RAMSEY, NJ--(Marketwired - July 28, 2016) - With the assistance of Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. ( Konica Minolta), the Center for Hands-On Learning (CHOL) not only found a solution to a challenging print productivity issue that threatened its growth, it also found a way to enhance its educational services in an exciting technological way for students -- thanks to a Konica Minolta solution it had never even considered.

CHOL is a 13-employee non-profit organization in Rio Rancho, NM, founded in the 1990s by local elementary teachers that supplies popular learning kits for grades K-5 worldwide. These kits include games, puzzles and other fun and colorful educational activities. To help fund its growing venture, it began providing copying services for other local businesses, significantly increasing its print production volume. While growth is a good problem to have, the added volume was negatively impacting its primary product quality and deadlines, so it needed to be addressed. Print manager, Mike Mierzejewski, selected Konica Minolta bizhubs® that effectively satisfied the print production volume.

But as Konica Minolta's Production Print Team grew familiar with CHOL's business, it saw an opportunity that CHOL didn't: Why not add 3D printers to its learning kits?

3D printing's innovative technology was something that the Rio Rancho school district didn't offer to its students. Konica Minolta proposed bundling 3D Systems Cube printers with Polar3D STEAMtrax software curriculum, allowing CHOL to provide 3D technology and related lessons to schools that didn't offer such curricula.

Today, CHOL offers the 3D-enhanced learning kits to Rio Rancho middle schools and is looking to expand the packages statewide. In addition, it has proposed to obtain grants to fund the creation of an "Innovation Lab" in its facilities that would be equipped with 3D printers and video production technology. This would give students and teachers a "hands-on" feel for what the future holds.

"This is a textbook example of Konica Minolta's sales team going above and beyond the call of duty," said Kevin Kern, senior vice president, Business Intelligence Services and Product Planning. "We're committed to helping our customers exceed their own expectations and, in this case, we identified a way to make the Center for Hands-On Learning's already popular kits even better with innovative technology that gives students a renewed excitement about learning."

"I greatly value our relationship with Konica Minolta because I trust that they'll make the right recommendations to us," CHOL's Mierzejewski said. "I know they're not going to steer us wrong by trying to sell us something that's not going to fit the need that we're looking to fill. It's a seven-year relationship that we've grown over that time and I wouldn't think of any other vendor to partner with at this point."

About Konica Minolta

Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. is a leader in information management focused on enterprise content, technology optimization and cloud services. Our portfolio of offerings deliver solutions to improve our customers' speed to market, manage technology costs, and facilitate the sharing of information to increase productivity. The All Covered IT Services division offers a range of IT strategy, support, project and cloud computing solutions across all verticals. Konica Minolta has won numerous awards and recognition, including placement in the Leaders Quadrant on the Gartner 2014 Magic Quadrant for Managed Print Services (MPS) and Managed Content Services (MCS). Konica Minolta has been recognized as the #1 Brand for Customer Loyalty in the MFP Office Copier Market by Brand Keys for nine consecutive years. Konica Minolta, Inc. has also been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index for four years in a row. For more information, please visit: www.countonkonicaminolta.com and follow Konica Minolta on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter @konicaminoltaus.

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