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SMART PRINT
Steven Swift
Everyone
in the print
industry is
coming to
terms with
the fact that
print volumes
really are in
decline, at
least in the
office
A first observation was that
Samsung appeared to be the only
exhibitor in this vast hall talking
about print solutions, and certainly
the only representative of the
major printer OEMs with a stand
there. That may say something
about Samsung’s different
approach to linking print and
workplace solutions, which reflects
their heritage in mobile technology.
That is not to say that other
printer OEMs are not developing
apps to manage workplace
solutions, but the fact that none
of them chose to exhibit at Apps
World may hint at their view of
apps as add-ons to their hardware,
rather than the key element in their
proposition to customers, which is
how Samsung sees Apps – with the
added advantage that theirs are
based on the ubiquitous Android
mobile platform.
A bit of background. By now
everyone in the print industry is
coming to terms with the fact that
print volumes really are in decline,
at least in the office, and that this
is being driven primarily by the
digitisation of workflows.
As an interesting aside, the entry
into the workplace of millennials,
who have grown up with screens,
was thought likely to herald a
generational change, driving down
print volumes further and faster, but
that, at least for now, seems not
to be the case. A recent InfoTrends
report included research showing
that 18-29 year old office workers
had an equal, if not slightly higher,
preference for paper documents
than their older colleagues.
Nevertheless, print volumes as
a whole are going down and that is
squeezing revenue and margins for
both printer OEMs and their channel
partners.
So one of the hottest topics of
discussion throughout the industry
is how to replace those lost print
revenues, with a lot of attention
focusing on workflow solutions
and apps, to try to get a share
of the growing digital activity. A
central element in this thinking
has been how to redefine and
broaden the role of the office MFP,
to leverage not only its printing
and scanning functionalities, but
also its processing power and
connectivity, to make it into a hub
for communications and workflow
management.
HP has long talked about the
MFP as the on-ramp for office
documents, and has built on this
idea to develop a range of workflow
solutions targeting vertical market
segments. This year has seen
major announcements from Konica
Minolta, with their new concept of
the Workplace Hub, and Xerox, with
its launch of the new VersaLink
and AltaLink product families with
Connect Key technology to facilitate
workflow management, and the
development of apps to support this.
Big changes
To succeed in capturing a bigger
share of workflows and associated
revenues, the print industry needs
to take account of some of the big
changes taking place in the office
and the way people work.
First among these is the growing
importance of Mobility. For many
workers, gone are the days when
they went to the same desk in the
same office every day. More and
more people spread their work
among multiple locations, including
home and while they are travelling.
To do this, they need technology that
works equally well wherever they
are, including the ability to share
information and print documents
while they are on the move. Mobile
A briefing with Brent Richtsmeier, Samsung’s VP of Solutions and Mobility,
at Apps World, XLR8 at Excel London gave Steven Swift the opportunity to
find out more about Samsung’s vision for the connected workplace. Here, he
shares his thoughts on how apps are redefining the role of the office MFP
Smart Printing for the
Connected Workplace
printing, which started slowly, now
seems to be really taking off.
Linked to this is the growing
requirement to use the same
devices and technology everywhere,
for personal as well as work
purposes. People will no longer
accept that they have to switch to a
different device or technology when
they move from home to office.
This applies to smart phones and
tablets, which are at the centre of
almost everything people do, but
also extends to other devices and
functionalities, including printers
– and this will broaden to include
many more types of device as the
Internet of Things becomes a reality.
Demand for customisation
This is driving the next big change
in the way we work, which is the
growing demand for customisation
and the flexibility for workers to
adapt and personalise their own
devices and technologies for work
purposes as well as their personal
communications. The obvious and
most common way of personalising
devices is through the development
and installation of apps.
For this to succeed will require
apps that can readily be adapted to
work across multiple platforms and
tailored to meet individual users’
needs. It will no longer suffice to
produce standard apps that work
on only one
type of device
or operating
system.
This
goes to the
heart of the
Samsung
proposition
for the
connected
workplace.
As the world
leader in
mobile
technology,
it is perhaps
uniquely
well placed to
