Dealers--Changing Distribution Models

But the channel is not the only one initiating digital connectivity. Commercial printers are seizing opportunities—such as Printeralliance.com—to initiate new connected relationships. The brainchild of President and CEO Joe Lyons, Printeralliance.com is an aptly named group of independent printers that have banded together in pursuit of savings on their purchases of equipment and consumables. Stressing a deep respect for the relationship between printer and dealer/distributor, Lyons states that "We are very distributor neutral. We allow the printer to buy from whomever he wants." The benefit to printers is manufacturer rebates that are issued by the alliance.