When Keypoint Intelligence (KPI), a global solutions, testing and research entity, went shopping for a new leader in 2021, it found in Anthony Sci an intelligent and thoughtful executive with a multitude of experience in both the office technology dealer and manufacturer realms. In fact, his first industry gig was with Eskay Business Systems, a Sharp and Panasonic dealer in New York.
It was an optimal match. Sci knew the machinations of the typical dealer principal’s mind, the ideas and technologies they find intriguing, their reluctance to rush out onto the bleeding edge, and what it takes to get their attention. After all, dealer execs embrace a pack mentality, and lone wolves are difficult to find in the industry.
As such, Sci was the perfect evangelist when KPI embarked on an ecommerce solution and sales enablement tools. He’s on a constant quest to devise platforms that can allow the dealer to do more with less. He also sees the opportunity for dealers and manufacturers alike to better understand AI and leverage it in wonderful ways across every facet of business. After all, KPI already uses it.
We sat down with Sci to address AI and all its forms as they relate to the industry, the opportunities presented by production print, the aforementioned enablement tools and casting a wider net for KPI product testing to include robotics. When dealers pose the question, “Does it work?”, Sci wants to deliver an unequivocal yes and be able to show his work.
How did Keypoint Intelligence fare in 2023 from a profit standpoint? In general, how did the company perform in relation to expectations, and what were some of the variables that shaped the year?
Sci: I’d say 2023 was an OK year. I don’t think there was anything particularly special or bad about it. The key is to make sure that we’re always coming out with innovations, and we accomplished that in 2023 with the quoting tool. We also had some new areas of opportunity, such as robotics testing. We’re starting to see the results more in 2024. The new areas of labels and packaging have been quite good. The acquisition of ProPrintPerformance last year has proven to be successful, and it’s grown considerably. Those types of opportunities within the production market, and providing sales enablement tools for the dealer community, underscore what we’re trying to accomplish.
It’s been a year since we first discussed UVERCE. Can you provide a status update and talk about the feedback you’ve received from early adopters?
Sci: We’ve had good success with it, although I actually thought we’d be having even more success. Still, UVERCE has produced a steady flow of customers—and very satisfied ones. In fact, I made a presentation at a CDA event a month or two ago, and we did four installs alone within one month. I do think the adoption rate is a little slower than I anticipated, but I’m happy with the progress that we’re making.
The quote iQ product released post-UVERCE has gained some traction among mega dealers. Provide a brief overview, and outline which dealer types are most apt to benefit from it.
Sci: This product has an interesting backstory. One of our megadealers who used UVERCE asked us to help solve a problem. Their reps were spending up to three hours getting a proposal done on an enterprise deal. That was the simple ask. From that, we built this quoting tool using a majority of the input we received from the client. We worked with Novatech and Dan Cooper, who’s really an innovative gentleman and leader. In the end, it’s just about solving problems, and that’s how this tool came up. It’s really started to catch on tremendously with the megadealers. At this point, we have six megadealers using quote iQ.
Reps are spending a ton of time putting deals together, and that’s been a significant issue throughout this industry. It’s just gathering information. In our industry, there are so many different programs that you have to collect information from and compile it all in one place. It’s time-consuming, and you have to ensure that the information is accurate. People using the quoting tool have all kinds of access to clone quotes, have the same blended rates, anything that a rep would need to do—technical service, managed services, etc.—and they can put it into the deal. It really allows the rep to look at the gross profit of the deal and the monthly payment for it. Anything the rep needs to figure out a deal is in quote iQ. We’re starting to build it with a commission tool, working with Luis Gonzalez of SalesScoreKeeper to see commissions in real time. There are a number of things we’ve built into this tool that people absolutely love.
It was developed with the help of a major dealer, but can it benefit those in the sub-$10 million space?
Sci: It’s not relegated to megadealers. We’ve had dealers of all sizes use it. Everybody sees the value of the quote iQ tool.
In terms of the technology, dealers are still trying to figure AI out. As with anything technology related, there are leaders and laggards. In general, I think the industry is trying to understand how it applies to them.
— Anthony Sci, Keypoint Intelligence
During ECS 2024, KPI announced its deal with GoWest.ai to offer AI readiness assessments. How would you characterize its degree of acceptance among dealers?
Sci: Working with West McDonald has been a great learning experience. West brings instant credibility to us when it comes to AI, and it’s a real pleasure to work with him. In terms of the technology, dealers are still trying to figure AI out. As with anything technology related, there are leaders and laggards. In general, I think the industry is trying to understand how it applies to them. But we know that all organizations in our space (manufacturers, dealers and end-customers) are looking to reduce costs with operational excellence, and that’s what artificial intelligence can do for everyone. We help identify those areas within an organization and provide them with advice and tools that can help reduce those costs. At the same time, we can help our partners offer AI services to their customers utilizing the same techniques.
How are you incorporating AI within KPI?
Sci: Originally, I thought it would just add benefits to our marketing efforts and assist in some of our research. We’ve found that it works well in every aspect of our business. Every month, we hold an all-employee meeting in which four of our people talk about how AI has benefited them. It’s great because it’s just a learning session held by the employees, talking about the benefits of AI. The results have been eye-opening: we’ve finished projects in three days that formerly took up to two weeks to complete. It’s amazing because there’s a lot of information gathered that we can get out. We have a strict rule that anything generated through AI has to be reviewed before we can send it out. We have to make sure we verify links and other info that’s used. Not everything we do is AI generated, of course, but the stuff we do that uses AI is definitely verified. AI has also benefited KPI’s sales, from pre-call planning to customer profiles and even scripting some questions that reps could use. It’s really provided a boost to the sales part of our business, and I’m not sure the industry is aware of its potential. The things we did with it even six months ago have really improved.
The key to an effective AI chat and response lies in the prompting. It’s really important to keep asking information. It’s a style: do you want it as an executive summary or a lengthier report? How are you looking for things? Not all the information is correct, which is why we need to verify it. Every day it gets stronger because it’s learning from itself. And the more you use it, the more it learns about you and can customize content toward your style.
A plodding rate of adoption has long been an Achilles’ heel for our industry. What are the keys to overcoming client objections and scaling these and other newer offerings?
Sci: I got my start in this industry by working at a dealer. I’m very familiar with the dealer mentality. One constant has been if you can demonstrate to a dealer principal/owner the value of something, they’ll be interested and want to explore it. The key word is to explore. Dealers are overwhelmed with so many things, and something new only adds to the list. Unless they see a value, it goes to the bottom of the priority list. They also want to see the success of the product and how it’s helped other dealers. Our industry is very close-knit; a lot of people know and talk to each other, and they’ll gauge whether the product is good or not. I feel confident with the products we currently offer, from UVERCE to quote iQ to BliQ and everything in between. People have faith that we add value to their organization when we come out with a product. But dealers need to see other companies using it and enjoying success with it. They need to see the advantages and benefits of the tool.
Production equipment opens dealers to a world well beyond high-output devices, including everything from wide-format to labels, packaging and direct-to-fabric (DTF) equipment. Talk about KPI’s reporting in this area and the opportunities as you see them.
Sci: There’s no question that more and more dealers are gravitating toward production. It has a lot to do with what’s been going on in offices in the aftermath of the pandemic and the fact that not many people are there. The office use of segments one through four or five is just not what it was pre-pandemic. That hasn’t impacted production in the same way—there are new and innovative ways of getting into new markets for dealers in terms of products that focus on labels and packaging. There’s wide-format and textiles, with printing direct to film or fabric. It really depends on what area of the market you’re in. But those are both growing areas. What we’re seeing is more of the conversion from analog to digital in certain aspects of production. I feel there’s an opportunity to go in new arenas that dealers aren’t familiar with if they’re willing to learn and then grow their business. Overall, there are limited areas to grow, and the production space certainly provides a path. The ProPrintPerformance people do a ton of production training, so we’re coming up with production training for dealers. They’ve done that for manufacturers; there’s a huge need for dealer training right now.
I feel there’s an opportunity to go in new arenas that dealers aren’t familiar with if they’re willing to learn and then grow their business. Overall, there are limited areas to grow, and the production space certainly provides a path.
— Anthony Sci, Keypoint Intelligence
There’s a wealth of possibilities, including wide-format, finishing, printing embellishments such as gold foil and embossing, not to mention the bevy of different substrates and the service component. There are some wonderful applications, particularly for those who have limitless imaginations.
Sci: There’s a world of possibilities that make it really fascinating. We see endless applications with labels and packaging, both corrugated and flex. It’s a matter of what area you’re going to go with. People in wide-format are starting to get into textiles as well, so you have that blend. So I think what’s interesting is we’re seeing commonalities around these different production areas. Sustainability is becoming a big topic. There are several regulations out there when it comes to being certified for sustainability—such as EPEAT Climate+ in the U.S. as well as the European Commissions—going into effect in 2025. If you’re going to work with government, state and local entities, you have to be certified. This is coming up in less than a year. Manufacturers have to start gearing up for these regulations. And we’re seeing this more and more in these industries. What happens is it comes under an umbrella of sustainability that you have to have sustainable products. Then it affects more and more areas. If manufacturers want to bid on government, state, and local opportunities, they have to be certified in copiers, printers, scanners—everything. We see a lot of legislation coming, and we’re going to start preparing manufacturers for these new regulations.
From a testing standpoint, KPI has done some work in the field of robotics. Talk a little about the applications they cover.
Sci: Our roots are in testing: copiers, printers, scanners, wide-format—you name it. Robotics is growing at a rapid, rapid rate, and it’s a very broad topic, just like AI and sustainability. One of the manufacturers approached us about testing their robotics products. It’s a SCARA product, an arm that moves back and forth. We’re looking at the efficiency of how it moves, its speed and accuracy, and we’ll measure it against their competitors. I went to my first Automate show, and I was amazed. There were four lines of about 250 people waiting to get into McCormick Place in Chicago. I have never seen a trade show like this before in my life. Once you’re inside, you just see the magnitude of robotics today. You see all the people jamming into McCormick Place, you think, “Wow, this is something I’m interested in and want to learn more about.” So we do SCARA and six-axis.
What’s big in the industry now is collaborative, a robot working with a human. Thus, safety becomes paramount. You’re dealing with the regulations of what has to happen to be compliant and how it all works. These are all areas that we’re looking at with robotics. So it’s not only testing the products but also investigating the safety behind humans working with robots. This is a fascinating and growing area for us. We recently had someone from Egypt call us to do testing because they couldn’t find any other testing facilities that would do robotics on this scale. That’s the benefit of our global reach, as we have offices in Hong Kong, China, Amsterdam and the U.K., and we’re getting more and more interest in our testing facilities.
Is there anything on the horizon from a program, product, testing or partnership standpoint?
Sci: We’re always looking for innovative ways of doing things. There are a few things in the works, products that can be beneficial for dealers. We have a rigorous process we put products through to ensure they’re viable before we go to market with them. I’ve always been big on strategic partnerships, as was the case with West McDonald. We’re exploring other opportunities, one of which could be announced within the next 60 to 90 days, if not sooner. It will add a ton of value to the dealer community.
What are some of your goals as we head down the home stretch of 2024? What will a successful 2025 look like in your estimation?
Sci: This is definitely a growth year for KPI. We’re seeing the fruits of our labor for the products we put out in 2023. I think the key is continuing the same trend in 2025, looking for new products that can be a benefit to manufacturers and dealers, looking into new testing opportunities and evaluating more strategic acquisitions that can help add value to our industry. That’s long been a constant for KPI. We aren’t afraid to spend money and make investments that can help the dealer community. Some people avoid investing in our industry because they don’t see the return. But we still think this industry is vibrant. I grew up in this industry, and I love it. And I intend to keep adding value to it every day.
