During the onset of its PrecisionCore rollout for the office inkjet space, Epson vowed to make a bold play that could help the technology become as dominant as it has in the consumer and industrial sectors. And during last week’s Ink Boldly, Epson’s first-ever business inkjet conference, the manufacturer brought that quest more into focus.
The story behind Epson’s office inkjet play – where it assembled a cracker jack team of marketing, sales and service mavens within 100 days, culminating with the release of a trio of WorkForce Enterprise series A3 models – is well known. But the manufacturer welcomed 225 attendees from roughly 80 dealers to Loews Santa Monica (California) to get an up-close and personal view of a range of innovations, from wide-format devices to MFPs and Epson Remote Services.
Keith Kratzberg, president and CEO of Epson America, welcomed attendees during his opening day keynote presentation with a look at the company’s Epson 25 global strategy, which focuses on innovation around inkjet, visual (projectors), robotics and wearables technology. Epson has used piezoelectric technology in inkjet printing for more than 25 years, and unveiled its PrecisionCore technology 10 years ago.
With proven success in textile printers, industrial label presses, wide-format graphics printers and consumer desktop models, the copier market seemed to be the logical progression for inkjet, especially with it being a $13 billion market. “Why enter the copier market? It’s the single-biggest dollar prize in the industry,” he said. “We’re all in.”
Epson is used to having market-leading success in its other markets, with top shares in projectors (51%), photo printers (61%), supertank printers (95%), point of sale printers (44%), photo scanners (71%), SCARA robots (32%) and timing devices (12%).
Of course, it helps to have a marketing platform that includes Mercedes F1 racing sponsorship and the monstrous celebrity that is former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal, who has more than 30 million followers on social media. Shaq’s print and television ads with Epson have elevated the manufacturer’s profile to unprecedented heights.
Kratzberg compared Epson’s office inkjet team to an expansion franchise in sports. “We’ve got a couple of draft choices, some new talent coming out of college and some new trades,” he said. “We may not be the biggest team, but we punch way above our weight.”
Inkjet Wins
Mark Mathews, who introduced Kratzberg after a brief overview, returned to the stage to further extol the virtues of office inkjet, noting “Wherever inkjet goes, inkjet wins.” The vice president of North America commercial sales and marketing shared the story of Epson’s most strategic win of 2019, which involved a cruise travel client with two ships that had a need for an average of 40,000 prints per month, per device.
Mathews noted that client feedback touched on all the key value propositions of Epson’s PrecisionCore technology – the heat-free process, lower cost of ownership and expanded productivity. And underscoring Epson’s commitment to its dealer partners and its lack of a direct operation, he emphasized “You are the only way we are going to market.”
In speaking to the company’s heat-less technology, Mathews later touted, “Heat bad, cold good, Epson awesome” to a round of laughter.
Joe Contreras, commercial marketing executive—Office Solutions, then took the stage to talk about Epson’s Replaceable Ink Pack Systems (RIPS) and, in particular, two new WorkForce Pro releases for 2020, the WF-C879R and the WF-C878R. First announced last month, the 878R is an update to the 869R, while the 879R is a net-new model. New to the models are stapling and booklet-making finishing options. Contreras emphasized the energy savings aspect of the machines, which consume 85% less power.
Contreras also discussed the company’s A4 printer/MFP line and illustrated Epson’s reach with an overview of a client, the Georgia Cyber Academy, which has 10,000 enrolled students who attend school remotely. Epson came to the rescue of the Academy, which had faced extensive parental concerns regarding the price of consumables under the previous vendor, by providing 8,000 printers.
Another new offering is Epson Remote Services, which provides real-time information and service notifications to bolster dealer fleet management efforts. Twenty Epson dealers took the free cloud-based ERS for a test drive prior to its release.
Document scanning is another area where Epson bolstered products for mobile, desktop, flatbed and photo applications. The company recently expanded its line of commercial document scanners with the DS-32000 and DS-30000 large-format devices.
Contreras also gave an overview of the SureColor T and P series wide-format printers. The T series is aimed at technical environments for verticals such as architecture, engineering and construction, while the P series provides photo-level image quality for proofing and graphic design applications.
No Heat Required
Product Manager Matt Kochanowski provided a deeper dive into the beauty of PrecisionCore’s heat-free technology and walked the audience through each of the new or updated MFP offerings: the WF-C20600 (60 ppm color), WF-C20750 (75 ppm color), WF-C21000 (100 ppm color) and the WF-M20590 (100 ppm monochrome). The C20600 is the newbie to the line, as Epson wanted to provide dealers with a solution to offer for the low-end volume needs.
“Over the course of contracts, end-users are saving hundreds of dollars just on power usage,” he noted. “You don’t have to install a 220-volt outlet because it uses the standard 110.”
Optional finishing capabilities provide for stapling, stacking, booklet making and two- to four-hole punching. They complement the machines enhanced productivity and new box functionality with internal hard drive support.
Kaila Murphy, also a product manager, gave the audience a rundown on Epson’s A3 and A4 desktop solutions, a line that features 21 models. The fact that these machines require no warmup time should not be lost on users. She gave an example of a federal government agency processing multitudes of visa applications in short order. She reiterated the value enjoyed by the Georgia Cyber Academy, with the Supertank series providing more print life for students.
Murphy piqued dealers’ curiosity by walking through Epson’s partner program, which includes upfront discounts (up to 30% for Platinum members), deal registration (10% additional), a SPIFF program for up to $200 per unit and 10% VIR for new partners (up to $2,500 cash back). She also highlighted a number of promotions currently available and discussed the company’s sales and marketing tools.
The day’s activities were rounded out with a pair of educational sessions, along with a tour of the technology fair, which showcased Epson’s product line in action for a number of verticals markets, including education, AEC, hospitality and government. Compact and concise, Epson delivered an overall message that communicated office inkjet is here to stay, and the manufacturer is looking to add another market leader notch to its belt.
