![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Laura-Blackmer-2022.jpg\")
Konica Minolta
Business Solutions U.S.A.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Still, the OEM isn\u2019t just expending energy putting fingers in the supply chain dike. In April, Konica Minolta hosted a Dealer Summit at its headquarters in Ramsey, New Jersey, a hybrid event that brought in more than 1,000 people on location and remotely. With the theme \u201cFull Throttle,\u201d the venerable manufacturer used the occasion to unleash Rev\u2019d Up, a new dealer performance program that incents diversification and shows a path toward production and industrial print, digital transformation (DX), managed IT and the cloud. Plus, its client engagement center (CEC)\u2014a spotlight-stealing, business-sealing showcase hub\u2014helps encapsulate all the manufacturer has to offer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Blackmer took some time from her tour of Konica Minolta\u2019s leading dealer partners to offer her views on the supply chain, Konica Minolta\u2019s quest to supercharge its resellers, and her comprehensive background with industry manufacturers and how it\u2019s prepared her for some of the most unexpected obstacles in recent history. Tough though times may be, Blackmer believes both the manufacturer and its partners will emerge stronger, and more diversified, in their quests for growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Provide some insight into Konica Minolta\u2019s financial performance during 2021. What were some of the variables that played into how the company performed?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Blackmer<\/strong>: As with a lot of the world, and certainly in our space, the financials were tough, which was primarily due to the incredible volume of backorders\u2014more than I\u2019ve ever seen in this business. It\u2019s pretty much the same with our European affiliate. Backorders don\u2019t produce profit; they just sit until you can fill them. The growth in our managed IT business, including procurement, was almost double. This aligns with diversifying business and looking for opportunities to grow, which is what we were preaching about during 2020 and 2021. We saw a strong performance in the managed IT space on both the direct and dealer side. Essentially, anything that didn\u2019t touch the copier did very well. If we factor in the potential revenue we would have received had we been able to fill those backorders, we would\u2019ve surpassed our 2019 performance. That, in itself, tells me demand is still extremely high.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We saw a real uptick in the first quarter of this calendar year, which was our Q4, in terms of people asking for contract pricing. So the order rate is strong. As a corporation, we\u2019ve done a tremendous job in trimming down expenses. Our return on sales was as high as it\u2019s been in the four and a half years I\u2019ve been with the company. It was a best-of-times, worst-of-times tale; while we struggled with backorders, what we did produce yielded a strong performance in some key areas. As the product becomes more available, I\u2019m excited for the potential because the engine we built is really tight and really able to churn out good profit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It seems that supply chain is the new four-letter word.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Blackmer<\/strong>: We also had the added obstacle of having a toner situation. Looking back on it, I\u2019m amazed it didn\u2019t cripple us. But we managed through it and actually came out of it pretty much in the last 45 days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What were some of the highlights for Konica Minolta during the past year?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Blackmer<\/strong>: Demand is still strong in dealer diversification conversations, particularly in the area of digital transformation\u2014solutions, managed voice, managed IT services and procurement. We had more dealers sell something in that category than ever before, which led to that doubled growth. It\u2019s not just all about the numbers, but also the fact that dealers are getting it and are able to figure out how to fit this into their business models. It brought a lot of dealers some enhanced revenue that they needed as well. We spent a lot of time last year really thinking strategically about the business. We built the Rev\u2019d Up program, which we launched during our event in April. I\u2019m really proud of our team and the outcome. It\u2019s one of these programs that\u2019s going to continue to grow and get richer from a content perspective. There\u2019s a lot of work being done on the learning and development side to really make it a program that dealers are going to find tremendously valuable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We managed to get through the last year relatively unharmed. Our relationship with the dealers is actually stronger than ever. Part of it\u2019s because we stepped up; we didn\u2019t hide in our offices and wait for the supply chain problem to blow over. All of us\u2014Sam (Errigo), myself, Kay (Fernandez), Dino (Pagliarello)\u2014were out on the road meeting with dealers and talking to their customers. In a sense, it was like an apology tour, but it went beyond that. We wanted them to know we\u2019re still here, we know it\u2019s a problem and we\u2019re going to do everything in our power to make them well. In a relationship, when you go through some tough times together, the connections that you make are even stronger. As we eventually come out of this, our relationship with our dealers will be stronger than ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You assumed the role of president, dealer sales in April. How does it vary from your previous position, and can you provide insight into some of the initiatives you have planned?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Blackmer<\/strong>: I think it really reinforces that this role isn\u2019t just about sales. These days, I spend a lot of time in product development. I\u2019m working with our All Covered team and our product team on what we should bring to the dealers. Supply chain has become a huge part of my job, along with a lot of decision-making. Do we keep the product in Pomona and ship it from there? Do we move it to local warehouses? What do we lose if we do that, and what do we gain if we do that? My job is richer from that perspective. I\u2019m talking more end to end about what we\u2019re doing with dealers than just carrying a quota and selling that quota to the dealers. I actually like it more because it gives me more empowerment to make sometimes-hard decisions or even creative decisions about how we can do this better. In some respects, it was an evolution of what I was already doing. In the process, it took a lot of things off Sam\u2019s plate, and he has a lot to deal with already. The timing was good because I\u2019ve been in this role for over four years and it\u2019s allowed me to really understand the business, Konica Minolta, and the unique things we bring to the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Obviously, you have a wealth of experience, dating back to your tenures with HP and Sharp. Given the vast changes in market conditions, how has your background prepared you for these challenges?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Blackmer<\/strong>: During my 20 years at HP, we had several products that went into what we would call severe availability. I would go through my spreadsheets and decide how many products CDW, PC Connection and Ingram Micro were getting because we were much more of a distribution model. I was already very aware of how to manage the fairness aspect; you can\u2019t just give it all to one company. Otherwise, you\u2019re going to make some people unhappy. It gave me a lot of experience in leadership and managing through tough times. When I was at HP, we went through 9\/11, which was an incredibly difficult time to be in any kind of business, particularly in New York. And while at Sharp during the 2012-2014 period, the company\u2019s survival was kind of an open question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Going through some really turbulent times\u2014not just from a P&L\/balance sheet standpoint, but dealing with your people and the company\u2019s partners, distributors and solutions providers\u2014has been beneficial. You have to be careful about how you bring those challenges to your outside partners and how to lead your people through difficult times. It\u2019s all about communication. We had a lot of cool virtual meetings with our leadership group and our dealer advisory council, and we also did regional events. I keep in touch with a mentor from my HP days, and we talk about the need to be predictable and transparent. That way, when things go wrong, you don\u2019t change who you are or your approach. It\u2019s important to be transparent about your message and not spin it. I was really lucky to have a strong management model to follow. Sam is a perfect example of transparency and being completely authentic. It\u2019s about leadership and not losing sight of who you were when times were good. You need to be the same person at all times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Back in the spring, Konica Minolta brought its resellers together for the hybrid Dealer Summit. What were you personally hoping to accomplish, and what\u2019s been the feedback you\u2019ve received?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Blackmer<\/strong>: I believe we\u2019ve found a model that will work for the future. We can\u2019t expect 1,000 people to fly somewhere every single time. But we want to make sure we can reach as broad an audience as possible, which produced this idea of a hybrid model. We brought in a satellite system truck to make sure we had zero bandwidth issues. We wanted to connect as many people remotely so they could experience the event seamlessly without any hiccups. We were really careful about transitions and making sure some presentations were recorded and some live so attendees got a good continuity experience. With hybrid events, sometimes you\u2019re just sitting around for 20 minutes, waiting for something to happen. This one went smoothly, so my expectation is that we\u2019re going to change the way we approach these meetings and set a new standard for how they\u2019re held.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The hybrid approach allows you to reach as many people as possible, and we had more than 1,000 people watching online. It exceeded my expectations. We had the opportunity to share what\u2019s probably one of the biggest areas of growth in the print market\u2014production and industrial print. We were able to showcase the CEC, and we want dealers to really see the value in that opportunity. We can do remote sessions, bring customers in, host events. We wanted to share not just the venue, but also all the technology and what\u2019s happening in that market from an opportunity standpoint. We also launched a new program, Rev\u2019d Up, and we reconnected with a lot of people that we don\u2019t necessarily see in our tours of the world. It was exhausting to fit three and a half days\u2019 worth of content into a day and a half event, but we\u2019re pleased with the results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Rev\u2019d Up program was one of the big announcements, and it\u2019s certainly a major undertaking for Konica Minolta. How do you see it taking shape?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Blackmer<\/strong>: Following the launch of Rev\u2019d Up, we\u2019ll be working to make sure that it\u2019s a great program. We\u2019ll be rolling out a lot of learning and development programs and providing the dealers with some great tools, particularly since the program is built to reward not just the standard office and production spaces. Production print for some dealers is a new category, and the same goes for DX. So we\u2019re really developing tools to help them decide what kind of people they need, what kind of selling skills they require and what kind of industry knowledge they need to have. That will be a big focus over the next 12 months. I was talking to a dealer in Pittsburgh recently who said he really feels it\u2019s the first innovative program he\u2019s seen from a manufacturer, which we love to hear. This program was built based on an incredible survey we did last year. A lot of dealers really love the idea of getting into the managed IT space, but have no idea where to even begin. This program helps them step by step, covering compensation, hiring, retention and training. This is a long-term project because technology is going to continue to change, and we\u2019ll need to be really innovative in how we deliver it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As you alluded to earlier, Sam Errigo stressed during the conference the importance of keeping open lines of communication. Can you provide some perspective on your personal journey in reconciling this challenge?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Blackmer<\/strong>: We started holding monthly calls, the \u201cavailability forum,\u201d and these are probably the toughest calls I\u2019ve ever done. In some ways, they\u2019re the most gratifying, and the feedback has been fantastic. We\u2019re unbelievably honest, given the level of detail we provide. There are so many elements to this supply chain issue, including geopolitical pieces and topics you wouldn\u2019t normally consider, such as the potential longshoremen\u2019s strike (in California). We\u2019re having a lot more discussions about broader topics than we might have had two years ago. It all goes back to this concept of being completely transparent about what\u2019s going on and the effect many elements are having on us. I\u2019m making sure our dealers have the most information possible so they can make the best decisions for their purposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One aspect that emerged from the Summit was the Step Together program. Can you talk about the value in building a community for female dealership leaders?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Blackmer<\/strong>: Anyone who\u2019s been in this industry for a while understands the demographics are fairly skewed. But it\u2019s changing. I came into this industry nine years ago, and having been in technology for a while, I wasn\u2019t surprised at the demographics. Being a woman in the role that I\u2019m in was fairly unique. I can\u2019t tell you how many emails and calls I received from people who said it was good to see a female in a leadership role. And that provided a sense that there\u2019s going to be a change. In my industry travels, I was seeing more and more women enter leaderships roles, whether they were second or third generation from the original founder, or they had advanced through a sales, marketing or technology role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When I came here, I was impressed with what Kay Fernandez and her team had built around Step Forward, the Konica Minolta program designed to shine a light on some of the issues that come from the demographics heavily leaning one way. It gives everyone, not just women, the opportunity to hear speakers discuss issues ranging from time management to how to present yourself in a leadership position, and what things people should do to increase their knowledge of technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The genesis for Step Together came almost by accident. We were invited to an LPGA event two years ago, and as I walked the course and watched these amazing golfers, I thought we needed to be more involved with women\u2019s sports, because we\u2019re such a great sports engagement company. At an LPGA event last year, we asked our dealer advisory council to have each company bring a current or rising female leader. We did a number of parallel events in conjunction\u2014workshops, a golf clinic, networking. People loved it; everyone was saying, \u201cWe need to do this more often.\u201d So Kay and I sat down to figure out how we could share what we\u2019d done to a broader audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We wanted to create a community for females that, at that point, didn\u2019t really exist. We\u2019re going to do live events and virtual events, but most importantly, it\u2019s about having a community that can work with one another. Now, if someone such as Stephanie Keating of AIS has a question, she can go to Chelsey Bode at Pearson-Kelly Technology or Monica Wilmore at Virginia Business Systems. We want to provide a community like they have with the CDA or SDG peer groups. The demographics and customers are changing, so the more we can help dealers find great female talent in new places, the more viable this industry will become. I\u2019m very excited about the possibilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What can we expect to see this year from Konica Minolta in terms of new product rollouts?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Blackmer<\/strong>: We only had one product refresh that was planned. There will be more firmware upgrades as opposed to hardware rollouts. We\u2019re also doing more solutions upgrades. Konica Minolta has come out with an incredible number of software solutions around our Dispatcher line. There\u2019s a lot of good software development happening both on the machines themselves as well as in our software offering. We do have a major hardware rollout on the monochrome production side that\u2019s been bumped to January of 2023. We wanted to really focus our energy and attention on the supply chain side and make sure we could deliver a product that\u2019s already been sold. There\u2019s been a push for developing more products that are supply chain resistant and will be less impacted by future challenges, with consideration for how they\u2019re manufactured and what\u2019s in them. A lot of energy is going into that, which is wise, because honestly, I don\u2019t think these supply chain challenges are behind us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What are Konica Minolta\u2019s goals for the balance of 2022?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Blackmer<\/strong>: Getting rid of the backorder situation is my number-one goal. I also want to get better at managing in this type of an environment, since it isn\u2019t going to go away. If we catch up in October, I think we all have to expect that another issue could happen in the winter or next year. So many things are affecting this, so we have to be prepared to implement supply chain plans B, C and D immediately. A lot of it is making sure we\u2019re building that resiliency. That\u2019s a huge goal for me. The second goal is to see dealers really maximize the benefits of Rev\u2019d Up, and growing their production business or growing DX. We\u2019ll provide the aforementioned internal training and external learning and development to really help them. It\u2019s a huge opportunity for us. Supply chain is going to be a part of our language for a very long time, but I want to help the dealers manage, plan and get through it, so that the next time it hits, we\u2019re all in a much better position. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As much as she would love to wave a magic wand and make it disappear, Laura Blackmer knows the supply chain struggle confronting the industry isn\u2019t going anywhere in the foreseeable future. That said, the recently promoted president of dealer sales for Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A. (Konica Minolta)\u2014and really, the manufacturer\u2019s executive branch as a whole\u2014has laid bare the company\u2019s soul in communicating updates, projections and market variables to dealers and resellers in the hopes of mitigating the consequences of delayed product. Still, the OEM isn\u2019t just expending energy putting fingers in the supply chain dike. In April, Konica Minolta hosted a Dealer Summit at its headquarters in Ramsey, New Jersey, a hybrid event that brought in more than 1,000 people on location and remotely. With the theme \u201cFull Throttle,\u201d the venerable manufacturer used the occasion to unleash Rev\u2019d Up, a new dealer performance program that incents diversification and shows a path toward production and industrial print, digital transformation (DX), managed IT and the cloud. Plus, its client engagement center (CEC)\u2014a spotlight-stealing, business-sealing showcase hub\u2014helps encapsulate all the manufacturer has to offer. Blackmer took some time from her tour of Konica Minolta\u2019s leading dealer partners to offer her views on the supply chain, Konica Minolta\u2019s quest to supercharge its resellers, and her comprehensive background with industry manufacturers and how it\u2019s prepared her for some of the most unexpected obstacles in recent history. Tough though times may be, Blackmer believes both the manufacturer and its partners will emerge stronger, and more diversified, in their quests for growth. Provide some insight into Konica Minolta\u2019s financial performance during 2021. What were some of the variables that played into how the company performed? Blackmer: As with a lot of the world, and certainly in our space, the financials were tough, which was primarily due to the incredible volume of backorders\u2014more than I\u2019ve ever seen in this business. It\u2019s pretty much the same with our European affiliate. Backorders don\u2019t produce profit; they just sit until you can fill them. The growth in our managed IT business, including procurement, was almost double. This aligns with diversifying business and looking for opportunities to grow, which is what we were preaching about during 2020 and 2021. We saw a strong performance in the managed IT space on both the direct and dealer side. Essentially, anything that didn\u2019t touch the copier did very well. If we factor in the potential revenue we would have received had we been able to fill those backorders, we would\u2019ve surpassed our 2019 performance. That, in itself, tells me demand is still extremely high. We saw a real uptick in the first quarter of this calendar year, which was our Q4, in terms of people asking for contract pricing. So the order rate is strong. As a corporation, we\u2019ve done a tremendous job in trimming down expenses. Our return on sales was as high as it\u2019s been in the four and a half years I\u2019ve been with the company. It was a best-of-times, worst-of-times tale; while we struggled with backorders, what we did produce yielded a strong performance in some key areas. As the product becomes more available, I\u2019m excited for the potential because the engine we built is really tight and really able to churn out good profit. It seems that supply chain is the new four-letter word. Blackmer: We also had the added obstacle of having a toner situation. Looking back on it, I\u2019m amazed it didn\u2019t cripple us. But we managed through it and actually came out of it pretty much in the last 45 days. What were some of the highlights for Konica Minolta during the past year? Blackmer: Demand is still strong in dealer diversification conversations, particularly in the area of digital transformation\u2014solutions, managed voice, managed IT services and procurement. We had more dealers sell something in that category than ever before, which led to that doubled growth. It\u2019s not just all about the numbers, but also the fact that dealers are getting it and are able to figure out how to fit this into their business models. It brought a lot of dealers some enhanced revenue that they needed as well. We spent a lot of time last year really thinking strategically about the business. We built the Rev\u2019d Up program, which we launched during our event in April. I\u2019m really proud of our team and the outcome. It\u2019s one of these programs that\u2019s going to continue to grow and get richer from a content perspective. There\u2019s a lot of work being done on the learning and development side to really make it a program that dealers are going to find tremendously valuable. We managed to get through the last year relatively unharmed. Our relationship with the dealers is actually stronger than ever. Part of it\u2019s because we stepped up; we didn\u2019t hide in our offices and wait for the supply chain problem to blow over. All of us\u2014Sam (Errigo), myself, Kay (Fernandez), Dino (Pagliarello)\u2014were out on the road meeting with dealers and talking to their customers. In a sense, it was like an apology tour, but it went beyond that. We wanted them to know we\u2019re still here, we know it\u2019s a problem and we\u2019re going to do everything in our power to make them well. In a relationship, when you go through some tough times together, the connections that you make are even stronger. As we eventually come out of this, our relationship with our dealers will be stronger than ever. You assumed the role of president, dealer sales in April. How does it vary from your previous position, and can you provide insight into some of the initiatives you have planned? Blackmer: I think it really reinforces that this role isn\u2019t just about sales. These days, I spend a lot of time in product development. I\u2019m working with our All Covered team and our product team on what we should bring to the dealers. Supply chain has become a huge part of my job, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2938],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50823"}],"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=50823"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50823\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50828,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50823\/revisions\/50828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/CarInCEC.jpg\")
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