Ever since taking the helm as president and CEO of Kyocera Document Solutions America in the summer of 2018, Oscar Sanchez has embraced the changes that are afoot within the industry. Change has been an active agent within the walls of Kyocera itself, with Sanchez bringing aboard key players who have extensive experience outside the industry.
The company brought in IT veteran Kurt Brown to lay the foundation for Kyocera’s evolution into managed IT services, and also added a mixture of outside talent, executives with industry background and company-developed personnel to provide a rich, diverse, forward-thinking collective. Sanchez also unveiled a new brand identity: put knowledge to work to drive change. It comes down to helping customers leverage their information and deriving value from it—as his own company grows and evolves, Sanchez wants Kyocera’s partners to benefit from it.
We sat down with Sanchez to discuss the many changes brought about in 2019 and his vision for a transforming and growing Kyocera Document Solutions America.
How would you characterize 2019 from Kyocera’s perspective? What were some of the highlights in your estimation?
Sanchez: It has been a year of change and transformation across the industry, but especially for Kyocera. We have been working on many changes in our processes, in the way we conduct business and in our organization.
We’ve built a leadership team with a range of experiences and talents that can help us to achieve that. By bringing together the best people for the job, we can convey this message of change clearly and effectively to our employees, our dealers and our clients.
We’ve laid down the foundations for growth for years to come, and drawn up our strategy which will allow us to achieve our ambitious goals.
2019 has certainly been an intense and productive year and, despite all the changes, we have been able to achieve significant growth both in revenue and in profit, so we hope to close this fiscal year with very good results. The project that we have embarked on this year is one which will take time to come to fruition, but it’s one that we’re positive is already bringing about results.
What were your biggest takeaways from the company’s 2019 Innovate dealer meeting?
Sanchez: We went into the 2019 Innovate dealer meeting ready to present a landmark project which will define our future with a substantial change, so you can imagine that we were anxious to see how our dealers reacted. Their excitement and enthusiasm for all of the changes and challenges that we put forward was my personal highlight of the meeting. Having them onboard is crucial to the success of our project.
At the 2018 Innovate dealer meeting, partners were provided with a sneak peek at the company’s new TASKalfa Pro 15000c. Can you provide us with an update on that product?
Sanchez: We’ve carried out a controlled launch with three clients in real working environments, and the results have been exceptional. The initial feedback that we’ve had from those clients and the first impressions we’ve had, has built up expectations to a very high level.
I’m pleased to be able to tell you that the TASKalfa Pro 15000c will launch to the channel in April. We’re proud of this product, and excited to enter into the transactional printing market with a device that we believe is the best of its kind.
The company unveiled a brand identity with “Put knowledge to work to drive change,” in October. Why was this necessary? Tell us about what it represents.
Sanchez: In simple terms, “put knowledge to work” is the statement that defines what we want Kyocera to be in the future: a brand that transforms information into knowledge, and that knowledge into value.
Data is the biggest source of competition between businesses in the current market, and it’s where the challenge lies for organizations of all shapes and sizes. Managing that information in order to get real value from it, exploiting every piece of data to build success, is a challenge. Kyocera is here to help companies manage their information in order to gain a true competitive advantage from it.
Our ambition is to be a leader, but to lead you must be clear in what your goals are, and this renewed brand identity was one of the first steps that we identified as we began this transformation. We are united across the globe in our strategic aims. Visually and strategically, Kyocera is the same, whether you are in New Jersey, Kyoto, Amsterdam or Sydney. We are working together to provide our clients with an outstanding and sophisticated experience.
Recently, the company hired Kurt Brown, who previously oversaw a billion-dollar IT solutions business, as its vice president of software and ICT services. Talk about the value you expect Brown to provide for Kyocera, its direct operations and dealer partners.
Sanchez: Kurt Brown did a great job at Dimension Data, and that’s why we brought him in. He’s playing a key role in the evolution of our organization—from managed print services to managed IT.
Already, he’s making an impact. We’ll end 2019 with a substantial amount of business in ICT Services, which will continue to grow under his leadership. This technology has to be a driver of our business, and it’s exactly where Kyocera is looking for the best technology across a range of areas that our clients are demanding: cloud solutions, cybersecurity and digital transformation.
Earlier in the year, you tapped former Verizon exec Frank Zupa as VP of customer operations. Tell us about what he brings to the table and what type of impact he is expected to make.
Sanchez: Improving our customer experience is a fundamental objective. In this area, in after-sales, Frank Zupa plays an essential role. He adds value to our processes and technology in all our after-sales activities, and his is exactly the expertise that we were looking for.
The fact that Frank comes from outside the industry helps us to widen our horizons and perspectives. We are so used to what we have been doing and how we have been working with our clients, but Frank brings a fresh point of view. He works on all the possible touchpoints and makes them experiences for our clients.
Our end goal is to exceed our customers’ expectations every time we interact with them. Frank is helping us to achieve that.
These hires, and others, further underscore your desire to import execs who have had illustrious careers in tech and other high-performing fields. What impact have these outside perspectives provided in formulating the company’s going-forward strategy?
Sanchez: We’ve built a team of directors and strategic management experts that establishes a clear, realistic pathway to help us to achieve what Kyocera needs to become the organization we want to be in the years ahead.
This team is the product of a combination of internal talent, people with experience in the industry and those who come from other sectors. Together, they provide us with the perfect mix of creativity, talent and forward-thinking ideas, which not only helps us to grow, but also helps our employees to develop.
Beyond the arrivals of Kurt and Frank, we’ve also welcomed Natalie Cumberbatch as vice president of human resources. She was with Child Mind Institute for seven years, making it a “Great Place to Work.” The latest arrivals have been in the marketing team, with Jason Dizzine as senior director of product marketing and planning with decades of industry experience, and Jose Estebanez as senior director of integrated marketing communications, having led a successful transformation project of Kyocera’s marketing efforts in the EMEA region.
How do you see Kyocera evolving technology-wise over the next few years?
Sanchez: All our products will be interconnected. For us, the sale of a printing solution should be accompanied by an integrated solution—for example, document management. Our offer goes beyond hardware, but includes software, ECM and IT services.
In a world where technology has connected everything around us, we can only see a future in which our technological platforms are linked, and that’s why we are focusing on ICT business as the pillar at the heart of our future.
This, alongside important innovations like the TASKalfa Pro 15000c, which helps us to move into new areas of print like the transactional industry, provides us with technology to give us a platform we need to continue our growth over the years to come.
Clearly, the channel has witnessed its share of changes in recent years. In your opinion, what does the future hold for our industry?
Sanchez: It’s important to remember that our dealers are the perfect example of resilience. When you think about our industry a few decades ago, it was incomparable. They’ve led the change from analog to digital, from monochrome to color and now from hardware to software.
This evolution helps us to be prudent. We know that what has worked in the past won’t necessarily work in the future and we have to differentiate ourselves from the rest, looking to sell different products in a different way. That’s why we look to build up strong relationships with top-class partners.
What are your goals for 2020 and what will you look to accomplish?
Sanchez: We have an objective for growth of more than 9% for the year and we are also considering strategic acquisitions.
Meanwhile, we will continue the journey of our transformation. We are convinced that we are on the right path, and in 2020 we will see that our new leadership team will settle in and take the next step in facing up to the challenges which lie ahead.
