{"id":36567,"date":"2019-10-24T12:39:47","date_gmt":"2019-10-24T19:39:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/?p=36567"},"modified":"2019-10-24T12:50:42","modified_gmt":"2019-10-24T19:50:42","slug":"fueling-growth-the-next-hidden-gem-is-just-around-the-corner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/feature-articles\/2019\/10\/fueling-growth-the-next-hidden-gem-is-just-around-the-corner\/","title":{"rendered":"Fueling Growth: The Next Hidden Gem is Just Around the Corner"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The Sharp dealer meeting earlier this month in Las Vegas\ncreated a lot of buzz around the smart office\/future office platform, and other\nmanufacturers like Konica Minolta have gone down this path. In fact, the smart\noffice has kind of pushed the humble MFP onto the backburner, but how long it\nwill take the dealer community to proliferate next-generation technologies\namong their customer base is entirely another issue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that doesn\u2019t mean we can\u2019t get excited about the\npossibilities offered under the hidden gems umbrella. And you won\u2019t need a metal\ndetector to unearth these treasures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So we\u2019ll close out the October state of the industry look at\nhidden gems by asking our dealer amigos what technologies they are following\nwith an eye toward possibly adding them to their product and service portfolio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

500-Foot Perspective<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Lee Flood, Pearson-Kelly Technology<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Pearson-Kelly Technology of Springfield, Missouri, is\nfortunate to have a visionary leader in Chelsey Bode, who is always on the\nlookout for a technology that can not only give her sales reps another talking\npoint, but also provide clients with a solution that enable them to do business\nmore effectively. According to Lee Flood, director of sales, a Pearson-Kelly\nrep returned from a presentation recently with an idea that turned more than a\nfew heads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Drones-as-a-Service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Flood didn\u2019t rush to have the Pearson-Kelly website\nupdated with this offering, he\u2019s keeping an open mind to the possibility. After\nall, there are already organizations that offer this service. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So where could it fit? Certainly, the education space might see an application. Businesses with extremely austere security measures in place may be enticed. Personal use has expanded considerably. Also, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) projects<\/a> that the number of commercial drones in the skies could triple by 2023. FAA and state laws governing their use will also factor into the equation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re keeping an eye on it as drones become more and more a\npart of everything that we do,\u201d Flood said. \u201cWe\u2019re watching that to see if it\nfits in here and how. Can we offer it as a service to customers, and will it be\nsomething that\u2019s going to bring value to them? At the end of the day, it\u2019s all\nabout our clients.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Digital Meets Paper<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While not a brand-new technology, there has been interest\ngenerated around clickable paper, which is offered by Ricoh. The technology\nconnects print and digital with cloud-based intelligent image recognition\nsoftware. According to Ricoh, marketers can create multiple hotspots on a page,\nsign, poster, vehicle wrap and other printed materials. Each hotspot links to\none or multiple sources, transporting readers from two-dimensional printed\ncontent to multi-channel digital content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Dr. Dawn Abbuhl, Repeat Business Systems<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Dawn Abbuhl, president of Repeat Business Systems in\nAlbany, New York, loves the idea of using a QR code on a business card that,\nwhen scanned, can take users to contact information, videos and other content\nthat\u2019s been stored on the landing page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been trying to have a little bit of a wow factor,\nwhich allows people to think we\u2019re more technologically forward, and that\nputting their money with us is going to give them access to technologies that\nother companies might not even think of,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s a good talking point\nand valuable as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weaving Profits<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bob Ferland, president of Axion Business Technologies of\nCranston, Rhode Island, notes that being part of the Visual Edge Technology\nnetwork\u2014in addition to the seven acquisitions it has done over the past three\nyears\u2014has opened the door to having insight into all the major manufacturers\nand their up-and-coming technologies. He\u2019s intrigued by some of the retina\nscanning and eye\/facial recognition tools being offered by Konica Minolta and\nsome of its technology partners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Bob Ferland, Axion<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThings like commercial building perimeter security, it\u2019s so\nfar removed from copiers, but I\u2019m thinking it\u2019s another product we can sell,\u201d\nhe said. \u201cWe can put another specialist out there and it\u2019s a great way to offer\nthis to our existing clients and prospects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur old way of thinking was we\u2019ll stick to our knitting\nwith copiers and printers. But there\u2019s cool stuff out there. We\u2019re relying on\nmanufacturers to show us the next big thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Jason Habbal, Vision Office Systems<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

At Vision Office Systems of Charlotte, North Carolina, the\ndealer is looking to grow into conference room displays and Sharp\u2019s AQUOS\nBOARD. Figuring out the aftermarket revenue aspect is the biggest stumbling\nblock to Jason Habbal, vice president of sales, but placement opportunities for\nhealth care and faith-based nonprofits offers room for growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMedical facilities now use these boards in the patient\nrooms to show and draw on x-rays, rather than printing them out and showing\nthem to you,\u201d he said. \u201cWe implemented them in a couple of locations. I think\nwe\u2019re going to expand that focus in the near future.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Sharp dealer meeting earlier this month in Las Vegas created a lot of buzz around the smart office\/future office platform, and other manufacturers like Konica Minolta have gone down this path. In fact, the smart office has kind of pushed the humble MFP onto the backburner, but how long it will take the dealer community to proliferate next-generation technologies among their customer base is entirely another issue. But that doesn\u2019t mean we can\u2019t get excited about the possibilities offered under the hidden gems umbrella. And you won\u2019t need a metal detector to unearth these treasures. So we\u2019ll close out the October state of the industry look at hidden gems by asking our dealer amigos what technologies they are following with an eye toward possibly adding them to their product and service portfolio. 500-Foot Perspective Pearson-Kelly Technology of Springfield, Missouri, is fortunate to have a visionary leader in Chelsey Bode, who is always on the lookout for a technology that can not only give her sales reps another talking point, but also provide clients with a solution that enable them to do business more effectively. According to Lee Flood, director of sales, a Pearson-Kelly rep returned from a presentation recently with an idea that turned more than a few heads. Drones-as-a-Service. While Flood didn\u2019t rush to have the Pearson-Kelly website updated with this offering, he\u2019s keeping an open mind to the possibility. After all, there are already organizations that offer this service. So where could it fit? Certainly, the education space might see an application. Businesses with extremely austere security measures in place may be enticed. Personal use has expanded considerably. Also, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) projects that the number of commercial drones in the skies could triple by 2023. FAA and state laws governing their use will also factor into the equation. \u201cWe\u2019re keeping an eye on it as drones become more and more a part of everything that we do,\u201d Flood said. \u201cWe\u2019re watching that to see if it fits in here and how. Can we offer it as a service to customers, and will it be something that\u2019s going to bring value to them? At the end of the day, it\u2019s all about our clients.\u201d Digital Meets Paper While not a brand-new technology, there has been interest generated around clickable paper, which is offered by Ricoh. The technology connects print and digital with cloud-based intelligent image recognition software. According to Ricoh, marketers can create multiple hotspots on a page, sign, poster, vehicle wrap and other printed materials. Each hotspot links to one or multiple sources, transporting readers from two-dimensional printed content to multi-channel digital content. Dr. Dawn Abbuhl, president of Repeat Business Systems in Albany, New York, loves the idea of using a QR code on a business card that, when scanned, can take users to contact information, videos and other content that\u2019s been stored on the landing page. \u201cWe\u2019ve been trying to have a little bit of a wow factor, which allows people to think we\u2019re more technologically forward, and that putting their money with us is going to give them access to technologies that other companies might not even think of,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s a good talking point and valuable as well.\u201d Weaving Profits Bob Ferland, president of Axion Business Technologies of Cranston, Rhode Island, notes that being part of the Visual Edge Technology network\u2014in addition to the seven acquisitions it has done over the past three years\u2014has opened the door to having insight into all the major manufacturers and their up-and-coming technologies. He\u2019s intrigued by some of the retina scanning and eye\/facial recognition tools being offered by Konica Minolta and some of its technology partners. \u201cThings like commercial building perimeter security, it\u2019s so far removed from copiers, but I\u2019m thinking it\u2019s another product we can sell,\u201d he said. \u201cWe can put another specialist out there and it\u2019s a great way to offer this to our existing clients and prospects. \u201cOur old way of thinking was we\u2019ll stick to our knitting with copiers and printers. But there\u2019s cool stuff out there. We\u2019re relying on manufacturers to show us the next big thing.\u201d At Vision Office Systems of Charlotte, North Carolina, the dealer is looking to grow into conference room displays and Sharp\u2019s AQUOS BOARD. Figuring out the aftermarket revenue aspect is the biggest stumbling block to Jason Habbal, vice president of sales, but placement opportunities for health care and faith-based nonprofits offers room for growth. \u201cMedical facilities now use these boards in the patient rooms to show and draw on x-rays, rather than printing them out and showing them to you,\u201d he said. \u201cWe implemented them in a couple of locations. I think we\u2019re going to expand that focus in the near future.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":36568,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1650,82,87,1638],"tags":[3348,3654,2258,678],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36567"}],"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=36567"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36567\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36570,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36567\/revisions\/36570"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}