INTERVIEW – EPSON’S RICHARD WELLS
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type of technical support that will be required going forward.”
Tackling challenges While AI can help tackle some challenges in the print sector, there are various others being faced, Richard says. “Talent is one, there is a lack of young and bright talent entering the industry which is needed to challenge and evolve the ways things are done. “Over capacity is another: Epson are a relatively new entrant into the managed print market but have come with disruptive and different technology. At present in an overall declining market, we are still seeing new entrants, which can only lead to an overall reduction of business for each player.” Another challenge is consolidation, Richard adds. “M&A and departure (of market) are all likely and in some cases are already underway,” he says. “The biggest impact though will come from manufacturing capacity, as faced with a significant decline I see many brands pulling out of manufacture and a growth of 'vanilla' products which will negatively impact end user choice.” Confident future While there are issues in the sector, Richard is still confident about the next 12-18 months for Epson. “We have more product replacements and launches planned,” he teased. Richard adds that Epson will continue to emphasise its sustainability credentials. “We will be doubling down on our CSR commitments and introducing ways to increase the useful life of Epson products,” he says. “We will continue to commit to support our channel partners as our predominant route to market and to help them to grow in parallel with ourselves. “Overall, we will continue to operate in line with our Corporate Purpose and philosophy of efficient, compact and precise innovation that enriches lives and helps create a better world.”
on a range of best practices across areas such as energy use, recycled plastic content, refurbishment, packaging, etc coming through. “However more sustainable products while good, is not enough. It also must be about the behaviour of companies across all areas of CSR and not just a selective approach. We have had a strong commitment to how we operate at Epson for many years and annually publish our Sustainability Report to share what we are doing and on progress made. We encourage similar behaviour for our partners and in producing equipment, solutions and software that increase awareness over things like energy optimisation as a means of improving their own ESG goals.” This focus is also indicative of how customer priorities are changing. “Cost is still one of the most important factors, the challenge is cost versus total cost of ownership and this being clear to a customer, change in the everyday world is helping,” he says. “Sustainability and flexibility to a changing work environment are becoming as important as cost but most customers want it all... a flexible contract for a sustainable device that costs no more than what they have had before. I am biased but I think we are showing that you can have it all, which is why we are growing in a declining market.” AI impact Artificial intelligence (AI) is also having an increasing impact on the print sector – although it is often not seen, Richard says. “Much of the impact of AI in print is fairly invisible as it is not centred around new features in devices to allow us to communicate with our printers,” he says. “Instead, it is about devices having the intelligence, either inbuilt or via software, to analyse use patterns, monitor supplies levels and life of parts and consumables and liaise with service provider remotely and without user intervention etc.” “I see the efficiency and therefore reliability of devices being positively affected by invisible AI, and this being reflected in the
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Sustainability and flexibility to a changing work environment are becoming as important as cost but most customers want it all... a flexible contract for a sustainable device that costs no more than what they have had before.
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