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Who was acquired, who was hired, and a service manager salary survey were some of the month’s highlights
We are getting a head start on the holiday weekend with our monthly recap of the hottest news stories of the month as seen on thecannatareport.com.
The month of August saw some personnel changes, candid commentary from Frank Cannata in his Frankly Speaking column, the latest salary survey findings from Copier Careers, and a slew of acquisitions.
As we typically do, let’s begin our recap with the acquisitions.
Big buy for Oval: Oval Partners, a San Francisco-based, multi-family office private equity firm, acquired CBE Office Solutions, an office technology provider based in Southern California. Read more.
Kelley buys three: Kelley Imaging Systems announced its expanded market reach in Montana through the acquisition of three dealers; Mountain West Office Solutions of Helena and Billings, Copier Doctors of Butte, and Valley Business Systems of Polson. Read more.
Ricoh finalizes acquisition: Ricoh completed the acquisition of DocuWare. Headquartered in Germany and the United States, DocuWare provides cloud and on-premise document management and workflow automation software. The acquisition is part of Ricoh’s strategy to develop its digital workplace transformation offering and will see DocuWare operate as a subsidiary of Ricoh. Read more.
Marco Technologies grows: Marco Technologies announced its acquisition of the customer base of Executive Technologies, a copier/printer and IT services company located in Iowa. Marco’s sales and service team will continue to serve and support Executive Technologies’ clients from its current locations in Sioux City, Mason City, and Des Moines. The company has six locations throughout Iowa. Read more.
Hendrix expands: Hendrix Business Systems (HBS) has acquired Nimble Technologies of Charlotte, NC. The acquisition is a strategic maneuver to further increase HBS’ market presence in North and South Carolina. Read more.
Sharp buys: Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America’s direct sales division, Sharp Business Systems (SBS), has acquired the assets of select locations of Texas Document Solutions, expanding its direct sales operations in the state of Texas. Read more.
Change at the top at HP: In a month of surprising personnel announcements, HP Inc. dropped a bombshell on August 22 when it announced that its board of directors has unanimously appointed Enrique Lores, currently President of HP’s Imaging, Printing and Solutions business, to succeed Dion Weisler as the company’s President and CEO, effective November 1. Weisler’s decision to step down at this time is due to a family health matter and he will be returning home to Australia. Read more.
From Frankly Speaking: In a surprising move, EFI announced on Tuesday, August 13, the appointment of industry veteran Jeff Jacobson as its new CEO. He replaces Bill Muir who has elected to step down. Jacobson brings 30 years of experience to the table and has had a long-time relationship with former EFI CEO Guy Gecht. It was obvious to this observer that Bill Muir was not going to cut it at EFI. While Muir had an excellent reputation, his lack of knowledge of the print world was a distinct disadvantage. Read more.
From Frankly Speaking: We all know what is going on in the imaging industry. The A3 MFP segment is taking the hardest hits in erosion in volume and price. That is the core of the independent dealer’s business. We also know it is not going to change. When we visited Japan last year the message was clear. “We need to find alternatives for the use of our imaging products.” The term, “Smart Office,” came up at three different companies and certainly, that makes sense. However, is that enough? We don’t think so. Allow me to take a little different approach. The Cannata Report is our business and we need to make investments that ensure our profitability and sustainability. As the founder of this company, I have never been more positive about what we need to do and why. Read more.
Copier Careers Service Managers Salary Survey: Service managers are mostly satisfied with their compensation but less satisfied with their jobs, according to the 2019 Service and Operations Manager Salary Survey from Copier Careers, a recruiting firm focused exclusively on the copier channel. More than half, 56%, reported they are “satisfied” with their overall compensation. The survey also found a modest increase in base salary for service and operations managers, with total compensation increased to just under $119,000, on average. Read more.
New Ricoh USA headquarters: Ricoh USA, Inc. announced the culmination of a multi-year investment in its own digital workplaces across the U.S., unveiling two new facilities, including a new U.S. headquarters. These new facilities will be equipped with Ricoh’s next-generation collaboration and productivity solutions, such as unified communications systems (UCS), intelligent multifunction printers (MFPs), interactive flat panel displays (IFPDs) and projectors. As part of this long-term strategy to update and modernize Ricoh offices across the country, Ricoh’s U.S. headquarters will move eight miles down the road to Exton, Pennsylvania, and the company’s West Caldwell, New Jersey, location will move to nearby Parsippany, demonstrating an ongoing commitment to both local areas. Read more.
2019 Dealer Tour: In advance of the October 2019 Dealer Tour coverage of our visit to Applied Imaging, we present a short snapshot of our meeting with President John Lowery and his team. Read more.
Canon Office of the Future Survey: We didn’t need a Canon survey to tell us that cyber threats are an ongoing problem. This is an issue that’s become increasingly prevalent in today’s workplaces and in our everyday lives. Still, Canon’s Office of the Future survey is timely in that it validates what’s happening and also underscores the necessity for dealers to examine ways they can assist customers in reducing those threats. While the Canon Office of the Future survey might be interpreted as a marketing tool for Canon products and solutions, let’s check our cynicism at the door, and look beyond the marketing, and consider the significance of these findings. Read more.
Katun Hires: Katun Corporation has announced that Ronald Petrucci has been promoted to general manager of Katun’s North America Business Unit. In his new role at Katun, Petrucci will be directly responsible for all North America sales and marketing channels, including Katun’s Office Equipment and Office Supply Channel efforts. Read more.
New RISO inkjets: RISO announced the launch of VALEZUS, a new brand of high-speed inkjet printers for the production printing market. RISO will start with successive rollouts worldwide of the new brand’s first product, the VALEZUS T2100, a high-speed, 320-page-per-minute (320-ppm) cut-sheet printer. Read more.
New Sharp MFPs: Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America has announced 11 new Advanced and Essentials Series workgroup MFPs, as well as two new Advanced Series desktop MFPs for the technology-driven workplace. All the new models are built using Sharp’s latest controller technology and share Sharp’s touchscreen display, common across 30+ models in the lineup. Read more.
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