In an exclusive interview with PrintIT Reseller, Epson’s Nick Taylor, shares some of the highlights of his first year in post as Head of Office Print Sales. He speaks about Epson’s strong commitment to sustainability and how it has expanded its heat-free inkjet offering particularly in the mid-market with the AM-C range, as well as the recent launch of new RIPS devices
Michelle Ryder (MR): It’s been just over 12 months since you were appointed Head of Sales for Epson’s office printing division. What have been the highlights of your first year at the helm?
Nick Taylor (NT): It’s been a great 12 months. I’ve been with Epson for just over five years and had the honour of taking over from Richard Wells, the previous Head of Sales. He did a fantastic job.
It’s been a really busy 12 months. We’ve implemented a new partner program, which really is designed to help our partners utilise the wider Epson technologies around scanners, wide format printing, projection, and robotics, and we’ve had some good success on the back of that.
We’ve also had some great project wins off the back of some new product developments and some new product launches. In 2023 we launched the AM-C A3 devices, and we’ve expanded that portfolio to include a lot more A4 units. We’ve also recently launched our Replaceable Ink Pack System (RIPS) devices in the A4 and A3 space. So that’s been really successful.
And, probably, most importantly, we’ve moved offices. We were in Hemel Hempstead, in a very large building and we’ve moved to a much more ecologically sustainable new build in Watford, which is the home of our UK and European colleagues and staff.
MR: Epson’s heat-free inkjet technology is a key differentiator in the MPS market. I know from talking to many of your channel partners that the sustainability piece gives them a competitive edge. Where does Epson sit now in terms of market share, particularly in the mid-market where the AM-C range plugged a gap in your offering?
NT: You’re right to mention the AM-C launch two years ago, previous to that, we had quite a big chasm in our range. We had a 25 page a minute A3 device and a 60 page a minute A3 device, and most of the addressable market is in between those product segments. So, launching the AM-C devices was critical to our success, and it’s allowed us to address a much wider market opportunity.
We don’t sell any of our products directly and the sustainability message with our heat-free technology underpins everything that we do. Our partners have really taken that message and the product set that we have and run with it and had some great success. So, we’re not just winning run rate business, in FY24 we had a stellar year on project opportunities in particular. I think that’s fuelled by the requirement and the desire for larger organisations in particular, both in the corporate and public sector to be more sustainable. They all have directives to look at their environmental credentials and Epson’s, heat-free technology plugs that gap for printers.
MR: Epson products are built with sustainability in mind and they’re also sustainable to run because heat-free technology doesn’t require as much energy, etc, but they are also long lasting, they’re in the field longer, all of which will resonate with businesses looking to reduce carbon impact.
NT: Absolutely. An example of that is that we recently launched an eight- year warranty on all of our office print products. Our managed print products are eligible for an up to eight-year warranty because there’s really very little spare parts that are required in our devices, mainly just the rollers that are in the document feeder and the paper tray. So, because of the low intervention model with very few parts, they are extremely robust and reliable.
MR: We’ve touched on the AM-C range and the new RIPS devices, can you tell me a bit more about those and where they sit within the portfolio?
NT: RIPS devices use ink packs which have up to 86,000 prints in each pack, and they are extremely popular. They use a Micro Piezo Serial printhead, they offer 25 pages per minute and come in A3 and A4 variants. All of them have dual scanning capability, very high print quality, and they integrate with all of the common solutions and software that are in the marketplace.
They’re priced extremely well in terms of both hardware and running costs, so cost per copy, but overall, they give our partners the comfort that they’re very reliable in the field. They require very little service intervention, and because of that, they’ve been extremely popular. The launch of the latest devices comes with some new features, a facelift, making them look a little bit more modern, but it’s been very welcomed by our partners, who have already enjoyed success of our RIPS previous generation.
MR: As a company, Epson stands out for its strong commitment to sustainability. What are the key elements of the company’s vision and strategy in this area?
NT: Environmental sustainability is key to all of Epson’s objectives. Our 2050 vision is to be carbon negative, and we’re doing that through four ways.
The first is decarbonisation – so how do we produce and manufacture our goods and get them to our end-user customers in the most environmentally efficient way possible?
The second is through closing the resource loop. We talked previously about our eight-year warranty, but we may also be developing operations and processes around remanufactured and second life devices.
Thirdly, how do we help our partners and our end-user customers to become more environmentally sustainable?
So, from an end-user’s point of view, we obviously have the heat-free technology that uses far less energy than typical laser printers. And from our partners’ point of view, it means that, because of the low intervention model, they need to visit their end-user customers far less frequently.
And finally, around innovation, all of our devices are designed to be compact, efficient and precise, and we also follow the UN 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
MR: Looking ahead to the next year, what plans are in place in terms of product roadmap and channel strategy?
MR: In terms of product roadmap, I would say that the fleet of devices that we have right now are pretty much there. We don’t really have any major gaps in the range that we did a few years ago.
The number one thing that we’re going to try and do over the next 12 months is really double down on the commitment and the support that we give our channel partners. We’re one of the only players in the market that don’t sell directly, and we rely 100% on our partners to take our unique heat-free technology to the end-user customers. So, for us, it’s about, how can we help our partners grow their business, our mutual business. How can we help them find new opportunities
in both the private and public sectors, and what can we do to deliver heat-free technology to more end-user customers that are looking for more sustainable IT solutions in the marketplace.
