Forecasting the Future of Service: Looking at Changes Needed for Success

Over the last couple of years, I’ve spent time with some of the best-known consultants and analysts in our industry, both in person and through attending the training and webinars they produce. In off-the-record comments, the most-common fear about the industry and financial models we know today is that they have a limited lifetime left. On a webinar recently, I asked the presenter what the changes he described would do to the service model we use today, and he said that things would be okay for the next four to five years.

There are several challenges facing service that are starting to impact our industry now, and they will continue to accelerate in the future. Let’s take a look at some of them and what we can do to protect our businesses.

Declining Print Volume

While there is generally fluctuation from year to year, the overall trend in printing is down in most segments of our industry. The only segment that shows real growth is in the high-volume and industrial print segments. This growth exists because the digital presses are taking the output from the traditional offset market. 

Billing Model Changes

The current cost-per-page contract is on its way out. Manufacturers and many dealers are switching to a flat monthly rate per machine, a concept known by several different names: Seat-Based Billing (SBB), One Rate, and Imaging Device as a Service (IDaaS). All of these are monthly flat-rate billing programs for devices and output, irrespective of volume.

Advent of Inkjet

In the November “Building My Business” webinar, hosted by the BTA and presented by Charles Brewer from Actionable Intelligence, he described the various vendors in our business and the mix of products they were selling. He noted that Canon, HP, and Epson were all delivering high-speed, high-volume inkjet printers that target the mid-range color devices that are most dealers’ bread and butter.

In his presentation, he showed the introduction rate of new devices this year, 28 percent of which were color ink-jet devices, compared to 21 percent for new A3 color and mono devices combined.
I visited Print18 this year, and the one trend that stood out to me was that ink was omnipresent. Every major manufacturer had inkjet devices on display. These devices included very high-volume digital presses, wide-format devices, and custom-embellishment devices. If they can make high-volume, high-quality inkjet presses, they can do the same with business-class machines.

Move from A3 to A4

One other trend identified by Brewer is the manufacturers’ shift in focus from A3 to A4 devices. All of the major manufacturers are increasing the lineup of A4 devices they offer. In the presentation he made, the number of new A3 models, both color and monochrome introduced this year totaled 41 percent of the new models introduced.

Continue reading in our free Member's area or in ENX Magazine   https://www.enxmag.com/twii/service-management/2018/12/forecasting-the-future-of-service-looking-at-changes-needed-for-success/