I see printers as a beachhead for digital transformation. An under-discussed component to digital transformation is that it can be costly, in terms of both money as well as time. For instance, step one is usually digitizing mounds of paper documents, and even that initial process is often out of reach for many SMBs and mid-sized businesses.
Brother is at the forefront of an industry trend in that we are retooling our lineup to allow increased integration with third-party apps. From approval automation to workflow tracking and analysis, our customers are increasingly able to navigate these mission-critical elements right from their printers, scanners, and other multifunctional devices. This way, digital transformation isn’t such a binary proposition for businesses, i.e. you either shell out a bunch of money, or you don’t do it at all. The quote-unquote ‘humble’ office printer has a big role to play in digital transformation and knowledge management over the next five years thanks to its unique flexibility.