As a leading manufacturer of a broad suite of core products for the events industry, we often ask ourselves “do we really understand what our partners need to be successful in their businesses?” We go to great lengths to listen closely to them, not just when we’re in a selling situation, but often in dedicated settings designed for this express purpose. We just returned from Tucson, Arizona where we spent a week in a relaxed setting to discuss what’s important to their business, any issues we can help solve, and how we can enhance our partners’ success.

Partners fuel our product road map
As a provider of technology products, we try to be in a mode of constant listening so we can incorporate our partners’ valuable insights into our product design processes. Our partners’ needs and desires with respect to product features and functionality are important to us as we design solutions that are purpose-built to fulfill their business objectives. Our responsiveness has allowed us to forge strong relationships with them based on our long-term commitment to their success.

Designing for maximum utility
We appreciate the fact that our partners have invested heavily in Barco technology to fuel their event businesses with product solutions that help their customers take their shows over the top. So we feel a responsibility to provide products that not only meet their needs today, but are also ready to support emerging trends, like 4K and laser. That’s why we try to design our products for maximum utility, with the flexibility and modularity that enables them to leverage their highly valued inventories for the widest array of opportunities.

Case in point - Barco is the market leader in the 20,000 lumen and above projection category. It’s not just because our DLP projectors offer the brightest and best image quality; they also share the same set of TLD lenses, which represents a sizable investment for our partners. Maximizing shared sets of lenses between several projector models is critical in the eyes of our partners.  To extend the utility of this very important investment, Barco is committed to using the same TLD lenses as we launch new products in the 20,000 lumen+ projection category, such as 4K and laser products.

Extending rental inventory with the FLEX concept
The FLEX concept is another way we help our partners reap the greatest reward from their investment in Barco projectors. With FLEX, rental companies have the ability to tune the projector's brightness to a specific show – from 18,000 to 30,000 lumens in incremental steps of 2,000 lumens for the HDF-W30 FLEX, for example. So it’s like having two, three or even four projectors in one, maximizing the versatility of every projector to achieve the highest use with the smallest inventory. In this respect, our goal is not to push our customers to upgrade every year or two, but to maximize our customer’s investments with multi-purpose Barco projectors that help them grow their revenues.

Universal software reduces training time and costs
One more way we’re keeping the total cost of ownership low is by utilizing the same software for our latest projectors, and those we’ll develop in the future. This saves significant time on training, since the user interface and operating features are the same on the HDX 4K20 as the F90 laser phosphor projector, for example. Once operators are trained on one Barco projector, they can easily operate other models.

Committed to the future, together
Our commitment to maximizing utility for our partners means that we’ll help them stay on the cutting edge as well as look out for their bottom line by providing high-value, future proof products. With 4K and laser projection solutions on the horizon, we will continue to develop projectors that leverage these technologies as the demand increases. And by encouraging our partners to repurpose their inventory in smart ways, instead of just upgrading them every few years, we can help them achieve higher ROI over the long run. It just makes good business sense for Barco and for our partners. Because when they’re successful, so are we.

See it in action
See our HDX-4K20 projector in action during Gary Kayye’s presentation presentation on 4K, part of the IST-01 Future Trends session on Emerging Technology, on June 7 at 8:00 am (separate registration/fee required).

See us at InfoComm!
Please join us as we showcase all the ways Barco can help you enliven your events and simplify even the most complex shows. Visit us at Booth #C8720 at InfoComm, June 8-10 in Las Vegas!