Konica Minolta and CEC Establish a Joint Venture Company to Provide Solution Service Business

Tokyo .– Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc. (president: Akio Kitani, KMBT), its domestic sales subsidiary, Konica Minolta Business Solutions, Co., Ltd. (president: Takumi Kawakami, KMBJ), and Computer Engineering & Consulting, Ltd. (president: Kazuyuki Shinno, CEC) entered into an agreement to establish a joint venture company, Konica Minolta Bizcom, Co., Ltd., so as to strengthen solution business for evermore diversifying and sophisticating office equipment business. The new company, combining respective strengths, will offer seamless total solutions from development to sales and support for both hardware and software.
Background

Since three years ago, Konica Minolta Group and CEC have been cooperating in the medical imaging sector. CEC has also been offering technical support in the office equipment sector, such as development of interface for connecting MFPs with external systems and IT operation service (IT-Guardians) for KMBT’s small-scale customers. Through these relations Konica Minolta Group has valued CEC highly as a system integrator.

Now that we are about to develop new original solution business, including offering solutions to KMBJ customers, we have reached the agreement to establish the joint venture company by further intensifying and expanding collaboration to maximize respective strengths.
Purpose of the joint venture

KMBT has been nurturing information input and output technologies for MFPs, printers and software to control these products. CEC, on the other hand, specializes in information system construction and operation for customers’ corporate management, and information service skill focused on the construction and operation of control system for manufacturing. The new joint venture, integrating these strengths, will provide sophisticated information management and operating solutions necessary for corporate activities in the coming years, and develop a new solution business with a view to assisting customers’ daily issues to innovative performance.
Target of the joint venture

KMBT and KMBJ have been providing highly functional and productive document operating system in the field of office equipment such as MFPs and printers. However, as customers’ information management become more stringent by introduction of internal control and so forth, it became necessary to provide advanced IT system placing office equipment as a hub. To meet these needs, KMBT and KMBJ decided to tighten relationship with CEC so as to expand business span to include system integration and system development, and further to fortify and expand Konica Minolta Group business as a whole.

KMBJ is also aiming to expand solution marketing by absorbing IT knowledge and knowhow for MFPs. Moreover, KMBJ is expecting to take advantage of joint venture as a sales channel for services beyond maintenance to increase the level of its customer engineers.

CEC, on the other hand, aims to increase its own IT solution products through collaboration with Konica Minolta. By expanding IT solution providing opportunity to wide range of Konica Minolta Group’s customers, CEC will be able to expand business by pioneering into such new market as small and medium business markets.