The EP-101, the world's first miniature digital printer, was born in September 1968 and gave rise to the Epson brand, which today is a leader in technology and innovations in the field of printing for the home and office, commercial and industrial.

Diego Piquin, Business Manager of Epson Latin America, He spoke exclusively with Integración Empresaria and told us how they came to lead the market and what their projects are for the future. In the dialogue, he revealed that the company seeks to continue growing in B2B units.

How is Epson positioned in the Argentine market?

Today Epson is positioned as a company that provides comprehensive solutions to our customers based on imaging and printing technologies. Our strategy is to continue our transformation into corporate and industrial markets, developing highly reliable products, leading the vast majority of categories in which we participate. Our management philosophy is to aspire to be an indispensable and trusted company on a global level, seeking the satisfaction of our customers.

Epson is one of the brands that leads the market for printers, projectors and scanners in Argentina. How did they get to this? What strategies do you apply to maintain leadership?

One of the most important pillars for the development of the market in Argentina is our uninterrupted presence in the country for more than 37 years, with commercial and service resources at the national level, always supporting the development of employment and the introduction of innovative technologies for the home, companies and Industry. Our main strength is having products of excellence and high reliability, which gives us prestige and permanence among our users.

We also have a network of specialized channels, who understand in depth the nature of the businesses in which we participate and whether in segments such as Banking, Retail, Textile, among others. Through our business partners we can reach all regions of the country with our entire portfolio of solutions. We have a strict technical, commercial and service certification process, so that our sales channels can provide an excellent solution to our clients.

Being present in the country for so long, having specialized technological and human resources leads us to a full understanding of our market, generating long-term relationships that allow us to maintain leadership in the main segments where we participate.

Short and medium term plans?

Today the company's focus is mainly on the growth of B2B businesses where we have a large portfolio of solutions. In these segments the focus is on the development of sustainable printing, with our Epson WorkForce line where we offer printers for offices and companies with Core precision head technology, with savings of up to 80% in energy consumption compared to old toner laser printers. It also requires very low maintenance, achieving better productivity and operational continuity. In this segment we have achieved many printing service contracts in large corporate accounts, with clients who sought to obtain cost savings in the face of the decline in printing brought about by the context of the pandemic.

Por su parte también seguimos liderando la categoría de soluciones para punto de venta, con nuestros controladores fiscales ya sea para impresión fiscal o facturación electrónica, acompañando el recambio de tecnología impulsado por AFIP y en el caso de proyectores, continuamos con un gran crecimiento con soluciones interactivas en educación con nuestros Epson Brightlink. Este producto fue clave para el desarrollo de aulas híbridas, un nuevo concepto que muchas instituciones fueron sumando para poder dar clases con un mix presencial y virtual.

Finally, another of the business units with the greatest growth at Epson is the Industrial area, here we supply solutions for example for the textile market, with large format sublimation equipment and direct printing on fabric, an area that we lead with more than 80% share if we take the latest product imports. At Epson we have solutions for the small entrepreneur who is just starting out with clothing design, with models such as the F170 A4, or the F570, reaching large textile companies with products such as our Monna Lisa for direct printing on fabric.

Also in the Industrial sector in the middle of the pandemic, we have equipped our first digital label press Epson SurePress L-4533 to the client Vip Labels, who has achieved growth in their business by being able to satisfy a more segmented demand for labels with traditional flexography technologies that they could not achieve due to the large initial volume that such equipment requires for the printing run to be profitable.

EPSON and the immediate future, how do you project it?

Today we have sustained growth year after year as a result of the diversity of segments we reach with our solutions. The main focus is on continuing to grow in the B2B (Commercial) and Industrial units. The country offers us great opportunities to be able to accompany SMEs and large companies in the development and growth of their businesses. We work deeply to have a solid operation with a local presence for the correct supply and support of our solutions.