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BUSINESS & MANAGEMENT
BUSINESS & MANAGEMENT
Managed Print Services
Managed Print Services
Interview with Ikuo Nakagawa
President, Konica Minolta Business Solutions Europe
Ahead of the game
Managed Print Services is increasingly becoming a
full-service data industry. Key player Konica Minolta is
committed to leading the way in this period of transition
In today’s increasingly digital age, it’s becoming
ever more important for companies to adapt
their business practices accordingly. Having an
efficient system in place can help simplify and
speed up basic processes, saving both time and
money. Tokyo-based technology firm Konica
Minolta offers a solution, with a unique Managed Print Services (MPS) model and a broad
portfolio of services that covers everything
from consulting right through to implementation. Catering to a diverse range of clients in 41
different countries across Europe and beyond,
the company offers tailor-made solutions with
the aim of improving efficiency and helping
businesses become more sustainable. European CEO spoke to the company’s President,
Ikuo Nakagawa.
How does MPS fit in with the rest of
Konica Minolta’s business?
By optimising printing, MPS forms the basic
foundation for Konica Minolta. However,
printing is now just one component part of a
whole document process, so companies need
to digitise and face up to major challenges
such as big data, the cloud and an increasingly
mobile workforce.
This is significant; given 90 percent of all
corporate information assets are held in documents, the costs associated with insufficient
document management can be substantial.
Surveys show 7.5 percent – or one in 14 – of
corporate documents go missing every year,
and knowledge workers can spend up to 50
percent of their time searching for specific
content items.
40 | EUROPEANCEO
What differentiates Konica Minolta from
others in the MPS industry?
Last year, US IT research company Gartner
named Konica Minolta a leader in their Magic
Quadrant for Managed Print and Content Services, which is a guide for organisations looking
for MPS providers.
In 2010, Konica Minolta started expanding
its Optimised Printing Services (OPS) initiatives globally, and the company has now served
more than 6,000 corporations worldwide. We
have also introduced project management
offices and specialised teams at our regional
operations, to provide support to clients looking
to optimise their business processes.
We are passionate about creating strategies that lessen the need for printing, while
reducing operational expenses and providing
access to information as effectively as possible.
The combined offering of our OPS, MCS and
IMS services allows us to architect, implement and manage end-to-end solutions in a
cost-effective manner while supporting our
customers along the way.
Konica Minolta can also analyse processes
and implement solutions specifically for SMEs.
We have a diverse array of clients of different
sizes, from SMEs to global players, including automobile manufacturers, logistics companies, pharmaceutical companies and the
hospitality sector.
How important is sustainability in the
company’s strategy?
Konica Minolta’s management philosophy is
‘the creation of new value’ and it’s rooted in the
Konica Minolta is
helping to simplify
everyday processes
for businesses
core of our company. We take a comprehensive approach when it comes to sustainability,
incorporating stakeholders into our mission.
We recently received the RobecoSAM Gold
Class Award for being the MFP market leader
in terms of sustainability. We also feature on
the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index and
the FTSE4Good Global Index, and have been
awarded the Blue Angel Mark and EPEAT
Gold status.
We also go beyond environmental sustainability, encouraging young people to start their
own businesses. That has led us to become a
Global Partner of Pioneers, a platform that
encourages startup businesses across the continent. We also sponsor CNN Heroes, a programme that supports social entrepreneurship.
These estimates were used to determine
our Eco Vision 2050 target of an 80 percent
reduction in lifecycle CO2 emissions by 2050
(compared to the level of emissions in 2005).
As part of the programme, we are also focusing
on preserving biodiversity, promoting recycling and ensuring efficient use of the Earth’s
resources. We have broken these goals down
into tangible objectives in our medium-term
environmental plan for 2015, which includes
measures to prevent global warming and reduce
the risk of chemical substances. As part of our
medium-term plan for 2016, we aim to reduce
product lifecycle CO2 emissions by 40 percent from 2005 levels. We have already made
substantial progress, achieving a 54.5 percent
reduction between 2005 and 2013.
What are Konica Minolta’s long-term
environmental goals?
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change, greenhouse gas emissions in
2004 were 7.66t-CO2 per person per year. It’s
estimated the amount the Earth will be able
to absorb in 2050 is 80 percent less than that.
What are the company’s biggest
achievements to date?
Konica Minolta is helping to simplify everyday processes for businesses while making work life more enjoyable. We have also
made groundbreaking innovations in other
fields, for example by developing the world’s
first organic light emitting diode panel to be
made using only phosphorescent materials,
which uses significantly less electricity than
conventional lighting.
We developed the technology used to
take the first ever Earth pictures from space
(the Minolta Hi-Matic, during John Glenn’s
Mercury Friendship 7 space flight in 1962).
We’ve made substantial developments since
then, including a special type of film that
increases the viewing angle of LCD screens
for use with TVs, PCs, smartphones and other
devices. Our pick-up lenses are now used in
almost all Blu-ray and DVD players. We have
created materials to improve safety in cars,
and thermal insulation in buildings. Our
innovation extends to the healthcare sector,
with products designed to help medical professionals. We created a device that lowers
X-ray radiation exposure to patients (known as
AeroDR) and in 2005 we released the first
mammograph to use phase contrast technology.
In 2002, we developed Simitri – the world’s
first polymerised biomass toner. The product is both economical and environmentally
beneficial, reducing CO2 and NOx emissions
by up to 40 percent. We have received recognition for these achievements: in 1992, Konica
Minolta became the first company in the world
to receive a Blue Angel mark in the field of
copying, and in 2013 we became the first of
those using laser-based MFPs to receive the
new Blue Angel Mark covering newly revised
criteria (RAL-UZ 171).
What are Konica Minolta’s ambitions
for the future?
Our fundamental goal is to anticipate our clients’ needs and turn their ideas into reality, by
delivering innovative and meaningful solutions
that contribute to a better future.
We involve our clients in current developments that affect the market and provide
them with tailored, end-to-end solutions. Our
services, from consulting to implementation
and management, cover the whole spectrum
of business technology needs. Konica Minolta
wants to give shape to people’s ideas, thoughts
and concepts. For us, it is vital to not only
understand our clients’ technology needs but
to help businesses develop in the most effective
ways possible.
Konica Minolta has proven it can be as
nimble as a startup, even though it builds on 140
years of tradition. We are especially proud of
what we have achieved in Europe since Konica
and Minolta merged just over 10 years ago and
we hope to continue with those achievements
in the future. n
EUROPEANCEO
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