Konica Minolta & Heidelberg Announce Distribution Sales Agreement in Australia
Heidelberg Australia and New Zealand (HAN) has entered into the
digital arena following the announcement at the IPEX exhibition in
May that it has been appointed as the distributor of Konica
Minolta's digital presses to the sheetfed offset market in
Australia.
This makes HAN the first sales and service unit in the Heidelberg world to re-enter the digital arena.
Under this exclusive sales agreement, Heidelberg will promote and sell the Konica Minolta range of bizhub digital presses into the commercial sheetfed Australian market. Konica Minolta will provide all post sales technical support though its Australian network of six state offices and 90 regional dealers.
This makes HAN the first sales and service unit in the Heidelberg world to re-enter the digital arena.
Under this exclusive sales agreement, Heidelberg will promote and sell the Konica Minolta range of bizhub digital presses into the commercial sheetfed Australian market. Konica Minolta will provide all post sales technical support though its Australian network of six state offices and 90 regional dealers.
Andy Jensen, HAN Managing Director said, "I am extremely
pleased with this appointment. Increasingly our customers are
looking for a broader range of options to satisfy their
ever-changing customer requirements. We considered and evaluated
our options and found Konica Minolta the perfect fit in Australia,
not only as it concerns quality of equipment, product range and
service offering, but equally as it relates to Konica Minolta
having a 'can do' attitude and fantastic people within their
organisation.
Konica Minolta's digital presses are designed to meet the stringent requirements of the commercial offset and high volume digital environment. We are confident that the Konica Minolta portfolio will complement and sit well alongside our Speedmaster range, particularly our Anicolor technology, and Konica Minolta will provide our customers with the appropriate choice and flexibility allowing them to build their business platform and extend more services to their customers. The fact that Konica Minolta also work closely with Kodak allows for some unique and wonderful synergies and opportunities for all three companies to work closely together in Australia."
Mr Hiro Kaji, Managing Director Konica Minolta Business Solutions Australia, said: "We are honoured that a company of Heidelberg's reputation recognises the potential of our machines and I am confident we together will make the bizhub range the household name and Australian market leader within the commercial sheetfed Australian market."
Konica Minolta's digital presses are designed to meet the stringent requirements of the commercial offset and high volume digital environment. We are confident that the Konica Minolta portfolio will complement and sit well alongside our Speedmaster range, particularly our Anicolor technology, and Konica Minolta will provide our customers with the appropriate choice and flexibility allowing them to build their business platform and extend more services to their customers. The fact that Konica Minolta also work closely with Kodak allows for some unique and wonderful synergies and opportunities for all three companies to work closely together in Australia."
Mr Hiro Kaji, Managing Director Konica Minolta Business Solutions Australia, said: "We are honoured that a company of Heidelberg's reputation recognises the potential of our machines and I am confident we together will make the bizhub range the household name and Australian market leader within the commercial sheetfed Australian market."
The HAN Sales Team has been fully trained on the products of Konica
Minolta, and HAN Account Manager Ricky Bannister from Melbourne
says he is excited about the prospect of having a new range of
presses to offer the company's customers. "Our whole sales team is
really looking forward to the expanded range of products we can
offer to our customers. Digital is an area which, so far, we have
not been able to work into our recommendations when we are
presenting new equipment options to customers. Now we have another
string to our bow, so to speak.
Our ultimate goal is to have successful customers who can grow their businesses, so anything which supports this objective is always taken up with great enthusiasm. I believe there is a need for digital presses alongside offset in most print shops so that our customers can capture the very short run work not viable on an offset press. I can't wait to get out there are start talking about digital."
He adds, "Heidelberg is a solution provider and digital production is now another solution we can work into a customer's production plan. Before we entered into the sales arrangement with Konica Minolta I had already heard about the quality of their equipment and customer support. I believe they are the best partner for us in the digital arena. I'm also impressed by the growth of the company into the digital production market over the past few years. They are making a strong impression and in that sense as well, I feel they are the right sort of company to be aligned with."
The recruitment process has already begun at HAN to employ two digital product drivers - one each for the northern and southern regions. With the sales team educated and keen to get out selling digital solutions to customers HAN General Manager Sales & Marketing, Alastair Hadley, reflects on HAN's proactive approach to changing market conditions. He says, "Our entry into the digital market has always been about adapting our business model to a changing market. Key to our success is the ability to understand what our customers need and want in order to grow their own businesses, and it's essential to our survival and theirs that we can be flexible in the solutions we can offer customers. Our market has consolidated quite a lot over the past few years, but those customers who are still in business are for the most part doing very well and doing business the 'right way'. HAN intends to continue taking that journey with its customers with new products in its portfolio, as well as gaining new customers in the digital market."
Our ultimate goal is to have successful customers who can grow their businesses, so anything which supports this objective is always taken up with great enthusiasm. I believe there is a need for digital presses alongside offset in most print shops so that our customers can capture the very short run work not viable on an offset press. I can't wait to get out there are start talking about digital."
He adds, "Heidelberg is a solution provider and digital production is now another solution we can work into a customer's production plan. Before we entered into the sales arrangement with Konica Minolta I had already heard about the quality of their equipment and customer support. I believe they are the best partner for us in the digital arena. I'm also impressed by the growth of the company into the digital production market over the past few years. They are making a strong impression and in that sense as well, I feel they are the right sort of company to be aligned with."
The recruitment process has already begun at HAN to employ two digital product drivers - one each for the northern and southern regions. With the sales team educated and keen to get out selling digital solutions to customers HAN General Manager Sales & Marketing, Alastair Hadley, reflects on HAN's proactive approach to changing market conditions. He says, "Our entry into the digital market has always been about adapting our business model to a changing market. Key to our success is the ability to understand what our customers need and want in order to grow their own businesses, and it's essential to our survival and theirs that we can be flexible in the solutions we can offer customers. Our market has consolidated quite a lot over the past few years, but those customers who are still in business are for the most part doing very well and doing business the 'right way'. HAN intends to continue taking that journey with its customers with new products in its portfolio, as well as gaining new customers in the digital market."
