HP Inc. wins production print contracts

– Award from B2Pack of Getafe, Madrid, Spain o Installed an Indigo 30000 production color system
o Includes optional inline corona treatment unit § allow printing on metallized materials and plastics, up to 25pt.

– Award from DigiWrap of Chicago, IL o Installed an Indigo 5600 production color system
o Will be used to produce personalized gift packaging

Canon adds new solution offerings

– Announced it will integrate its MFPs with Ringdale, maker of FollowMe cost recovery/print management solution software o (competes with Nuance Output Manager, Equitrac, Papercut, LRS, etc.)
o Will work with properly equipped imageRUNNER ADVANCE MFPs

– Announced that its uniFLOW document capture solution will now integrate with Hyland OnBase ECM

Samsung upsets customers with firmware

– Sent out a firmware update to users of its Galaxy Note 7 mobile device, so they can no longer be recharged (due to past fire issues in battery)
– This process is called ‘turning phone into a brick”
– Even though it sent out a recall notice, only 97% of units were sent back
– Many users now claim that they will not consider upgrading to the yet to be launched Galaxy S8 device

Sharp’s new owner to build new LCD plant

– Foxconn announced it will build the world’s largest LCD plant in China using Sharp technology o Total investment of $6.95 billion
o Start production in 2019
o Will be sold as HDTV’s

– Foxconn also announced that it will no longer allow Sharp to sell 2 to 3 million LCD panels a year to Samsung, claiming it was a money losing venture

Kyocera wins environmental award

– Kyocera (aka Kyoto Ceramic Company of Japan) announced it won two 2016 Environment Minister’s Awards in Japan
– One for its circuit board manufacturing plant in Kyoto Ayabe, Japan
– Another for its development of residential use solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC)

Kyocera shipping new A3 MFPs

– Launched the TASKalfa 8052ci series of color MFPs o MSRPs range from $32,954 to $39,545
o 1200x1200dpi
o Up to 70ppm color and 80ppm b/w print speeds
o Finishing options include stapling, booklet making, trifold and hole punch
o 9” LCD color touchscreen control panel
o Document feeder holds up to 270 originals § Top scan speed of 220ipm or 110opm
§ Scans both sides of original at same time
§ OCR board standard

– Launched the TASKalfa 8002i series of b/w MFPs o MSRPs range from $22,900 to $29.090
o Top speed of 80ppm
o Finishing options include stapling, booklet making, trifold and hole punch
o 1200x1200dpi
o 9” LCD color touchscreen control panel
o Document feeder holds up to 270 originals § Top scan speed of 220ipm or 110opm
§ Scans both sides of original at same time
§ OCR board standard

Toshiba wins award from Better Buys mag

– 15 of its new models won the “Better Buys Q3 2016 Editor’s Choice Award”
– “the company’s latest line is its most innovative and intuitive to date”; stated Melissa Pardo-Bunte, editor of Better Buys
– “by merging premium software and hardware elements throughout the design of their new color and monochrome products.  Toshiba is clearly raising the bar for its competition to aspire to”
– (Better Buys does not actually test equipment)

Toshiba to bid on nuclear plants in UK

– The Japanese government is apparently offering up to 1 trillion yen in financial support to help companies bid on contracts to build nuclear plants in England
– Will use state-affiliated banks
– Toshiba and Hitachi would benefit

Microsoft launches conference room PC

– Launched the Microsoft Surface Hub
– Mix of video conferencing, digital whiteboarding and collaborative working solution
– $6999 for 55” version MSRP
– $19,999 for 84” version MSRP
– Microsoft claims that average sale is for 50 systems

Xerox’s new president has new dealer focus

– Named Mike Feldman as new president of North America division and was interviewed in CRN magazine
– Stated that he will transfer “tens of thousands” of accounts from Xerox direct branch sales reps to channel partners, including Xerox dealers and Global locations o Global now has locations in 40 states with $2 billion in annual revenue

– “Today, our large enterprise direct sales force has a lot more business with more accounts that I would like them to be focused on””
– “We are looking at those accounts that are considered below big, large enterprise and moving those to channel partners”
– “Whether the salesperson sells it directly from Xerox or uses a channel partner as they sell into the account, we would like them to make the same amount of money regardless of the route to market”
– Customers with 1,000 or more seats are currently classified as large enterprise accounts o Going forward, only accounts with 5,000 or more seats will be considered large enterprise accounts 
o Goal is to have 1800 direct sales reps and 100 consultants worldwide
o “The salesperson (in branch) won’t have to really get a vote on that”
o “We will redirect our salespeople (in branches) to bigger accounts, and going after new logo, really large accounts”

– Currently only has 2,000 accounts that will need a direct interface from Xerox corp.
– “Xerox has a lot to gain by partnering more with our channel in the marketplace”
– “We want to compete less, and cover more”
– “I think the channel is a huge opportunity for us.  I really believe very much in the channel”

More details on Xerox’s future plans

– Commentary from Jeff Jacobson, new CEO of Xerox, during press conference
– Accelerating a $1.5 cost savings plan (did not provide number of layoffs)
– Focusing on growth markets o Document outsourcing/MPS § Represents $11 billion opportunity
§ 2.2% CAGR for enterprise managed print services growth
§ 7% CAGR in SMB MPS or $7 billion opportunity
§ 13% CAGR for workflow automation or $3 billion opporunity

o Production color § 5% CAGR or $5 billion opportunity
§ 10% CAGR in production color inkjet

o SMB § 3% CAGR for A4 placements or $12 billion opportunity

– Will launch over 2 dozen new MFPs in 2017 o A3 MFPs represent $23 billion opportunity

– Claims total market is worth $85 billion worldwide in 2016 o Believes that $38 billion in growth opportunities

– “its bundled model creates stickiness in the form of over 75% annuity revenues”
– U.S. is 59% of total revenue

Xerox wins production print contract

– Award from Solo Printing of Sheridan, Wyoming
– Installed a new Xerox Color 1000i production color system
– Included FreeFlow Core and XMPie uDirect Classic solutions
– Also included a Plockmatic Pro 35 booklet maker

Xerox hires new CTO

– Named Stephen Hoover as new Chief Technology Officer in charge of research and development
– Areas of innovation company may pursue: o Internet of Things (IoT)
o Augmented reality (AR)
o Artificial intelligence (AI)

Xerox gets more government help

– The State of Connecticut announced it is providing Xerox a $4.4 million low interest loan
– Money to be used for equipment and building renovations in return for Xerox keeping its headquarters in Norwalk, CT
– Also  must add at least 40 more workers

Xerox shells out $4.9 million

– The U.S. District Court Judge David G. Larimer of New York ruled in favor of workers who accused the company of miscalculating their pension benefits
– The money is to be used to reimburse the workers for their attorney fees

Ricoh renews lease

– Announced it signed a lease renewal for office in Duluth, Georgia
– 90,350 square feet of space
– In Sugarloaf office park

Ricoh cost cutting

– Announced that it terminating 220 people from its offices in the Netherlands
– Includes admin, marketing, delivery, fulfillment, HR and finance positions
– Hopes that this division will return to profit in next 2 years
– “We need to strengthen the competitiveness of Ricoh and operate more efficiently in all areas.  We must reduce our costs and streamline every part of our business.”; stated a Ricoh spokesperson.

Proof of huge growth in managed IT?

– IBM’s CEO, Ms. Ginni Rometty, met recently with president elect, Donald Trump
– Announced plans to hire 25,000 people in the U.S. o 6,000 to be hired in 2017

– Will also invest $1 billion in employee training over next 4 years
– Workers will be involved with: o Data science
o Cloud computing

Growth of FM in education vertical in U.S.

– Survey conducted by Swiss Post Solutions
– 70% of large institutions of 20,000+ students are currently outsourcing
– 62% of these not outsourcing are now considering it
– For mid size schools (10,000-20,000), 56% are outsourcing
– Most common outsourced is: o 64% = bookstore
o 57% = mailroom
o 53% = food service
o 36% = copy center
o Also mentioned area of growth was managed print services

– Goal of outsourcing: o 73% = save money
o 31% = qualified personnel

 

Growth of production print in InPlants

– Survey conducted by PRIMIR (print industries market information and research) Inc.
– There are slightly fewer than 20,000 inplant printing sites in the U.S. o 75% are graphic arts oriented
o 25% dedicated to transactional functions (i.e. statements, policies, forms, bills)

– Number of inplants declining 1-2% per year in the U.S. in last 5 years due to economy
– Most are cost centers and not revenue driven departments
– Inplants value reached $13 billion in 2015
– Average decline in revenue is now 3.6%
– Digital printing is growing and now accounts for almost 2/3’s of value o Offset now only 15%
o Digital color = 31%
o Digital b/w = 31%
o Finishing = 8%
o 70% now have wide format and 7% of value

– Production color cut sheet printing systems is most popular item on wish list

Study of employee time at work

– Conducted by McKinsey Global Institute
– 19% of time spend searching and gathering information
– 14% spent communicating and collaborating internally
– 28% spent reading and answering email

Okidata offering new envelope feeder

– For its C900 series of A3 color LED printers
– New C9DP+ connects to C931, C941 and C942 models o Includes feeder input and conveyor system output device

– Targeted at short-run in-house envelope printing (i.e. under 5,000 per job)
– Pricing not announced

Dealer opens new location in New York

– Central Business Systems announced it has opened new location at 5 Penn Plaza in Manhattan, New York
– President is Michael Chambers
– Dealer for Canon, HP, Lexmark and Sharp

Study on money spent on IT outsourcing

– Research published by Everest Group
– By 2020, healthcare providers will more than double their spending on technology services o Will also spend $228.79 billion on IT hardware and software by 2020

– Opportunity of over $9 billion for healthcare IT outsourcing market

DocuWare looking for success in healthcare

– Recently pursued certifications to boost its data security credentials for healthcare vertical
– Announced that its ECM solution has achieved HIPAA compliance
– Also received SOC 2, Type 1 certification (service organization controls)
– Renewed ISO/IED 2700:2015 certification

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