DIGITAL PRINTING
Kuldeep Malhotra – ‘ Short-run print got a boost during the pandemic ’
Reassuring toner situation for Konica Minolta customers in India
SHARDUL SHARMA
We have been asking Konica Minolta India for a response regarding the toner supply situation consequent to the fire and explosion in the toner factory in Tatsuno Japan in July and August , respectively . Kuldeep Malhotra deputy managing director and director ( board of directors ) at Konica Minolta Business Solutions India told Indian Printer and Publisher .
Kuldeep Malhotra responded on 11 October 2021 saying , “ It is true that we had an accident at our factory where toner is being produced . The investigation is concluded for ascertaining the reason for fire at our factory . We are trying to get back to work very soon . The factory will start production from the mid of October . For the Indian market , we don ’ t have many challenges since we carry enough stock to cater to the needs of the Indian market for the coming months . We are comfortable and will continue to cater to the requirement of our customers .”
In an earlier interview or series of comments to the industry about the digital print business situation in the country , Malhotra said , “ The Covid- 19 pandemic has given a push to short-run print jobs as most print businesses went digital during the pandemic and printers are now thinking seriously to have in house digital printing options . It will be around for the foreseeable future , and it is important for brands who want to thrive in these unchartered waters . Digital printing has been able to cater to the requirements of the printers during the lockdown and customers are now thinking seriously to have in-house digital printing options .”
Malhotra added that automation and Industry 4.0 will pick up further and are in fact together significant drivers behind today ' s rapid digitization being witnessed worldwide and across different industries .
“ These tools will sync demand in the print sector with print production workflows , making it compatible with enterprise functions of end customers . Even at Konica Minolta , we have followed the same approach by developing various workflow configurations to create a synergy between production workflow and enterprise workflow ,” he said .
Impact of the pandemic
After the pandemic knocked down the world , a few of the company ’ s customers managed to receive the certification of essential services from government agencies . These documents helped Konica Minolta India to deliver spare parts and other vital items to customers from warehouses . This is how the company addressed customer issues that called for physical visits apart from online assistance .
“ We also leveraged digital marketing initiatives to spread awareness around the new technology developments and applications we adopted . For instance , we started hosting customer webinars to give them demos on new products and their installations . Another interesting example would be our online mobile app that enabled customers to log a service request , which successfully ensured fast and seamless operations during the pandemic ,” Malhotra said .
A lot of Konica Minolta India ’ s operations went online during the pandemic , be it sales , service , business development , or even financial transactions . Thanks to tools like Zoom and Microsoft Teams that made the transition smooth .
“ We also leveraged social media platforms like Facebook , LinkedIn , Twitter , and WhatsApp to drive brand communication mainly around technological advancements happening at Konica Minolta and thus educate customers accordingly . The company also took the initiative and brought in a new tool AIRe Link as Virtual Remote Support for the service engineers to support the customer wherever required ,” he added .
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Indian Printer & Publisher | 1 November 2021