Office Document Strategies Blog

There was a time when just getting a printed page from computer output was seen as a fantastic feat and how long it took to do so really was okay as long as it happened.  The glory dark ages of printing and computer generated output are long over and today people expect almost instant output when they hit the print button.

Until the development of 3D Printing when someone talked about printing we all understood it was a two dimensional output, black or coloured toner on a flat piece of paper.  

With the development of 3D printing and its rapid advancement into using many different types of raw product for the printing of three dimensional objects the technology has been pretty revolutionary for all kinds of fields.  One of these is the automobile field, especially for the production of one off parts.

In a recent video I saw produced in Jay Leno's garage a famous place to anyone who has an interest in automobiles he describes how they have used 3D printing to produce parts for cars at the extremes of his collection.  In one case it is product for a 100 year old early generation electric car and in another parts for a special one off concept car that they created.

People who are fans of the movie "Office Space" remember the scene where three of the players take the printer out to the field and beat it to death because it keeps giving an paper jam error even when there is no paper jam.

One of the infrequent tasks that every organization faces at  some point is buying or leasing a new print device.  Often someone just says, 'order one like the one we have now".  Of course since print devices tend to last for some time the one you have now may no longer be in the market and it may not really be the right fit for your current needs.  Here are a few of the key decisions you need to consider BEFORE you place that order. 

When 3D printing was first talked about what we saw was neat production of small plastic parts that might be used to assembly a toy, a display or some sort of interesting art object. Today this type of use is become pretty mainstream with small 3D printers being introduced for home or office use either for educational benefit or for design display. 

Just about a month ago HP and Samsung announced a deal that will see HP acquiring Samsung's printer business which is said to be about $1.8 billion US annually.  It appears that after many years producing print products as an OEM supplier and then a few years doing so under its own name Samsung has decided that it should focus on other aspects of its electronic industry.  

In the announcement HP has said this is the largest print related purchase that it has ever made.

HP has long used Canon engines for many of its laser printers and with this deal it gains the potential to move much of its engine production and R&D to the Samsung based designs.

I observe that it is only a few years that Samsung has been producing and selling its own brand of A3 (traditional 11 x 17 copier sized) products and it may be access to this area is one of the keys for HP.  Over the past ten years or so HP has struggled trying to find a fit with multifunction printer devices under its brand which can take control of the office print market like they have successfully done with their laser printer models which are primarily A4 (letter/legal) sized.

By acquiring Samsung they instantly obtain a recognized set of full bore A3 office multifunction devices in both colour and mono which can be branded HP and could complement other units in their offerings.  For those dealers which have been selling Samsung equipment it presents a bit of a challenge, but not one they will not have handled before.  Potentially they may have a broader set of options presented as HP fills out the line.  For most they will be dual branded and will have another line to use to fulfill customer needs.

Industry Changes Ongoing

This acquisition is just another step in a steady shift in the print market as the volume of paper changes and the moves to a more electronic or digital document world continue.

Konica Minolta was created through the merger of two separate brands in 2003.  Ricoh has built up its operations through a string of brand purchases over the years, Ricoh acquired Savin, Gestetner, Lanier, Rex-Rotary, Monroe, Nashuatec, IKON and most recently IBM Printing Systems Division / Infoprint Solutions Company.