WHAT INNOVATION MEANS FOR PRINTING

WHAT INNOVATION MEANS FOR PRINTING 

 

If you'd asked most people 5 years ago to predict what innovation means for the printing industry in 2007 and beyond, I doubt many would have been able to pick the environment. But that's where we are now, climate change is upon us and the environment will continue to demand that we reshape businesses globally.

Everyone is talking about eco-credentials and we have been talking to our clients and government about it for many years. Everyday we communicate how clients can substantially improve their profitability while limiting waste. Solutions are simple and there are answers that can reduce balance sheet stationary expenses by more than 40 per cent.

It's an exciting time for in the printing industry because a couple of years ago it was a harder sell in many ways, with a proliferation of brands and tight margins. Today a customer understands that orphan brands may offer a cheap quick fix, but there are bigger costs down the track both for the consumer and the environment. That product is unlikely to be robust and of good quality, it may not have readably available parts, service and support and more than likely questionable manufacturing methods, let alone the manufacturer taking charge of the responsible disposal of the product at the end of its life.

Now more than ever customers understand the benefit of paying a premium for quality products. It makes it a much easier sell, as not only can we show the cost savings of buying a Kyocera printer for instance, but the end user now understands the value attached to a product which creates less waste, uses responsible packaging and is broken down and re used at the end of its life.

David J. Finn, Managing Director, Kyocera Mita Australia Pty Ltd

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WHAT INNOVATION MEANS TO DISTRIBUTORS

WHAT INNOVATION MEANS TO DISTRIBUTORS 

 

To remain competitive, we need to constantly review our technology and processes of distribution to service our customer's needs. Synnex distributes over 4,000 high value IT products and consumables which have a short shelf life from over 30 suppliers. This means we need to have complete knowledge of stock levels in 'real time'. And with speed of delivery a major issue, our adoption of technology and innovative processes continues to simplify systems for our staff to ensure 100 per cent accuracy in stock movements.

For instance, we use our ERP system to identify and store fast-selling items in warehouse bins located nearest to the packing assembly line. As stock is picked from shelves it is scanned, with all orders packed with camera surveillance above each packing desk to record all deliveries.

Our systems are backed up with a daily stocktake to ensure the electronic data interchange between sales and the warehouse has accurately reflected stock movements over the previous day.

In these ways our sales staff can be confident that all orders can be filled and any products unavailable can accurately be placed on back order with expected delivery dates.

While future plans include a major investment in a fully automated warehouse, there are many other systems we have introduced to our distribution and business processes that add evolutionary change, including some in non-logistics areas, such as providing our own credit facility for clients.

As our staff have a great understanding of clients needs, given we manage the whole distribution for them from sales to delivery, this sense of continual and transitional innovation has helped us partner with our customers on a higher level.

Kee Ong, CEO, Synnex

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WHAT INNOVATION MEANS TO LAWYERS

WHAT INNOVATION MEANS TO LAWYERS 

 

The legal industry has traditionally been perceived as staid, institutional and somewhat conservative. Working with laws that in many instances were drafted decades earlier, meant that 'innovation' and 'law' were two words that did not generally go hand in hand.

Today, this perception couldn't be further from the truth, with the legal industry leading the way in a number of areas.

Creating a culture of innovation through learning and development

Very few industries boast such a strong commitment to lifelong learning and development. To remain competitive and attract the best and brightest, a firm's training and development program needs to be innovative. At Corrs, we offer a range of initiatives including international scholarships to first rate business schools such as Harvard, leadership programs for all managers, and training sessions that cover life skills for both the mind and soul. By fostering a culture of innovation, we can be confident of the positive flow on effects for our business and clients.

Innovating through the regulation minefield

An exponential growth in business regulation, as well as increased complexity in compliance, has meant that lawyers must be innovative to work though regulatory red tape and achieve outcomes for clients. A recent example is the Workchoices legislation where lawyers needed to master the knowledge and then transfer it to make business sense for our clients.

Giving back innovatively

The legal industry has an enormous sense of giving back to the community. It is our commitment to justice and what is right that has driven dedicated pro bono programs around the country. And it is not just about providing ad hoc legal advice. For example, at Corrs, we have set up free clinics for refugees to seek legal advice and obtain ongoing assistance. These clinics are staffed by our lawyers.

Innovation in international deals

In a global market, lawyers are required to manage large deals not only across countries but across different legal jurisdictions. This can create risk and uncertainty for clients, particularly in large and complex transactions where it is imperative that local and international due diligence and understanding is applied. Through the creation of virtual international legal networks and innovative document management systems that are designed to manage hundreds of thousands of documents, firms like Corrs are successfully leading some of the largest deals in the world.

John W.H. Denton, Partner & Chief Executive Officer, Corrs Chambers Westgarth

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WHAT INNOVATION MEANS TO REWARDS PROGRAMS

WHAT INNOVATION MEANS TO REWARDS PROGRAMS 

 

We live in a time where "innovation" is an operating system for all of us.

In the loyalty, incentive and recognition industry, change and creativity become indispensable as our generations constantly request new options.

Some people suggest that it is the gen xyz etc who are the focus of this ongoing change, though we find that the change is being influenced more by individuals than generations.

Recently with the constraints of a tight labour market we are finding within Australia our clients are desperately seeking better ways to reward, recognise and glue their staff. We are constantly working at the coal face with them around new applications for our services and products.

We always recommend, listen to your customers and their needs and innovation will be a daily occurrence, not a programmed workshop.

Loyalty is never a simple landscape in the employment field. We must continually adapt and evolve. This permeates successful HR communication strategies and methodology from all small businesses and corporates.

Innovation and inspiration comes from all sources within our organisation. We created the ichoose card to overcome all barriers of culture, language, religion and logistics - whilst offering the simplicity of prepaid Visa card cash that can be spent anywhere thanks to a brand that is kept in your pocket. This is currently our most sort after offer due to its simplicity and adaptability to clients needs, and let's face it - branded cash talks better than an irrelevant reward that may never be used.

Rob Morrow, Managing Director, 212°F Pty. Ltd.

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WHAT INNOVATION MEANS TO UTILITIES

WHAT INNOVATION MEANS TO UTILITIES 

 

Utilities are historically conservative by nature. Our mandate is to ensure we can supply services for customers on demand, regardless of external factors that can sometimes be out of our control.

To encourage innovation, firstly we set up a network venture development group designed to look beyond our engineering platforms with the understanding of new technology frontiers that are available in many industries - beyond utilities.

This led to development of the our Network of the Future strategy, to help staff embrace change and new ideas, swapping concepts with overseas and the progressive roll-out of a new Internet-Protocol communications network which will transform the electricity distribution network.

The integration of these new technologies into the electricity distribution network represents the biggest changes to the network in 100 years. It will deliver greater operational efficiencies and benefits to customers including greater reliability of electricity supply and greater control over their energy use and bill.

One successful outcome has been swapping of concepts between countries. Collaborating with Hong Kong and New York, we are swapping staff between energy providers so they can learn from how we all work on things differently with new processes that can improve our services. These have also been supported by events in Australia with delegates invited from overseas that have built on our international relationships and shared concepts that can be replicated on a municipality level.

Focusing on network communications and technological advancement will enable us to provide an almost seamless service in the future. When the innovation rollout is complete, if there is an unexpected interruption to customer services, our network be able to automatically detect the fault and immediately re-route the power supply to ensure customers are rarely interrupted.

Technology for the home has also been adopted eagerly, such as Smart meters and time-based billing which enable customers more control of their bills by being able to switch energy use from peak to off-peak times of the day.

Following recent events with overseas partners, we see the future of energy utilities will incorporate much more communication between service providers and our customers as we work together on developing energy efficient options that can be readily reviewed by our consumers.

George Maltabarow, Managing Director, Energy Australia

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