Inkjet Printing Is it time to take a closer look?

by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

If the story of inkjet printing within the office technology industry was unfolding in a novel, it could be said that we are still somewhere in the early chapters. Yes, inkjet is certainly not a new technology. Consumer-grade inkjet for home use has been commonplace for years. The same is true for inkjet wide format and, on the very high end, $1-million-plus, often rollfed, transactional inkjet printing equipment. But what about general office printers for the dealer channel targeting the SMB space? Will inkjet one day be commonplace there?

There is no doubt that the full-line laser-imaging-device manufacturers have the wherewithal to take on the manufacture of business-grade inkjet imaging devices for the general office, selling through the dealer channel. However, for many reasons, for the most part, that has not happened. Instead, the laser-imaging-device business model continues to dominate the BTA Channel, leaving many dealers essentially undecided about inkjet. Perhaps any thoughts about inkjet among dealers end, in part, with concerns about image quality. After all, dealers are accustomed to selling the sharp, crisp look of toner, which adheres to paper, rather than what they may often view as flatter, newspaper-print-like output with inkjet, which is absorbed into paper.

If inkjet is not being widely pushed into the general office by manufacturers today, might it ultimately be increasingly pulled into the general office by end users? In fact, isn’t that already occurring to some degree, perhaps more recently due, in part, to the monumental shifts in printing driven by the rise of remote workers? Also, might some dealers only be thinking about the image quality of their inexpensive, consumer-grade inkjet printers at home, assuming all inkjet printers have a similar level of quality? With such questions in mind, at the very least, it may be time for more dealers to

take a closer look at the current opportunities with inkjet. “We provide a superior alternative to what has traditionally been offered in the market in terms of laser printing technology,” says Joe Contreras, commercial marketing executive at Epson America Inc. “If you look at our portfolio, I think that is where we are really strong. It spans from desktop A4 all the way up to A3 positioned for both the office and light production.” How is inkjet superior? “What our dealers are seeing is that they can considerably improve their service profitability, given the low maintenance and low intervention required on our products, and that’s because of our PrecisionCore [Micro TFP Print Chip] heatfree technology,” Contreras says. “For our newest introductory flagship products, the WorkForce Enterprise series of color MFPs, when compared to the competitive set of laser products, our mean copies between service visits is roughly three-and-a-half times greater. So, we’re three-and-a-half times more productive than the competitive landscape, which translates, obviously, into better service and a better experience for end users. They are not having to have technicians come into their offices as frequently. From both the dealer and end-user standpoints, it’s really a win-win across the board.”

Contreras is not alone in emphasizing the service profitability that inkjet provides the dealer channel. In fact, looking upstream from the general office, but far lower in cost than the $1-million-plus inkjet equipment, there are production print inkjet opportunities available to dealers offering noteworthy service profitability. In April of this year, for example, KYOCERA Document Solutions America Inc. launched the TASKalfa PRO 15000c inkjet production printer, offering 146 pageper-minute (ppm) printing for letter-sized documents in both color and monochrome. The product — the first inkjet engine

manufactured by Kyocera and production printers (and — has an MSRP of around “We’re seeing a shift of digital duplicators), echoes $281,000, fully configured. product needs during the the comments shared by the “With inkjet, you have fewer pandemic; so, kind of a others, while also emphasizmoving parts,” says Douglas Cole, director of production print at Kyocera, noting that the 15000c will be in use for blend of A3, A4, in office, in home. It’s really causing dealers to rethink. We’ve ing another key benefit of the heat-free inkjet devices offered by RISO, which top out at an MSRP of $250,000 an extended period of time been able to aid our dealers for the company’s high-end, before any service is neces- in ... capturing more opportunity.“ fully configured model. “Besary under the dealer’s main- — Joe Contreras cause inkjet uses no heat, you tenance agreement, and that Epson America Inc. need very little power; It can would initially be only for be plugged into any wall,” he replacement of rollers, etc. says. “So, you can crank it up “When you look at the economics of it, the machine can easily to crazy speeds. We print at 160 [simplex] to 320 [duplex] imreach 3 million impressions without necessarily having any- ages per minute with minimal electrical requirements.” one come in to do any major maintenance.” As noted, even with the key benefits of inkjet shared by

In fact, beyond any initial, simple maintenance that be- the manufacturers in mind, there is still that issue of quality. comes necessary for a dealership to provide, “a trained user But, is it really an issue? “Those who have the biggest mental can handle everything on the machine, from replacing the barriers with the quality are the salespeople who have been ink, to replacing the waste ink and the cleaning fluid, to han- selling toner and saying, ‘What do you think of the quality? dling the maintenance items on the product, up through the Isn’t it beautiful?’” D’Urbano says. “For the end user, in terms whole first year of the product to 12 million prints; a million a of quality versus savings, where do you think they land? They month for 12 months,” says Fred Morrone, marketing manag- like the fact that they can print in color for a penny or two.” er for production print in the Corporate Marketing Group at Actually, the broad acceptance of inkjet quality lies in the Kyocera. “So, the first scheduled time that a technician is sup- nature of most production inkjet printing, D’Urbano says, posed to be in front of the machine is after 12 million prints.” noting that it is generally high-volume transactional print-

The low- to no-heat design of inkjet [the 15000c does heat ing. “In those companies where billions of copies are being internal ceramic tiles as part of its drying process] not only printed on inkjet, nobody seems to mind,” he says. “When contributes to the service profitability, but also provides you open your mailbox and look at your credit card statecost savings, due, in part, to lower power requirements ment or cell phone bill, you are not thinking, ‘Is this inkjet or as compared to laser, Morrone says, commenting on the is this toner?’ You are looking at how much you owe.” 15000c. “What helps make the decision [to acquire a 15000c] Regarding printing in the general office, with Epson easier is we’re entering the market with a production-based products, Contreras notes that for the typical targeted docinkjet device and yet we don’t have any extra HVAC require- uments, inkjet quality is well received. “For our office prodments and it uses standard household outlets,” he says. “La- ucts, they are designed for documents that people print on a ser production devices require 220 volts or 30 amps. With daily basis,” he says. “So, we want to provide consistency in the TASKalfa PRO 15000c, it is: slide it in, level it off, plug it our printers; consistent color and sharp text around office into the household outlet, turn it on and start printing. It’s a documents — Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.” very simple acquisition.” Those dealers only now looking at the current opportuni-

Contreras similarly touts the cost savings and produc- ties in inkjet printing might want to consider how the COVtivity provided by the heat-free design of Epson’s devices. ID-19 pandemic has driven the placement of inkjet devices. “At the high end, for example, our WorkForce Enterprise “For the dealer, especially now, there is the issue of declining 100-page-per-minute device consumes 85% less energy than page volumes in the office,” Contreras says. “We’re seeing a the competitive landscape,” he says. “Because we offer a shift of product needs during the pandemic; so, kind of a heat-free process, we don’t have that warm-up time; we are blend of A3, A4, in office, in home. It’s really causing dealers literally up to engine speed in seconds. No warm-up time is to rethink. We’ve been able to aid our dealers in casting a essentially going to ensure the highest available productiv- broader net and capturing more opportunity.” ity at any given point in time.” D’Urbano says the current environment has likewise driv-

Andre D’Urbano, executive director of sales and marketing en greater interest in RISO’s production print devices. “COat RISO Inc., known for its inkjet (starting at 90 ppm) office VID-19 has shut down the office space,” he says. “Dealers are

losing mega revenue in terms “What we’re hearing from of monthly clicks since of- “Dealers are losing mega dealers is that when they’re fices are closed. They have no revenue in terms of monthly going out to service prodchoice but to look at an alter- clicks since offices are closed. ucts now, there is added native and that alternative is They have no choice but time when a technician has the production area. We are getting more mindshare now than ever before.” to look at an alternative and that alternative is the to check in, get his or her temperature taken, answer a brief questionnaire, etc.,”

One recent success story production area. We are he says. “So, that adds time from a RISO dealer illus- getting more mindshare now than ever ... ” to the service call and is trates the point, D’Urbano — Andre D’Urbano also limiting the number says. “In the past, the dealer RISO Inc. of calls that any technician would have been happy sell- can make in a given day. ing 30 MFPs; why waste his That’s where we feel our time selling to a print shop?” he says. “Now the dealer has products are game changing, since they reno choice in terms of going to that print shop. Well, son of a quire fewer interventions, boosting, overall, gun, the dealer landed an $800,000 deal with multiple RISO the dealership’s profitability.” n units. It was the biggest deal the dealer has landed all year.” Brent Hoskins, executive director of the

Is it time to take a closer look at inkjet? Perhaps so. Business Technology Association, is editor Consider how fewer service calls, inherent to inkjet, meld of Office Technology magazine. He can be into the current impact of the pandemic, Contreras says. reached at brent@bta.org or (816) 303-4040.

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Facing the Future Together BTA Southeast hosts Oct. 14 virtual event

by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

On Oct. 14, BTA member and nonmember dealers had the opportunity to attend “Facing the Future Together: Navigating 2021 & Beyond,” a virtual event hosted by BTA Southeast. The event provided the opportunity for attendees to hear from industry leaders who shared insight and guidance to help dealers better face the challenges resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021 and beyond.

“At the beginning of 2020, the industry was operating as business as usual and appeared to be on track for a busy, great first quarter,” said 2020-21 BTA Southeast President Debra Dennis as she welcomed attendees to the event. “But in March, COVID arrived and nearly the entire industry came to a screeching halt. Without a crystal ball, it is difficult to know exactly what the future holds for the industry. Yet, if there is an industry that BTA General Counsel Bob Goldberg (top left) moderated the “Facing the Future Together: Navigating 2021 & Beyond” panel discussion through a virtual Zoom event. The panelists were (clockwise from top right): Marusic, Coriddi and Blackmer. knows how to pivot and endure, it is certainly ours.” drawn at random. Each received a $1,000 voucher toward at-

The industry’s ability to “pivot and endure” was demon- tendance at the in-person Spring Break event, to be hosted strated throughout the event, starting with the content of by BTA Southeast March 19-20, 2021, at Disney’s Grand Flothe opening panel discussion, moderated by BTA General ridian Resort & Spa in Orlando, Florida. The vouchers were Counsel Bob Goldberg. The panelists were Laura Blackmer, financed by the Oct. 14 event sponsors: Premier sponsors senior vice president of dealer sales at Konica Minolta Busi- Konica Minolta, Ricoh and Sharp, and BTA Talks on Hot ness Solutions U.S.A. Inc.; Jim Coriddi, vice president of the Topics sponsors Epson America Inc., TAG and Xerox Corp. Ricoh Family Group U.S. Dealer Division at Ricoh USA Inc.; As noted, the event began with a panel discussion with and Mike Marusic, president and CEO of Sharp Imaging and senior management from Konica Minolta, Ricoh and Sharp. Information Company of America. Following are excerpts from the discussion, providing a

The event also featured three BTA Talks on Hot Topics ses- brief sampling of the questions asked by Goldberg and the sions: “MNS Security,” presented by Brian Suerth, president panelists’ responses. of Technology Assurance Group (TAG); “Economic Update,” presented by John Beriau, senior vice president and wealth Goldberg: What is your vision of the BTA dealmanagement advisor at Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & ership in the next normal? Smith Inc.; and “COVID Fallout,” presented by Goldberg. A Marusic: I think the secret sauce that the dealers have recording of the entire Facing the Future Together event is always had that we never really exploit is the people in the accessible at www.bta.org/SEVirtual20Videos. field — the service techs. I mean, there are so many technol-

During the event, the names of 15 registered dealers were ogies out there and, as things change, you need somebody

on-site; you need somebody helping. I think that’s the secret sauce that the dealers really need to exploit during this time.

A dealer can go all different ways, but what I always say is “stay within your strengths.” Sometimes we go too far, diversified away from what got us there. I look at our business as “it’s always been about the office.” Really ... we’re in the information business. The information happens to be on paper, but the only reason you need to make a copy is you need to share that information. And why do you need to share it? You need to collaborate with somebody else ... We’re in a hybrid situation here at Sharp. I don’t know everybody’s situation, but sometimes we’re in the office; sometimes we’re not. Dealers need to adapt to that and the ability to support a hybrid environment in a flexible workspace with millennials who maybe don’t love paper, but love to collaborate in different ways.

Technologies are coming together now at a much faster pace. I think that’s what really is going to change our industry. At a [BTA] event in Las Vegas, Nevada, about two years ago, I presented a speech about mental models and [how] we get caught up in this industry: “Well, this is what we do.” You’ve got to break free of that mental model of just framing everything around our clicks ... What we really do is support people in an office with information and collaboration. That’s what the dealers who will excel are doing. I think that’s where the future lies.

Coriddi: I think dealers need to become their customers’ helplines, the “911” to help them solve the problems that are associated with managing the overall information. Dealers have been the trusted print providers and now I think there’s a great opportunity to expand — to manage the customer’s overall information flow. So, when you talk about the next norm and what needs to change to continue to leverage that, I think we have to look at what’s going on with our customers.

Ricoh recently conducted, with Ricoh direct customers, a number of different surveys. One of the things that came back from those surveys: Right now, obviously, campuses are 50% to 90% empty; the challenge that presents is the access to information, to be able to access that information remotely. What has to be done is there has to be a digitization of the documents to be able to access that information. They’re saying workers are going to return on a staggered approach. What’s going to evolve is the “hybrid employee.” This means that companies have to be able to enable those remote workers.

Managing information is going to be crucial for them staying in business ... These are all opportunities for our dealers with things like managed IT services and cloud workflow; to be able to connect the office from anywhere — things of that nature. So, at the end of the day, our dealers

Economic Update

“Economic Update,” a BTA Talks on Hot Topics session during the virtual event, covered the current state of the economy and expectations for the near future. The session’s presenter, John Beriau, senior vice president and wealth management advisor at Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc., also gave dealers advice on smart business moves to make during this “new abnormal.”

“I think it’s important to understand how we got here and maybe talk just a little bit about the numbers,” Beriau said, kicking off his presentation. “So, the first few months of the year we were steaming along. There was the possibility of a little earnings recession, but, generally speaking, the economy was doing well. The stock market was doing well. We had good demand and the most important thing is that the U.S. consumer was strong, as it represents 70% of the U.S. market.“

But when COVID-19 hit, “the universal decision was just to lock down the economy globally and try to understand the virus, slow the spread and try to get the curve to be less steep,” Beriau said. This caused the U.S. economy to stall, significantly lowering GDP. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your view), government stimulus prevented a true drop.

“GDP for this year would have been down about 12.9% without government stimulus and liquidity,” he explained. “Just to give you some perspective, during the Great Depression, GDP was down 25% and during the 2008 financial crisis it was down 4%. But between stimulus in all its forms, the government pumped in about 11.9% of positive GDP, so GDP is trailing at about a -1% right now. The most important thing that they did was keep the U.S. consumer alive with extra unemployment benefits and some extra stimulus. That’s what really kept the economy moving and earnings OK.”

Beriau went on to explain the five elements that he believes will be important in driving the economy over the next two to three years: (1) government stimulus; (2) liquidity; (3) a weakening U.S. dollar; (4) the housing market; and (5) innovation and capital expenditure. He explained that the combination of these five factors should lead to a “strong, robust economy for the next three to five years.” For dealers, the last of these elements, innovation and capital expenditure, hold the most promise. “I think the reality is it’s a great time to consider expanding your business,” Beriau said. “You know, putting some capital to work because the [interest] rates that you’re paying today are the lowest ever. Whether you’re borrowing on a business or borrowing on a real asset, your rates are so low that the hurdle rate is ridiculously low. There’s a lot of risk coming onboard. There’s going to be a huge amount of M&A activity within pretty much every industry on the other side of this [pandemic].

“I think the big picture here is that it’s a good time to start taking risk to the extent that you can acquire businesses with new products — unconventional additions to your product line,” he continued. “This is a great time to do this because we’re going to have a strong economy and we’re going to have very low rates for a while. We’re bullish on both the economy and small business in general coming out of this.”

Beriau wrapped up his presentation on a positive note. “We have a good environment to do business,” he said. “It’s going to get better over the next six months and there should be a good expansion for at least three to five years after that.” n — Elizabeth Marvel

COVID Fallout

BTA General Counsel Bob Goldberg presented a BTA Talks on Hot Topics session during the virtual event. “COVID Fallout” focused on the current laws surrounding the pandemic that are relevant to BTA dealerships. He also spoke about how dealers could request forgiveness of the loans they had taken out through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) announced earlier this year.

Goldberg spent a few minutes covering new regulations dealers should be aware of to ensure they are in compliance with all governmental entities that have COVID regulations. He noted that COVID has been determined to be a workplace hazard by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which means businesses need to take certain precautions.

“You should have personal protective equipment [PPE] available,” Goldberg said. “You can’t force people in most jurisdictions to wear masks, but you should have them available and highly recommend that they wear them. You should have sanitizers available. You should space your employees so they’re at least six feet apart. And if they’re not six feet apart, then you might look at plastic partitions or other things to help you.”

Other OSHA requirements concern employees in the field. “When you send one of your technicians, salespeople or marketers out to a customer in your area, again, PPE should be available,” Goldberg said. “Your employees should make sure that the environment they’re going into has been sanitized prior to their arrival, and that there’s not a bunch of people around telling them what’s wrong with the machine, but one point person. I have also found many dealers have been successful in doing before- and after-office-hours repairs.”

Goldberg also covered overtime compensation requirements for remote workers through the Department of Labor, as well as Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) laws regarding furloughed employees.

The rest of the session looked at seeking forgiveness for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans and the PPP Flexibility Act of 2020, which made some changes to the program. “We went from eight weeks for a forgiveness period up to 24 weeks,” Goldberg said. “Working with dealers, I have found that within that 24 weeks you can basically meet the forgiveness amount of your loan through payroll. If that’s the case, that’s probably the easiest and simplest means to progress.

“Don’t forget for a minute that the lender you’re dealing with is the one that is going to look at your application for forgiveness,” he continued. “The lender is certainly on your side if you’re an existing bank customer and if, in fact, they want to get these 1% loans off the books and get that money forgiven and returned by the government so they can put it out at a higher rate.”

He also encouraged dealers to wait to seek forgiveness until they have a “slam dunk” situation. “The purpose of the government’s program was to provide small businesses with the funds essential to maintain those businesses,” Goldberg said. “They weren’t looking to create loans; they weren’t looking to get a lot of these funds back. They were looking to stimulate the economy and support the businesses of the United States of America. So we have seen an expansion making it easier for you to seek to obtain forgiveness and I think there will be no question that there will be another act that comes through that may even provide additional funds for small businesses.” n — Elizabeth Marvel are in a great position to be able to now start transforming those great relationships with their customers and expand from being “print providers” to helping them manage their overall information flows.

Goldberg: What do you see as the characteristics of the office technology dealership that is best positioned for success in 2021 and beyond?

Blackmer: This is something I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the last few months, because I do believe it’s our responsibility to try to provide tools, advice and offerings to help support these new characteristics. So, step one is not a new characteristic, but a strong balance sheet and investing; investing in people, investing in being able to bring ... new technology offerings to the market. I think that’s a really important characteristic that’s been in place forever, but continues to be important.

I think resiliency; the ability to weather difficult times. Think about it. We’ve been through the recession of 2008. Now, we’ve been through the pandemic of 2020. It is amazing to me how many dealers acted so quickly and so assuredly that they ended up on their feet, actually even stronger than before. So, where a lot of people originally said, “Oh my goodness, what’s going to happen?” the reality is that the dealer base is still actually a very strong financial base. They [dealers] reacted fast. So, that resiliency is important.

One of the strengths of the channel is the service guys; the people who actually physically go on-site and help customers with problems. They have been the face of our dealers for a long time. I think you’re going to start to see that transformation from a “service guy” and we’re already starting to see it in that they’ve become very technical. They solve a lot of problems using iPads and iPhones, and upgrading things remotely versus actually having to get a screwdriver in place. But I think that transformation — that digital transformation where people go on-site and consult with these customers — is going to continue. They’re not salespeople, necessarily. They’re not service techs, but they could be. I’ll call them “knowledge techs.” They are people who are helping to advise on, “You’re taking half of your organization’s employees and moving them to home offices, and you’ve got beautiful Cisco phones here that are going to be useless. How can I help you transform your business to be able to be a very agile, very good business to communicate with each other and with customers?” So, that sort of knowledge tech — the person who’s going to bring that digital transformation to customers. n

Brent Hoskins, executive director of the Business Technology Association, is editor of Office Technology magazine. He can be reached at brent@bta.org or (816) 303-4040.

Q&A: Konica Minolta Blackmer emphasizes success of virtual training

Compiled by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

How are the industry manufacturers assisting dealers in the current environment? What advice do they have for dealers? What changes in the workplace do they expect? What training programs do they have in place to help sales reps and service techs optimize their success? In August, Office Technology magazine launched a series of interviews to ask these and other questions of manufacturer executives who oversee the dealer channel for their respective companies.

The August, September and October issues featured KYOCERA Document Solutions America Inc., Toshiba America Business Solutions Inc. and Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America, respectively. You can find those interviews in the Office Technology archives on the BTA website at www.bta.org/OfficeTechnology. This month: Laura Blackmer, senior vice president of dealer sales, Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A. Inc.

OT: In what ways is Konica Minolta providing additional support and guidance to its authorized dealers during these challenging times?

Blackmer: Early on in March we addressed dealers’ immediate needs with webinars on how to use Zoom, work effectively from home and execute virtual sales tactics. We also held a virtual event with BTA’s Bob Goldberg where he provided the latest updates on the stimulus packages and changes in HR/employment programs. Our marketing division, Konica Minolta Marketing Services (KMMS), hosted a webinar on how best to market during this time, which has transitioned into weekly vertical webinars. We are also launching a new prospecting training program for midmarket dealers. This comprehensive program begins with a webinar and is followed by email and voicemail scripts, flyers and virtual demos from our brand-new Customer Engagement Center, an 18,000-square-foot facility at our U.S. headquarters in Ramsey, New Jersey, which showcases the latest technologies revolutionizing the production print industry. From the beginning, we have been focused on helping dealers pivot into the virtual selling model, a trend we expect to continue even when we are no longer quarantined.

Throughout this time, we have also offered dealers special pricing on a range of devices, including a special Remote Working bundle and a menu of savings to help dealer customers turn any space into a productive workspace.

OT: If you owned an office technology dealership, what would you be doing currently to optimize your level of business?

Blackmer: We often talk about how the strength of the channel is in its customer base, its long-lasting relationships and on-site service. New business development should always be an important area of focus, but I would also look to my existing customer base for other things to sell, especially those that do not require additional investment. Leveraging partnerships, such as with All Covered, to sell security, network and print optimization, managed voice — whatever the particular need is — and having ongoing business continuity discussions with my current customers is integral. So, while I would always be prospecting, I would be spending a lot of energy on additional offerings to existing customers.

OT: What key changes in the workplace do you expect long term, if not indefinitely, as it relates to the use of imaging devices?

Blackmer: We do believe that this hybrid model of remote and in-office work will dominate the business landscape and continue to prevail, particularly in the education space. Companies and their employees recognize the flexibility it brings, as well as potential cost savings through a

reduced need for real estate. While the and student feedback has been overcontraction in the number of physical “Today, educational whelmingly positive, with the majority devices necessary to conduct business support continues with of participants commenting how simiwill continue, the need for better man- weekly online learning lar the training is to actually being in a agement of those devices for the new ways of work will be ongoing. Examples centered on new products face-to-face session. of this include solutions and features and skills, and growing OT: What new Konica Minolthrough which devices get documents segments of the market ta product are you most pleased into systems, ECM and workflow tools. such as managed IT ... ” with/excited about at this time? So, while the number of devices might Blackmer: Konica Minolta is exgo down, how they are used will become cited for the introduction of our new increasingly complex and continue to be crucial to running high-speed digital printing press, the AccurioPress C4080, businesses and school systems. a brand new, all-in-one print factory that will help enable

OT: What Konica Minolta training programs quality and print application diversity. are in place to assist dealership sales reps and/ The C4080 Series replaces the C3080 Series, our light proor service techs to optimize their current levels duction press that debuted in June 2018. This robust and of success? user-friendly production press is a perfect fit for businesses

Blackmer: After the initial focus on providing skills and looking to expand their production capabilities with adtechniques for virtual selling and working from home, sub- vanced automation and ease of use for various applications. sequent webinars focused on selling managed voice and With the IQ-501 Intelligent Quality Optimizer, qualprospecting. Today, educational support continues with ity color and registration can be executed at the touch of weekly online learning centered on new products and skills, a button. Combined with the TU-510 Trimmer Unit, the and growing segments of the market such as managed IT, AccurioPress C4080/C4070 digital press can output fully managed voice and production print. Overall use of our vir- finished, ready-to-be-boxed, high-quality output. The press tual instructor-led training has significantly increased. Our prints at 80/70 pages per minute (ppm) for letter size and team has also done a great deal of ad hoc, dealer-specific the AccurioPress C4080/C4070 digital press offers the flextraining on an ongoing basis. This customized training has ibility of two-sided printing on sheets up to 34 inches long, been mostly virtual, but a few on-site trainings have been professional finishing, excellent image quality and realdone by local teams. time automated quality adjustments. The C4080 Series

Our technical education team has transitioned 31 techni- also includes the AccurioPress C4065, a lighter version of cal training courses into virtual instructor-led (vILT) train- the C4080 with the same image quality at a more affordable ing. Course content ranges from our core office product price point. and production print product lines to our print controller growth through intelligent automation, outstanding image courses and solutions product training. Many of these vir- OT: What can you tell us about the status of tual courses incorporate virtual machines (VMs) that allow Konica Minolta’s next national dealer meeting? students to access software without requiring licenses and Blackmer: In general, we have been transitioning to more remote panel applications to provide students with real, workshop-type meetings rather than big in-person events, hands-on exercises using key functions of our operations and we will continue to plan for and develop smaller, more panels and controllers. regional programs. Our next meeting was not going to be

This year, as of Oct. 1, 2020, our accomplishments — all held until spring of 2021, and we are already in the process of with zero travel costs — using virtual and remote-based investigating and exploring virtual program options in the training options include: event that we are not able to convene together at that time. n 189 vILT technical training courses conducted As I mentioned, we have already found great success in n 1,150 student completions virtual programs. Most recently, our virtual Dealer Advison 2,478 Technical Tips webinar completions ry Council provided the opportunity to share and exchange n 97,065 web-based product training completions ideas, as well as ask for and receive great feedback. n

We have also created, or are in the process of creating, 367 Brent Hoskins, executive director of the Business Technology YouTube-style technical videos for service representatives in Association, is editor of Office Technology magazine. the field. These videos are used as just-in-time learning and He can be reached at brent@bta.org as post-training performance support. Service management or (816) 303-4040.