Xerox selling out to Fujifilm update

– According to Reuters News Services, activist investor, Carl Icahn, has hired John Visentin to help prepare for a proxy fight with Xerox to try and block the company from being acquired by Fujifilm

– Visentin is a former executive of both HP and IBM

 

Xerox partners with Cisco for security

– Announced by Tracey Koziol, SVP of Xerox

o Cisco’s Identity Services Engine (ISE) now comes with profiles of more than 200 Xerox printers, production print engines and MFPs

o Includes all new Xerox VersaLink and AltaLink products

o IT department can automatically detect Xerox devices on network, dial in appropriate security controls and employ Cisco ISE and facility for monitoring MFP activities

– Xerox already offers McAfee Whitelisting on its MFPs, to only allow approved files to run, detecting unauthorized attempts to write, read or add to protected files

o If attempt is detected, email alert is sent to device administrator’s email address

 

Xerox responds to customer complaints

– Policy change came after Xerox executives participated in a webinar conducted by the In-Plant Printing and Mailing Association (managers of CRDs in the U.S.)

– Xerox has now altered its sales playbook to request that the IPMA member in-plant is included in all discussions concerning printing and mailing operations

– (Xerox through its FM group, sometimes displaces an existing in-plant with its own staff)

– “While this does not eliminate the facilities management threats we feel, it does at least get the IPMA member in-plant at the table during these talks”; stated IPMA president Dwayne Magee.

 

Xerox wins school district contract

– Award from Garaway School District of Ohio

– 5 year contract for managed print services including MFPs

 

Xerox launches new app for its MFPs

– The app, named “SignMe”, can be integrated into “ConnectKey” equipped Xerox AltaLink and VersaLink MFPs (that are manufactured by Fujifilm)

– App was created by Xerox dealer, MidAmerica Technology

– Supposedly eliminates the need to print, fill out, and then scan a document that requires a handwritten signature

– With the SignMe app, users can enter notes on the document once it is loaded as a print job and sign on the front LCD panel of the Xerox MFP

– Pricing not announced

 

Xerox gets $6 million award

– A federal court ordered Jonathan Ofstein of Boston, MA to pay Xerox more than $6 million in restitution after being convicted of wire fraud

– Ofstein worked for a company which had a Xerox fleet under an all-inclusive lease contract, which included service and supplies.

o Between 2012 and 2016, he ordered excess toner from Xerox and sold it to an individual in Miami (who resold for profit on the web)

 

Ricoh suffers huge loss

– Ricoh announced it will book “an impairment loss” of $1.72 billion

– Blames loss on its results from North America (fka IKON, which Ricoh bought in 2008 for $1.63 billion)

– Had originally forecast an operating profit of 20 billion yen

– Will also allocate impairment losses of 40 billion yen in 4th quarter for its managed IT services division, also known as mindSHIFT

– Goal, according to CEO, Yoshinori Yamashita, is to “promote structural reforms to further contribute to the enhancement of their corporate value to the group, not only in the short term, but also in the medium and longer term”

o Will shift from an expansion strategy “to a more profit-focused strategy, and invest intensively in areas where we can expect greatest contribution to profit”

o “taking the matter very seriously”

o The transition away from paper “exceeded expectations, and competition turned harsh, North America faced a striking decline in unit prices.”

– Ricoh did not offer any comment in regards to reports of an impending huge layoff

 

Ricoh wins large managed IT services deal

– Award to Ricoh’s mindSHIFT managed IT services division from Ferrari North America

– Included following:

o Custom application development

o Automated purchase order request workflow

o Integration with Masterpiece general ledger application

 

Ricoh to resell EFI wide format

– Announced it will add the EFI Pro 24f LED flatbed color inkjet printer to its lineup

– Top speed of 1,157 square feet per hour

– 1200x1200dpi

 

Ricoh wins MPS contract

– Award from Shell Group (aka Shell Oil), headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands

– Includes thousands of MFPs

– Also includes Streamline NX, Device Manager NX and Mobile Printing solutions

– 20 on-site employees at HQ provided as part of contract

– Contract covers 98 locations

 

Ricoh partnership with Heidelberg

– Heidelberg of Germany, maker of offset presses, announced it will resell the new Ricoh Pro C7200 series of production color laser systems

– Will name them the “Versafire EV” series

– Will offer the optional invisible red, white, clear, neon yellow and neon pink toner options

 

Ricoh wins PPS contracts

– Award from C&D Print, a commercial printer in Camden, London

o Installed a Pro C7100X production color laser system

o Replaced Xerox unit

– Award from SeaPrint Graphic Solutions at the University of North Carolina Wilmington

o installed a new Ricoh Pro C7100 color laser production printer.

o Traded in a Ricoh Pro C901

o included 30,000 free color clicks per month

o also included a Xanté Impressia for envelope printing

 

Ricoh wins production print contract

– Award from CRD at Western Carolina University (WCU) in Ashville, North Carolina

– Installed two Pro C7100CS production color laser system and a Pro 8200 production b/w laser system

– Included FusionPro VDP software, 5th toner option, Plockmatic bookletmaker and GBC StreamPunch

– Used to produce recruiting direct mail and ad campaigns

 

Sharp buys managed IT services firm

– Acquired ZLan Partners Inc. of Chicago, IL

– Will be a new branch of Sharp Business Systems (direct branches)

– Provides network design, virtual CIO services, cloud services and security services

– SBS now claims to have 50 locations

 

Sharp hires new exec

– Named Chris Johnson as new Director of Central Region

– Will lead MFP sales reps in the Midwest

 

Marco makes another acquisition

– Announced it has acquired Governor Business Solutions (GBS) of Dearborn, Michigan

– Is the company’s 11th acquisition over past 2 years

– GBS is an HP MFP dealer, and run by Bill Cullinan

 

EO Johnson makes another acquisition

– Announced it has acquired the copier division of OEI Group of Wausau, Wisconsin

– OEI Group will focus on office furniture and mailing equipment

– EO Johnson is a dealer for Canon & Ricoh, and has locations in Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota

 

Copier dealer buys managed IT firm

– Automated Office Systems (aka T. C. McGowan Inc.), a Ricoh dealer in Fresno, CA, announced it has acquired Complete Computing of Fresno, CA

– Former owner was Cindy Silva

– Purchase price not announced

 

Toshiba launches smart glasses

– Unveiled the Toshiba dynaEdge AR Smart Glasses

– Puts a small display in corner of user’s vision, combined with camera for remote assistance and other enterprise applications

– MSRP of $1900

– Packaged with small to PC to clip to clothing

– Optional fingerprint sensor

– Optical 640x360ppi

– 5 megapixel camera

– Video capture up to 1080p @ 30fps

– LED flash

– Built-in speakers with dual microphones

 

Toshiba financial issues update

– As reported by Reuters New Service, Toshiba faces a deadline to win Chinese antitrust approval to sell its $18 million NAND memory chip manufacturing division by end of March, 2018

– Toshiba is planning on selling the unit to Bain Capital

 

Toshiba plans to acquire nuclear fuel firm

– Will acquire 24% stakes held by Furukawa Electric and Sumitomo Electric Industries of Nuclear Fuel Industries, making it a wholly owned subsidiary

– The company produces enriched uranium fuel rods for nuclear plants

– Purchase price not announced

 

Canon announces new solutions

– Announced partnership with Tradeshift Software of New York

o Is provider of business commerce platform to help clients transform their supply chain including source-to-pay processes

– Also announced reseller arrangement with MindFire Inc.

o Provider of cloud-based marketing platform

o Allows users to control campaign design, content, rules and workflow

o To be bundled with production print systems

 

Canon hosts production print event

– The “Cutting Edge” event was held at Canon showroom in Venlo, The Netherlands (former home of Oce’, which Canon acquired)

– Attended by 400 customers

– Demonstrations given on:

o imagePRESS C10000VP production color laser system

o imagePRESS C850 production color laser system

o Oce’ varioPRINT 140 and 6000 TITAN production b/w systems

o Oce’ Colorado 1640 wide format color inkjet system

 

Okidata to use distributor for its MFPs

– Announced it has selected SYNNEX as its primary distributor of its printers and MFPs for its dealers

– Will consolidate all hardware and consumables transactions

 

Canon to launch new MFPs in 2018

– Will launch its “3rd generation imageRUNNER ADVANCE 2nd edition” lineup

– New MFPs will have emphasis on cloud and security

– Will range from desktop A4 MFPs to a 100ppm A3 MFP

o IR-C256/356 II are A4 color MFPs rated at 25ppm and 35ppm

o IR-C3500 II series are A3 color MFPs rated at 25ppm and 35ppm

o IR-C5500 II series are A3 color MFPs with 35ppm, 40ppm, 50ppm or 60ppm

o IR-C7500 II series are A3 color MFPs with 65ppm, 70ppm and 80ppm

o IR-4500 II series are A3 b/w MFPs with 25ppm, 35ppm, 45ppm and 51ppm

o IR-6500 II series are A3 b/w MFPs with 55ppm, 65ppm & 75ppm

o IR-8500 II series are A3 MFPs with 85ppm, 95ppm & 100ppm

– Will have new “Unified Firmware Platform” to provide more consistent user experience across product line

– Security features standard include:

o ‘always-on” monitoring to check for vulnerabilities

o Jobs sent from mobile devices can be held until released

o Various device functions can be disabled for individual users

o Visual and audible “Original Reminder” notifications to alert user when scanned originals are left in the MFP

– Optional uniFLOW Online Express solution will provide:

o scan-to-cloud

o output management

o Universal Login Manager for user authentication

o Portal for administrators to track and report on activity and generate graphical usage reports

o Dashboard with drag-and-drop widgets with overview of print/scan/copy environment

o Restrict access to features or devices by department, workgroup or individual

– Optional imageWARE Management Console provides:

o Remotely check device status and consumables

o Securely capture and print documents

o Link mobile devices directly into business workflows

– Optional features for mobile devices

o QR Code pairing

o Near Field Communication (NFC)

o BlueTooth

o Google Cloud Print, Apple AirPrint and Mopria

 

Canon exec gives lecture at university

– Event held at University of Alabama, which is current customer of Canon for both printer/MFP fleet and CRD.

– Given by Peter Kowalczuk, president of Canon direct

– Audience was students in the Manderson Graduate School of Business program

– Topics covered:

o Creating h2 alliances with customers that transcend typical vendor-client relationship

o Leadership and corporate strategy

– “Pushing education is at the core of Canon Solution America’s foundation, and we will continue to support our customers who, like us, want to help prepare the next generation of business leaders for what it takes to truly succeed”; stated Kowalczuk

 

Kodak reports on last fiscal year earnings

– Net earnings of $94 million

– Total revenue down 7% to $1.5 billion

– Production print division revenue down 7% to $942 million

 

CRD survey published by InPlant magazine

– Survey results from 243 inplant copy/print centers across all major verticals

– Average number of employees = 14

– 32.9% of budget spent on labor

o 22.2% of budget spent on paper

o 20% of budget spent on equipment, software and supplies

– Where annual revenue comes from:

o 60.5% = digital printing

o 14.6% = offset printing

o 8.7% = wide format printing

o 5.5% = design

o 7.8% = mailing/fulfillment

– What do they print:

o 95.7% = brochures

o 92% = posters/flyers

o 88.6% = business cards

o 86.7% = forms

o 84.4% = newsletters

o 82% = manuals

o 78.4% = banners

o 78.2% = envelopes

o 76.3% = stationery

o 70.1% = labels

o 70.1% = annual reports

o 68.2% = direct mail

o 67.8% = calendars

 

Printed books making a comeback?

– Survey published by Publishers Association for 2017

– Sales of e-readers (such as Amazon Kindle, Nook, etc.) are down 18.7%

– Printed books and journal sales up 7%

– Printed children’s books up 16%

– Paperback book sales up 7.5%

– Hardback book sales up 4.1%

– 50% of millennials prefer printed materials versus digital when consuming material they need to learn

 

HP announces new A3 MFP dealer

– Has authorized VLCM of Salt Lake City, Utah

– Claims to be the only authorized HP A3 MFP dealer in Utah

– VLCM, founded by Rich Linton, is run by Mike Linton, EVP and GM, and also is a Canon dealer

– Also has locations in; Bountiful (UT), Lehi (UT), St. George (UT), Meridian (ID), Englewood (CO) & Rio Rancho (NM)

 

HP ships two more b/w LaserJets

– Launched the A4 LaserJet Pro M15w and M28w models

– Are smallest models in their class at 7.5”D x 13.6”W x 6.3”H

– Top speed of 19ppm

– M15w is print only model and M28W models is an MFP

– 150 sheet paper tray

 

HP holds data security lunch/learn

– Event sponsored by Copiers Northwest and BluZebra Technologies

– Held in Vancouver, Washington

– Speaker was Lindsey Hearst, HP Print Security Advisor

– Lecture included following:

o 56% of businesses state that MFP/printer security is a top priority

o 50% wish to use mobile phones to scan hard copy documents

o 40% wish to view documents on smart phone

o “Every endpoint purchase is a security decision”

 

HP provides more info on earnings

– For first quarter of year, the printer/MFP division (includes addition of sales from the former printer/MFP division of Samsung which HP acquired last year)

o Supplies revenue up 10% to $3,351 million

o Commercial hardware revenue up 28% to $1,070 million

o Consumer hardware revenue up 11% to $655 million

o Total revenue up 14% to $5,076 million

o Total hardware units up 14%

  • Consumer units up 7%
  • Commercial units up 73%
  • (IDC reports that HP branded units are down 3.8%)

 

HP employees hurt in explosion

– Two people were injured last week after an explosion occurred in an HP building at their campus in Corvallis, Oregon

– Explosion caused by a hydrogen generator that blew up

 

Hyland Software wins ECM contract

– Award from Glatfelter Insurance of York, Pennsylvania

– Installed OnBase ECM

 

Dealers open new locations

– Cobb Technologies, headquartered in Glenn Allen, Virginia, announced the grand opening of new office in Fredericksburg, Virginia

o Now has 7 locations across the state

– Pacific Office Automation, headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon, announced that it has relocated 4 of its 24 branches to larger locations:

  • Phoenix, AZ
  • Salem, OR
  • Denver, CO
  • San Jose, CA

 

NetDocuments wins solution contract

– Award from Husch Blackwell, a law firm headquartered Kansas City, MO, which has 18 other locations across the U.S.

– Implemented a cloud-based document management solution

 

Nuance hires new CEO

– Announced it has hired Mark Benjamin, formerly of NCR Corp., as its new CEO

– Replaces Paul Ricci

 

Hyland Software wins new OnBase deals

– award from Pacific Crest Federal Credit Union of Klamath Falls, OR

– Award from Local Credit Union of Sterling Heights, MI

– Award from Biggar and District Credit Union of Canada

 

Kodak announced price of new PPS system

– Recently launched the new NEXFINITY, a 5 color toner production print system with top speed of 152ppm

– The MSRP is set at $885,000.00

 

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