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<\/a>For Konica Minolta dealers attending the company\u2019s annual dealer meeting with its theme of \u201cShape the Future,\u201d it\u2019s unlikely anyone came down with future shock after listening to the presentations during the General Session, visiting the Product Expo, or sitting through the various seminars. The future that Konica Minolta presented wasn\u2019t all that shocking for anyone paying attention to what\u2019s going on in the office imaging industry and with Konica Minolta.<\/p>\nFuture shock value aside, let\u2019s take a look at what I found to be the Top 10 take homes from the event.<\/p>\n
Good Numbers<\/strong><\/p>\n The press and analyst community revels in numbers, and what\u2019s a dealer conference without a healthy helping of numbers and percentages about the company\u2019s financial status. President & COO Rick Taylor reported that the company\u2019s revenue grew 6 percent during the past fiscal year. Meanwhile, hardware revenue and the number of units sold grew 9 and 9 percent, respectively. Beyond the core business, Taylor noted that Konica Minolta\u2019s solutions business grew 44 percent and IT services, 59 percent during the past fiscal year. \u00a0But wait, there\u2019s more, for the first six months of this current fiscal year ending in September, Konica Minolta\u2019s overall numbers are running about equal to the previous year. \u00a0Additionally, Konica Minolta grew machines in field and page volume. \u201cYou can only do that by taking share from your competitors,\u201d added Taylor. \u201cTo grow your page volume and MIF in field is an unbelievable effort in this kind of market.\u201d<\/p>\n Dealer vs. Direct<\/strong><\/p>\n One of Taylor\u2019s more notable revelations was that 52 percent of units sold were from the dealer side of the business. \u201cWe just flipped it from more direct business to more dealer business in the last six months, and October was one of the biggest dealer months we ever had,\u201d beamed Taylor.<\/p>\n For an organization that at one time did a stellar job of showing their independent dealer channel little respect, it\u2019s been an impressive turnaround over the past five years.\u00a0 With the aforementioned amount of business moving through the dealer channel, Konica Minolta dealers have to feel good about their future with the company.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no paranoia in Konica Minolta about driving a lot of business through a dealer organization,\u201d said Taylor. \u201cThe dealer model is probably more conducive to the goals that we\u2019ve got than our direct model. The future is going to be all about being flexible, adaptable, speed to market, crafting solutions for customers that take a lot of creativity, and can be implemented quickly. The branch organization is great, they\u2019re making money, but they can\u2019t be fast like that.\u201d<\/p>\n Konica Minolta Sets the Standard in Managed IT Services<\/strong><\/p>\n Based on the comments of Konica Minolta executives and the emphasis on Managed IT Services throughout the meeting, this is a key component of the company\u2019s future. \u00a0\u201cThat business has been a home run for us,\u201d observed Taylor. With the All Covered acquisition behind them, the present and the future of Konica Minolta\u2019s IT business remains strong, particularly when one looks at the pace that it\u2019s been acquiring IT services companies across the U.S. One can talk about what some of the other manufacturers are doing in this space, but based on current performance and its strategies for shaping its future both internally and externally within its dealer channel, few do Managed IT Services better. Don\u2019t be surprised if in the next decade or sooner the Konica Minolta name becomes just as much associated with IT services as with traditional office imaging hardware<\/p>\n True A4, Finally<\/strong><\/p>\n When Senior Vice President of Marketing Kevin Kern told dealers we\u2019ve got something we haven\u2019t been very good at lately when introducing the company\u2019s new A4 strategy, he wasn\u2019t messing around.\u00a0 Over the next several months Konica Minolta will roll out a new A4 platform design featuring color and monochrome models as well as models for customers who don\u2019t need a full solutions platform.<\/p>\n One of the first new A4 models is scheduled for rollout in the first quarter of 2014 was described by Kern as a shrunk down bizhub with the same look and feel. The new A4 models are expected to have the same Interface as Konica Minolta\u2019s A3 products. \u201cAs you roll solutions across the A4 products, the interoperability between A4 and A3 creates an ecosystem for the solution environment that will enable us to differentiate our offerings dramatically from what customers are used to today,\u201d observed Kern.<\/p>\n Embracing 3-D Printing<\/strong><\/p>\n Other than HP\u2019s recent announcement that it is entering the 3-D printing space, \u00a03-D printing hasn\u2019t been embraced by the traditional office imaging OEMs until now.\u00a0 The plan is for Konica Minolta to source 3-D printers from 3D Systems, one of the biggest players in the 3-D printing arena. Although Konica Minolta hadn\u2019t officially entered into a formal agreement with 3D Systems as of yet, it might just as well have based on the discussion of 3-D printers during the General Session and the presence of 3D Systems in the Product Expo. \u201cThat market is big and growing and exciting and fits well with our vertical approach of engineering and manufacturing,\u201d said Taylor about the 3-D printer market.<\/p>\n Going Beyond Light Production <\/strong><\/p>\n Konica Minolta has already established itself in the light production space, now it has higher aspirations. \u201cWe started the light production market with the bizhub PRESS C850, stated Kern, \u201cwe\u2019re moving up beyond that now.\u201d And indeed the company is based on some of the devices previewed at Print 13 back in September. One of those devices, the bizhub PRESS C1100, is scheduled for an early summer release. \u201cIt\u2019s a breakthrough product at 100 ppm,\u201d said Kern who added that this new model will offer full machine productivity at all paper weights.<\/p>\n Also look for the bizhub PRESS 2250P coming next summer. This was described by Kern as two 1250 engines combined together with a transfer unit. It\u2019s designed for creating books on demand and will produce 250 impressions per minute one-sided or 125 two-sided per minute. \u201cThis adds high value book production capabilities to [our] product line.\u201d<\/p>\n Lookalike Office Products<\/strong><\/p>\n Sticking with the hardware emphasis, Konica Minolta has unified all its office products with a common look and feel while all monochrome products are running on a common platform. \u201cThe cool thing about that from a customer interaction standpoint is we\u2019ve got a common E Series panel design throughout the entire office monochrome and color line,\u201d observed Kern.\u00a0 He added that the benefits of that approach include a better user experience, easier training, and devices that are easier to service because of that commonality.\u00a0 As an added bonus, they also use common accessories.<\/p>\n Focusing on Mobility and the Cloud<\/strong><\/p>\n Virtually every OEM in the office imaging space has a two-track mind these days\u2014mobility and the cloud\u2014and Konica Minolta is no exception. The company has made a multi-million investment in its data center infrastructure and today operates more than 1,200 servers. Its current cloud offering is comprised of cloud-based solutions and mobile connections to its MFP product line. Seven new mobile solutions were on display at the Product Expo. \u00a0\u201cWe will leverage and converge our All Covered capabilities and provide you with the most comprehensive cloud offerings in the market,\u201d said Sam Errigo, senior vice president, Business Intelligence Services. (Look for more coverage on this topic in a future issue of The Week in Imaging.)<\/p>\n Current State of the Konica Minolta Independent Dealer Network<\/strong><\/p>\n One question often asked by the press at these dealer meeting press briefings is the size of the company\u2019s dealer network. That question was answered during Executive Vice President, Dealer Sales, Alan Nielsen\u2019s General Session presentation. He reported that Konica Minolta currently has 334 authorized dealers in the U.S., and that over the last five years cancelled or non-renewed a total of 124 dealers while recruiting 59 new dealers for a net reduction of 125 dealers. Nielsen predicted that there will continue to be changes in a few markets where current partners don\u2019t have the technological, financial or leadership strength to be able to successfully transition into the future or are not able to achieve Konica Minolta\u2019s 20+ percent market share objective.<\/p>\n 3 Strategies for KM\u2019s Dealer Channel<\/strong><\/p>\n Nielsen also revealed three strategies that Konica Minolta is focused on for growing its independent dealer channel. The first is creating a partnership with minimal channel conflict and clean distribution. \u201cThat\u2019s been pivotal in our mutual success,\u201d he said. \u201cOur dealer and direct channels are working better together than ever.<\/p>\n The second strategy is to earn its dealers trust, loyalty, and dedication while the third strategy is to grow its dealer\u2019s local and major account business. \u201cIt\u2019s the natural outgrowth of the first two [strategies],\u201d noted Nielsen. \u201cThe best indicator of success is we consistently grow total revenue at an average annual compound growth rate of 9 percent over the past five years. What\u2019s more impressive is we\u2019ve grown machine and accessory revenue at 11 percent and major accounts almost 14 percent. The Konica Minolta dealer business is very important to us and plays a key role in our industry leadership objectives.\u201d<\/p>\n While we\u2019re on the subject of the KM independent dealer network, besides selling 52 percent of total units the past year, Nielsen noted that sales have been strong across all product categories. Dealers have grown total unit sales 16 percent and shown growth in every product category. \u201cThis is by far the best performance in our industry,\u201d concluded Nielsen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For Konica Minolta dealers attending the company\u2019s annual dealer meeting with its theme of \u201cShape the Future,\u201d it\u2019s unlikely anyone came down with future shock after listening to the presentations during the General Session, visiting the Product Expo, or sitting through the various seminars. The future that Konica Minolta presented wasn\u2019t all that shocking for anyone paying attention to what\u2019s going on in the office imaging industry and with Konica Minolta. Future shock value aside, let\u2019s take a look at what I found to be the Top 10 take homes from the event. Good Numbers The press and analyst community revels in numbers, and what\u2019s a dealer conference without a healthy helping of numbers and percentages about the company\u2019s financial status. President & COO Rick Taylor reported that the company\u2019s revenue grew 6 percent during the past fiscal year. Meanwhile, hardware revenue and the number of units sold grew 9 and 9 percent, respectively. Beyond the core business, Taylor noted that Konica Minolta\u2019s solutions business grew 44 percent and IT services, 59 percent during the past fiscal year. \u00a0But wait, there\u2019s more, for the first six months of this current fiscal year ending in September, Konica Minolta\u2019s overall numbers are running about equal to the previous year. \u00a0Additionally, Konica Minolta grew machines in field and page volume. \u201cYou can only do that by taking share from your competitors,\u201d added Taylor. \u201cTo grow your page volume and MIF in field is an unbelievable effort in this kind of market.\u201d Dealer vs. Direct One of Taylor\u2019s more notable revelations was that 52 percent of units sold were from the dealer side of the business. \u201cWe just flipped it from more direct business to more dealer business in the last six months, and October was one of the biggest dealer months we ever had,\u201d beamed Taylor. For an organization that at one time did a stellar job of showing their independent dealer channel little respect, it\u2019s been an impressive turnaround over the past five years.\u00a0 With the aforementioned amount of business moving through the dealer channel, Konica Minolta dealers have to feel good about their future with the company. \u201cThere\u2019s no paranoia in Konica Minolta about driving a lot of business through a dealer organization,\u201d said Taylor. \u201cThe dealer model is probably more conducive to the goals that we\u2019ve got than our direct model. The future is going to be all about being flexible, adaptable, speed to market, crafting solutions for customers that take a lot of creativity, and can be implemented quickly. The branch organization is great, they\u2019re making money, but they can\u2019t be fast like that.\u201d Konica Minolta Sets the Standard in Managed IT Services Based on the comments of Konica Minolta executives and the emphasis on Managed IT Services throughout the meeting, this is a key component of the company\u2019s future. \u00a0\u201cThat business has been a home run for us,\u201d observed Taylor. With the All Covered acquisition behind them, the present and the future of Konica Minolta\u2019s IT business remains strong, particularly when one looks at the pace that it\u2019s been acquiring IT services companies across the U.S. One can talk about what some of the other manufacturers are doing in this space, but based on current performance and its strategies for shaping its future both internally and externally within its dealer channel, few do Managed IT Services better. Don\u2019t be surprised if in the next decade or sooner the Konica Minolta name becomes just as much associated with IT services as with traditional office imaging hardware True A4, Finally When Senior Vice President of Marketing Kevin Kern told dealers we\u2019ve got something we haven\u2019t been very good at lately when introducing the company\u2019s new A4 strategy, he wasn\u2019t messing around.\u00a0 Over the next several months Konica Minolta will roll out a new A4 platform design featuring color and monochrome models as well as models for customers who don\u2019t need a full solutions platform. One of the first new A4 models is scheduled for rollout in the first quarter of 2014 was described by Kern as a shrunk down bizhub with the same look and feel. The new A4 models are expected to have the same Interface as Konica Minolta\u2019s A3 products. \u201cAs you roll solutions across the A4 products, the interoperability between A4 and A3 creates an ecosystem for the solution environment that will enable us to differentiate our offerings dramatically from what customers are used to today,\u201d observed Kern. Embracing 3-D Printing Other than HP\u2019s recent announcement that it is entering the 3-D printing space, \u00a03-D printing hasn\u2019t been embraced by the traditional office imaging OEMs until now.\u00a0 The plan is for Konica Minolta to source 3-D printers from 3D Systems, one of the biggest players in the 3-D printing arena. Although Konica Minolta hadn\u2019t officially entered into a formal agreement with 3D Systems as of yet, it might just as well have based on the discussion of 3-D printers during the General Session and the presence of 3D Systems in the Product Expo. \u201cThat market is big and growing and exciting and fits well with our vertical approach of engineering and manufacturing,\u201d said Taylor about the 3-D printer market. Going Beyond Light Production Konica Minolta has already established itself in the light production space, now it has higher aspirations. \u201cWe started the light production market with the bizhub PRESS C850, stated Kern, \u201cwe\u2019re moving up beyond that now.\u201d And indeed the company is based on some of the devices previewed at Print 13 back in September. One of those devices, the bizhub PRESS C1100, is scheduled for an early summer release. \u201cIt\u2019s a breakthrough product at 100 ppm,\u201d said Kern who added that this new model will offer full machine productivity at all paper weights. Also look for the bizhub PRESS 2250P coming next summer. This was described by Kern as two 1250 engines combined together with a transfer unit. It\u2019s designed for creating books on demand and will produce 250 impressions per minute one-sided or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[82],"tags":[1054,1055,102,104,519,224,233,311,1053],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6332"}],"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\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6332"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6332\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6334,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6332\/revisions\/6334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}