As 2012 comes to a close it’s time once again to recap the highlights or significant accomplishments of the year from the perspective of companies and organizations related to the imaging technology industry. Over the past month I’ve been presenting up to a dozen highlights a week from all segments of the imaging and office technology industry. Cumulatively, these highlights offer a recap of the many happenings throughout the industry in 2012 and serve as a reminder at just how volatile and vibrant this industry remains.
Bruce Malyon
MaxxVault
“We’ve had some really successful enterprise wins and from a product standpoint we’ve launched several new vertical products. The one I’m most excited about now is called MaxxEditor and what it allows you to do is right click, you have a document open, you can bring another document in and merge them together, you can reshuffle pages, pretty much the same thing as taking your finger and shuffling pages around on your desk, now you can do it with a mouse click. It took us a long time to get there and it’s a very robust tool. There’s only one other company that I think comes close to doing it as well as we do.”
Bruce Malyon, President, MaxxVault
Mike Morper
Notable Solutions, Inc.
“NSi is proud to boast a 50 percent year-over-year growth rate for fiscal 2012 and was recently ranked among the fastest growing companies in North America on Deloitte’s 2012 Technology Fast 500. Our strong performance has been driven by record software license, maintenance and services revenue coming from each of its North American, Latin American and European operations. Thirteen thousand customers worldwide are now using NSi AutoStore and are embracing the innovative new solutions we deliver, including NSi™ Mobile™, which extends the power of AutoStore to Android and iOS devices and is the only solution to provide mobile document and photo capture; secure electronic forms processing; secure access to files in a users’ home directory; and secure print-on-demand capabilities – all in one combined solution.
Mike Morper, vice president of marketing, Notable Solutions, Inc.
Dennis Amorosano
Canon U.S.A.
“While Canon enjoyed many accomplishments during 2012 several stand out as highlights for the year. In a market that is at best flat and many say declining, Canon once again was successful in driving business growth across all of its key product segments including SOHO, general office, production, large format, and scanners. In addition Canon experienced significant growth in its software and services business throughout the year. During 2012, Canon introduced its next generation imageRUNNER ADVANCE technology, establishing a new benchmark for integration into customer networks and business application workflow. In connection with the new product introduction Canon also rapidly delivered an extensive array of cloud and mobility solutions addressing a wide variety of customer needs. Canon’s Production printing business benefited from the introduction of the Oce’ VarioPrint DP technology and our continued capture of page volume via Canon and Oce’ branded cut-sheet and continuous feed technologies. Large format delivered another solid year of growth via the introduction of new models targeting architecture, graphic design and photographic business needs. Canon’s document capture business benefited from the introduction of new models across its product line as well as a continued move on the part of financial institutions and merchants to leverage check capture technology for speeding payment and banking transactions. Finally, Canon’s software business in combination with services offered by Canon Information and Imaging Solutions drove significant growth throughout the year on its own accord while also playing a crucial role in supporting the expansion of Canon’s core business.”
Dennis Amorosano, sr. director, Solutions Marketing & Professional Services, Canon U.S.A.
Breezy
“We launched a partnership with FedEx Office in April, providing printing access to Breezy users at over 3,000 FedEx locations nationwide. We inked numerous other partnerships as well, and in September we signed our first six-figure deal, for a major corporate deployment at a Fortune 500. 2012 was a fantastic year, and we’re very excited about the year ahead.”
Jared Hansen, CEO
Dr. David Cameron
Cameron Consulting Group
“My highlight was completing the first of a kind independent market study on aftermarket color toner. I remembered when the remanufacturers introduced monochrome toner cartridges in the 90’s and how it quickly grew in market share. It made me very curious about why color toner alternatives were so slow to be adopted. That lead me to investigating the industry and meeting a lot of great people along the way both in the industry, distributors and dealers—too many to mention so I won’t start with a few. The study findings are remarkable and the relationships are invaluable.”
Dr. David Cameron, president, Cameron Consulting Group
Industry Analysts
“Our newsletter taking off and the subscriber base, which almost doubled again this year.”
Andy Slawetsky, president, Industry Analysts
Epson America, Inc.
“Epson America, Inc. introduced a range of professional imaging products in 2012 including the Epson SureColor S-Series 64-inch solvent printer line with previously unseen levels of quality, performance and value for the signage, vehicle graphics and fine art markets; entry into the large-format technical plotting market with the Epson SureColor T-Series for architects, engineers and GIS professionals; and entry into the high volume photo market with the Epson SureLab D3000 professional dry lab. Epson also introduced the world’s first-Android-based see-through wearable display.”
Fred Carollo
Everbank Commercial Finance
“In response to a growing need among our vendors for special handling of strategic accounts, EverBank Commercial Finance assembled a Major Account Service Team in 2012. This cross-functional team specializes in meeting the unique requirements of major accounts. We understand the need for flexibility and have set up a top-notch team to handle exceptions to our booking, usage-based billing, invoicing, and collections process for our partners’ key customers.”
Fred Carollo, general manager, Office Products, EverBank Commercial Finance, Inc.
Mark Mathews
Toshiba America Business Solutions, Inc.
“The last twelve months have been very exciting for Toshiba. In 2012, we completed implementation on three of our largest transactions ever while also launching Toshiba Managed Business Services, a new organization aimed at designing and delivering sophisticated MPS, document workflow and security and digital signage solutions to key vertical markets. We also saw the introduction of Toshiba’s new LED color lineup, which includes our award-winning eStudio 2050c and 2550c, copiers which achieve industry-leading price-to-performance and extend our technology lead in color MFPs.”
Mark Mathews, President, CEO, Toshiba America Business Solutions, Inc.
Jennie Fisher
GreatAmerica Financial Services Corporation
“The greatest Highlight for GreatAmerica in 2012 is our corporate name change. Changing our trade name from GreatAmerica Leasing Corporation to GreatAmerica Financial Services Corporation better reflects who we have become for our customers and the wide array of products and services we now have to offer (both financial and non-financing related). This includes our MPS and managed IT suite of services. As a result of our success with helping dealers and resellers make the transition to Managed IT Services, we expanded and renovated our Collabrance Network Operations Center and help desk in 2012. We see this, along with our expertise in billing and financing in the MPS and Managed IT Services arenas, as huge growth opportunities in 2013 as well.”
Jennie Fisher, senior vice president and general manager, GreatAmerica Financial Services Corporation
Drivve
“The launch of the new versions of Drivve | Image, Drivve | DM and Drivve | Print was a major milestone for Drivve. Drivve now offers the most complete and fully integrated suite of document technology solutions in the market. An ecosystem of products, that optimize the entire document lifecycle, from image capture and processing, to document management and workflow, to print and output management, all from the same, trusted source.”
Peter Turnbull, EVP of Sales & Marketing at Drivve, LLC
Lexmark International
“We nearly tripled our number of Lexmark Fleet Manager partners (dealers using LFM 2.0 as their MPS data collection tool); significantly grew our solutions software revenue within the dealer channel—more dealers are leveraging solutions to win deals; expanded our penetration of the dealer market with Perceptive Software ECM solutions; continued year-over-year hardware revenue growth within the dealer channel; and signed up several high-profile dealers to the BSD program.”
Phil Boatman, manager, North America Channel Business Development
FlexPrint, Inc.
“2012 has been a great year for FlexPrint! We have incredibly talented people who are committed to our customers and passionate about our company! This is the driving force behind us executing our strategy, driving significant growth in our core business, and remaining absolutely focused on delivering measurable value to our growing national customer base. Once again our record results this year has led to continued recognition as an innovative leader in Managed Print/Technology Services space.”
Andy Smalley, Marketing Manager
Tim Brien
OKI Data Americas
“OKI Data Americas remains dedicated to enhancing its MPS-related offerings and delivering profitable, turnkey print and service solutions to our partners. Throughout 2012, OKI continued to expand its award-winning portfolio with the addition of several new devices including a series of new mono multifunction printers (MFP), label and point-of-sale products, a single-function color printer featuring white toner, and a copier-based, wide format color MFP. All are designed to improve workplace productivity at a low overall total cost of ownership, while delivering optimized performance within an MPS environment.”
Tim Brien, director of MPS for OKI Data Americas
Kofax
“Kofax was named a leader in Forrester’s Multichannel Capture Wave. Kofax received the highest scores in all top-level categories: current offering, strategy, and market presence. Alan Weintraub and Craig LeClair, the report’s authors, observe that ‘…there are still a lot of paper-based processes out there, and Forrester clients still spend significant dollars on systems to support them.’ Later in the report they state, ‘Kofax leads the capture segment, and with recent acquisitions it can provide more complete and strategic solutions.’”
David Lewis, vice president of product marketing, Kofax
Mike Marusic
Sharp Electronics U.S.A.
“The highlight of 2012 was the introduction of our new Polaris series of color MFP’s. This new line is outselling the predecessor models by three fold, enabling our dealers to increase their market share in the lucrative color market.”
Mike Marusic, SVP, Marketing and Business Solutions Group, Sharp Electronics
West Point Products
“2012 was an important year for West Point Products as we continue to pursue our strategy to be the one destination for imaging supplies and solutions to our resellers. One key highlight for our company was the launch of both Axess SalesPro, a comprehensive online-based training program for our MPS dealers, and Axess Express, a turn-key MPS solution that is unrivaled in our space. The launch of these extensions of our already successful Axess MPS platform will be of tremendous benefit to our resellers in 2013 and beyond.”
Tom Day, president, West Point Products
JIm Coriddi
Ricoh Americas Corporation
“In 2012, Ricoh launched its CHAMPS program designed to support dealers and their entry into offering services to their customers. Ricoh’s investment enables dealers the ability to effectively sell Commercial Imaging Services, Professional Services, and IT Services, without the need for them to make major investments in resources and infrastructure. CHAMPS has helped more than 60 dealers open the door to numerous opportunities, resulting in more than 20 new services engagements.”
Jim Coriddi, vice president, Dealer Division, Ricoh Americas Corporation
Nick Small
CIT Vendor Finance US
“In a flat market, CIT Vendor Finance US enjoyed double digit growth in U.S. volume in the first three quarters of 2012. That follows strong growth the previous year despite an overall slow growth environment, particularly among small and middle market companies. We attribute our success to an ability to deliver consistent, outstanding service to manufacturers, dealers and their customers; provide fast credit approvals; and simply being a good, reliable finance partner for vendors. We expect our continuing investments in new technologies and products will further enhance the value we deliver in 2013 and beyond.”
Nick Small, Managing Director, CIT Vendor Finance US.
Mike Stramaglio
MWA Intelligence
“2012 provided MWAi with a number of highlights and accomplishments we are very proud of and no doubt they are all tied together. I would have to recognize our great effort with Technology United lead to further development and launching of some wonderful new products and we have even more good news for 2013. Another important highlight is that our business partnerships continue to flourish and are now contributing to our sales activity and results, which means that MWAi has expanded our product offering and the dealer market will see many new benefits with products such as the Intel Hybrid Cloud or Paessler Network Software and a growing list of other important solutions.
“Our biggest accomplishment was the launch of our new and powerful relationship with SAP. It goes without saying this powerhouse company has been a pure pleasure and I am confident the dealers, SAP and MWAi are going to enjoy a great deal of mutual success. Not just because of SAP but because of what this means to the imaging channel eco-system. A game changer for all of us in that the road to a greater technology benefits and business returns just got a whole lot easier.
“One last thing …..I feel that MWAi’s biggest accomplishment in 2012 has been the strength of our customers. They have demonstrated a willingness to invest their time and energy in our long-term relationship and I am grateful and impressed by their willingness to support MWAi. I would add my special appreciation for the MWAi Dealer Advisory Council for their tremendous effort in bringing forth their elegant and articulate recommendations. We would not exist without our customers and I thank them for their support!”
Mike Stramaglio, president & CEO, MWAI
Paul Schwartz
Copier Careers
“[We had a] record number of placements and reached 60,000 industry qualified candidates in our database.”
Paul Schwartz, president, Copier Careers
Bud Karakey
BEI Services
“BEI’s new Website that launched midyear (www.beiservices.com), the release of 1.8 that coincided with the new Website, and our continued growth of new BEI customers. [In 2012 we welcomed] the following new customers to BEI Services: Meridian Imaging Solutions, Alexandria, VA; CopyPro, Greenville, NC; TLC Tonerland, Houston, TX; M and M Sales Company, Urbandale, IA; Zoom Imaging, Roseville, CA; Marathon Service, Chatsworth, CA; Lexmark International Inc., Lexington, KY; Business Electronics, Birmingham, AL; FlexPrint, Tempe, AZ; Counsel Office and Document, Harlan, IA; Copysource Inc., Coral Springs, FL; Electro Imaging Systems, Livermore, CA; Indiana Business Equipment Inc., Terre Haute, IN; Thomas Office Machines, Muncie, IN, 360 Office Solutions, Billings, MT; Zeno Imaging; Global Services, Houston, TX; Multiscope, Canonsburg, PA; Knighton Business Solutions, Overland Park, KS; Ashleys Business Solutions, Tifton, GA; Nauticon Imaging Systems, Gaithersburg, MD; Preferred Copier Systems, Kent, WA; Atlantic Business Products, New York, NY; Central Business Solutions, New York, NY; Boss Business Systems, Stockton, CA; Electronic Business Machines, Everett, WA; Minnesota Copy Systems, Saint Cloud, MN; Commonwealth Technologies, Lexington, KY; Governor Business Solutions, Dearborn, MI.”
Bud Karakey, vice president of operations, BEI Services
Alan Nielsen
Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A.
“In 2012, we expanded the Konica Minolta product line for both the office and production print markets and delivered on our commitment to provide comprehensive vertical solutions that combine hardware and software with our EnvisionIT offering. This year for the first time, our dealers are now able to offer Managed IT and Managed IT Print Services through All Covered, a Konica Minolta company. We are proud to have successfully executed on our 2012 goals to help our dealer community realize new growth opportunities and gain a competitive advantage in a crowded marketplace by offering customers integrated hardware, software and services.”
Alan Nielsen, executive vice president Dealer Sales and Administration, Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc.
Robert Mitchem
Hytec Dealer Services
“In spite of the economy, 2012 has been surprisingly good year at Hytec Dealer Services. Our largest area of growth this year has come from the independent dealer network as it has become increasingly more important for service departments to find the most cost effective replacement parts. Along with expanded product offerings, commitment to quality and a great customer service team, Hytec continues to be a reliable and trusted partner for the imaging industry.”
Robert Mitchem, new market sales manager, Hytec Dealer Services
John MacInnes
Print Audit
“The success of the Print Audit Premier program; We’ve grown it to 58 Premier customers around the world, the revenue from it has been really good, it’s recurring revenue and each and every one of our customers on the system have been extremely profitable. We’re extraordinarily happy about that.”
John MacInnes, president, Print Audit
Supplies Network
“We’ve had year over year growth and if you look at anybody else in this space who’s a wholesaler, this category is declining mid-single digits for consistent years. We’ve been experiencing double-digit growth although we won’t this year, it will still be in the high single digits. That’s one of the things we can be most proud of—our growth in a declining industry. We’ve doubled the amount of devices we have under (MPS) contract, we’ve doubled the amount of pages that we manage, and those are things we can be proud of and build on into the future.”
Greg Welchans, president, Supplies Network
Darrel Amy
Dealer Marketing Systems
“New Managed Marketing Services let dealers outsource their Web marketing to our team of experts to create new leads, up-sell professional services and present a professional image. We manage dealer’s social media sites. Our services also keep a dealer’s Website fresh with new content and graphics and get it on page one of Google.”
Darrell Amy, president, Dealer Marketing Systems
Katun Corp.
At Katun, the most significant event of 2012 was the appointment of Todd Mavis as CEO. “Katun’s value proposition of providing high quality OEM-compatible imaging products – at a substantial cost savings – has never been more relevant then it is today,” says Mavis. “I’m excited to join the Katun team to help the company accelerate their growth initiatives around the world.”
Patrick Lavone, Katun Corp.
Parts Now
“2012 quickly became a year of milestones for Parts Now. Not only did we ambitiously launch several new products, we further developed relationships with key OEM partners. Announcements came fast and furious and included copier parts, a newly designated Lexmark partnership, the R4 MPS Assessment tool and the Parts Now Seminar Series. Besides all of this we were also acquired in August by CounterPoint Capital Partners, putting us on a path that will help us and you continue to grow.”
Matt McLeish, vice president of sales & marketing, Parts Now
Tom Callinan
Strategy Development
“The highlight of the year for the SD Team has to be the success of our clients. From industry awards like Perfect Image and Elite Dealer to national awards like INC 500/5000 and regional awards such as “Best Place To Work” our clients have earned them all in 2012. Our relationship with our clients is very intimate and based on mutual respect and there is nothing more motivating for us than to see our clients achieve success far above the industry norm. We are also proud of the success of SD University, the only educational experience in the industry that provides world class training at one reasonable monthly fee. Candidly, I don’t know why it took me five years to develop the approach as the finances of educating employees under the “pay per class” approach other training companies use, and we used previously, is not a good value proposition for a dealer that is truly invested in their employees development. Finally, we added over a dozen new clients in 2012. It is really exciting to be able to support these companies efforts to have industry leading operating margins and growth; it what motivate me every single day.”
Tom Callinan, principal, Strategy Development
Guy Gecht
EFI
“Our customers helped us mark a great milestone on our way to a record year in 2012: EFI has shipped over 1 million liters of UV ink so far this year, and we just had our 12th consecutive quarter of UV ink growth over 20 percent. This is a clear indication that our customers are growing by taking advantage of the many opportunities in industrial printing. Our success is due to the success of our customers, which is why we continue to heavily invest and innovate in the growth opportunities of print: industrial inkjet printers, Fiery front ends and color management, and our MIS/ERP and Web-to-print software.”
Guy Gecht, CEO, EFI
Lou Stricklin
Muratec America, Inc.
“Muratec’s most notable achievement in 2012 was the growth of our managed document services program. Specifically, our MDS program grew due to the capture of multiple national accounts that placed several thousand printers & MFP’s under our management, as well as the significant growth of our refurbished printer line.”
Lou Stricklin, director, marketing, Muratec America, Inc.
DocuWare
“We have doubled our revenue in the last eight years. This success allowed us to win Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital as a partner in 2012, and to continue and increase our growth.”
Korbinian Frank, vice president, Worldwide Marketing, DocuWare Group
Douraid Zaghouani
Xerox
“Xerox’s most notable event of 2012 was the creation of the Channel Partner Operations (CPO) business unit, dedicated to putting a stronger focus on helping current and future partners make the transition to print services. To make it easier for partners to do business with Xerox, and send a message that we’re committed to their success, we changed our internal structure to better listen to the channel and respond to their needs. We are making a significant investment to become more of an indirect company, and help channel partners foster long-term growth opportunities. We’re creating the best portfolio in the channel and combining it with very competitive pricing, outstanding support and the powerful Xerox brand. That’s an exceptional value proposition designed to help our partners foster the tremendous long-term opportunity for growth that exists with SMBs today.”
Douraid Zaghouani, president, Channel Partner Operations, Xerox
David Bailey
DocuLex, Inc.
“DocuLex simplified the use of managing documents and decision making content in the cloud by integrating browser-based document management with business process workflow and auto-indexing capture. Cloud services were expanded beyond document management to also include e-mail archiving and discovery, server hosting, and cloud-based online storage.”
David Bailey, president, DocuLex, Inc.
Mike Rich
Nuance Communications Inc.
“In 2012, Nuance continued to pursue Managed Print Services
(MPS) engagements. In addition to securing several large, multi-million dollar deals, we identified an opportunity to broaden and strengthen our MPS position through the acquisition of Denmark-based SafeCom in June. The acquisition helps us address three areas critical to sustaining our MPS success: first, the addition of SafeCom’s printing solutions improves the quality and performance of Nuance’s entire product portfolio; second, it enhances the scope and depth of our relationships with MFP dealers and partners in Europe that are aggressively pursuing MPS deals; and third, it enables us to address a broader MPS market – from SMBs to global enterprises.”
Mike Rich, senior vice president and general manager, Document Imaging, Nuance Communications Inc.
Glen Clark
GE Capital
“We’re excited that we were able to offer more than financing to the OI space in 2012. Called Access GE, we introduced a program that brings the experience and know-how of experts from across GE to help dealers address their most pressing business challenges. We offer free workshops and best practice sharing sessions, such as a recent webinar educating dealers on the changing healthcare industry in the face of reforms and a LEAN workshop at a dealership that resulted in a 20% reduction in equipment delivery cycle time.”
Glen Clark, national sales director, GE Capital, Office Imaging
Jim Phillips
Digital Gateway, Inc.
“Digital Gateway’s greatest accomplishment in 2012 is releasing version 8.0 .NET of our e-automate dealer management software to our 1,200 dealers. e-automate 8.0 .NET is an all new operating platform that will enable our dealer community to compete in the new economy, which essentially future-proofs our dealers’ investment in the e-automate system. DGI has coupled the platform updates with over 50 major feature enhancements that have opened the door to dealers like Gordon Flesch Company, Sumner Group, and RJ Young to make the switch to e-automate this year.”
Jim Phillips, president & CEO, Digital Gateway, Inc.
Art Post
The Print4Pay Hotel
“We had a few notable events this year; our Print4Pay Hotel Blog (MFP Solutions) will surpass 1/2 million page views (since inception) before the start 2013; our total page views for 2012 (www.p4photel.org and forums www.p4photel.com/eve ) will be just short of 2 million for 2012. The Print4payHotel has over 400 twitter followers, 1,200 Linkedin connections and more than 2,000 registered members.”
Art Post, Founder, The Print4Pay Hotel and The MFP Solutions Blog
Brent Hoskins
Business Technology Association
“In November, office technology dealers met at the Mandarin Oriental in Las Vegas for the Business Technology Association’s fifth and final dealer networking/education district event for 2012. Organized and hosted by BTA member dealers, these district events are designed to provide dealers the opportunity to network with fellow dealers, learn from experts, and gather new ideas and strategies. Executives from ECi Software Solutions, KYOCERA, Lexmark and Muratec served as keynoters.”
Brent Hoskins, executive director, Business Technology Association
ECi FMAudit
“ECi FMAudit has hit the 7-digit mark. FMAudit is now monitoring 4,000,000 devices at 125,000 end-user locations. We are very thrilled that we have reached this milestone and it validates the work of our organization and staff. We have worked diligently to build tools and resources for our customers to successfully manage their devices. Due to the technology to exceptional customer service, training and support, our customers have shown us a loyalty that is reflected in the numbers.”
Greg Allen, VP of operations for ECi FMAudit.
Greg Walters
Managed Print Services Association
“For the MPSA, the Awards presentation at the 2012 Photizo MPS conference in Orlando—our third, we were honored to recognize stellar managed print services providers and supports from around the world. I think the MPSA’s accomplishment of note in 2012 is recovering and thriving through adversity during the summer of 2012 – we experienced severe fiscal challengers in June and unusual turnover among our committed chairs and executive board. Not only did we persevere with all seriousness and grace, we’ve excelled. Our membership continues to rise and both the Education and Standards committee are swelling with members. We are looking forward to 2013 – our Webinar schedule is filling up and the MPSA is looking over the horizon, beyond ‘marks on paper’ in order to help our members grow and thrive, both privately and professionally, in today’s dynamic environment.”
Greg Walters, president, Managed Print Services Association/president, Walters & Shutwell Inc.
De Lage Landen Financial Services
“In 2011, De Lage Landen significantly expanded its ‘voice of the customer’ initiative to engage our U.S. manufacturer and dealer partners through focus groups, advisory councils, and surveys. We utilized the survey results to accelerate a company-wide effort to enhance our services and products. As a result, throughout 2012 we modified our processes for faster decision-making, added critical service resources, and emphasized the importance of a customer centric attitude—all with the single goal of improving the partner experience. A follow-up survey, to the same partner population, indicated significant improvements in those areas where our performance was most critical to our partners’ success. There are few things more gratifying than seeing our dedicated DLL team members’ efforts being recognized and appreciated by our partners.”
Robert J. Hunter, SVP-Global GM, Office Technology Business Unit, De Lage Landen Financial Services
