Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A. Inc. (Konica Minolta) has announced that John Fulena, director of production and industrial printing for the Dealer Division, and Cody Walton, national manager of strategic solutions for dealer sales, as honorees on ENX Magazine's 2022 Difference Makers list. This year's recipients were recognized for their exceptional contributions to keeping their respective businesses and the industry moving forward despite the ongoing pandemic and the Great Resignation.

A true industry veteran, Fulena joined Konica Minolta in 2020 with more than 35 years of experience, much of which was at larger OEMs. Fulena's focus at Konica Minolta has been on helping the company's dealer community grow their businesses within the print production and industrial printing (PP/IP) marketplaces. Starting his new position during the pandemic meant his work was cut out for him. When travel and in-person meetings became impossible, he and his team hosted virtual tours and product demos from the company's Client Engagement Center (CEC). Their efforts helped Konica Minolta's PP/IP sales stay on track, with many units sold sight unseen. Constant change required increased communication and education with the company's dealers, with continual monitoring in the field to assess needs and identify priorities to get as many orders filled on a weekly basis as possible. In addition, supply chain issues kept him highly focused on managing inventory, allocating toner and maintaining relevant promotions for dealer partners.

Walton is responsible for assessing Konica Minolta's wide range of offerings, including managed IT, unified communications, intelligent information management (IIM), software solutions, and video security solutions (VSS) and strategically fitting them into the company's dealer sales channel. He works closely with each Konica Minolta dealership, looking at its business plans, current offerings, customer base and capabilities to formulate new lines of business into successful sales strategies. By encouraging dealers to diversify their portfolios, Walton helps them maintain business continuity and thrive through digital transformation (DX). When Konica Minolta launched a new initiative last year to focus on vertical markets, Walton took what the company was doing with its direct sales channel and aligned it with the dealer channel, using research, data and analytics to define opportunities in the marketplace. He has been with Konica Minolta for more than six years.

"We are so fortunate to have John and Cody on our team," said Laura Blackmer, president of dealer sales, Konica Minolta. "John makes an incredible difference by ensuring that PP/IP is a growth product and very profitable for our dealers. We've had an amazing year with sales of our presses, thanks to education, awareness, training and understanding, and adjusting to the ever-changing marketplace during the pandemic. Cody is a master at rapport building, and brought strong relationships with software providers and vendors he's cultivated over the years. He takes great pains to thoroughly learn our products and services as well as our dealers' businesses, then matches them up to ensure their success. He makes a difference by not only helping our dealers reach optimal growth, but by also advancing Konica Minolta's initiatives through our dealer network."