Digital Press Certifications; Konica Minolta, Xerox, Canon - Interesting Developments...

Now here we are a month and a half later and we find that the Konica Minolta is not the only Digital Press that is certified by IDEAlliance. Even thought Konica Minolta was the first to be certified.

Konica Minolta’s Flagship Color Digital Press becomes First in the Industry to Meet Production Requirements of GRACoL Color Specifications

The press release was issued August 15th, which was about 2 weeks behind the official date that IDEAlliance issued the actual certification. IDEAlliance issued Konica Minolta's Digital Press Certification on August 1st, 2011.

Digital Press Certification Results Sheet

The Digital Press Certification program is broken into two parts: Part 1 is for Commercial Production (xerographic & ink jet) Devices. Part 2 is for Wide Format and Grand Format Ink Jet Devices. The program consists of testing and certification in areas of color, press sheet properties and print production.

In the certification process, a series of test forms are provided, suppliers print these forms according to a given criteria, the forms are sent to the IDEAlliance designated Evaluation Contractor where they are measured and compared against pre-determined tolerances. Systems that pass all tests are awarded certification, the supplier system details are published on an IDEAlliance web site and the supplier is able to display the certification logo on their product collateral.

This is great news for potential digital press buyers as they will be able to immediately recognize the logo and know that they are considering a product that is already certified. There has been a lot of press surrounding these certifications. The framework for the digital press certification is based on upcoming international standards ISO 12647-8, 15311, and 15339.

Now customers have a way to find their way through an always growing field of Digital Press Products. As of 9/15/2011 The following presses have been certified under the following conditions.

8/1/2011 Konica Minolta Business Solutions got the Bizhub PRESS C8000 with the Creo IC-307/Version 1.0 using the GRACol Print Condition on Sterling Ultra Digital 80# Gloss Cover
 
8/26/2011 EFI got the Canon imagePRESS C7010VP/C6010VP/C6010 with the Fiery A1200/A2200/A3200 using the GRACol Print Condition on EFI Laser Proof XF130 Semi matt 130 gsm
 
9/1/2011 Xerox got the iGen4 Matte Dry Ink Press with the FreeFlow Print Server V8 using the GRACol Print Condition on Xerox Digital Color Elite Silk 140gsm
 
9/6/2011 EFI got the Konica Minolta bizhub PRESS C8000 with the Fiery IC-306/IC-3600 using the GRACol Print Condition on EFI Laser Proof Paper XF130 Semi matt 130gsm
 
Konica Minolta not only has their equipment being certified a quick look at IDEAlliance's website and you will find that 17 Konica Minolta employees are now certified G7 Experts!
 
Konica Minolta has put a tremendous effort in not only producing top of the line affordable digital presses but also in investing in having color experts to help commercial printers and in plant printing operations get their shop certified as a G7 Master Printer using the G7 methodology. Originally when I looked Xerox had like 8 and Kodak had like 7 G7 Experts worldwide. HP did not have 1 certified G7 Expert and neither did Canon, IKON or Ricoh. I have been informed that the first batch of RiKON professionals have now been certified.
 
It is not enough to just make good equipment, but to have the support structure to enable those that purchase the equipment to be successful. The race is on!
 
Pirate Mike
 
For those that would like to keep up with the lastest certifications go to IDEAlliance's Website!

Xerox rebounds slower than expected; shuts down wide format and enters another era of layoffs…

2011 may be known as the “Year of the Rabbit” for some but not the great Xerox. Goliath is falling and I’m not sure who can catch his fall. The first 6 months of 2011 may be part of the rebuilding of American economics but for Xerox it has been nothing but a nightmare.

6 Month Stock History for Xerox (courtesy of Yahoo Finance)

Going into a new age Xerox’s CEO Ursula Burns moves full steam ahead having to announce some very difficult decisions at the end of the 4th quarter of 2010 that they would be moving ahead with a plan to lay off 2500 employees. Then early on in 2011 Xerox announced or rather whispered quietly that they were going to discontinue their wide format business in North America.

In an article named, “How Will Xerox’s Decision to Discontinue “Wide-Format” Impact Reprographers, Xerox Wide-Format Dealers, and Other Wide-Format Manufacturers? “ The writer gives an interesting view about the effects industry wide on this decision. None the less it was a difficult decision to arrive at and an even more difficult one to announce to their employees that have heard nothing but bad news for a long time. In an article written by Anthony Bianco and Pamela L. Moore back in 2001 for Business Week named, “Xerox; the downfall” the writers talk about the many rough decisions made over the years by Xerox executives and the timeline associated with those decisions.

So what’s next? How will Xerox reorganize knowing that they will be 2500 people light in the coming months? Who will they lean on? Where will the work load go? Well for months I have been hearing rumors on a big announcement coming from Global – Xerox’s rogue warrior.

I have talked about this subject on many occasions only to get my hand slapped by my presumptions. Although many of my predictions did in fact come true, some were slightly off the mark. But as anyone vested in my industry knows I have opinions based on what I see and hear on a local and national level and we are all subject to rumors.

Well the rumor on the street is that as Xerox makes good on its promise to lay off workers it is also going to restructure how they distribute the workload. What does this mean do you ask? Well I think in the short term Xerox customers are going to get a visit from their first cousins at Global saying, “Hi my name is Bob from Global Imaging Systems, a Xerox company I am just stopping by to introduce myself as your new rep.”

My assumption is that very shortly Xerox will be unloading assets sold by Xerox sales reps themselves only to find out that they are no longer with a job and that their assets have been given to a Global rep to manage as Xerox tries to cut the fat from their organization. This “live long enough to see a better day” strategy will have some interesting implications for their customers that signed up for “an elite manufacturer direct experience,” not a close imitation.

The other assumption is that many of these assets will be production print devices and not just workgroup systems. This also creates some interesting situations as not all Global offices have dedicated or specialty trained production teams. This puts a lot pressure on a workforce that is less disciplined as Xerox’s own. Global has been allowed to run a bit unrefined and now it will be dealing with an even greater share of Xerox’s business; business that Xerox itself sold.

So how will customers react to this news? Well it will depend on how they hear it and really it is a people business so it largely will depend on the rep that shows up to the door and the resources that he or she has at their disposal which will depend on the local branches culture and strength. Many of Global’s offices have or were very strong dealerships prior to the acquisition.

Does this leave opportunity for everyone else? Why of course with another great competitor in transition and weak it means that thousands of customers, potentially a 100 million dollars of assets will be up for grabs to those who are willing to bring to light the new risks associated with being a Xerox customer.

What used to be said, “No one ever got fired for buying a Xerox,” could now change to “No one wants to be the one to pull the trigger on Xerox as it could get them fired.” Only time will tell if any of this comes to fruition but one thing is certain. It is a dangerous time to choose the wrong vendor for your infrastructure as it is getting harder to choose a company that is solid.

With the holocaust in Japan leaving many manufacturers crippled both in their own capacity but also hindered in that their supply chain partners had suffered as well. This has left many deals wide open as “he who has the goods gets the deal.” As we have seen here in Houston Texas some decisions have been made to buy from people that “have inventory” without regard to who had the best price or gear.

This leaves one that is watching thinking that they have been watching day time soaps like “Days of our lives,” when in fact they were watching “As the copier turns.” It will be interesting to listen carefully to both Xerox and Global and see what they do in the near-term. It appears that big changes are coming and it is not good news for customers that invested in “Xerox dominance.”

Happy Selling…

Pirate Mike

bits & bytes; The Truth About Xerox “2400 dpi”

Have a customer confused by the advertised DPI Resolution or Bit Depth of Xerox DocuColor production color systems? Most of the new DocuColor models advertise that they offer 2400dpi.

Here are more details on what they are talking about:

The print controller on the Xerox (be it Fiery, Creo or Xerox FreeFlow) sends 600x600dpi at 8 bits per pixel to the print engine, therefore the process is NOT truly a 2400dpi process.

• The print engine uses VCSEL technology which stands for Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser, meaning that 32 beams of laser light are used to create the image using 8 micron sized toner particles.

• The print engine takes the instructions from the print controller for one dot, and divides it into 16 quadrants. For example, in an area that is supposed to show 25% cyan, rather than dimming the laser to create the needed fill in the pixel, the Xerox VCSEL engine places a pattern in the 16 quadrants to simulate the 25% fill using a screening method.

In summary, each 8 bit 600dpi pixel byte sent by the computer through the RIP print controller is converted in the Fuji-made engine to 1 bit 2400dpi binary pixels.

- This may be a bit outdated, I am curious who might have more infomation on this subject. Go ahead and help us understand the math!

IPEX 2010: Fujifilm's Xerox Color 1000 press will be showcased...

The Xerox Color 1000 press is the big brother to the 800 and can produce 100 pages per minute and uses Xerox's low-melt, EA (emulsion aggregation) "Dry Ink." Unlike the iGen units, these new models use polymerized toner using the emulsion aggregation method so they do not use a fuser oil.

Fuser oil has been used for a long time to allow for proper fusing at speed, the newer presses that are worth considering do not use the "fuser oil" and give the user more post process options. Fuser oil can be very undesirable. From making it hard to get a print laminated to the application of coatings there are a lot of variables to take into consideration when you work with prints from a device that utilizes the fuser oil technology. Typically it is undesirable especially since there are devices that do not use an oil in the fusing process.

The Xerox 1000 is claimed to print on substrates from 55 gsm to 350 gsm without slowing down like the Canon imagePRESS (will only allow up to 300 gsm) and the Konica Minolta Bizhub PRESS C8000 which will also go all the way to 350 gsm . The press has the ability to print a clear toner as part of its fifth print unit like the Canon imagePRESS C1 plus.

Xerox will also be showing the Xerox 700 and Docucolor 7002 presses, XMF Workflow and Web2print systems in an integrated production area designed to showcase digital print systems.

The Color 1000 press is claimed to print at 2,400 x 2,400dpi, but it is not true 8 bits per pixel as the Xerox calculation just takes a pixel from a 600 dpi data stream and divides it into 4 quadrants to get to 2400dpi. The "Dry Ink" EA Toner is claimed to provide an offset-like finish like the Canon imagePRESS or Konica Minolta Bizhub PRESS C8000. There are very few manufacturers that use a true 8 bit color depth in their digital presses. Konica Minolta and Kodak both use a true 8 bit per pixel depth which is why you see their prints with a richer more well rounded gamut than the competition. Some manufacturers use as low as 2 bits per pixel which typically offers a much smaller gamut and a much lower image quality.

The press has a lot of finishing options from a GBC advanced punch, high-capacity stacker (single or dual) with removable carts, Xerox standard finisher with optional C-Z folder or booklet maker finisher and Squarefold trimmer. Xerox has just launched the Color Press 800 and 1000 so there are still options that will be available in the future but are not currently ready to deliver like the Xerox tape binder, GBC Ebinder 200 and Plockmatic Pro 30 professional booklet maker.

The Xerox Color Press 800/1000 will print onto sheet sizes up to 13 x 19.2in (33 x 48.8cm). This size format is very common among digital presses that use electrostatic toner technology. It is becoming a very common term to call toner "Dry Ink" Kodak and Xerox refer to their toner as a dry ink to further close the gap with commercial printers by using their lingo.

It will be interesting to see how consistent the color is on these new devices.

IPEX claims to be the second largest print show on the planet with an attendance of well over 100,000 visitors. The show only comes around every 4 years. This year the show will cover over 100,000 square meters and have over 1000 vendors.

In Search of Innovation Xerox joins the gang; and builds a new research facility in India.

Mar 17, 2010

Xerox Launches Innovation Hub in India

CHENNAI, India – A central concept behind "open innovation" is not only to have ideas yourself, but also to know where and when to learn from someone else. Xerox Corporation's (NYSE:XRX) new research facility – the Xerox India Innovation Hub – will bring together Xerox scientists and engineers with leading Indian academic institutions, research labs and industry partners. Its initial mission: develop document management solutions that are relevant to emerging market countries and contribute innovation to solutions and services delivery.

"The Xerox India Innovation Hub exemplifies our continued commitment to customers in the emerging markets," said Sophie Vandebroek, Xerox chief technology officer and president of the Xerox Innovation Group. "Creating a research facility in India allows us to make use of local knowledge and to extend that expertise to our global initiatives.""What is interesting about this is that outsourcing to India has been a common theme for quite a few years now. A highly educated workforce with a very low labor cost. We have seen our fortune 1000 outsource their IT to India, China, and the like; now even our greatest companies are sending out their research facilities. Now I don't think that Xerox has forsaken anyone at this juncture. They strategically need facilities all around the world to cover all of the areas that they serve this is just the newest one.

Both China and India have vied for US company's affection relative to outsourcing. In a very recent Forbes article, "China: $1 Billion And Ambition" by Rebecca Fannin, 03.19.10, 06:00 PM EDT What China is doing to become the world's outsourcing giant? She goes on to say in her commentary some of the efforts and hurdles that China has in their way. She mentions, "China's disadvantages compared with India are real, though. First, India has a natural advantage with English-language skills. Second, India is typically considered less risky when it comes to intellectual property protections. India also has an edge in managerial skills to tackle more high-end, technical projects." You can find her article at the above link.

Even with China's efforts and challenges India has been a first choice for outsourcers. Jack Welch opened a $130 million technology center in Bangalore India, which is GE's largest research and development center outside the US. "IBM Opens New Autonomic Computing Technology Center in India" ; as IBM joins the crowd and moves a research facility to India. IBM has research facilities all over the world, in their press release they state," The Autonomic Computing Technology Center is part of IBM's globally integrated approach to innovation -- a network of 63 major software development and research labs worldwide that develop, test and support a wide range of emerging and established technologies that span software and services."

As the world "shrinks" we will see the one world economy become more of a reality. As travel has become more efficient companies are quick to look outside of their bubble to see what new lands there are to conquer. Companies gravitate to emerging markets hoping to corner their share of the new found wealth and expansion.

Xerox is not new to building research facilities and collaborating with global academic institutions. Xerox produces a lot of patents. In my article "Amidst the slaughter rises Xerox Technology" I talk about Xerox Innovation which is well documented. It is one of the things about Xerox that that has always amazed me. This devotion to invention goes back to the acquisition of the discovery of the photo copier.

Chester Calson, "So who do we blame for this?" who was the one that started this "E Ticket" ride for us in the first place.

In 2009 Xerox brought the game to another level which I think we will see some of the fruit of that very soon. With On Demand and Graph Expo coming we are sure to see Xerox innovation first hand. Xerox patents were up 19% over 2008 which that had a staggering 600. In 2009 they logged in at 706 new patents. You can find more about 2009 accomplishments at "Xerox Patents Up 16% in 2009" Innovation is the key to survival in this industry. With companies pushing hard on companies like Xerox it has become a battle in the cage like we see in the ultimate fighting challenges.

2010 will be a very telling year for the office equipment industry. I think we should get a snapshot of what we are in for in the coming years. I am hoping this is a turning point for many of us. As the refugees start to find homes and things start to return to normal.

Hopefully the painful changes will be made at the begining of the year Q1 and we won't have any more scary announcements for the remainder of the year. After the initial round of annoucements I am hoping that all of the news will be about innovation and success stories and not about layoffs and more mergers.

I think that they may be a few surprising innovations that come from some forgotten players, but that is another article.


Happy Sale'ing…

Pirate Mike

Konica Minolta; caught between a hurricane or typhoon?

The terms "hurricane" and "typhoon" are regionally specific names for a strong "tropical cyclone". A tropical cyclone is the generic term for a non-frontal synoptic scale low-pressure system over tropical or sub-tropical waters with organized convection (i.e. thunderstorm activity) and definite cyclonic surface wind circulation (Holland 1993).

Termination of the Strategic Business Alliance Agreement with Oce
Tokyo (February 10, 2010) --Konica Minolta Holdings, Inc. (Konica Minolta) today announced that the company and Oce N.V. (Oce), headquartered in Venlo, the Netherlands (President and CEO: Rokus van Iperen), reached, through mutual consultation, an agreement to terminate the strategic business alliance agreement, entered into by and between both companies to cooperate in development and marketing for office and production printing systems.

Konica Minolta Enters into Basic Partnership Agreement with Oce
Konica Minolta Holdings, Inc (President and CEO: Yoshikatsu Ota) entered into a basic partnership agreement with Oce, a company headquartered in Venlo, The Netherlands (President and CEO: Rokus van Iperen) on January 14, 2008 to cooperate in development and marketing for office and production printing systems.

Short lived agreements and rapid changes in the industry have left Konica Minolta with probably the same taste in their mouths that Canon felt during the hurricane that hit them over the IKON acquisition. Except that Konica Minolta has lost several strategic agreements/alliances that will reposition them.

Both the loss of IKON and Oce as distributors surely will make Konica Minolta rethink their ideas on distribution. They will have to strengthen their market position via "Direct Operations" and a building up of their "Independent Dealership" Channels.

A small but fierce competitor in the marketplace, Konica Minolta will be quick to release new products that again revolutionize the way companies acquire business technologies. Watch for a bolstering of their production products and a strengthened commitment to commercial print and in plant operations by a building up of their sales and support staff in these areas. Taking their already well accepted Bizhub offering to the next level there can be only good things in their future. Now that the Danka acquisition is over and most of the fat has been trimmed they can get back to the business at hand. Konica Minolta has made much larger competitors rethink their R&D allocations as showed by Canon's launching of the imageRunner Advance to combat the hugely successful Bizhub Pro 6501 and 65hc products.

Only time will tell how successful Canon's attempt will be to regain the large amount of territory they lost over these products. Now in a race Xerox, Konica Minolta and Canon come to the marketplace with viable mid level production color devices that are suitable in commercial print and in plant operations. Ricoh has yet to bring to the market a system that is reliable enough and with the appropriate color fidelity to get a serious look. The C900 and C720 is a nice attempt but without sufficient bit depth and fusing strength to print on offset sheets, these are hardly products that can last in real commercial print operations. Maybe high speed office applications at best, but with many other offerings that come from other manufactures at a better price per pound so to speak. Konica Minolta has been pushing up against long standing production manufacturers like HP and Kodak and are only going to continue to take ground as their product offering strengthens.

The storms continue; but we know that with all hurricanes and typhoons there is always calm winds after they pass.


Fair Sale'ing,,,
Pirate Mike

AlphaGraphics Western Center of Fort Worth, Texas Installs a RICOH Pro C900 Digital Color Printer From Pirate Mike

AlphaGraphics Western Center of Fort Worth, Texas Installs a RICOH Pro C900 Digital Color Printer From IKON

State-of-the-art color production system allows commercial printing company to better meet customer digital printing needs

MALVERN, Pa. - September 21, 2009 - IKON Office Solutions, Inc., a Ricoh company, today announced that AlphaGraphics Western Center of Fort Worth, Texas has installed a RICOH Pro C900 digital color printer, giving them greater flexibility and enhanced turnaround time in meeting their customers’ wide range of variable data and customized printing needs.

Part of the UK-based Pindar Group, AlphaGraphics has a network of more than 225 independently owned business centers, which provide a full range of solutions for design, digital, offset and large-format printing, marketing communications, promotional products, digital archiving and mailing services for small-to medium-sized businesses as well as corporate entities.

Since opening in 1997, AlphaGraphics Western Center has continued to expand their offerings and provides full-service offset and digital printing along with complete finishing and bindery services. They also provide design services, large format color and black and white printing and complete fulfillment services.

“We’re a full-service printing and visual communications company, and we help our customers communicate through state-of-the-art design, copy and print,” explains Jim Lombardo, Co-owner, AlphaGraphics Western Center. “We offer innovative solutions, including the latest in direct marketing solutions including variable data printing, 1:1 marketing and cross-media campaigns.”

As part of their commitment to innovation, AlphaGraphics Western Center recently purchased a RICOH Pro C900, giving them more versatility, faster speeds and better print quality. “Digital printing is the future in the commercial print market,” says Lombardo. “The RICOH Pro C900 gives us the ability to design creative, targeted customized solutions for our customers and helps us better meet all of their business needs. We’re building the future of our company around digital printing and the RICOH Pro C900 gives us the ability to offer more robust graphic design and customized collateral via variable data technology.”

An Editor’s Choice award winner in the 2009 High Volume Printer & Digital Duplicator’s Guide from Better Buys for Business, the RICOH Pro C900 is engineered to meet the demanding needs of the production print environment and represents an advancement in efficiency and productivity. It combines consistent 1200 dpi output with 90 pages-per-minute speed and utilizes Ricoh’s new image processing technology for unsurpassed quality and fast turnaround times. It can handle a wide range of media, including weight ranges up to 110 lb. cover, and its modular design enables a number of input and output configurations. The RICOH Pro C900 offers many production tools for advanced page programming requirements like tabs, inserts, covers and chapter breaks.

“I’m impressed with the RICOH Pro C900’s fast speed and outstanding quality,” says Lombardo. “Its color is brilliant and consistent, print run after print run, and its productivity thus far has been phenomenal. We’ve been very pleased with our results.”
The RICOH Pro C900 is part of the Ricoh Production Printing Business Group’s (PPBG) portfolio of state-of-the-art high-speed production systems that provide efficient document workflows with high-volume production printing and finishing. Incorporating superior engineering, service, reliable technology, and extensive software and finishing options. PPBG helps production centers to cost-effectively modernize and streamline their operations to meet today's rapid turnaround and high-quality demands.

As a Ricoh company, IKON can maximize color solutions for customers through its color and production specialists, and its Professional Services team, who can provide customers with a suite of services and application development, including variable data integration for marketing and personalized communications, advanced color management, forms design, data stream conversion and custom workflow solutions to help improve productivity, reduce turnaround time, and increase effectiveness.

“The RICOH Pro C900 will play an important role in our continued growth and success as it gives us more options to fulfill our printing needs through variable data and fast turnaround times,” explains Lombardo. “We plan on increasing our investment in digital printing and will continue to provide our customers with state-of-the-art visual communications that help them reach their target audience.”

What is not told is how difficult the entire sales cycle was considering that they were a current Xerox 5000 customer and that I had sold them on Canon imagePRESS technology. It was a lot of work but in the end I think that they positioned themselves for success in the long term and I am sure that we had a small part in all of it.

Well anyway just a little story in the life of pirate mike...

Eastman Kodak, another one bites the dust…

Ok this is purely conjecture but I am starting to hear about push back when proposing Kodak products to high level clients. My local superiors are saying the typical, "business as usual." But we know what that means, "They dont know and they want us to keep marching without missing a step."

The rumors are that at the higher levels they are being told not to go forward with Digimaster and NexPRESS products as they will be going away soon. So I am putting my feelers out to get more feedback from YOU. Many times you know what is happening before the news hits the street. I had heard months ago that Ricoh was looking at Kodak for the high end production black and white and color and so they would not have to develop a strong workflow product.

I was recently in a position to be aware of a huge Federal deal that would involve thousands of machines, the word from the silver hair and black tie side of the business is a "no go" on the Kodak products the word coming down from their superiors in the fancy building with the pearly gates is that HP is making a play for Kodak and that that product line is going away anyway!

Going away anyway? What do you mean says the innocent pirate who sells the big iron? Yes going away says the silver haired man in his late 60's. Could it be that Ricoh the 'new' one world leader is coming forth with its own product to replace it. Replace it wow; that sounds well wow…

Could it be that the great minds that gave us the engine for the IBM infoPRINT have stepped down to create for us "the ants of the 'new' one world leader" a great and ultimately powerful multi-function of destruction?

The great destroyer of all that is Docutech, Varioprint and Digimaster? Wow, (for those of you that don't know better don't hold your breath.) I am very interested to see what we are going to replace these MaMaMaMillions of clicks a month Machines.

What could this new Multi-Function of Destruction look like? What will be its call to arms. Will it cost those that wield it their souls? Will it be like a cyborg and run itself? How far into the future do we have to look to get a small glimpse of what is coming down the pike from our engineering friends across the great oceans from our 'new' one world leader?

I do not know of what could be motivating people to NOT sell the Digimaster products especially since we have always been the largest channel for these products anyway I would rather us buy them than another competitor especially like an HP that already is whooping up on us with their Indigo sheetfed and web products I really do not need them coming down into my small shops and taking away all that which Ricoh has giveneth.

One thing that is very apparent is that Kodak is a bit vulnerable at the moment. After posting a “preliminary Net Loss of $137 million, or $.51 per share.” For the 4th Quarter of 2008 and watching their stock dwindle from a close on April 28th 2008 of $17.89 to $3.95 April 28th 2009 they have seen better days. Watching a company prepare to lay off 4500 people or almost 18% of their workforce could start a few rumors all by itself.

Hey if you have the inside track please feel free to enlighten me as this has become the great soap opera for all things pirate-like.

Pirate Mike…

So who do we blame for this?

After another tough week scrapping it out in the Dallas marketplace I thought to myself, "So who do I blame for this?" I find myself writing late and night and doing research at odd hours just to wake up at 6:00am to begin the war all over again. The battles rage on as the economy hits all time lows, and unemployment skyrockets. With the financial climate so hostile it is amazing that anyone is thinking about anything other than packing up and heading for the hills. Instead I look for the "new angle" on positioning people, processes and technology to help my prospects make more money! In the heat of the battle we cannot forget to continue to make and spend our money it is our duty. So who was it that stayed up long hours and late nights so that I could have something to write about?

Chester Carlson of course! Now you may be asking yourself who is Chester Carlson? Why he is the inventor of Xerography. If it weren't for his desire to copy patent papers quicker by having a piece of equipment that could make "instant copies" we would not have the luxury of selling imaging equipment. And what is interesting is how his patent ended up in the hands of a small company then known as Haloid. Haloid started in April of 1906 to manufacture and sell photographic paper. Now of course this small company is known as Xerox the grandfather of copiers.

So for those of you that didn't know or realize that you cared, In 1959 the Xerox 914 was introduced based on the innovations that were discovered by Chester. Fifty years later 2009, Pirate Mike tries to figure out how did I get here and whom can I blame for it? Well it is Chester's fault for sure. In a world that is accelerating and producing new ideas and technology faster than any other time in history I chose to get involved with the printing industry at the beginning of the personal computer boom. What is funny is that my grandmother felt so strongly about computers and my need to learn them that I can for as long as I can remember had a computer of my own. I have had every game console and personal computer as soon as they became available. From the Commodore 64 to the Coleco Adam computer I was prepared for the "Desktop Publishing Revolution" and the advent of digital printing technologies. So why you ask?

Why do I care? Well the interesting thing is that since I sell the big iron, I have always had a bit of disdain for Xerox, they after all were my primary competition and in fact many times the incumbent and the overall winner of many of the deals that I was in at the beginning of my career. I also was never really impressed with the docucolor 5000AP or its predecessor the docucolor 5000 they seemed clunky very inconsistent for color critical jobs and had an odd "image appearance" as Xerox calls it. I come from high end offset printing and no one wants the "greasy glossy" look or the "3d or layered look" and that is the sure signs you're looking at a CLC or docucolor print. The 5000, 7000 and 8000 do not seem to have much differences other than speed so if you are having issues with your 5000 at a particular volume then you don't have much choice but to look beyond the docucolor series and Xerox doesn't have a step between mid level production systems and their very high end the iGen.

I was just in a deal where the customer had a Xerox 5000 doing about 150k and were having lots of service issues, team Xerox rolled in and pitched an iGen. Now I'm sure the ones of you that know are laughing. You really cannot justify an iGen till you get over 250k and really it doesn't make good sense till 400k. Now this particular customer was a national account for both IKON and Xerox so we are obviously both supposed to be on our best behavior. So to be honest I was quite surprised that they went to the iGen at all. I think it was bad strategy as I of course came out with the Ricoh Pro C900 which can take them to 400k a month without any increase on capital investment. The 5000 maybe is 25 ppm on the thicker stocks and I am still at rated speed 90 ppm I can using 80# Cover settings duplex 100 and 110# Cover without loss of productivity in the turn like the Xerox. Plus really the docucolor is terrible both in color consistency, accuracy and in front to back registration. Those are not my issues at all. I do have a smaller color gamut, the C900 is almost exactly the same gamut as SWOP but if you're an offset house SWOP is good enough.

Also I had to fight the "image appearance" as my image is not the "greasy glossy" look but my sheet can be UV or Aqueous coated so you can still have the look and the abrasion resistance. So over the last couple years I got very comfortable beating Xerox with both the Konica Minolta in the light production (Although the doc 250 series is much tougher competition in my opinion) and then in the mid range beating Xerox with the imagePRESS and now the Ricoh Pro C900. So as I think about them I just don't get the feeling that I am dealing with a deadly foe. In fact if I didn't know the men that I compete against and have great respect for them I would really think they are clowns.

So where does that bring me? It brings me to the other day when I read about Xerox's 600 new patents (1000 in all if you add Fuji Xerox) and the feeling that they will not live long enough to see their new inventions come to fruition. And the thought that came to me about who is to blame for this. Then I start to do a deep dive into the history of my product and the legacy that Xerox has had over the last 50 years. Which in all honesty after learning about Xerox's past successes just makes me sad. How can a company with so much fail so miserably? Where do they go from here? All I can say is please do not unleash any of those new patents any time soon, as I am enjoying giving you the whooping that I am with my Ricoh Pro C900 and on the high end the Kodak NexPRESS. Please leave my real battles with HP's Indigo and beating the Kodak rep to the account first, that way I don't have to worry about what Xerox is going to do. Right now Konica Minolta cannot play in my realm and they are very late to market with their 90 ppm color system. By the time they bring theirs to market Ricoh will have released Version 2 of the C900 which will use a new toner system (Polymerized Toner) without fuser oil and will have the 120 ppm version using this new toner as well. (shhh its about a year away now)

In all seriousness, if you are reading this blog then you are "in the biz" and I hope that you take a moment whether you are brand new or a seasoned vet to look back and learn the history of our industry and how your company fits into it. We are all a part of making the digital printing revolution what it is and with all of its advances and trials we are in the midst of history in the making. I for one love it and hope that I can live long enough to see Xerox rise again and come to market with something that they can be proud of. Because I know they do not like losing to Canon and I KNOW they hate losing to me!

Happy Selling,

Pirate Mike…

Activity begets opportunity and opportunity begets success! Having a great product only makes it easier… - Pirate Mike…

Amidst the slaughter rises Xerox Technology

Xerox has been considered a leader in document imaging equipment and software for many years. In a press release on Xerox's website claims that they earned "600 new patents in the year of 2008." Xerox Chief Technology Officer and president of the Xerox Innovation Group, Sophie Vandebroek says companies must keep the innovation pipeline flowing even in a lean economic climate or they will face huge product gaps in future years. In her quote, "You cannot sacrifice tomorrow to save today. Our investment in innovation guarantees Xerox leadership in our core business and creates opportunity to grow in new markets," said Vandebroek. "It's also a source of pride for us. More than 2,300 employees, past and present, have been granted five or more patents – an extraordinary accomplishment." Xerox has been issued over 55,000 patents worldwide since it was founded. They mentioned that 18 scientists have earned the 100 patent mark. That is a tremendous feat. In our economic environment technology companies live and die by their research and development. Those that quit developing and forging on quickly go by the wayside.

I am always amazed at Xerox's tenacity and sheer bulletproof-ness. The old saying, "no one ever got fired for buying a Xerox," is one of those phrases that I have actually had someone say when they were not going to buy from me and didn't know why. It is a fallback statement your prospect uses when you didn't do a good enough job building your "Value Proposition."

As the economy tightens up and the financial markets "right size" themselves we will see true competitive natures come out. The only people that can survive such environments are true warriors. Many will be sacrificed over the next few years as the "great consolidation" occurs. With so much talent on the street jobs will go to the "lowest bidder." Companies are looking to "upgrade" their talent and cut costs while doing it. I have seen jobs offered at 30-40% of what they were just a few years ago.

As the number of competitors decreases the quality of our competitors gets more intense. It seems like I get closer to all of my enemies every day. Over the next year I am sure I will meet the rest of them face to face as I dig my feet deeper into the sand and prepare to get down and dirty with them.

All the while I am also meeting people that I admire and can learn from. As I get closer to the sources of information I am learning much more about the business that I could ever imagine. Innovation and the ability of a company to package that innovation and convince others of how it can benefit them is the key measure of their potential of success. Xerox is no stranger to a "good package." I have always been amazed at "team Xerox's" ability to sell iGen's. Almost everyone that I run into is grossly underutilized. And not only did they up sell the customer they got their asking price in many of the older examples. Canon, Ricoh, HP, and Konica Minolta are making them think twice about their pricing strategy and how they "brainwash" their new and current customers.

They must have a good training program, I have not had the benefit of such training other then the down the street training I received at Minolta. I am ready to put my thinking cap on and become a student of the business again. I am interested to what mother Xerox does in such trying times. After Xerox lowers their profit forecast by 80% and cuts 3000 jobs in 6 months worldwide in an attempt to get things under control. Even the company's executives are starting to "right size" along with the markets. Top level executives including Chief Executive Anne Mulcahy's have come down considerably, Anne's 2008 total pay fell to $10.9 million from $13.5 million a year ago.

So what does that mean for the global giant? Can Xerox live long enough to bring their new ideas to fruition? Or will the ideas die along with the inventors as they enter the market as over qualified Walmart greeters? As one of their competitors I have mixed emotions. Just as bad as I would like to be the one to slay goliath, it will be a sad day in history as well. Will the reorganization make Xerox leaner and meaner? Will they bring these new innovations to market instead of hide them in research journals and patent office's?

Only time will tell if they have what it takes to rise from the fire once again. As a warrior I love a good competitor. Just a few thoughts from your favorite copier pirate…

Pirate Mike

And Then There Was The Interview...

And then there was the interview…

What is funny is that we all look at things through our own filters. That is also one of the big reasons that people fail at their goals, relationships, and careers. I can remember the first time that I went with my sales manager to qualify a company for a copier. We came back and looked at a simple desktop and the total monthly cost was like $200.00 per month. I said, “Zack, you have to be kidding no one is going to pay $200.00 a month for a copier!” Little did I know that almost 5 years later I would be asking for that an hour.

We process everything from our own perspective and not from another’s. When you think from the other person’s view many times things look quite differently. I had a great example of this the other day. I started off working for IKON as a GAR (Graphic Arts Rep) Selling to no one but large commercial printers. This was a special corporate initiative to put together a team of selling professionals to move large amounts of the Canon imagePRESS and the imagerunner 7110, 7125, 7138 and 7150. With very large quotas they gave us our lists and sent us out into the brave beyond. Little did they know in a few short months we would be purchased by Ricoh and the “heavy iron” from Canon would soon disappear.

Left with the now Kodak product and Konica Minolta product relabeled as IKON gear we went out into the world to find out that people were a bit spooky to buy from us. As everyone let the doom and gloom get to them they found themselves not looking forward to what could happen but what they thought would happen. They allowed their “filters” to get in the way of their possible success and forced a self fulfilling prophecy of doubt and unbelief. The doubt and unbelief led to many deals being lost and with it their self confidence.

Now deep into the merger I have nowhere to turn to but to move forward with our Ricoh gear and make the best of it. I have looked at the alternatives and they are not good.

* Xerox Corporation over the last 12 months

As you can see Xerox is not the place to run to.

* Canon Corporation over the last 12 months

And Canon isn’t the place to run to.

Well there are no GREAT places to go. I decided that it was better to sell Ricoh for IKON than take my chances riding a new horse. Xerox hasn’t changed much in their production gear in about 10 years. Still living in the decade of fuser oil and pushing old technology with updated firmware is not an attractive future. Canon on the other hand has upgraded their technology but lacks the organizational breadth. They also can not move quickly in the field, they do not empower their on the ground people to be able to make business decisions for them, and I cannot even imaging working for an undercapitalized dealer ever again.

One of the things that sets IKON aside is the support for the gear. With a very broad range of products that go way beyond the equipment we have the people in place to design, implement and support long term the solutions that companies need to solve their issues and accomplish their business objectives. Since I sell the "big iron" I would fall victim to failure without this type of indepth support and ability to make quick business decisions in the field. Now with the financial strength of a successful manufacturer that is committed to research and development of new and innovative production products along with the IKON service and support I have a winning team to play on.

With what probably is a stronger portfolio that we have ever had we walk around defeated like a tiger with no roar. Like commercial print is dead or something. I had a sales manager "get stuck" with the “print for pay” rep that would take over half of my old territory. Now an overlay to support more people and help justify my existence I am now working feverishly to handle down the street accounts, major accounts and print for pay and national franchise accounts.

“Michael, this is going to be an impossible position to fill.” He said. “Find me someone that isn’t scared to do cold calls and we will be fine”, I said. Almost a month later I ask him, “Hey where is my guy?” “Well I have 2 I’m looking at but you will have to talk to them.” As he shies away from wanting to half to sell the program to them, he asks if I will talk to them. When there are plenty of positions open why would anyone want that position? Well that is all in the way you position it I was thinking. “Do you think that you have a sellable program?” “Not only is it sellable, but it is a profitable one as well,” I added. “Well then you are going to need to talk to them” he said. I told him, “Fine bring them on.” I mentioned. Now what you have to know is that I am passionate about printing, and I love the silly process of putting marks on paper. So these guys were toast!

I sat down in the driver’s seat (manager’s chair) and he brought them in and introduced them to me. I explained the corporate initiative and how I became the GAR. I talked about the program and its goals. I talked about the transition and how we needed better coverage and penetration into these accounts. I talked about the struggle of all new business development and the excitement of large equipment deals. I talked about the complexity and negotiations needed to secure these high volume accounts. I went over how they would have to be the best of the best or find another position.

After the interview and presentation, I had 2 willing volunteers. The sales manager was amazed, but I was not. Who would not want to work with the pirate? Who would not want to follow someone that is hell bent to succeed and believes in the cause? I too have drunk the Kool-Aid and am ready to move on. I have no more time to look back and wish for different circumstances.

All I know is that I have Kodak and Ricoh products to sell and a lot of people buying stuff all the time and it needs to be my stuff. Eventually everyone will get on board or float away drifting into failure. I am sure that eventually we will see a new generation that never knew IKON selling Canon or never knew IKON selling Konica Minolta. Canon and Konica Minolta is going away but what is left is enough to be wildly successful. So here I stand looking in the mirror. What will I do?

Will I filter everything with my own thoughts and fears, or will I look at things from my customer’s perspective? Will I look at the backing that I have to make things right and the infrastructure that makes me unbeatable? We must wake up each day and look forward to the battle. If not it is time to choose a different war.

With Sword drawn I run to the fight,

Pirate Mike

*Charts came from MSN Money...

RiKON The Next Generation

It sounds a bit like an old Star Trek episode but really this is my life. With all of the instability in the world what could happen that would bring all the stars into alignment, fix the global economy and solve world hunger? How about Ricoh making a play for the largest independent distributor of office products and solutions maybe? Ok maybe not… So you think that you had it all figured out huh, Konica Minolta buys Danka, Xerox buys Global. And maybe since IKON was almost a billion dollars of Canon's yearly equipment revenue that they would forsake the path that they followed with Global Imaging and Danka; well you were wrong! I can remember it like it was yesterday, "No Canon will never cut IKON off, that is ludicrous." Much to IKON's and Ricoh's dismay, Canon did pull the plug and sent Ricoh (the father of a brand new baby) reeling looking for a new horse to ride for the high end color and black and white portion of IKON's production portfolio (a 25% share of IKON's revenue). Watching this unravel (from the inside) was enough to send you to the doctor looking for a well deserved prescription of Xanex. Well thank goodness for Ricoh's Kodak relationship now we can all rest easy right?


In a playing field that is less than well defined it is funny where new bed partners come from. Just picking up Kodak sounds good but is not that easy to implement especially over night. Kodak is a very high end and expensive digital press not just in up front acquisition costs but also in day to day operating costs not to mention that it requires a much more skilled operator to run and make repairs. IKON with all of its production experience isn't going to jump in and start doing service on the NexPRESS and service is where it is at in the business model of the office equipment world. So now what? Hmm, well maybe the new Hitachi technology that they have buried into their new flagship product the Ricoh Pro C900 (Digital Press, Production Copier – What do I call it?) will be enough to stave off the bitter reveling of Canon. Either way just putting the Kodak label on portfolio brochures is not going to stop the bleeding. Especially when you have cut a main artery like in the case of IKON and Canon. IKON sold about 60% Canon products in a very well defined market place where over the last years IKON went around buying up successful dealerships that were primarily Canon in nature.


So now the acquisition is over and we approach the first milestone. What is that you say? Well since you asked it is the beginning of Ricoh's new fiscal year of course. Here comes 2009 fast and furious. So what is in store for IKON in this broad new world of opportunity? Will they remain ran as an independent subsidiary? Will they get quickly absorbed into the belly of the beast? With the changing of the guard from a political standpoint and the evolution of our economy it is anyone's guess. As companies draw lines in the sand and build alliances with other competitors either by acquisition or by contract we start to see the battle grounds becoming more defined. Now that the great expansion is over and we see the number of competitors collapse into a 3 or 4 player race; we now are starting to see the mystery unfold.


The new mission of RiKON is to explore strange new worlds, seek out new life and new civilizations. In my humble opinion this new world of RiKON is very well positioned for the midterm play. Why midterm you ask? Because RiKON is a large organization and they really cannot move and adapt that quick. I watched the launch of the Canon imagePRESS both from the outside (small Canon dealer that was first to market with the imagePRESS in the country's 7^th largest print market and from the inside as a newly head hunted acquisition of IKON to their newly formed commercial print initiative (which was 6 months late to market) and watched IKON take quite a bit of time ramping the program up to the monster that it became. Between defining the goals of the organization and the tools to hand out along with push back from local operations and management it was amazing that the program lifted off at all. IKON has a way of taking strong salespeople and administrating them to death. I wonder daily how I ever find time for sales activities in the midst of my spreadsheets and conference calls. But they do have the momentum of figuring out how they want to position their "go to market strategy" though which still makes them very dangerous; much like a wounded water buffalo one must be ready to pull the trigger or get out of the way.


The imagePRESS's successor the Pro C900 is a Hitachi engine (obtained from the Ricoh purchase of Hitachi Printing Systems) with a Ricoh wrapper (fast plastic B2C look and feel). It has obvious Ricoh influences though, odd finishing configurations and odd substrate limitations that are very familiar with typical B2C products. Without time to finish the development Ricoh opted not to use a polymer toner but to use the old fashioned fuser oil process and the slow down the engines speed capability to build it to a price point. This fusing process is the one that we have over the years come to know and love. For the old timers this should bring back fond memories, as many have come to love the glossy, greasy get out your shammy cloth and buff the proof look. Outside of that, the engine has a very good color gamut (very similar to the imagePRESS) and has 8 bit color depth at the 600X600 dpi setting. (Unlike Canon's "multi bit" technology) The engine has remarkable front to back registration and clearly shows that Ricoh is "on to something." A very strong competitor to the Xerox Docucolor series it will challenge and even beat the imagePRESS where its few obvious weaknesses are not the main consideration. Upon a more detailed look the Hitachi influence is pretty obvious. The registration system is something that closer resembles something off of an offset press not a copier, and the systems that monitor quality are obvious improvements "not Ricoh." From beefed up rollers and mechanisims inside the outer wrapper is purely cosmetic. With expanded controller options in the near future and the ability to incorporate all of Ricoh's finishing options this will be a horse to ride in an economy where people want more for less and sellable is good enough.


With Ricoh moving into the production arena full steam, backing this movement not just with the acquisition but in a total refresh of IKON demo floors, infrastructure, finances and personnel. With strong incentives to stay and see the changes through RiKON is positioned themselves to make strong moves on Canon and Xerox as the new product takes hold in the market place. Also for those elite customers that need NexPRESS or Digimaster they will have that to choose from as well as the IBM infoprint roll to roll systems that at the moment is a joint venture soon to be another wholly owned subsidiary of Ricoh are also on the menu. Now with their PPBG (Ricoh production print business group) and IKON (a real production print equipment and solutions distribution system) Ricoh for the first time has some products to sell and a way to market and support them on a global basis.


How long will this take? My guess after watching the launch of the imagePRESS and seeing the state of the C900 today I am thinking that things will be in place to move forward for a strong play by Q3 or Q4 of Ricoh's 2009 fiscal. Also watch for a faster and a slower C900 along with firmware coming shortly to integrate all options on their mid volume line to fit the C900. This will give the C900 a dominant opportunity in the in plant and crd space given its specs and price point.


Where will it all fit in commercial print? We will have to see how everyone perceives the C900. With open houses going on around the country, and very critical trials being pursued as we speak; some of the country's largest buyers of digital printing equipment are trying this new Hitachi technology out. Once they make their decision we will have a clear idea of how well we are going to fare this round. Ricoh with enough stamina and finances to get through several boxing rounds gives me the impression that they will get to see the fulfillment of their new objective. "Become a player in the print for pay and high volume market." With Konica Minolta running tight on Ricoh's heels and niche players poised to be gobbled up by someone for example like Oce it is still anyone's race. And what if Xerox decides to drop this AP platform that is just an extension of worn out technology the race could renew yet again. Although pay close attention though as IKON restructures it may take the focus off of those that understand the production world (those that sold and serviced the Canon's) and replace them with new inexperienced followers of the Ricoh line (mfp, fax and b2c color devices) as part of a realignment that might make sense to someone that has been staring at spreadsheets too long.


It is hard to say how long Ricoh will allow the rogue IKON to continue selling multi brands and non focus products but it clear that nothing drastic is going to change in the short term. Everyone is still trying to convince themselves that it is "business as usual." And in an economic and political time like this makes this whole discussion even more interesting. Canon is still dizzy from trying to figure out how they are going to replace 400 locations and how much they are willing to drain out of their large cash reserves to "buy back" customers that chose Canon products and specifically picked IKON as their service provider; they have a tough row to hoe. If one looks at other mergers to glimmer a bit of history one remembers that Global did not lose the farm but instead grew their market share and did quite well after the Xerox acquisition. RiKON could very well come out stronger than ever. Unlike the Danka purchase by Konica Minolta. (I would guess that the danka.konicaminolta.us will quickly change to kmbs.konicaminolta.us as they have no need for the extra dead weight and reputation that Danka has earned over the years.)


I was there for the Minolta and Konica merger and survived it (2 President's Club Trips and 1 Circle of Excellence Trip) so I know how step children are treated. They are managed to success or simply managed out. With mostly the "Minolta Management Style" left they are a very shrewd and focused group led by a Konica visionary (Jun H.) they will drive hard till they reach their business objective which is to become a "Tier 1 Player." Konica Minolta will press on till they move over one of the Gartner's "4 leaders" or knock one out of the game completely. That was their new mantra as I left to chase the Canon imagePRESS product which now has done a vanishing act from my portfolio.


Gartner has Konica Minolta as a challenger and that they truly are. With a very different "to market approach" they are not part of the "leaders" group of thinking (Canon/Xerox/Ricoh/HP). They are very much out of the box and are non traditionalists that could become a wild card in this program; they are not to be taken lightly. With their 90 ppm engine to be out soon the playing ground will level once again and they will be competing from a position of strength stepping up from their current production platform which has done very well in office, in plant and print for pay markets (both commercial print and franchise print).


As I look at my options which are still considerable (enough to keep me with a headache all the time) I am not sure that I see a clear leader to "jump" to. I suspect that as I look at the different organizations that no one has a truly superior program to the one that IKON has put together and the one that RiKON has adopted. What I have seen is a clear indication from Japan that they intend to move into this brave new world that their direct group was unable to accomplish. Now with IKON in hand they can boldly go where they have never gone before.


So what does the future look like?


Muddy and troubled for everyone in this industry. But for those that are brave enough to stick out this new world of RiKON they will be quick to learn the new vision; we are on a 5 year mission to travel out to distant zip codes, and to seek out new customers, and to boldly sell what no one has sold before. We tip our hats to you Mr. C900 may your silicone oil flow through our veins and your "green" pulverized toner sustain us, and your plethora of finishing options take us to the promised land.


Amen


Just another personal opinion from Pirate "Big Iron" Mike…


(May the rate factor be with you and your credit analyst be "on vacation")