Kevin Kern, SVP of Marketing talks about business transformation with a strong focus on business outcomes.

Kevin Kern, Senior VP Marketing talks with Cary Sherburne, Senior Editor of WhatTheyThink about Konica Minolta’s business transformation in the graphics communications industry.

Konica Minolta Launches Express Connect App to bizhub MarketPlace

Customizable App Grants Access to Users’ Favorite Websites Directly from a bizhub MFP

Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. (Konica Minolta) today announces the availability of the Express Connect app in the Konica Minolta bizhub® MarketPlace.  A fast and easy-to-use portal that grants access to a user-established list of websites, the Express Connect app keeps users connected to the information they need most, directly from the control panel of a Konica Minolta bizhub MFP.

The Express Connect app allows users to identify web pages with intuitive icons, go directly to sites without additional keystrokes, and access both internal and external websites.  Users can select whether to display links as large icons or in a horizontal view with small icons, and can also organize them alphabetically or by most frequently/recently viewed.

Examples of how the Express Connect app can be used include the following:

• Teachers and other education professionals can link to commonly visited teacher resource and support websites
• Frequent business travelers can link to airline and flight information websites for up-to-the-minute status reports
• Administrators at medical practices can link to insurance provider websites
• Financial advisors can link to leading financial news sources
• Legal professionals can link to commonly visited legal journals

 

“The demand for simple access to key information drives the development of apps for the bizhub MarketPlace, and the Express Connect app responds directly to this need,” says Kevin Kern, senior vice president, Marketing, Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc.  “The bizhub MarketPlace is another way that customers can count on Konica Minolta for solutions that keep them connected and productive.”

Please visit www.bizhubmarketplace.com to learn more.

 

originally published @ Konica Minolta US

Konica Minolta encourages entrepreneurial activity across Europe

What do “Runtastic” and Konica Minolta have in common? – They both believe in the same idea! Believing in innovation, Konica Minolta – a leading service provider for IT and document processes – extends its sponsorship of Pioneers Festival, one of the most prominent technology festivals in Europe. Startups like Runtastic (keynote speech at the Festival this year) live out these ideals on a day-to-day basis. Runtastic had one of its first pitches as a startup at an earlier Pioneers Unplugged event and has continued to grow ever since.

Konica Minolta has sponsored Pioneers Festival for more than two years. “Our aim is to encourage entrepreneurial activity across Europe,” says Olaf Lorenz, General Manager International Marketing Division, Konica Minolta Business Solutions Europe. The festival’s approach is to connect both the “old” and the “new” economies, bringing together startups and established corporations. “We call it the ‘true’ economy,” says Lorenz, “and it reflects our own philosophy as a company. Though we have our roots in established technology, we are highly innovative, especially in software and services. It is our expertise in imaging and printing technology that enables us to tailor new products to customers’ needs.”

In the past, seven out of ten startups that presented their startup ideas at the Pioneers Festival received funding of between 500,000 and 2.5million Euros – reflecting the high quality of entrepreneurial energy at the Pioneers Festival and Pioneers Unplugged events. Top-class speakers (such as this year’s Adam Cheyer, co-founder of Siri and Chris Barton, co-founder of Shazam) support the festival, proving that good ideas are worth being supported and believed-in. Pioneers is about energising the European economy and encouraging approximately 2,500 young entrepreneurs to start their own businesses. “At Konica Minolta, we take the long view. Our sustainability vision, for instance, is geared to the year 2050,” says Lorenz. “Fostering startups is likewise an activity that is beneficial for the long-term prosperity of an economic region.” In addition, being a Global Sponsor of Pioneers puts Konica Minolta in touch with some of the most exciting business ideas in Europe.

Konica Minolta’s sponsorship is two-pronged as the company supports the Pioneers Festival held in Vienna 29th to 31st October, while all through the year, Konica Minolta’s European national operating companies (NOCs) participate in Pioneers Unplugged at their discretion. Pioneers Unplugged features 70 workshops in 17 European countries connecting young entrepreneurs with an interest in future technologies.

Konica Minolta Business Solutions Europe is so committed to the power of ideas that it has also signed an exclusive platinum sponsorship of the Lisbon-based “Explorers Festival”, an international startup event that works in a similar way to the Pioneers Festival by connecting entrepreneurs with investors, mentors and service providers. Around 1,000 participants are expected from 1^st to 8^th November 2013.

“Konica Minolta not only promotes and supports startups, but, through exchange and networking with these young entrepreneurs, we can also benefit from new impetus and innovations.” says Lorenz. “Together we can anticipate market trends and develop new solutions that make our customer’s working life easier and better every day. This cooperation confirms our management philosophy “The Creation of New Value” to the fullest.”

PDF Press Release HERE

@konicaminoltaau to host “Out of the Box” seminar

Konica Minolta is hosting a seminar on different ways printing businesses can increase productivity and profitability to ensure long term success, with a wide range of presentations from industry experts.

Presentations will inform the industry on how to make your business more accessible to customers to create growth, manage inventory and processes more efficiently, increase flexibility to protect your profits, create new business opportunities through personalisation, improve agility with the ‘Cloud’ an solutions and applications to drive productivity.

There will be a special guest speaker from the NBN providing an update on how the National Broadband Network and how it will affect your business.

The following industry experts will provide attendees with an insight on the following:

• Investec – ‘Finance in Todays Market’
• Adobe – ‘No more buying software in a box. Software As A Service (SAAS)
• Anitech – ‘Toner based wide format printing’
• BJ Ball – ‘Reduce your paper stock overheads’
• EFI – ‘Discover your benefits of web-to-print and what it means to your business’
• Kodak – ‘Understand what workflow and MIS systems can do for your business’
• Objectif Lune – ‘Can variable date grow your business?’
• Symantec – ‘The Cloud’
• Morgana – ‘All finishers are not equal’

 

To register click on the following link

Event Website: www.konicaminolta.com.au/outofthebox

Konica Minolta launches practical workshops to re-enforce industry and Ipex commitment.

Konica Minolta has announced a series of practical workshops – underpinning its commitment to the print industry and next year’s Ipex – to help printers grow their business in a rapidly changing marketplace.

Up to 20 free places are available to owners / directors at each of the five separate high quality support events that will be run by Konica Minolta in conjunction with Print Future.  The key focus areas will cover business planning, production efficiency, sales and business development, and adding new services.

Customer case studies and other testimonials featuring good business practice will also be part of the programme linking into Konica Minolta’s successful Digital 1234 initiatives.

The details of the events were unveiled at the Young Leaders in Print European Conference in Cambridge, which offers printers training and opportunities to discuss current industry trends. The workshops launch at St Brides, London, on 12 November, followed by events at Bristol on 19 November, Nottingham on 26 November, Warrington on 3 December and will be completed in Livingston, Scotland, on 11 December.

Mark Hinder, Konica Minolta’s Production Printing Market Development Manager, gave a keynote address to delegates from across Europe at Young Leaders in Print Conference, which was run jointly by and the BPIF (British Printing Industries Federation) and Intergraf.  The theme of the conference was innovation and Mr Hinder shared Konica Minolta’s thoughts on future developments.

He said: “This conference provided us with a perfect opportunity to announce a significant investment in educational programmes through our acclaimed Digital 1234 programmes that will be beneficial to printers going forward. These events will help enable printers to determine their future growth strategies and opportunities through identifying key priorities. This isn’t about investing in technology and solutions, it’s about knowing how the market will adapt and what to plan for.

“In the wider context, this is also further evidence of Konica Minolta’s unwavering commitment to the print industry in the run-up to Ipex where we are so proud to be the largest single exhibitor.”

BPIF Chief Executive Kathy Woodward said: “It is really positive to see the whole supply chain coming together to harness the undoubted opportunities of the quickly changing digital arena.”

To find out more and register to attend the events, please click this link

 

Originally published @ http://www.konicaminolta.co.uk

Kodak has a new chairman of the board

James Continenza replaces Antonio Perez

 

Eastman Kodak Co. has its first new board chairman since 2005.

The Rochester-based printing and imaging company said Tuesday that James V. Continenza had been elected chairman, effective immediately. Antonio M. Perez has been chairman since 2005, when he also was promoted from company president and chief operating officer to CEO, replacing retiring Daniel Carp.

Perez remains a member of the board. The move comes as the clock is counting down on Perez’s tenure at the helm of the company. He previously said he would remain as CEO for a year after the company ended its bankruptcy, or until a replacement was found, whichever came first. Kodak exited bankruptcy early this month.

Continenza joined the Kodak board in April. Kodak — at that time in the midst of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy — said one of his key attributes was his experience “as a manager and director with diverse companies that have successfully emerged from corporate restructuring.”

In a statement, Continenza said Kodak “is a company poised for growth. I look forward to providing leadership as the company realizes its potential as a technology company focused on the packaging, graphic communications, and functional printing markets.”

Continenza also serves on the board of Tembec Corp., a Canadian paper products company. He previously has been on the board of such companies as Arch Wireless Inc., Rural Cellular Corp., and Anchor Glass Container Corp.

 

Article originally published in: Democrat & Chronicle

2013 Asian Print Awards – 28th November 2013 – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

 

Konica Minolta is a Platinum Sponsor of the 2013 Asian Print Awards

Entries submission close on 1st October 2013 at 5pm

The Asian Print Awards is the only regional print quality competition of its kind in Asia. Supported by leading industry-supply companies, any progressive quality print house should enter and prove that they are the best – by winning the Gold, Silver or Bronze award. Proving pride in quality awareness is what customers love to see. It’s not just empty words, you can prove it.

Download more information and entry form (pdf) HERE

Konica Minolta Business Solutions Australia launches new C754e Series

The new e series features expanded multi-touch functionality and more flexible keypad and software options. It delivers outstanding performance and unparalleled productivity whilst setting new benchmarks in lower power consumption.

 

The expanded multi-touch functionality now supports swiping from one menu screen to another, swiping from one function to another, drag and drop to easily move and rearrange thumbnail pages of a file, pinch in and out to enlarge and reduce scanned images in the preview screens and a rotation feature that allows you to move an image to the desired angle.

 

According to Chris Goult, Group Product Manager Konica Minolta, “We are thrilled with the new additions to the bizhub C754e series.  These new features follow the release of the bizhub C554e models and set the bar for revolutionary multi-touch control panels and a new benchmark in usability.”

 

“The new e series allows users to create Word, Excel and PowerPoint presentations directly from the MFP touch panel which is more convenient, enabling scanned documents to be converted to text searchable documents that can then be edited as required,” added Chris.

 

This latest high performing multifunction series from Konica Minolta offers one of the lowest energy consumptions available and a reduced environmental impact. The impressively low power consumption is achieved through LED scanner lighting, 3 watt sleep and 0.5 watt power save mode, an innovative dynamic eco-time and in built sensor.  Efficiency is not compromised as Warp technology achieves a fast warm up time of 22 seconds or less and one of the fastest First Copy Out Times of 5.3 seconds for colour and 3.6 seconds for monochrome.

 

Other best-in-class features include  SRA3 capability of up to 300gsm, 1200 dpi print resolution for reproducing small text and fine lines, single pass dual scanning up to 180 opm, as well as the industry’s only compact finisher that can employ a colour 3-sheet Tri-fold function, perfect for automating the collation of multi-page mailings. An optional EFI Fiery Controller is available for environments with workflow and colour management requirements.

 

Originally published @: http://www.konicaminolta.com.au

 

Worldwide Page Volume Continued Slow Decline in 2012 as Gains in Developing Regions Failed to Offset Slowdown in Developed Regions, According to IDC

Worldwide page volume from digital hardcopy devices* decreased to 2.98 trillion in 2012 from 3.03 trillion in 2011, a decline of -1.5% year over year, according to new research from International Data Corporation (IDC). However, in spite of the decline, the world continues to print at a good clip. Annual A4 printed pages can cover the surface area of New York City 237 times.

Developed countries continued their negative page growth trend in 2012, driven by digital workflows, adoption of Managed Print Services (MPS), and anemic economies. The silver lining for print volume in developed economies appears to be net new incremental pages from mobile devices. While it may seem counterintuitive, smartphone and tablet users are generating more print volume compared to non-tablet/smartphone users. IDC research indicates that mobile printing is gaining traction on a year-over-year basis and by 2015 over 50% of smartphone and tablet business users will use mobile print in the office environment. Although mobile printing is growing rapidly on a year-over-year basis, both tablet and smartphone users need help to print from their devices. Over 50% of smartphone users and 35% of tablet users indicate that they do not know how to print from their mobile devices.

Developing countries helped to counter the negative trend in developed countries. In particular, Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan)(APeJ) led the way with 10% year-over-year page growth, followed by Latin America with 6.7% year-over-year growth. Meanwhile, growth of pages slowed slightly in Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa (CEMA) (-0.72%). This is in contrast to last year when all developing regions experienced growth.

IDC expects worldwide page volume to remain flat for the 2013-2017 forecast period. In addition, APeJ is expected to displace the U.S. for the highest share of page volume by 2015. China and India are expected to be the major growth countries in the APeJ region.

From a technology perspective, monochrome laser will continue to have the largest share of pages across the forecast period. Mono laser’s installed base is forecast to grow, but pages are forecast to decline due to falling average monthly print volume (AMPV). Color laser has a small portion of the installed base and total pages, but it has the best outlook. For color laser, both the installed base and pages are forecast to grow, mainly because of color laser multifunction printers (MFPs). Color laser page growth will also be restrained by falling AMPVs. Inkjet’s installed base and pages are forecast to decline through 2017. Inkjet comprises the majority of the installed base, but a tiny minority of pages.

Technology Highlights

• Worldwide laser MFPs had overall positive growth in pages (+2%) with developing countries registering double-digit growth (+13.2%) in contrast to developed economies (-4.2%). Developing countries had double-digit page growth across both mono (+11.3%) and color (+23.2%). In contrast, developed countries had positive page growth across only color MFPs (+7.5%) while having negative growth in mono MFPs (-9.2%). User print volume is migrating as devices move up speed bands during their refresh cycle, causing some dampening in print volume.

• Worldwide laser printers had a negative growth story. Although developing countries managed an incremental rate of page growth (+0.11%), it was not enough to neutralize a negative page trend in developed economies (-5%). Developing countries registered page growth of +4.5% in color printers in contrast to -0.5% page growth in mono printers. Meanwhile, users continue to migrate from printer to MFP form factors.

• Worldwide color inkjet printers continued to yield ground to color inkjet MFPs, resulting in loss of color inkjet printer pages (-5%) on a year-over-year basis. The impact was stronger in developing economies with a drop in printer pages of -11.5%. However, as color inkjet users have already mostly migrated to MFPs, the impact on overall color inkjet pages was not drastic.

 

Originally posted @ idc.com