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SAMSUNG PRINT BUSINESS BRIEFING
For resellers,
Samsung has
introduced a
Smart Printer
Diagnostic
System and
Remote Call,
which make
it easy for
engineers to
fix problems
on-site and
remotely.
Our next step is to work
with our partners so they
can develop the platform
further. Our partners have
the expertise and they know
exactly what the customers
want.
Samsung has been making waves in
the printer industry for 20 years. But
in the last three years, it has really
stirred things up, first with its entry
into the A3 copier market and then
with the introduction of its Android-
based solutions platform. Here,
Kasey Kim, vice president of the R&D
team at Samsung Printing Solutions,
explains how Samsung technology
has the potential to disrupt the
global copier market.
When the Buyers Laboratory Inc. (BLI)
awarded its highest Platinum rating to
Samsung Printing Solutions’ Smart UX
Center and Printing App Center, it was
more than just a sign of how far the
company’s printers had come. For Kasey
Kim, Vice President of the R&D Team at
Printing Solutions, after 32 years working
in R&D at Samsung Electronics, the
Platinum rating was recognition of the
company’s vision for the future.
Since Samsung introduced the Smart
UX Center for its range of multi-function
printers (MFPs) in 2014, the company has
worked to show how its unique ecosystem
– app center, software development kit
(SDK), and a 10.1-inch touchscreen panel,
all using Android – could be a more
efficient, secure and effective approach to
printing and document management.
“It means that our new attempt and
strategy is finally getting accepted by
the industry,” says Kim. “It’s a very good
foundation that we can use to make some
disruptive noises in the very conservative
MFP market.”
BLI Platinum Rating Shows
‘This Approach Is Working’
In early June, BLI announced the Platinum
rating for the Smart UX Center and the
Printing App Center, with top marks
awarded to usability, IT admin & security,
support & training and value. BLI called the
two Centers “best in class,” adding that
“Samsung has just scratched the surface of
the platform’s possibilities.”
“BLI is, as everyone knows, a B2B
evaluation lab. They know B2B,” Kim
explains. “Our fresh idea, of bringing
Android to our MFP platform, including the
Smart UX, had met with some skepticism
at first. But, now, what we’ve done shows
that this approach is working.”
Even that stellar review was not perfect,
though. BLI felt that Samsung needed
to create more document processing
apps and give customers greater room to
customise.
“We’re taking an organic approach,”
Kim says. “These early applications we
developed were mostly for a sample
purpose, to show what we can do with
this platform. Our next step is to work
with our partners so they can develop
the platform further. Our partners have
the expertise and they know exactly what
the customers want. That’s why we’re
VP Kasey Kim:
BLI Platinum Rating Lets Samsung
Get ‘Disruptive’ with MFPs
working with Nuance, the number one
solutions company, and with dealers who
have enough development capacities.
We attended the Samsung Developer
Conference in April and held a workshop
to show what we can do.”
That shift Kim describes is about
moving away from the technical challenges
of the printers themselves, to focus instead
on implementing solutions that can help
businesses.
“I would say it’s a transition from
‘software engineering’ to ‘requirement
engineering’,” says Kim. “The engineers
tend to focus more on the implementing
aspects. But we’ve established our own
platform now, and it’s time to concentrate
on making practical software that satisfies
customers’ needs.”
At June’s European Partner Summit 2016
in Budapest, Samsung introduced a number
of new products that meet this remit,
including the Dynamic Workflow app, which
enables business users to design complete
one-touch workflows, and RemoteFax, a
serverless network fax solution. For resellers,
it has introduced SPDS (Smart Printer
Diagnostic System) and Remote Call, which
make it easy for engineers to fix problems
on-site and remotely.
32 Years at Samsung in R&D
Kim says he still remembers his first day
at Samsung. “December 26, 1984,” he
recalls. “I’m one of three people left who
started on that day.”
Samsung was a much different
company at the time. It didn’t have a
printer division, although there was one
for typewriters. “We were much smaller
back then,” he says understatedly. Today,
of course, Samsung Electronics is a global
leader, with about 319,000 employees all
around the world.
As the company grew over the years,
company culture changed tremendously
as well. “Before, when we had to do a
new firmware build, everyone would stay
in the office coding until the final build
was done,” he says. “But these days, I can
go home and work from home when I’m
needed.”
Jason Cort, Sharp
Kasey Kim,
Vice President of
the R&D Team,
Samsung Printing
Solutions
