Aoki stresses the importance of one-on-one relationships in the Italian market. “Communication is not only about language,” he says. “It is about promoting a personal relationship with the customer. That is why we make it a priority to meet people.” Noritsu closely follows up after-sales client contact with a telephone hotline for consumers to call in anytime with their concerns.

In part, Noritsu has been able to offer this level of support because of the freedom the company gives to the consumer. Competitors often lock their customers into limited systems by designing their machines to only accept their own in-house consumables such as processing fluids or paper. Noritsu’s strength lies in the fact that its mini-lab systems are free to use with consumables made by other brands.

The open systems approach is one of the key ideas spurring on the digital revolution in image processing. More user-friendly consumer print terminals and dual function digital and analogue Quality Service Stations (QSS) minilabs have been developed to open up the process to customers. The concept has been successful, and photo processing giant Kodak now partners with Noritsu in co-branding efforts to highlight each others’ technology.

Confident of Noritsu’s strategy, Aoki says it is time for the company to become more proactive towards clients. “Until now we have waited for customers to contact us,” he explains. “Now we will become more aggressive and approach customers ourselves. After all, we’re involved in the business of communication.”