![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/bored-300x200.jpg\")
M&A, diversification, the onset of future office-type technologies, continued demand for A4 devices\u2026these 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?<\/p>\n
We canvassed our expert panel to gain insight into those trends that are only beginning to make themselves known.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Christian-Pepper.jpg\")
Christian Pepper,
LD Products<\/p><\/div>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe OEMs cannot sue just because a business model is gaining strength. They have to have a strong patent portfolio to bring and win cases,\u201d Pepper maintained. \u201cAs it stands, new-builds have been taking remanufacturers\u2019 market share more than the OEMs\u2019, so it makes no sense that OEMs are going to invest in legal strategies and protect remanufacturers\u2019 market share.\u201d<\/p>\n
In fact, Pepper has heard that several OEMs are embracing the aftermarket and are looking at examples such as Xerox\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll OEMs who have a direct MPS sales organization already buy aftermarket product to support fleet devices that are not their own brand,\u201d Pepper noted. \u201dSo where they compete one day, they collaborate the next.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Power of AI<\/strong><\/p>\n Ondrej Krajicek, Y Soft<\/p><\/div>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cToday, we might do that with barcodes, but barcodes have limitations\u2014all users must have a barcode reader and they can be removed or modified,\u201d Krajicek noted. \u201cAI can deliver new methods of embedding and determining document identity, ensuring that it cannot be easily detected and removed from the document.\u201d<\/p>\n 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\u2019s 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\u2019t immediately seized upon by early adopters, who were soon frustrated by the lack of recurring revenue.<\/p>\n Darren Metz, Novatech CEO<\/p><\/div>\n Novatech, which derives about 10 percent of its revenue from 3D, believes it is only scratching the surface of the technology\u2019s potential. \u201c3D is going to change life as we know it,\u201d Metz said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to have a bigger impact on society than social media or mobile phones did. I\u2019d like to say I was the first one to predict that, but check out the tech talks online. They\u2019re talking about 3D printed clothes, 3D printed food, 3D printers that make other 3D printers.<\/p>\n Game Changer<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cI know the applications that we\u2019re doing and what customers are using the technology for, but the sky\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n Mike Marusic, Sharp<\/p><\/div>\n \u201cThis group grew up with information at their fingertips with smartphones\u001b and mobility,\u201d Marusic said. \u201cThey 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Clouds in Forecast<\/strong><\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cWorkers will no longer be tethered to a desk with a printer\/MFP tied to their location,\u201d Marusic added. \u201cSharp is taking steps to support this drastic change in the meeting environment and we see this \u2018smart office\u2019 of the future coming into our world very soon.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" M&A, diversification, the onset of future office-type technologies, continued demand for A4 devices\u2026these 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, 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. \u201cThe OEMs cannot sue just because a business model is gaining strength. They have to have a strong patent portfolio to bring and win cases,\u201d Pepper maintained. \u201cAs it stands, new-builds have been taking remanufacturers\u2019 market share more than the OEMs\u2019, so it makes no sense that OEMs are going to invest in legal strategies and protect remanufacturers\u2019 market share.\u201d In fact, Pepper has heard that several OEMs are embracing the aftermarket and are looking at examples such as Xerox\u2019s 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. \u201cAll OEMs who have a direct MPS sales organization already buy aftermarket product to support fleet devices that are not their own brand,\u201d Pepper noted. \u201dSo where they compete one day, they collaborate the next.\u201d The Power of AI 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. \u201cToday, we might do that with barcodes, but barcodes have limitations\u2014all users must have a barcode reader and they can be removed or modified,\u201d Krajicek noted. \u201cAI can deliver new methods of embedding and determining document identity, ensuring that it cannot be easily detected and removed from the document.\u201d 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\u2019s 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\u2019t immediately seized upon by early adopters, who were soon frustrated by the lack of recurring revenue. Novatech, which derives about 10 percent of its revenue from 3D, believes it is only scratching the surface of the technology\u2019s potential. \u201c3D is going to change life as we know it,\u201d Metz said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to have a bigger impact on society than social media or mobile phones did. I\u2019d like to say I was the first one to predict that, but check out the tech talks online. They\u2019re talking about 3D printed clothes, 3D printed food, 3D printers that make other 3D printers. Game Changer \u201cI know the applications that we\u2019re doing and what customers are using the technology for, but the sky\u2019s 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.\u201d 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\u2019s 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. \u201cThis group grew up with information at their fingertips with smartphones\u001b and mobility,\u201d Marusic said. \u201cThey 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.\u201d 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. \u201cWorkers will no longer be tethered to a desk with a printer\/MFP tied to their location,\u201d Marusic added. \u201cSharp is taking steps to support this drastic change in the meeting environment and we see this \u2018smart office\u2019 of the future coming into our world very soon.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":6071,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[80,1650,82,1638],"tags":[3537,3410,1975,2939,2264],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32715"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/166"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32715"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32715\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32717,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32715\/revisions\/32717"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6071"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Ondrej-Krajicek.jpg\")
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