Konica Minolta Empowers Customers to Create New Business Opportunities with its Latest Innovative Product Offerings at GRAPH EXPO 15

Attendees will learn how to integrate new products and leverage technologies ensuring print service providers are staying ahead of current trends

Mississauga, ON – September 4, 2015 – Konica Minolta Business Solutions (Canada) Ltd. (Konica Minolta), a leader in the Graphic Communications industry will be demonstrating its latest innovations and workflow technology at GRAPH EXPO 15 from September 13th - 16th at the McCormick Convention Center in Chicago. Konica Minolta will be showcasing newly announced products, business opportunities and transformative solutions. Exclusive VIP tours will be given throughout the conference at Booth #1913.

Under the theme, "What Will Your Business Look Like in Three Years?" the line-up of new products will enable customers to easily optimize virtualized workloads, drive sales, maximize manufacturing efficiencies and decrease operating costs.

• Customer Acquisition and Marketing Services – This year, Konica Minolta will have a significant focus on Integrated Services including:
  • Marketing as a Service encompasses Konica Minolta's marketing execution platform, EngageIT XMedia, coupled with campaign design expertise, creative development and the marketing savvy of a creative agency to provide a complete Managed Marketing service.
  • PROKOM is an online community launching in 2016 which will offer members educational content, opportunities for business networking and "thought leadership" exchanges.
  • Business Development Services (BDS) help Graphic Communications clients develop marketing, training and business plans to navigate a changing world and open new opportunities.
  • Marketing Analytics & Data Mining are emerging technologies that will increase value to marketing departments and help end clients manage their big data. Konica Minolta's cloud-based solutions help printers differentiate their offerings with speed and flexibility.
  • New 3D Printing Solutions & Design Assistance - Konica Minolta is excited to announce a recent partnership with ZVerse, a leader in 2D to 3D print software automation, design services and fulfilment solutions for 3D printed products. The web to 3D print storefront can be co-branded to allow customers to offer 3D printed promotional products, signs, event marketing pieces and architectural models. With a simple JPEG upload, the 2D to 3D content platform delivers the ability to produce 3D content in-house or through ZVerse's manufacturing service. It's ideal for printers wanting to capitalize on a low cost 3D print service.
• Job Submission & Managed IT Services – These two unique areas within a print shop are critical to meeting the increasing demands for print services.
  • Web-to-Print – In-plant or commercial print operations can offer automated digital web-based job submission that includes cloud and on-premise based solutions.
  • Managed IT Services – New service offerings and faster devices create complexities in the IT environments of Graphic Communications clients. Konica Minolta offers services including: remote network management, network infrastructure projects and disaster recovery. Konica Minolta can help securely and efficiently manage IT needs.
• Workflow Optimization – Workflow optimization enables printers to automate and reduce costs.
  • Konica Minolta's LEAN Workflow Optimization Assessment identifies and improves the entire process from job submission to mailing, cutting out non value-add steps and increasing productivity.
  • The Solimar Chemistry® Dashboard is used to monitor and manage job production lifecycles with complete visibility.
• Composition and Prepress – Getting the print job set up and to the printer is critical to the workflow process.
  • EngageIT Variable Data Printing (VDP) - Konica Minolta's latest variable data printing solution provides a complete marketing service focused on one-to-one direct marketing. As a plug-in to Adobe InDesign Creative Cloud, this integration provides designers a familiar tool to create impactful documents.
  • Colour Management – Konica Minolta's ColorCare is a set of powerful colour management tools that ensure colour output is consistent on each device and across all devices.
  • Makeready – Konica Minolta's new Printgroove Ready provides powerful and easy to use tools as part of a PDF and JDF workflow for operators to make quick and accurate changes.

Additional Highlights at the Konica Minolta Booth #1913 include:

• bizhub® PRESS C71hc – digital production printer delivers new printing possibilities with bold, intense and vibrant RGB colours reproduced in print. Digital print professionals can now deliver unrivalled vividness in corporate and marketing collaterals. bizhub® PRESS C71hc uses High Chroma toner that has the ability to reproduce a wider range of sRGB gamut and offers magnificent colours as seen on the monitor screen.
• bizhub® PRESS 2250P Monochrome Digital Production Printer – developed by combining two bizhub® PRESS 1250P engines in a single space-saving design. The digital press is an ideal solution for high volume print professionals. Driving the bizhub® PRESS 2250P will be the IC-312m controller, which utilizes the latest CREO Server architecture to achieve maximum performance and image quality. Together with the IC-309m, the CREO controllers continue as the only external front-end solution for Konica Minolta's monochrome presses, providing a common workflow and user interface for customers with both colour and monochrome printing requirements.
• New versatile production capabilities – Tecnau Sheet Feeder KM 2250 roll feed system for high end production volume and new Watkiss Power Square 224 - a cost-effective and enhanced book-making system for digital print applications. Perfect for printing SquareBack books, thin books, manuals, catalogs, brochures and pamphlets, magazines and reports.
• bizhub® PRESS C1100 with SD-513 – flagship colour device with new square bind three cut trim full speed booklet maker attached to an inline device with the ability to create a booklet that comes with a full-fledged finisher unit.
• MGI JETVARNISH 3DS with iFoil – for added value and that true wow factor, the iFoil capability makes personalized hot foil stamping on an industrial scale. Digital embossing and stunning visual impact offers customers enhanced creativity by transforming prints into irresistible, eye-catching communication tools with immediate appeal.
• bizhub® PRO C754e – offers an easy start in economic, high quality colour, light production printing, focused on the Central Reprographic Departments (CRD) market.

"This year, the breadth of offering we have is tremendous," says Norm Bussolaro, Director, Product Marketing, Konica Minolta Business Solutions (Canada) Ltd. "Not only will we be showcasing our award-winning production lineup, but Konica Minolta has also heavily invested in helping our customers broaden their business domain, from areas such as integrated marketing services to industrial print."

Pre-production previews at Konica Minolta Booth #1913 include:

• KM-1 a new revolutionary B2 size high-speed proprietary inkjet technology. Konica Minolta experts will be on hand to answer any questions.
• bizhub® PRESSC71cf digital label printer, a 4 colour, digital, roll-to-roll label press aimed at the mid-sized printer or converter. This new press opens new revenue opportunities in the labels and tags packaging market.
• FD-9 Spectrophotometer –Automatically scans and measures standard colour charts used in profile creation at lightening speeds. With its user-friendly LCD display, the automatic colour measuring capability can significantly reduce scanning time. Over a network a single FD-9 can service multiple printers and improve colour measurement accuracy.

Konica Minolta is the first company at GRAPH EXPO 15 to support Education Main Street, an important initiative during the show. At Booth #667, Konica Minolta brings together career advisors and company leadership to speak with and counsel students embarking on a graphics communications path. Guided tours of the main booth will help students envision their own Inspired Innovations and discover future opportunities.

All GRAPH EXPO 15 and CPP EXPO attendees are welcomed to attend a panel discussion:

• Game Changing Digital Print Opportunities in the Americas – 
  Tuesday, Sept. 15th from 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. 
  Panel includes outstanding direction from Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc.'s Erik Holdo, Vice President, Production Print (Room 426N)

About Konica Minolta

Konica Minolta Business Solutions (Canada) Ltd. is one of the world's leaders in information management focused on enterprise content, technology optimization and cloud services. Our portfolio of offerings deliver solutions to improve our customers' speed to market, manage technology costs, and facilitate the sharing of information to increase productivity. Konica Minolta has won numerous awards and recognition, including placement in the Leaders Quadrant of the 2014 Magic Quadrant for Managed Print Services (MPS) and Managed Content Services (MCS). Konica Minolta has been recognized as the #1 Brand for Customer Loyalty in the MFP Office Copier Market by Brand Keys for eight consecutive years. Konica Minolta has also been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index for three years in a row. For more information, please visit: www.KonicaMinolta.ca and follow Konica Minolta on LinkedIn and Twitter.

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Konica Minolta bizhub® is a registered trademark of Konica Minolta, Inc. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners.