Ueno Yasuaki, chief executive officer of Fuji Xerox Korea, speaks during an interview with The Korea Times at his office in central Seoul last week.
/ Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
| Fuji Xerox Korea expects sales growth in document consulting business  By Jung Sung-kiIn today’s climate of economic slump, corporations are more and more interested than ever in every way to reduce costs while improving productivity. There are several ways of cutting expenses, such as trimming personnel costs, scaling down on investing and reducing production lines. Of them, in particular, many companies around the world are increasingly paying attention to ways of enhancing business efficiency and reducing overhead costs through consulting and outsourcing services for corporate document management. The global market for document outsourcing services is growing steadily, including that in Korea, while the traditional document production and office equipment market has practically been saturated, according to the chief executive officer of Fuji Xerox Korea, the No. 1 office equipment manufacturing and document consulting firm that entered the Korean market 37 years ago. “Our business is normally very related to GDP growth. GDP growth in other Asian countries, including China, is relatively higher than in Japan,” Fuji Xerox Korea CEO Ueno Yasuaki said in an interview with Business Focus Sept. 28. “The market itself in Japan is almost in a saturated stage, and that’s why we’re trying to shift to the document consulting business.” Yasuaki, who took office in June last year, apparently referred to Fuji Xerox Global Services (FXGS) designed to support IT customers’ operation in strengthening governance, increasing productivity and saving costs through document management and consulting service. For example, Fuji Xerox Korea can provide a customer company with comprehensive, tailored document management solutions regarding an entire document process from drafting to disposal for both plain paper and e-paper, as well as on how to use equipment and optimize allocation of products and documents. “Basically we try to approach to the executive class of companies and examine what types of issues they’re facing,” the CEO said. “Sometimes they try to reduce the indirect or direct costs, and they’re also struggling on how to control their governance like compliance, including security management of documents.” He continued, “We’re so sure this transformation will enable us to grow further. This service can be consistently provided to any of its branches for global company worldwide via strong the business network of Fuji Xerox/Xerox Group.” Amore Pacific Cosmetics is one of a number of customers that received consulting services from Fuji Xerox Korea and has seen substantial cost-reduction benefits, he noted, declining to comment on detailed figures. But he said those document outsourcing services usually help cut costs by 20 to 30 percent cost wise, depending on customers’ demands, with about 7,000 customers using FXGS worldwide. Fuji Xerox Korea recorded 447 billion won ($380 million) in sales last year, and the firm aims to grow 16 percent in domestic sales compared to last year. Document outsourcing services is the company’s engine of growth, Yasuaki said, as his firm seeks to increase the portion of the outsourcing business to 20 percent this year out of total domestic sales. Globally, Fuji Xerox/Xerox Group has a 50 percent market share of the 9-trillion-won market for document consulting and outsourcing services, followed by Hewlett-Packard Company with about 20 percent. Opportunities and challenges Yasuaki said the Korean market has both opportunities and challenges. Despite the fact that Korea is relatively advanced and industrialized in the Asia-Pacific region, the ratio of digital printing in Korea still remains lower than in other advanced countries, he said. “Usually, more industrialized markets use more color documents, but its usage in Korea is particularly very low,” he said. “We try to find what causes the difference, and address the right solution and services for corporate customers’ needs.” It is assumed that digital printing makes up only 10 percent of the entire printing market in Korea, which is small compared to the U.S. and Europe where digital printing is far more popular, according to the CEO. “Fuji Xerox Korea will lead the growth of digital printing in the graphic art market with various business models and advantage of digital press,” he said. Traditional printing, called offset printing, requires multiple and manual production processes while digital printing gets things done with one click. Nevertheless, the relatively high cost of operating and maintaining digital printing systems is a key obstacle. “I think technology can help to optimize price and business conditions. The market right now is also becoming digitalizing more aggressively,” the 51-year-old Japanese said. “Business environment changes very quickly in Korea and this required quick decision-making at the top management level as a consequence,” he said. “It could be a risk in business, but it’s an opportunity too at the same time. In that sense, Fuji Xerox Korea has a big opportunity for growth, and we plan to expand our business by capturing those opportunities at the right time with the right people.” Achievements Fuji Xerox Korea has secured a number of achievements with innovative technologies and exemplary corporate principles since its establishment in 1974 through equal investment with Donghwa Industries, a holding company of Korea Glass. The Japanese company acquired shares of the Korean partner firm in 1998 when Korean firms were hit hardest by a financial crisis. The company introduced the first color digital multifunction device in 2000 and maintained the biggest market share in A3 color multifunction market. It was the first foreign-invested company declaring zero labor disputes and received a presidential award for new labor-management culture in the same year. In addition, the company received “the best foreign corporation award” from Citizen’s Coalition for Economic Justice three times in 2001, 2004 and 2010. Last year, Fuji Xerox Korea ranked first in the copier category in the Korea consumer satisfaction index for the tenth consecutive year. As part of efforts to strengthen relationship with smaller partner companies, the document manufacturing firm holds an annual event for 430 channel partners nationwide with the aim of sharing its long-term strategy and vision. “Fuji Xerox Korea believes that mutual cooperation and continuous exchange of opinions with partners will lead both of us to a better future,” Han Ok-kyung, a spokeswoman for Fuji Xerox Korea said. “We are also executing some supportive actions for small and medium-sized enterprises in the domestic printing industry.” The company signed a memorandum of understanding on bilateral cooperation with the Seoul Printing Center in April. Under the agreement, both sides provide trainings and consulting services for digital printing for more than 8,000 printing companies in Korea. “Korea is full of talented people and has a large pool of highly-educated human resources,” the CEO said. “It also has a solid IT infrastructure that allows information get spread and developed quickly. In this fast-faced business environment, it is critical to get trust from shareholders ― customers, business partners, employees, etc ― to be successful as a foreign company.” It requires continuous investment in human resources and R&D, and establishing a clean corporate image and healthy relationship between labor and management through open and transparent management, he said. |
| gallantjung@koreatimes.co.kr |
Source: http://www.koreatimes.co.kr
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