The 4 Pillars of PROKOM

It’s important to keep learning.

I’ve been a teacher and a student all my life. It’s a passion that I’ve been fortunate to feed throughout my career, teaching at the college level at Pratt Institute and New York City College of Technology, where I was able to expand students’ portfolios in the graphic communications space.

These were young adults just starting their careers, whether in digital printing press systems or software. But, even us older dogs can learn some new tricks. Regardless of the amount of time you’ve been in your job, it’s important to constantly learn and grow.

That’s one of the reasons that Konica Minolta as created PROKOM, a professional community for innovation in print and digital media. PROKOM provides practical support and advice from industry experts and a platform to connect, learn and grow with like-minded people and businesses. Everyone in the graphic communications industry can join.

PROKOM started as a vision about three years ago, when I started digging with Melissa Prew, our customer experience manager, into the results for our customer survey for our production print clients. One thing became very clear: our clients wanted us to be more than a vendor; they wanted a true partnership. They wanted technology training and business development advice.

Our European colleagues were hearing the same thing from their clients, so PROKOM was launched with the aim to build an environment for business transformation and grow a community of profitable businesses through education, networking and shared experience. It is now a global community, a game-changer for all Konica Minolta graphic professionals across the globe. Membership addresses three criteria: Connect, Learn and Grow. PROKOM solves your business needs with the right support mechanisms, provided by Konica Minolta and industry experts. In a 24/7 online world, the future of print is evolving. PROKOM provides you with relevant information, business tools, strategic direction and practical and technical support, which allows you and your business to thrive and grow.

There are four pillars to PROKOM.

• Print Operations: The printing industry is becoming increasingly commoditized with printing prices declining and margins eroding each year. Therefore, it is essential to run an efficient and fully automated print production environment to remain competitive. PROKOM’s print operations content enables you to identify areas for operational improvement and deliver practical results using the tools and guides available.
• Sales and Marketing: Print shops have focused on order taking and production. But the world has changed and print is now driven by marketing and IT-led services. To provide the right applications to meet changing customer demands, you need to be in digital communications.
• New Printing Services: We can be confident about the future of the printing industry if we adapt products and services to the changing demands of consumers. The best route will be by investing in integrated print solutions and applications that offer fresh products or services. Print is still a manufacturing industry, but to be successful in the digital age requires a radical fresh outlook.
• Business and Strategy: Regardless of the size of your organization or the markets it serves, effective business strategy and planning the right business model have never been more important. Strategic shifts in local and global demographics, economics and consumer lifestyles are fundamentally changing the demand for print. At the same time, technological development reduces the demand for conventional print and creates fresh opportunities for digital print.

At PROKOM, we’re passionate about improving our members’ businesses. Our hands-on approach involves continuous development, constant feedback and knowledge sharing. After all, PROKOM members are our greatest assets, so we’re dedicated to investing in their future, in the most effective ways possible.

Join Us in Vienna

To bring all the members of our online community together, we’ll be hosting the first user conference May 10-14 in Vienna. Under the theme Learn, Connect and Grow, attendees will be able to learn from international speakers influential in the graphic communications space. PROKOM is about connecting people, sharing experiences and increasing knowledge. See you in Vienna!