"Do you think Sharp will sell the MFP division"?

Back in early November I posted a poll on the Print4Pay Hotel forums. We asked "Do you think Sharp will sell the MFP division"?  The response was a simple yes or no.

If you're a new reader, please let me give you a little background about the Print4Pay Hotel. The short and sweet of the Print4Pay Hotel is that we started a web forums for imaging industry people back in 2003.  To date we have close to 2,000 registered members, we also cull the membership to keep our email list up to date (since many in our industry come and go).  It's my belief and I've heard this from many others, that the Print4Pay Hotel members is a conglomerate of the best of breed sales people, managers and dealers owners from around the globe.

If you've not been hiding under a rock for the last six months then you know that Sharp, Japan has been overburdened with debt. This debt was accumulated from large losses, the mortgaging of almost all of their properties and recent titanic bank loans from Japanese banks.  Lately, Sharp is in somewhat of a small rebound due to the recent yen declining against the US dollar, a small investment from Qualcom (small compared to the debt that Sharp owes) and the recent statement that Sharp expects to turn a profit  for the last fiscal quarter of this year (ends March 31st).

Some recent threads that were posted on the Print4Pay Hotel forums were this:

Why RFP for Copiers don’t work anymore. Who’s buying just copiers?

Vince McHugh is our guest blogger for this month and he kinda doesn't know it yet!  Vince McHugh has been a Valued Premium Member of the Print4Pay Hotel forums for some time now.  Along with that he also has a blog where he enlightens end users and those of us in the indsutry with some great articles.  Please read his blog below and please make sure you click through to his blog at the end for the remaining article.

Actually if all your company needs is a “copy Machine” then an RFP (Request for Proposal) WILL work for your company.

But when was the last time your company or organization purchased a “Copy Machine” – a machine that JUST MADE COPIES?

Don’t you buy MFDs or even Smart MFDs? Do they Scan, Print, and do Network Faxing? Are you leveraging the power of your Smart MFDs by loading software on them that extends and enhances their capabilities to connect into your network infrastructure or back end servers? If not than you are missing out on the REAL SAVINGS that a Smart MFD can bring to your company. Have you ever heard the phrase “strain at a gnat, but swallow a camel” that describes the process as it relates to a traditional copier RFP. Because the focus is on trying to make all of your vendors look exactly alike, so you can force the cheapest price for the dumb down comparison that the RFP requires. There is a better way to do an RFP.

If you work in purchasing and you are responsible for the “Copier RFP” and your biggest concern is replacing like for like features (50ppm and duplexing) at the cheapest price then you really need to update your process, and broaden the input you receive from other departments like IT, Compliance, Governance, Security, and Operations. If you don’t get their input as to what they need then you will buy the cheapest “copy machines” that will NOT meet any of these departments needs, so they will need to go out and purchase other devices that will cost your company more than necessary because your Copier RFP did not consider their needs. Or worse yet, you actually thwart their projects or requirements because the bargain copiers you bought can’t do what they need.

Please go here for the rest of the article

-=Good Selling=-

Daily Managed Print Industry Notes from Around the World!

Most managed print service (MPS) contracts rely on hardware and software recommendations made by the supplier, so it pays to check the specifications of the device and applications offered as part of the deal to make sure they represent the best fit for any one company’s print environment. For those looking for the maximum environmental credentials, all printer and MFD manufacturers make claims for proprietary technology that reduces ink and toner usage compared with...read more

COLUMBUS, OH. – October 19, 2011 – Treeno Software, a leading provider of Electronic Document Management systems, is one of the newest Corporate Members of the Managed Print Services Association (MPSA).  Here’s a look at MPS from Treeno Software’s perspective: Treeno Software: MPS from Top to Bottom
Treeno Software provides enterprise document management (EDM) and workflow systems that can be deployed...read more 

It took a critical report by the National Audit Office (NAO) to prompt the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to take a long hard look at how it could optimise its poorly managed document supply chain, including print services. The NAO judged that a lack of centralised control, a proliferation of suppliers and document types, a lack of visibility into stock or spend, and slow processes prone...read more

-=Good Selling=-