography, hiding data within a document for the purpose of identifying the document. For example, a user has a 20-page document saved as a digital file that he/she prints it out and gives to another party. That person then scans the document and saves it to a different location. The hidden ID provides a method for a system to identify that it is the same document.
“Today, we might do that with barcodes, but barcodes have limitations—all users must have a barcode reader and they can be removed or modified,” Krajicek noted. “AI can deliver new methods of embedding and determining document identity, ensuring that it cannot be easily detected and removed from the document.”
One trend that could be hiding in plain sight is 3D technology. Darren Metz, CEO of Novatech in Nashville, TN, is easily one of the technology’s biggest proponents. It might be said that the first wave of 3D splashed across the industry, but found few takers. 3D is a moving target, and its applications weren’t immediately seized upon by early adopters, who were soon frustrated by the lack of recurring revenue.
Darren Metz, Novatech CEO
Novatech, which derives about 10 percent of its revenue from 3D, believes it is only scratching the surface of the technology’s potential. “3D is going to change life as we know it,” Metz said. “It’s going to have a bigger impact on society than social media or mobile phones did. I’d like to say I was the first one to predict that, but check out the tech talks online. They’re talking about 3D printed clothes, 3D printed food, 3D printers that make other 3D printers.
Game Changer
“I know the applications that we’re doing and what customers are using the technology for, but the sky’s the limit in terms of how 3D printing is going to change the world. Manufacturing is about a $10 trillion dollar business, and as 3D technology changes and the price point drops, the entire shopping experience in the manufacturing supply chain changes because of 3D printing.”
Understanding business and the way it was done five, 10 years ago in contrast to today is a matter of appreciating and accepting the makeup of today’s workforce, which is gradually shifting toward the millennial generation. Mike Marusic, president and CEO of Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America, notes millennials comprise the largest group in the workforce, and it is important to understand what it means to both the office and our business.
Mike Marusic, Sharp
“This group grew up with information at their fingertips with smartphones and mobility,” Marusic said. “They only know a world where cookies track their web activity, and personal advertising and content is delivered right to them. This changes everything in how they perceive an office and how to collaborate with others. It is simply different.”
Clouds in Forecast
While representing less of a sleeper trend and more of a changing of the guard, millennials are dictating the makeup of the modern work environment. It is one where Marusic envisions a cloud-based system in which technology follows the employee around while at work and where they can go into any office environment while accessing and sharing their information with anyone.
“Workers will no longer be tethered to a desk with a printer/MFP tied to their location,” Marusic added. “Sharp is taking steps to support this drastic change in the meeting environment and we see this ‘smart office’ of the future coming into our world very soon.”
