For the over 80 years FUJIFILM has continually invested in research and development resulting in world-class and highly versatile fundamental core technologies in all spheres of human endeavours. Though FUJIFILM has its presence all over the world even with an office in South Africa, Nigeria – Africa’s largest economy – does not enjoy FUJIFILM presence. In this SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT INTERVIEW, WHERE To Print visited Fujifilm’s European Headquarters in Düsseldorf Germany and met with Fujifilm Senior Vice President, Graphic Systems Division (whose responsibility includes the African region) – Mr. Takashi Yanagawa to understand Fujifilm’s plans for Nigeria. The excerpt below reveals the plans as well as Fujifilm’s innovations especially for the graphics industry.
SIR, CAN WE MEET YOU?
Yes, I’m Mr. Takashi Yanagawa – the Senior Vice President, Graphic Systems Division, FUJIFILM Europe.
BRIEFLY DESCRIBE YOUR DUTIES?
My primary duty is to expand Fujifilm’s Graphic Systems Business which contains graphic films, offset plate business, wide format inkjet business, digital press business, press room chemistry business, digital ink business, screen ink business, narrow web ink business and currently flexo plate and its ink business in the territory of European, Middle East and Africa (EMEA).
HOW DID YOU START WITH FUJIFILM?
Before Fujifilm, I was working for a Japanese local supplier of press and pre-press equipments and processes. In 2005, I was contacted by FUJIFILM Graphic Systems (FFGS) – our headquarters company in Japan and the number one plate manufacturer in the world – so I joined Fujifilm in 2005.
AT THAT TIME, WHAT WERE YOUR CORE UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITIONS TO YOUR CLIENTS?
I was initially assigned as a Product Manager for FujiXerox products in FFGS especially in Tokyo, Japan. There, my task was very simple – which was to sell as many of our products as possible. After that, I was assigned as Director of the Sales Division responsible for Fujifilm Businesses outside Tokyo. There, we had to sell anything that our customers want. My task was to be the only supplier for our customers, meaning we propose to our customers all possible machines, materials and solutions. After that, I was re-allocated to the Key Accounts Division as a Director. There I managed a team responsible for some of the biggest printing companies in the world like Toppan, Dainippon (DNP) and so on. After that, I was transferred to the United States of America as the President of the Graphic Systems Division for Fujifilm in North America and Canada. In 2014, I was again transferred to Europe as Senior Vice President of the Graphic Systems Division.
WHAT ADDED VALUES HAVE YOU PUT IN NOW – ESPECIALLY OVER THE LAST ONE YEAR?
We are the number one supplier in the world who can offer plates, inkjets systems, inks, and flexo technologies simultaneously. Within those products, offset plates are the biggest part of our business. We are currently focusing on our lo-chem products such as ZAC systems, PRO-V family and processless plates – which are so called eco-friendly products. The cost for printers is not coming only from the plate price, but also from other issue such as chemistry and waste, waste paper during start up, electricity, and inks. Fujifilm might not be a cheap plate supplier, but we can provide additional benefit by reducing those relevant costs in print production. This is Fujifilm’s way of offering eco-friendly products and increasing printers’ profit.
WITH CONSTANT PLATE MARKET CHANGES, HOW FOCUSED IS FUJIFILM ON THIS?
In most of the EMEA regions, the offset plate market is shrinking every year apart from Africa. That’s the biggest difference compared with our position in Japan or in the US. However, we are not satisfied with our market-share. Meaning, there still exist huge room for us to grow in EMEA. We are focused on growth in EMEA markets and as far as we keep walking forward, we will keep our eyes to the front.
HOW HAS PRINT BUSINESS FAIRED IN THE OUTGOING YEAR?
Since the crisis in 2009, people seemed to stop their investments. Some companies have gone under, while some have been acquired. Though the number of printing companies is declining and plate consumption as well, we have kept increasing our sales volume and installations of digital equipment due to the value we add to our customers’ businesses.
WHAT CAN YOU SAY WERE YOUR ACHIEVEMENTS IN 2014?
Our aim is to achieve market share of 35% in each country. In some countries, we have already achieved more than that – for instance in Germany, France, UK, Czech Republic, Portugal and so on. However, there are still countries we don’t have our local partners yet especially in Africa.
WHY AFRICA OR MORE SPECIFICALLY – NIGERIA NOW?
We established FUJIFILM South Africa at the end of 2011, and have had huge success in SADEC region already. There, we learnt that printers are not just looking for cost-effective products, but also qualified and environment friendly products – which are what we are proud to be known for. Nigeria has very similar plate demands as SADEC, so we’ve concluded that our next focus should be on Nigeria.
BEFORE NOW, WHAT WERE THE MAJOR HINDRANCES TO FUJIFILM BUSINESS IN AFRICA OR NIGERIA?
I wouldn’t say that there were major hindrances for Fujifilm’s business in Africa in general or in Nigeria in particular because we are present and quite strong in the Maghreb countries of Africa like Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria. As you already know, we are also in South Africa where we signed an agreement with one of the major local distributors – Kemtek. And this contract covers different countries in the southern part of the continent. Having said that, it is a fact that in certain parts of Africa we need to grow our business and we are now concentrating on West Africa, both French and English speaking with Nigeria as one of our top priorities. We are confident that Fujifilm, the biggest offset plate producer in the world, has enough capacity to satisfy all Nigerian printers, from small commercial printshops to big newspaper and packaging printers. Our first step in penetrating the market is to find a reliable partner that could distribute Fujifilm products in Nigeria. We’ve already identified potential and very good candidates, thanks to the help of WHERE To Print Magazine. In fact, as a major player in the printing industry, we are not really interested in selling one piece of equipment or one container of plates – we want to build a consistent and reliable distribution network. To do so, we need a reliable local partner that will be able to market our products, and assist all the customers with a high-level of technical pre and after-sales support.
WHAT HAVE BEEN YOUR CHALLENGES OVER THE YEARS?
In Europe and the Middle East, we have enough partners and can communicate with customers either directly or indirectly. However, in Africa, it’s a bit more difficult as we were slow to start our African business. So what we did first is to find our contacts in these countries; and we are still working on this – in some countries like Nigeria.
HOW DID YOU OVERCOME THESE?
After we established FUJIFILM South Africa, we first hired a local pre-press specialist. He is working and living in South Africa, but as an employee of the European headquarters. He has a wide relationship and friends in the printing industry not only in SADEC, but also in EMEA. With him at the core, we are expanding relationship with our partners.
WHAT POTENTIAL DO YOU SEE IN THE WEST AFRICAN PRINT MARKET AND HOW DO YOU SEE THE MARKET DEVELOP OVER THE YEARS?
We are still not sure how fast the speed of growth will be. However, we are sure that the market is not shrinking. We estimate approximately 3.5 million sqm of offset plates are used there.
WHEN WILL YOUR NIGERIA OFFICE START RUNNING?
This is still under consideration, because if we are able to find a reliable partner locally, maybe we won’t need to establish our own office.
WHAT ARE YOUR OTHER PLANS FOR YOUR NIGERIAN CUSTOMERS IN 2015?
Through the information and knowledge we have received from our Marketing Managers and Export Consultants, we believe we can say that we know Nigerian customers and Nigeria’s print market. Our plan for 2015 and for the years to come is to help customers to improve their printing knowledge and therefore their print quality by offering a wide range of the highest quality and best performing pre-press products on the market. We think that this combination will increase quality and knowledge within the printers, allowing them to reduce their production costs and increase their profit in the printing industry.
NOW THAT YOU ARE COMING FULLY INTO WEST AFRICA – NIGERIA IN PARTICULAR – WHAT WILL YOU DO DIFFERENTLY FROM YOUR COMPETITION?
After the “CTP Revolution” – there have not been huge changes on the market; the majority of printers still use aluminium offset plates on their presses. The important factor to consider when it comes to a big company like Fujifilm is the wide variety of products that can be offered. As I already said, any customer that chooses Fujifilm will be in a position to get the best possible products tailored to his own needs. In our industry, we know that there are producers that offer products to the market on which they are stronger – rather than products that are useful to the final users. We want to change this bad attitude. Besides, as you surely know, Fujifilm is really keen on green technologies and we will offer and distribute real “chemistry-free product”. On this aspect also and I hope I am not sounding too polemic, some of our competitors talk about “chemistry-free” processes when a lot of chemical products are still involved in the pre-press processes.
WHAT STRATEGIES DO YOU HAVE IN MAKING SURE YOUR MACHINES, CONSUMABLES AND PLATES ARE ALL OVER AFRICA NAY NIGERIA?
As mentioned before, we offer printers many benefits that include cost reductions on chemistry and waste. That is, reduced waste paper during start up, reduced electricity and ink consumption. This translates to higher return on investments.
WHICH OF YOUR PREPRESS EQUIPMENT SOLUTIONS ARE SUITABLE FOR THE NIGERIAN MARKET AND WHY?
We have both thermal technology and violet technology in our line-up. For the commercial market, we would offer both as we don’t limit the customer’s choice. But the current trend within the industry is thermal. For newspaper printers, we would offer violet because, if a customer selects thermal technology, then the only machine manufacturer is Kodak. This will limit the end users possibilities. However in Africa, we have seen several installations of commercial thermal CTP equipment in newspaper printing factories which is a possibility for us as well.
COST IS A MAJOR FACTOR IN PRINT EQUIPMENT ACQUISITION, WHAT CONCESSION OR PAYMENT PLAN DO YOU HAVE FOR THE AFRICAN MARKET?
It goes without saying that production costs are very important and crucial in any industrial domain and the print industry is no exception. As I said before, we want to help African printers to invest in new technologies as we consider it the “key” point to be on the winning side when it comes to printing. Our strategy therefore is focused towards new investment and there are several ways that will lead us to achieve success. From bundled contracts with new customers, to special conditions for existing customers that allow them to replace their current products with more advanced ones. Our people – on the ground in their respective markets – know how to do this in their local printing environment and will be in a better position to deploy the appropriate strategies that will make Fujifilm products a household name in the African print market compared to the competition.
PRINTERS – THE WORLD-OVER AND NIGERIA IS NO EXCEPTION – TAKE THE ISSUE OF THE ENVIRONMENT VERY CRITICAL TO THE SURVIVAL OF THEIR BUSINESSES; HOW DO YOU INTEND TO BE RESPONSIBLE TO THE ENVIRONMENT WITH THE KIND OF EQUIPMENT OR CONSUMABLES YOU PRODUCE?
As I already said for a company like Fujifilm, being green is very important and you can easily notice it from the very beginning, simply looking at our “social colour” and logo. We have always been focused towards greener products and our company invests a huge part of our turnover in Research and Development (R&D) in order to be in a position to offer environmentally sustainable products to customers. On this aspect, we can offer to our customers real chemistry-free plates that require no chemistry in plate production process, taking the plate straight out of the CTP unit onto their presses. In addition, we are successfully marketing a processor technology called ‘ZAC’ that uses lower amount of developer, compared not only to traditional CTP plates but also called “chemistry-free” by some of our competitors. In summary, all of our representatives have calculation tools to show our customers how much we can reduce their usage and waste of chemistry compared with other systems.
HOW DO YOU INTEND TO SUPPORT CUSTOMERS ON THIS?
First we set up the dealers locally, and train them on our equipment, consumables and strategies. The local dealers can then support our customers flexibly, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
LOCAL REPRESENTATIVE IS CRITICAL TO ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURER (OEM), WHAT PLANS DO YOU HAVE IN PLACE IN THIS REGARDS?
Besides OEM, a critical issue in a market like Nigeria is grey-importing which is very difficult to tackle for any of the big players in the market. Too often, we have seen products sold in the market by foreign companies that have never worked because of a lack of support. Conversely, our strategy in this market is very clear: – we want to grow our business with a local partner that will be able to assist all customers as a first-line of support. We are not interested in trading with a company whose goal is to simply sell something and run away from the market. Therefore, we will keep a constant eye on the market by being present with our experts to make sure that Fujifilm products are sold only via the official channels.
WHAT ARE THE QUALITIES YOU WILL BE LOOKING FOR IN A LOCAL REPRESENTATIVE?
The most important point is for them to be reliable for both their customers and us. They should be eager to learn anything, and we would like them to ask us anything honestly.
WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR THIS YEAR AND BEYOND? – CAN YOU SHARE THESE PLANS WITH US?
The target for the next fiscal year (from April 2015) is to find suitable partners in markets where they are missing and start promoting our products.
SOME SAY PRINT BUSINESS HAD IT ROUGH LAST YEAR ESPECIALLY IN TERMS OF GOVERNMENT REGULATION, TAXES, INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT AND ACCESSING FINANCE. HOWEVER, WE FOUND OUT THAT A LOT OF THOSE WHO SAY THESE ARE EITHER INVESTING IN ONE FORM OF EQUIPMENT OR THE OTHER; WHAT’S YOUR TAKE ON THIS?
Well, there are areas of the world, mainly Europe and North America but also in certain parts of Asia, where print businesses are suffering for several reasons. From the reduction in the number of print jobs as a result of newspapers and magazines that are read on tablets, advertising shown on screens etc. – to financing issues and the consolidations of big groups and so on. But as far as I am concerned and despite all the issues that you have mentioned, the situation in Africa in general and Nigeria in particular is different – the demand for printed jobs is constantly increasing and people are ready to invest. The print market is growing year after year, both in terms of quantity and quality of printed jobs.
AS AN EXPERIENCE PRINT MANUFACTURER, WHAT DO YOU THINK THE FUTURE OF PREPRESS WILL BE?
Pre-press and presses will still exist and continue to grow in years to come. For both analogue and digital, Fujifilm is eager to provide our customers with the right options that suite their businesses from our wide line-up of options.
WITH YOUR EXPERIENCE, WHAT ADVICE CAN YOU GIVE FOR PRINT BUSINESS OWNERS TO SUCCEED IN 2015?
I think any printer in Nigeria knows quite well what to do for their company to be successful. Our advice for any printer, not only in Nigeria, is to stay focused on printing and follow the latest developments in printing technology. Being focused is a winning strategy in order to stay ahead of the competition in terms of technology as well as market forces like the “CTP Revolution” in the 90’s and in the first half of the new millennium. Our advice therefore is not to be afraid in investing in new technologies, both in systems and consumables.
YANAGAWA, THANK YOU FOR SPEAKING WITH WHERE TO PRINT….Thank you too.
BRIEF
Mr. Takashi Yanagawa graduated from the Department of Technologies of Chiba University and has worked in Technical Sales for Dainippon Screen, and then AGFA Japan for over 20 years. He joined Fujifilm in 2005 and rose through the ranks to become Fujifilm Senior Vice President, Graphic Systems Division, FUJIFILM Europe.
