Growth Vehicles Enable Konica Minolta to Push its Way Beyond Challenges

The walls in Sam Errigo’s office are adorned with large, framed displays that include the jerseys of Yogi Berra, Carlton Fisk, Johnny Bench and Thurman Munson. It’s only appropriate; these catchers (except Berra) were the toast of Major League Baseball in the 1970s.

So what makes these images in Errigo’s office different from the sports-themed décor on the walls and shelves of any top executive in major corporations across the country? The catcher is considered the field general in baseball, and the position provides those brave souls a complete, panoramic view of the entire field and teammates.

Like a catcher, Errigo—the president and CEO of Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. (Konica Minolta)—leverages that bird’s-eye perspective to interpret what’s going on and determine the needed adjustments. He’s had to use his share of “mound visits” in the past year, particularly in dealing with tariffs. As Konica Minolta kicks off fiscal year 2026 this month, tariffs are joined by DRAM chip shortages caused by the capacity needs of AI as another pothole in the business road.

Still, the OEM and top exec have taken their share of punches since COVID and are battle-tested. Fortunately, there’s ample reason to be bullish heading into the new fiscal year. Errigo and Laura Blackmer, president of dealer sales, shared how REV’D UP 2.0 is already yielding solid results with sales acceleration and back-office efficiency for reseller partners. Turning the High Velocity Summit from a mass partner affair to a series of dealer gatherings has provided more granular and meaningful interactions. When you add in the surging IIM BlueIrisIQ and a burgeoning industrial print portfolio that continues to make Konica Minolta a more formidable player in the discipline, there’s ample cause for the Ramsey, New Jersey-based firm to take on the aforementioned headwinds with confidence.

How did Konica Minolta perform during the first half of the current fiscal year? How did expectations compare with results?

ERRIGO: From a company-wide standpoint, we actually came in a little better than expectations, which was encouraging. A lot of the work we’ve done around financial stability and tightening up SG&A has really taken hold. We just wrapped up our Q3 results, which are now public, and overall, we’re right on track. Revenue was a little lighter than we had forecast, but margins held up well, even with the economic pressure from tariffs—most of that driven by forex. The benefit we picked up there helped stabilize the U.S. business.

On the dealer side, the channel is right on plan and had a very strong first half. Even with the tariff headwinds, we’re gaining market share. The programs we’ve put in place have really helped strengthen the dealer channel and keep us aligned. Laura came in at 99.97% of her forecast. I joked to her she couldn’t find that extra number [to reach 100%], but honestly, I’m very pleased with how the dealer channel is performing and how strategically we’re engaging to grow our footprint in the U.S.

What stands out as some of the watershed moments for the company over the past 12 months? What resonated the most with you?

ERRIGO: For us, the year started April 1, and I said this was the shortest-lived budget I’ve had in 15 years. It lasted exactly one day. On April 2, the tariffs were announced, and that created chaos across the business. The impact on our U.S. operations was significant. Managing tariffs, working through price increases—none of that is fun, but it was necessary for us to survive. That’s really been the struggle of the year.

BLACKMER: The thing that struck me was how unpredictable it all was. I remember walking into this year thinking, “Okay, finally—post-COVID, post-supply chain. We’re going to have a normal year.” And then two days in, tariffs hit. For me, the watershed moment was the reaction from the dealers. We hadn’t raised prices in years, and yet their response was basically, “We get it. We’re on it. We’re still going after net-new business.” Their resiliency brought me back to a place of optimism. I’ve said this a few times—my glass is very full with the dealers right now. They’re focused, they’re growing and they’re aligned with us. It wasn’t what I predicted, but I’m very happy I was wrong.

What were you looking to accomplish strategy-wise with January’s High Velocity Summit, and what’s been the feedback you’ve received?

ERRIGO: One of the big changes we made as a team was moving away from the large, grand events we used to host. They were well attended, but when you bring in 1,000 people, it’s hard to have meaningful conversations in two days. So we shifted to smaller, regional summits and top-25 meetings. The feedback has been incredible. These settings give me time—real time—to sit with dealers over breakfast, lunch, dinner, in groups of five or eight, and talk about their businesses, their markets and what they’re facing. As long as I’m CEO, we’re not going back to the big 1,000-person events. These smaller summits are far more beneficial for us and for the dealer community.

BLACKMER: When I came into the industry 13 years ago, everything was product-driven. Big shows were about revealing the next machine or feature set. What we’ve done with these summits is shift the conversation to the business itself—how dealers grow, how they drive net-new, how they improve profitability. We spend a lot of time on sales acceleration and prospecting, and incorporating AI into those efforts. And we spend just as much time on back-office operations, especially service. We’ve invested a huge amount of intellectual property and resources into helping dealers optimize their service engines.

What’s interesting is that the conversations now are so much deeper. It’s not “Look at this new feature.” It’s “How do we help you run your business better?” Dealers expect these summits to be hands-on—pen and paper, real discussions. And we’re also bringing in the best third-party experts—Kate Kingston, BlitzMasters, West McDonald on AI, and Nexera on service. We’re saying, “We’ll vet the best and bring them to you.” Dealers have really embraced that.

How has REV’D UP 2.0 been received by dealers? What product/service areas do you feel will benefit the most from this update?

BLACKMER: When we first launched REV’D UP, the idea was to recognize that not every dealer is the same. Each has its own go-to-market strategy and areas of specialization. Over time, the program grew more complex because there were so many things we wanted to do with it. With REV’D UP 2.0, we took a step back and simplified it. We focused on two critical areas: sales acceleration—because dealers need to grow, especially net-new—and back-office efficiency.

REV’D UP 2.0 brings together our own tools and the best third-party resources to help dealers in those two areas. The work we’re doing with vCare on the service side is unique in the industry, and dealers are embracing it. Adoption has risen dramatically. I’ve had more conversations about net-new business this year than ever before. The program is clean, simple and really aligned with what dealers need right now.

It’s been nearly a year since the launch of Konica Minolta’s IIM division BlueIrisIQ. How has it performed thus far, and what are your expectations moving forward?

ERRIGO: We’re very pleased with what the BlueIrisIQ team has accomplished. One of our core beliefs is that our go-to-market strategy has to be clear, and our product portfolio has to meet both current and future needs. So we pared down the offering to ensure focus and expertise. Today, we support Square 9, Hyland, Tungsten and Salesforce. We’re working closely with Salesforce on several large government projects—multi-million-dollar engagements for which they need our expertise to migrate data and document content.

We also stood up a new 100,000-square-foot facility for scanning and professional services. We secured two major customers—the IRS and the Department of Family Services. These are six- to seven-year projects. The warehouse isn’t full yet, but we already have around 60,000 pallets in the facility, and we’re adding services on top of that content. The BlueIrisIQ team has done a great job building brand recognition and delivering for the future. We’re expecting double-digit growth heading into FY26.

BLACKMER: Making BlueIrisIQ its own business was a big step. Dealers now see it as a distinct offering, and that’s helped with traction. I would have liked a little more dealer-driven business, but the engagements we did have were strong. Sometimes going too fast creates challenges, so I’m actually comfortable with the pace. I think this coming year will be pivotal.

Earlier this year, KM announced Kent Wolford’s addition to help bolster digital print and embellishment finishing solutions for packaging and labels. What are your goals for this product area and IP in general?

ERRIGO: Industrial print is a hyper-growth area for us. We have an aggressive plan for next year. This year started slow because tariffs hit that segment hard in Q1. I won’t say everything stopped, but it came close. Q2 improved, Q3 was strong and December was solid. We’re expecting a good Q4 and a strong start to FY26. Both the AccurioJet 30000 and our embellishment and label segments are targeted for double-digit growth. The AccurioJet 30000 is the benchmark in the industry, and we’re taking share with it.

BLACKMER: From the dealer side, we have the largest pipeline we’ve ever had. We’ve been very selective about which dealers we work with—they need a certain level of expertise. Frank [Mallozzi, IPP president] has brought openness and rigor to those engagements, and the momentum is real.

Even with the Supreme Court ruling that struck down the manner of its application, tariffs are still a fluid situation. What’s been your strategy for planning and consulting with dealer partners?

ERRIGO: We took a very deliberate approach. Some manufacturers came out early with 5% or 7% increases without much data. We paused in Q1 to assess the situation and gave dealers time to plan. You can’t just raise prices overnight—dealers have quotes out, and they need time to adjust. We gave 60 days’ notice and didn’t implement our first increase until June. We held regular calls, walked them through each decision gate and provided updates based on what the administration was signaling.

We did two staggered increases—June and September. Even with the ruling, the increases we passed along are still below the tariff costs we’re absorbing. We’re trying to be a good partner. Everyone needs to make money, but we wanted to give dealers time and clarity.

BLACKMER: The ruling was more symbolic than impactful. We’re still navigating what the final numbers will be. Our focus has been helping dealers communicate with their customers. Many had never dealt with something like this. We shared our own contract language, our communications and spent a lot of time on calls and in meetings helping them bring it to market.

What other headwinds are you facing?

ERRIGO: There’s a DRAM chip shortage coming that’s going to be severe. Prices are going up 5–6X for chips. If you didn’t place orders six to eight months ago, you’re going to run out. Manufacturing capacity is full, and experts say this won’t be resolved until 2027. AI engines require massive processing power, and they’re consuming a huge portion of global supply. A few companies have bought up half the world’s capacity. This will touch every industry. It’s as significant as tariffs, and we’re preparing for some disruption in the first half and an even more difficult second half.

In terms of AI adoption, are you incorporating it into any of your new products or using it internally? Where do you see it potentially making the greatest impact going forward?

ERRIGO: Externally, we’re working on leveraging the power inside the machines and eventually at the component level—building systems that are predictive and self-healing. It’s using AI to troubleshoot instead of using human resources. We’ll preview some of this in April at our next top-25 meeting, and I’m hoping to announce strategic partnerships that will change the service landscape. That’s where the money is long-term.

Internally, we’re using AI across multiple areas. Our finance team just won four awards from HighRadius for our AI-driven processes. These are major companies we’re competing with—Chevron, Red Bull—so it’s a big deal. We’ve standardized on Salesforce and Microsoft to keep everything consistent.

BLACKMER: It’s not about replacing employees. It’s about upskilling them so they can work symbiotically with agentic AI. If people don’t keep their skills up, they’ll struggle.

ERRIGO: Exactly. We’re moving away from “data pushers.” AI can run reports. We need people who can interpret the data and tell us what it means. Headcount will shrink, with moderate payroll changes as we’ll be paying for higher skill sets. We’ll be more nimble with better tools and better insight. We have to do this to stay competitive.

What will a successful 2026 look like in your estimation? What are some of your goals?

ERRIGO: Year-over-year growth is the big metric. Our infrastructure and SG&A are in good shape. Now it’s about market share. I’ve set the objective for Konica Minolta to be number one in market share and number one in service—dealer and direct combined. We’ve moved from fourth to third in the office equipment space, and we’re number one in production print in our key categories. We’re expanding our direct sales organization and aligning closely with our largest dealers—and with dealers where we’re number three or four [line]—to move up in market share. We’re ending this year with positive growth in both office and production units, which is against the industry trend. We need to keep that momentum.

BLACKMER: For the dealer side, success isn’t just our numbers. It’s whether we helped dealers hit their goals—net-new, service efficiency, profitability. If we can say we hit our numbers and enabled theirs, that’s a win.