Dealers are renowned for being brutally honest, so it speaks volumes that they weren’t overly negative or pessimistic in characterizing the state of the industry in 2022, even despite the remnants of supply chain issues, stifling inflation and the challenges on the HR side in an age of mass employment flight, amid other challenges. While the journey back to a pre-pandemic growth trajectory hasn’t been universally experienced, many dealers cited a path forward and the variables required to make it a reality.
We’re following up on last week’s round of self-assessments by the office technology dealer segment with some viewpoints offered by the providers to the industry—many of the major manufacturers, distributors, leasing concerns and other significant partners—in evaluating our overall performance in 2022.
Larry White, Toshiba: In grading the industry overall, from a manufacturer’s point of view, I don’t think I can grade it better than a C. Much of it relates to supply chain issues and being able to get product to customers in an expedient manner. That is a little tough on the manufacturers. I think we’ve done a better job than most at getting product to our clients; we certainly spent a lot of money trying to make sure we could turn it as quickly as possible, to the detriment of our P&L. Fortunately, a more normalized supply chain is coming quickly.
Mike Marusic, Sharp: As an industry, I think we performed quite well. The flexibility the industry, and in particular the dealer community, showed was remarkable. Dealers have truly embraced their wider role as IT providers with their customers. That was a huge success this past year.
I think the industry still has work to do on aligning the goals of the OEM and the dealer. We have to be honest that sometimes they do not align and that is OK. The needs of diversification for an OEM may not fit the markets where a dealer drives their business. What a large-scale direct business can do on some services may not be the same as what a mid-size dealer can do. That type of honest dialogue needs to happen so that the dealers can better plan their business.
Mike Pietrunti, Xerox: Overall, the industry performed exceptionally well amid the uncertainties and disruption caused by supply chain issues and rising prices in every area. We witnessed many dealers go the extra mile to maintain their customer base and weather the storm. That said, many dealers’ growth plans were put on hold as they coped with challenges like inventory shortages, delayed deliveries and staffing difficulties. In terms of where we can improve as an industry, we must do better at evaluating current business practices to exploit cost savings opportunities wherever possible while also maintaining customer confidence and satisfaction.
Jennie Fisher, GreatAmerica: I’m impressed at the resiliency of the channel, despite the lingering impact of the pandemic, Great Resignation, and supply chain issues. As inventory becomes available, we’ll begin to experience lift. Challenges aside, some providers even began incorporating ecommerce into their business model. Dealers and OEMs continue diversifying their solutions to complement their core offerings. Considering output predictions, they’ll need to expedite this process in the year ahead. Hiring remains a challenge and opportunity moving forward.
Brent Martin, ARLINGTON: The surge of post-COVID year in 2021 did not equate to continued surge growth in 2022. Business remained flat at best in 2022 from the previous rebound year. Continued supply chain issues with most OEMs were to blame for some of it but evolving digital document solutions and sharing are resulting in declined print usage worldwide.
Bob Burnett, Brother: We learned that resilience and flexibility were key elements to navigate the fast-paced world in 2022, but the key element of our strategy was transparency in the communications with channels and customers. But we also see some positive aspects for the next year as the supply chain issues start to subside, and we see the return of more strategic and customer-centric discussions to be back at the core of most companies.
Elliot Williams, Epson: 2022, like the years before it, has been a year of ebb and flow. There were some successes this year as well as instances of retreat. Some of the improvements include:
The A3 supply chain has been an area of improvement in terms of both product availability and visibility.
The disruptions of the last two years have led to a renewed interest in process improvements as companies are rethinking business practices to overcome the challenges of the moment with an eye on the future. Often, businesses are looking for products that have environmental benefits and are economically viable and reliable. Today, more businesses are embracing desktop devices, as well as embracing inkjet print solutions with compelling value props.
One of the areas where we still need to see some improvement is A4. The pandemic and the acceptance of a hybrid workstyle are just two drivers raising the profile of A4 technology, and while the demand is there, product availability continues to be a challenge for the industry.
Laura Blackmer, Konica Minolta: As an industry, communication has greatly improved. All manufacturers have been very visible, communicating real challenges in a transparent way. We all certainly had a lot of experience managing product availability challenges. You do take a step back when in crisis mode and longer-term planning gets pushed aside. But we still launched two vertical certification programs (for education and healthcare) and our dealer performance program. And there is always more we can do.
Clark Bugg, Lexmark: I think we’ve taken a step forward. Dealers continue diversifying their offerings and are talking to the customer about how a device or process could help speed up a time-consuming manual process. Dealers will succeed in 2023 by staying on top of industry-specific knowledge and addressing customer needs quickly and efficiently. They also need to choose a partnering supplier who can be a trusted advisor while arming themselves with diverse portfolios of devices and solutions to fit a broad spectrum of needs to win.
