Innovating the Future

The printing and imaging industry are facing drastic change. On one hand, the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) is delivering waves of technological change that result in both challenges and opportunities for enterprising businesses by opening new markets, business models, products, and services.

Adding to the complexity of the operating environment is the private sector needing to play a pivotal role in helping to combat climate change, through considered actions and their environmental impact, and the need to mitigate the effects of the climate change.

Another massive catalyst for change has been the Coronavirus pandemic that greatly accelerated the pace of technological adoption and digital transformation amongst all organisations. In barely a year, workstyles have changed dramatically; remote working is no longer an occasional exception for a few, but a regular reality for many. It is unthinkable that office printing volumes will ever return to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels.

Rethink processes and reimaging service delivery to serve customers better

Surviving the tsunami of change and thrive thereafter, will require the power of rethinking from organisations. Now, more than ever companies are working closer with customers in order to identify their immediate issues and opportunities. This creates the opportunity to derive genuine new value for customers, as the talented teams rethink challenges from the ground up.

There are regular, ground-breaking developments and new everyday applications in IoT technologies. Machine Learning and AI can deliver quantifiable improvements in real workflows. The power of data will transform the networked landscape ahead of us at every turn, creating remarkable new applications that may be unimaginable today.

Brands such as Konica Minolta have been at the forefront of imagining innovation for almost 150 years, but in order to stay at the top and continue to lead from the front, the business needs to become capable of proposing advanced insights and solutions to customers' challenges.

To be able to do so, the company will continue to operate as both a manufacturer engaged in the production of devices and products, and a provider of services and solutions. It will transition away from the traditional approach to both these fields, while heading into the interconnected IoT age.
 
 
Doing so is more important than ever, as the world enters a new paradigm, within which rich abundance is achieved through personalisation and diversification. Organisations and individuals create many forms of value by leveraging the explosive growth in data and then converting that data into actionable insights for their customers.

Achieving these lofty goals, will enable businesses to offer high added-value services, while providing trustworthy delivery, which will pave the road for achieving success in a post-pandemic, 4IR-enabled operating environment.