Print Analytics will be a Major Contributor to Success: Konica Minolta

Kuldeep Malhotra, Dy. Managing Director, Konica Minolta, India highlighted expertise in IT, print analytics, cloud printing, and sustainable practices as the four trends to strengthen the enterprise printing market in a brief conversation with Amit Singh. He also shared the company’s plans and vision over the next three years

Please give us a glimpse of India’s ongoing trends in enterprise printing solutions.

Expertise in IT will be the keyto moving ahead. As per industry research, businesses will favor IT service providers over traditional print suppliers by 2025. As such, the IT expertise of channel partners must be expanded, either by partnering with experienced IT service providers or organically. This would allow for access to a broader product portfolio like print security, as part of an overall managed security service offering.

In addition, print analytics will be a major contributor to success. As organizations look to keep up with the constantly changing post-pandemic landscape, robust print analytic solutions help them understand how the pandemic has impacted their office printing and adjust accordingly. Organizations will leverage actionable insights to identify outliers and cost savings opportunities. Businesses that take advantage of this data to optimize their print environment can remain efficient and ensure employees have the tools needed to stay productive.

Moreover, cloud printing will lead to cost-effective measures. This trend is utilized by quite a few business organizations. However, it’s still not utilized completely. This new technology is going to be adopted by more organizations, as it gives them the ability to use their tablet computers and smartphones for printing. The cloud printing services will allow your printers to connect to the cloud servers. When compared with buying expensive servers and resources, cloud printing is a cost-effective alternative.

Further, the print industry can’t go on without accepting the elephant in the room – environmental concerns. Sustainable printing practices earlier were optional. But with the rise in awareness among people and corporates, it has become necessary. Many companies have already initiated low-carbon printing. This is an initiative taken to reduce the impact on the environment. The industry has started leveraging sustainable methods like LED UV printing, digital printing, and recycled paper. 

Please talk about the USPs of the brand and how Konica Minolta adds value to the enterprise printingsegment.

Konica Minolta India has a market legacy of almost 150 years and a worldwide presence spanning over 150 international markets. We are specialized in the field of enterprise printing solutions and enterprise content management space. Since our presence in India for the last 11 years, we have been catering to a wide range of printing and document solutions requirements for Indian corporate customers.

Our multifunctional devices are intuitive, cost-effective, and cater to a wide range of business needs. The open API platform allows you to manage your print production, account tracking, and more.

In addition, we have continued investing in innovation in diverse fields like advanced monitoring, digital manufacturing, and smart workplaces and also working in the analytics and deep learning space for the society 5.0 transformation.

We offer Intelligent Connected Workplace (ICW) Services to the customers to bring efficiency in the utilization of the print resources while managing the complexity arising from a multitude of user requirements, with the result being not merely a reduction in the print costs but also an increase in user productivity with enhanced security and sustainability benefits.

What are your top focus areas and plans over the next couple of years?

We holdthe second position in the Office Product segment with a market share of 24 percent in FY2020-21. In the current fiscal, for the 1st quarter (AMJ2022) we have captured a 17 percent market share. We foresee continuing our current strategies to expand Konica Minolta’s presence in managed content services and solutions domains while gaining a share in the core MFP.

Further,Konica Minolta India has 150+ partners from across geographies. We are driving various partner engagement activities during the course of the year to strengthen our relationship. We have the vision to reach Rs 1000 crore revenue by 2025.