Photizo Transform 2013 Wednesday Roundup

 

Early to Bed and Early to Rise? Not me, I hung around the sports bar Tuesday night and spoke to many P4P members, it was a good time put a face on the member.

I spent most of Wednesday morning after breakfast in the Transform Exhibit area.

Oki with NOC in a box was a really cool spin for dealers that would like to get into MNS, however they lack the resources for a full blown plan.

Muratec, also offering an even better version of MNS at a super price. Their program was extremely interesting

Japanese Printer Companies in WWII

Before OKI data was known as OKI data, it was Oki Electric Works and before that Miekosha. Kibataro Oki founded the company in 1881. By 1890 Oki Electric Works had earned an excellent reputation as a communication equipment manufacturer that specialized in telephone receivers.

After December of 1941 civilian communications dropped off and Oki Electric Works devoted most of its efforts to the war effort. Oki Electric Works then relied on orders from the Japanese Imperial Navy and Army to produce field telephones, aeronautical radios, and hydrophones.

In 1938 Oki Electric Works acquired a site in the Shiba Takahama section of Tokyo, here they were to build their Takahama plant. The plant was finished in 1941 and concentrated manufacturing wireless telegraph equipment, sonar, ammunition, and fuses for the Japanese Imperial Navy. In 1944 Oki was designated by the Munitions Company Act as a “munitions company”, which allowed the Military to take control of the factories and also allowed the government to intervene in personal matters.

March 10, 1945 saw 50 young students and women killed in a bombing raid, they had been held up in an air raid shelter in the Meijiza Theater. When World War II ended in 1945, Oki had 20 plants and nearly 23,000 employees even though its Shibaura, Maebashi and Otsuka Plants had been completed destroyed in an American bombing raids.

To read more http://www.oki.com/en/profile/history/120y.html

-=Good Selling=-

Oki & Ricoh "My Top Choices for Print Shop in a Box"

The print4pay market, some will say it is one of the hardest accounts to break into and others will say they are the easiest to breakdown the walls and establish long term relationships.

As B2C color improves, along with improved thick stock media ability, there are a few color printers that I'll refer to as a "Print Shop in Box". You might ask what's a print shop in a box, I got this saying from a printer in New Jersey that referred to his color printer as a "Print Shop in a Box" and the term has stuck with me. That printer was referring to the quality of color, the ability to handle many different types of media (envelopes too), and the ruggedness to run 60K, 70K or more worth of prints per month!

When I look at some color laser printers that would fit the mold of the "Print Shop in a Box", the Oki PRO920WT, Oki pro511DW and the Ricoh C831DN have what it takes.  I'm thinking we'll see many additional "niche" type printers as the demand for office printed page declines.

We'll take a brief look at the Oki pro511DW. Imagine this a color A3 LED printer that will print full color labels with variable data from a roll of media (3 inch core) ! I love the concept, have never seen one, but wish I was able to sell some of  these.

Here's a quick run down with specs:

Japanese Printer Companies during World War II "Part One"

I've always been fascinated with the history of companies, as to when they first opened, what they manufactured and how they came to prominence in their market place. Okidata has a long history of manufacturing and there is some awesome information on the history of Okidata in the links I provided at the end of this blog. In particular I was interested in what Japanese printer companies manufactured during World War II. Yes, I borrowed some of the information from the history of OKI, but also put together some quick facts about Okidata during the war years. Please enjoy.

Before OKI data was known as OKI data, it was Oki Electric Works and before that Miekosha. Kibataro Oki founded the company in 1881. By 1890 Oki Electric Works had earned an excellent reputation as a communication equipment manufacturer that specialized in telephone receivers.

After December of 1941 civilian communications dropped off and Oki Electric Works devoted most of its efforts to the war effort. Oki Electric Works then relied on orders from the Japanese Imperial Navy and Army to produce field telephones, ammunition, aeronautical radios, and hydrophones. In 1938 Oki Electric Works acquired a site in the Shiba Takahama section of Tokyo, here they were to build their Takahama plant. The plant was finished in 1941 and concentrated manufacturing wireless telegraph equipment, sonar, ammunition, and fuses for the Japanese Imperial Navy. In 1944 Oki was designated by the Munitions Company Act as a “munitions company”, which allowed the Military to take control of the factories and also allowed the government to intervene in personal matters.

March 10, 1945 saw 50 young students and women killed in a bombing raid, they had been held up in an air raid shelter in the Meijiza Theater. When World War II ended in 1945, Oki had 20 plants and nearly 23,000 employees even though its Shibaura, Maebashi and Otsuka Plants had been completed destroyed in American bombing raids.

To read more http://www.oki.com/en/profile/history/120y.html
http://www.oki.com/en/profile/history/pdf/OkiHe3.pdf

-=Good Selling=-

Daily Managed Print Service Industry Notes from Around the World! 3/14/2012

SA IT Services, an industry leader in Managed Print Services, today released their most recent white paper on Managed Print Services entitled, "Managed Print Services: Key Considerations." ROSWELL,
See all stories on this topic »

 Implementing a company-wide managed print service program, a global chemical company documented savings of $27M over three years. With an advanced managed document solutions strategy, a financial firm created a secure printing environment, reduced costs and increased efficiency See all stories on this topic »

OKI win Managed Print Services Contract into World's Largest Online Bike Store in Ireland TOKYO, March 14, 2012 -- OKI Data Corporation, an OKI Group company specializing in the printer business, announces that OKI Systems Ireland has won a ...
See all stories on this topic »

-=Good Selling=-

Daily Managed Print Service Industry Notes from Around the World! 2/4/2012

Tim Brien, Oki Data America's Director of Managed Print Services talks with Channelline CEO Robert Cohen talks about managed print services and the profitability that surrounds it, which are far higher than selling hardware. He also talks about how MSPs need to broaden their own business to ensure they can become a one-stop shop for the customer, and how managed services fits into that...you can read more here

As I got ready to watch the India – Australia Test Series on my 74 inch flat screen television with a high-definition cable service, I wondered how technology has evolved in the last decade. Earlier, holidays revolved around a 35mm film camera to capture all the wonderful memories and then rushing to a studio to get the film processed. Now, that negative film has been replaced by a DSLR....you can read more here

If there was one clear lesson from the 2012 Lyra MPS Forum, an “add-on” half-day conference held in conjunction with the 2012 Lyra Symposium, it was that the managed print services (MPS) business is getting tougher. The easy part—selling printing and copier savings to corporations—has gotten more competitive, and perhaps even has become a “commodity,” according to Lyra analyst Robert Palmer.
As a result, MPS vendors are searching for new sources of profit such as small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs), global accounts, or more service-intensive accounts. But in all cases,....you can read more here

When Xerox eConcierge™ premiered early in 2011, managed print services providers had an inkling that the new program would have an impact on their managed print operations. Fast forward several months: Some print service providers have made Xerox eConcierge a standard component of their managed print offerings, and they are expecting the platform to play a role in their business in 2012. Xerox promotes Xerox eConcierge as the “quickest, easiest way to order printer supplies.” The technology eliminates the need for end users to manually check the supply levels of each of their networked printers, search for model and part numbers or look for vendors that have supplies in stock...you can read more here

-=Good Selling=-http://p4photel.com/eve/premium

Digital A3 Envelope Press from Ricoh? I Think....

I've been around this business long enough to know a good thing when I see it.  My roots are in the Print4Pay market of the office equipment business.  My first introduction to the Print4Pay business was when I began selling the Minolta 450Z analog copier to print shops, advertising agencies, newspaper and basically any company that needed to reduce or enlarge a document by 1/10th of 1%. Gosh darn those where the good ole days right?

In the past few years dedicated "digital" envelope presses have emerged from the likes of Xante, Oki and a few other third party suppliers.  If you're not familiar with these devices I'll make it short and sweet, it's a tweaked OKI  Color LED (Laser Emitting Diode) print engine with A3 (up to 11x17 print) print capability.  These LED (technically not laser, but is laser quality or better, depends on who you ask) are then married with an envelope feeder attachment   and then an exit conveyor attachment.  The feeder feeds envelopes into the by-pass area of the paper feed system.  There you have it, a digital press that can produce 4 color envelopes with for consumables of about 2 cents each.

Price...., the systems are pricey, with  most models that will range from $16k-$22k per system.  You have to see a whole lotta envelopes to make up that kinda cash.  If the price was right for these systems, I'd bet dollars to doughnuts that every print shop and CRD would have one.  The fact is the price is not right and not every print shop has one or can afford to have one. 

Daily Managed Print Industry Notes from Around the World!

Nov 14, 2011 Ontario, Canada. — PrintFleet Inc., a global leader in managed print software announced today that it has launched its latest PrintFleet Enterprise software version, Impact. PrintFleet is pleased to announce that after a year of focused R&D and substantial investment, its next series of product has been launched. As with all recent....read more here

IT solution providers report that more businesses these days are open-minded about managed print services that consolidate printing and related document management costs. Demonstrating those cost savings is a key component of managed print sales. ...read more here

James Laszko, CTO for managed services provider Mythos Technology, talks about his success with managed print in this excerpt from the webinar "Do You Own Your Customers' Entire IT Environment?" Mythos implemented its managed print services just two ....read more here

Tim Brien, director of managed print services for OKI Data, and James Laszko, CTO for managed services provider Mythos Technology, discuss reseller success with managed print in this excerpt from the Q&A session of the webinar titled "Do You Own Your ...read more here

Will managed print services contracts cannibalize machine and supplies sales for traditional printer manufacturers? Will managed print services contracts cannibalize machine and supplies sales for ....read more here

C3 Office Solutions, a value-added service provider of document imaging, copiers, printers, managed print services and digital display solutions, has moved to new offices in Irvine with expanded ...,read more here

HP joins as first Platinum Sponsor November 14, 2011 -- Midway, KY  -- Photizo Group will lead the print services market in a new direction at the Transform 2012 Global Conference in Orlando, Florida on May 24-25, 2012. Transform 2012 is the next evolution of the popular Global Managed Print....read more here

-=Good Selling=-

Daily Managed Print Industry Notes from Around the World!

OKI will be demonstrating the company's proprietary Managed Print Services (MPS) solution Total Managed Print™ (TMP) within their booth (#302), and will be discussing the solution's value to the channel during a breakout session entitled “The 30-Day ...read more here

"We wanted to get control of our costs, make genuinely positive green decisions and refocus our IT resources on core functions and services." Sydney Institute adopted HP's Managed Print Services, which offered automated supplies, reporting functions ...read more here

TRUMBULL, Conn., Nov 07, 2011 -- Oce, a Canon Group Company and an international leader in digital document management, today announced the Document Printing Systems division of Oce North America has begun selling the Canon imageRUNNER 1700 Series of monochrome, multifunctional office devices. These compact, yet effective systems will easily integrate with existing MFP and printer fleets and allow users to control their devices in a flexible and convenient print solution....read more here

-=Good Selling=-

Daily Managed Print Industry Notes from Around the World!

MOUNT LAUREL, N.J., Sep 23, 2011  -- OKI Data Americas today announced the company's Gold Sponsorship at the upcoming SMB Nation Fall 2011 Conference, taking place September 30 - October 2, 2011 at the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas, NV. OKI will demonstrate the company's proprietary, cloud-based Managed Print Service (MPS) offering -- Total Managed Print(TM) (TMP) -- within their booth (#777) and during a break-out session...need to know more?

Managed print services (MPS) has been hailed as one of the most effective ways for companies to reduce costs, increase uptime and improve productivity within the workspace. The business benefits are very clear, however for many companies, the need to address environmental impact is equally important. The term ‘paperless office' has been thrown around a lot over the past year or two, but for many companies this is more than just a buzzword, and is starting to become a simple way of life as they consider green printing strategies to decrease their carbon footprint and prevent waste...need to read more?

With printing going hand in hand with cutting edge technologies like cloud computing, it is no more a backside application and is now taking centerstage for all the IT heads. Today printers are not just confined to a printing job but have different capabilities and applications attached with it. Today printing devices are more commonly known as MFPs (Multi Function Printers). Not to forget the new-age twists like MPS (Managed Printing Services) or the still-crowning-head of Printing-on-Cloud which we...need to read more?

=Good Selling=-

Daily Copier & MFP Industry Notes from around the World

INDUSTRY leader UBIX Corporation made another milestone in digital printing as it showcased three of its newest, top-of-the-line and modern equipment in an open house that will run until Friday at the White Garland function room of Grand Menseng Hotel. A well-attended press conference kicked off the open house Wednesday...read more

South Australia's Department of Premier and Cabinet says an employee has been suspended over the purchase of $80,000 worth of printer cartridges in three months.

The Opposition claims the Aboriginal Affairs Department paid $80,000 for 200 print cartridges earlier this year...read more

NORWALK, Conn. -- Xerox Co. plans to acquire the Italian customer service firm XL World to boost its outsourcing business in Europe, the printer and copier maker said Wednesday. Financial terms were not disclosed...read more

Fuji Xerox releases two new monochrome laser printers designed for use in high volume office environments – the Phaser 4600N and Phaser 4620DN.

Fuji Xerox Co., today announced the launch of its new Phaser monochrome laser...read more

Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. (Konica Minolta), a leading provider of advanced document management technologies and Managed IT Services for the desktop to the print shop, today announced that it was listed as a Top 100 Brand within the...read more

TOKYO, September 21, 2011 -- OKI Data Corporation, an OKI Group company specializing in the printer business, today announced the receipt of CHIP Magazine's Recommended Award for its A4 color digital LED multifunction printer, the MC361dn in Malaysia where OKI Data has also received Gold Awards from HardwareMAG and PC.COM...read more

Ramsey, NJ –Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. (Konica Minolta), a leading provider of advanced document management and networking technologies for the desktop to the print shop, today announces the availability of Schedule Me, the newest enhancement to the Solution Support Division (SSD) Mobile Access application that provides mobile support to field...read more

-=Good Selling=-

Top Five Short Notes for MFP & Copier Industry

Sometimes you'll have the ability to rattle off 500 to 600 words with a blog and sometimes you're just left with a  little bit of this and a little bit of that.  Thus this brings to me my Top Five Short Notes for the week or the last two weeks.  If it's popular I'll try and continue for everyone. 

1.  Seems traffic at Graph Expo in Chicago was excellent for Monday and Tuesday of this week, however Sunday was no where near as good with 9/11, and the Bears game.

2.  Ricoh seems to have a definite hit on their hands with the new Ricoh C651 series print production color system!  Traffic was awesome and reviews were just as good.  I for one am chomping at the bit waiting for us to get our first system in the door.  More to come on this unit very soon!

3. Even though I run the Print4Pay Hotel forums, and I'm still out on the street selling, I still find the time to make the forums work for my customers.  I had an issue with postscript printing of booklets, and internally I had no one to turn to that could help me.  With the recent downturn of support and this goes for all manufacturers, I turned to the P4P forums and found a workaround that a fellow P4P'er had posted a few months ago.  I turned the customer onto the workaround, it worked and all was good for the account.  As one P4P'er stated a few years ago, "The service you have and are providing is INVALUABLE. Any RFG consultant/rep worth their salt should be utilizing your site. I would highly recommend you charge a reasonable fee for these services, as the information you provide from around the world cannot be packaged adequately by the manufacturers. Other associations from other industries charge for memberships; this is a very small investment that provides tremendous "edown-in-the-trenches" resources to the members."  BTW, the Print4Pay Hotel has a FREE basic membership.

4. I just read an article about Kodak and about how they are reinventing themselves as a digital player for print production and printers.  I'm thinking this was a recycled article and I'm thinking they've been trying to do this for years.  About a year ago Kodak was high on my list to sell their print production business, however with Ricoh still struggling with IKON, Canon still trying to join two different cultures with themselves and OCE, Xerox, ACS and Global still buying dealerships, KonicaMinolta???  Anyway you slice it, seems like no one may have the cash to pull off something big.

5. When will it start,  meaning it's not a matter of if it's going to happen, however when and by whom.  I see Auxilio as a prime target to be bought by like the likes of Ricoh, Canon, Xerox, or KonicaMinolta, hey maybe even Lexmark or Okidata.  To me the writing is on the wall. With the BIG 4 focusing on health care, government and law, Auxilio is fruit that's ripening on the vine and ready to be picked!

Well that's for those thoughts that have been pounding around in my head for the last few days, enjoy, comment if you wish but above all good selling to everyone!!

-=Good Selling=-

Daily MFP Industry Notes from around the World

Here's nother interesting note from my drive home today, during a stretch of 15 miles once I gotover the Raritan River, I counted 107 businesses that were related the auto industry such as gas stations, car wash, auto parts, car dealers (new and used) etc.....

A former German investment banker has been accused of insider dealing and encouraging his two associates to invest in shares in Océ prior to its acquisition by Canon in 2010. read more

Convertible Solutions has developed a new double weight postcard stock to enable the printing of 24 point postcards on HP Indigo, Kodak Nexpress, Xerox iGen and other digital presses. The Double Thick Impact Cards are designed for printers and direct ...read more

Working with ACS, A Xerox Company, the county created the Gold Coast Health Plan to help physicians better manage individual patient care and track progress across the local medical community. ...read more

FOSTER CITY, Calif., Aug. 24, 2011 -- As it marks the 20-year anniversary of the first Fiery® digital print server, EFI™ (Nasdaq:EFII) today launched the next-generation Fiery platform. Fiery technology is long recognized in the industry for its blazing speed, color accuracy, image quality, and intuitive user-interface, and with this launch increases operator productivity, produces more..read more

TOKYO, August 24, 2011 -- OKI Data Corporation, an OKI Group company specializing in the printer business, today announced the receipt of HardwareMAG's Silver Award for its A4 color digital LED multifunction printer, MC361dn in Singapore. ...read more

Aug 24, 2011 Ramsey, N.J. – August 24, 2011 – Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. (Konica Minolta), a leading provider of advanced imaging and networking technologies for the desktop to the print shop, today announced a Speaker Series in the Konica Minolta Booth #2227 at GRAPH EXPO 2011 from September 11-13 at McCormick Place South in Chicago. read more

-=Good Selling=-

Copier Proposals And Quotes that we've Seen

Over the years one of the biggest attractions of the Print4Pay Hotel forums is the "P4P Hotel's Industry Proposals & Quotes" Forums. To date we have over 300 quotes and proposals that are available for download.

These quotes are pretty much "badges of honor", if you lose the deal you're not asking he customer for the copy of the are you?  Winners make things happen and yes Winners are able to get the copies of the Losers quotes.  I find these quotes to be invaluable, for example how a certain dealer, salesperson or direct branch will go about designing the proposal (and there are some really good ones), along with how poorly some will design one. Believe me, in my proposals and quotes I taken some of the really good stuff and incorporated into my own.  So you can learn from seeing other companies proposals and quotes.  Plus, there's more much when reading between the lines as to what is on the proposal and what isn't.  It's the what isn't on the proposal that tells the take of how to attack a weakness in the future.

Here's a running list of the last 50 that we've posted, you can access them on the Print4Pay Hotel forums when you become a Premium Member!  Enjoy!

		Konica Minolta Quote Soup 2 Nuts!
		Kyocera State of NJ Contract
		IKON_Quote Ricoh MPc 6501
		Lanier LDC 365C proposal
		Xerox_Quote WC7755PC proposal
		Ricoh MP C400SR Proposal
		KonicaMinolta BizHub C451 Proposal
		TaskAlfa 500ci quote
		Ricoh MP C3500 Quote from RBS
		"pricing on the street" for Xerox W7120pt
		"pricing on the street" for Xerox WC7765p
		"pricing on the street" for Xerox 4595
		"pricing on the street" for Xerox WC 5775pt
		"pricing on the street" for Xerox WC 7435p
		"pricing on the street" for Xerox WC 7425p
		"pricing on the Street" for Canon iR6065
		"Pricing on the Street" for KonicaMinolta BizHub 751
		"Pricing on the Street" for Xerox 5775PT
		"Pricing on the Street" for Canon iR6075
		"Pricing on the Street" for Konica Minolta BizHub 950
		"Pricing on the Street" for Xerox 5790PT
		Sharp 4101n street price and service cpc
		pricing on the street for Ricoh PRO907EX
		RBS/IKON blank lease
		pricing on the street for Xerox P4595CP
		pricing on the street for ricoh pro1107ex
		pricing on the street for canon iR8095rev
		pricing on the street for KoncaMinolta BizHub950
		Xerox WorkCentre 5735PT
		Street Pricing
		Ricoh Cost Per Page Quote
		pricing on the street Ricoh MPC 4501 multitray
		pricing on the street ricoh mpc2551 multitray
		pricing on the street ricoh mpc 2551
		pricing on the street ricoh mp2851
		Ricoh MP2500 multi tray
		Ricoh MP2500
		Anyone have any contracts/pricing info for Ricohs new color A4s?
		mp6501 c
		Xerox WC7775P Workcentre
		ricoh mp7001 _mp2851
		Assorted Bid Summary for KM, Ricoh, Toshiba, Kyocera
		copystar cs-250ci color
		Xerox WorkCentre 5665 "Pricing on the Street"
		Canon imagePRESS 1110S
		Ricoh Aficio PRO C901 "Pricing on the Street"
		Xerox 4112 Quote
		kyocera/copystar proposal for cs 820 -=Good Selling=