Rising Star at KYOCERA Document Solutions tapped to lead the company’s transition into solutions, services, and production.
(Pictured above: Oscar Sanchez, new president & CEO of KYOCERA Document Solutions America, Inc.)
KYOCERA Document Solutions America, Inc., has announced that effective September 1, 2018, Oscar Sanchez will become its president & Chief Executive Officer. Sanchez will be transitioning from his current position as executive vice president of KYOCERA Document Solutions Europe. Current KYOCERA Document Solutions America President Yukio Ikeda will remain in the U.S., continuing in an executive role.
“Under Mr. Ikeda’s leadership, the Americas continued to experience strong growth,” said Norihiko Ina, president of KYOCERA Document Solutions Corporation. “As markets evolve, as our business grows in new ways, we must add new strengths. Mr. Sanchez offers a unique skill set within our company.”
Oscar Sanchez earned an International MBA in Marketing at the Instituto de Empresa during which he spent the final semester studying at the UCLA Anderson School of Management. He started at Kyocera in 1996 and by 2002 had risen to General Manager of KYOCERA Document Solutions Spain, delivering the highest revenue in the company’s history and increasing profits over 1,000%. Sanchez then took on the additional responsibilities for Business Development throughout Europe, eventually relocating to the Netherlands to head both the Corporate Sales Division and Marketing Division as executive vice president of KYOCERA Document Solutions Europe.
In Spain and throughout Europe, Sanchez is known to challenge the status quo, to continuously search for opportunities to innovate, and to deliver exceptional results in major strategic initiatives.
“Oscar is a dynamic individual,” said Ikeda. “I look forward to working with him to build on the success we’ve had in the Americas.”
In the last 2½ years, Ikeda presided over major advancements, most notably the acquisition of DataBank IMX, North America’s leading end-to-end business process solutions provider. Ikeda invested heavily in support of the company’s independent dealer partners, rolling out the industry’s most advanced dealer portal, and dramatically increasing dealer adoption of KYOCERA Fleet Services, the company’s remote monitoring service. Usage in the U.S. has outpaced the rest of the world by a wide margin.
Sanchez understands that the road ahead is not fully paved. The Americas represent a number of rapidly expanding and rapidly changing markets, including the U.S., the world’s biggest market. Success in the years ahead will only result from further accelerating the pace of innovation.
“At each stage of my career, I’ve embraced the next challenge,” said Sanchez. “The Americas are our company’s biggest market, and therefore both our biggest challenge and biggest opportunity. The expectation is to do great things. That’s exactly what I plan to do.”
Scott’s Upshot
We didn’t see this coming. It seems to be an unprecedented move and one driven by Kyocera’s latest strategic initiatives as it transitions from a provider of traditional MFP and print technology into a provider of technology, solutions, services, and now production print. The powers that be must have decided they needed someone with strengths in those areas, or at least a different mindset, to lead the company’s U.S. operations during this critical transition, or transformational phase, if you will. Worth noting is that Kyocera went to Europe rather than Japan to fill that role. We at The Cannata Report are happy to learn that Mr. Ikeda will be remaining here in the U.S. assisting Mr. Sanchez. It’s been a pleasure getting to know Mr. Ikeda since he’s been in that role and we look forward to continuing to work closely with him and Mr. Sanchez in the future.
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