AKI
AKI GmbH is a German Kyocera subsidiary (founded 1986) that develops PrinTaurus, a cross-manufacturer print management platform with SAP-certified output management, serving large enterprises and public-sector organizations across healthcare, automotive, manufacturing, and government verticals in Europe.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1986
- HeadquartersMeerbusch, Germany
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What AKI does
AKI GmbH is a German enterprise software company founded in 1986 and headquartered in Meerbusch, Germany, specializing in cross-manufacturer print management solutions. Since 2012 it has operated as a subsidiary of Kyocera Document Solutions Deutschland GmbH, with shared Board of Directors across Kyocera, ALOS, and AKI since April 2022. The company's core platform, PrinTaurus, is a modular suite for central administration, SAP-certified output management, high-availability printing, driver standardization, security, and label/PDF printing, with SAP certifications for both NetWeaver and S/4HANA Cloud (the latter being a first-in-market certification).
The platform is sold through regional Key Account Managers using direct enterprise field sales, with on-site installation and consulting, plus a partner network including SAP, Microsoft (Gold Partner for seven consecutive years), EFALIA, MyQ, and Kyocera's distribution channels. AKI serves large enterprises and public-sector organizations primarily in Europe, with named customers spanning healthcare (Charité, Universitätsklinikum Würzburg, Inselspital Bern), automotive (Volkswagen, HELLA, BorgWarner), manufacturing (Infineon, B. Braun, Ferrero, TYROLIT, SICK AG), chemicals (K+S), finance (KfW), and government (BITBW covering 668 police locations).
AKI monetizes through six revenue streams: perpetual software licenses, recurring maintenance subscriptions, Operational Services (managed print with 24/7 support and 15 selectable modules), Digital Printer Rollout professional services, hardware resale, and rental/SaaS licensing models. Notable product launches include PrinTaurus for Healthcare (2022) and PrinTaurus version 6.2 (2023) with PKI encryption and S/4HANA Cloud Print Manager certification. Certifications include ISO 9001, 14001, and 27001. The company holds no disclosed AI/ML capabilities and does not publicly report revenue.
AKI firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- AKI
- Legal name
- AKI GmbH
- Website
- https://aki-gmbh.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1986
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- AKI GmbH is a German Kyocera subsidiary (founded 1986) that develops PrinTaurus, a cross-manufacturer print management platform with SAP-certified output management, serving large enterprises and public-sector organizations across healthcare, automotive, manufacturing, and government verticals in Europe.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
AKI industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Enterprise Print Management Software
- NAICS
- Software Publishers (5132), Support Activities for Printing (32312), Support Activities for Printing (323120)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370), Services-Computer Programming Services (7371)
- akta.pro primary industry
- POD Platform Software & Workflow Automation (Order Routing, Prepress, MIS) (MPAJANAL)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Print & Peripheral Services (Managed Print, scanners, peripherals) (BPAEAIAM)
Keywords
Where AKI is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Meerbusch
- HQ country
- Germany
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
AKI business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Software Licenses: Sale of PrinTaurus software products including perpetual licenses for enterprise customers with cross-manufacturer print management capabilities.
- Software Maintenance: Ongoing maintenance contracts providing regular updates including major releases like version 6.2, with technical support and new functionality access.
- Operational Services: Managed print services with 15 selectable modules covering 7 days a week, 24-hour support. Customers choose from modules for server migration, rollouts, updates, form adjustments, and process automation.
- Digital Printer Rollout: Professional services for printer landscape modernization including planning, implementation, and complete documentation. Automated configuration adjustment for printers during rollouts.
- Hardware Sales: Sale of printer hardware and related equipment as part of complete print management solutions.
- Rental/Software-as-a-Service: Alternative licensing models including rental and SaaS options for customers who prefer not to purchase perpetual licenses.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| One time/ perpetual license | Annual | Perpetual License - One-time purchase of software with annual maintenance fees |
| Subscription | Monthly | Rental Model - Monthly or annual rental payments |
| Subscription | Monthly | Software-as-a-Service - Access via subscription over the internet |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels13 records
AKI product offering
Product offeringCore offering
AKI develops and sells the PrinTaurus software platform, a cross-manufacturer print management solution that enables enterprises to centrally administer and operate printing infrastructure across multiple printer vendors. The software is SAP-certified (including for S/4HANA Cloud), supports high-availability printing, label printing via PDF2Label, and security/rights management, and is complemented by Operational Services (24/7 managed print services) and Digital Printer Rollout professional services.
Product overview
AKI offers the PrinTaurus print management platform with a modular architecture. The core products are PrinTaurus Commander (central administration interface) and PrinTaurus for SAP (SAP-certified printing solution). These are supplemented by specialized modules including PrinTaurus Security Suite, DriverServer, ResQueue, PortMonitor, SmartSpread, FAPrint, PDF2Label, and UniSpool. AKI also provides PrinTaurus for Healthcare as a sub-brand tailored for hospital print requirements. Services include Operational Services (managed print services with 24/7 support across 15 modules), Digital Printer Roll-out, and Windows/SAP/High Availability/ PDF Label/E-invoicing solutions. The company operates as part of the KYOCERA Group, specializing in cross-manufacturer print management solutions.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- PrinTaurus: Print management software solution portfolio including Commander, for SAP, SmartSpread, and Security Suite.
- PDF2Label
- FAPrint
Products and services
- PrinTaurus Commander Central management console for controlling and administering an entire cross-manufacturer printer network via an intuitive graphical user interface. Provides a single point of control for managing print servers, queues, ports, and drivers across the enterprise.
- PrinTaurus for SAP SAP-certified output management system enabling secure, reliable, and traceable SAP printing. Supports the BC-XOM interface for analyzing SAP print data streams and executing workflows, and integrates with SAP Cloud Print Manager for S/4HANA Cloud. Includes high-availability components.
- PrinTaurus for Healthcare Specialized healthcare solution package tailored for hospital requirements, combining PrinTaurus components with healthcare-specific features including KIS integration on SAP basis, medication plans, patient identification labels, prescriptions, laboratory labels, patient admission papers, and treatment plan printing.
- Operational Services Complete managed print services offering with 15 selectable modules covering 7-day-a-week, 24-hour IT support. Customers select from modules for server migration, rollouts, updates, form adjustments, and process automation. Documented outcomes include up to 85% less manual effort for updates, up to 70% reduction in ticket processing times, up to 30% faster printing processes, and up to 20% fewer helpdesk calls.
- Digital Printer Rollout Professional services for printer landscape modernization, including planning, implementation, and complete documentation. Includes automated configuration adjustment for printers during rollouts to standardize large-scale enterprise printer environments.
- PSO - Print Server Operation Managed print services providing complete operation of print infrastructure with 24/7 availability, enabling customers to offload day-to-day print server administration to AKI specialists.
Quantifiable outcome
- Up to 20% fewer help desk calls
- +7 more outcomes
Companies that use AKI
Customer profileNamed customers21 records
Segments6 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
AKI technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration5 records
Feature8 records
AKI partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Seven partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.
- KYOCERA Document Solutions Deutschland GmbHflagshipKyocera acquired a stake in AKI in 2012 to expand its expertise in consulting and solutions business. As part of the Kyocera Group, AKI can draw on the philosophy, expertise, and structures of a global technology group. The companies share a common Management Board (Board of Directors) starting April 2022. Stephen Schienbein is Managing Director of AKI and also Group Director Sales Operations at Kyocera.
- SAPcoreSAP Partner with certified integrations for SAP NetWeaver and SAP S/4HANA Cloud. AKI is the first provider worldwide certified for SAP Cloud Print Manager for S/4HANA Cloud. PrinTaurus supports all operations of the BC-XOM interface for SAP printing.
- MicrosoftcoreMicrosoft Partner with Gold status for Windows and Devices, Silver status for Application Integration and Application Development. For seventh consecutive year. Employees Alexej, Daniel, Rui, and Uwe passed Microsoft certification exams for partnership renewal.
- Holland HouseminorCooperation partner listed on AKI's partnerships page
- BITKOMminorIndustry association membership for German IT sector
- DSAG (Deutschsprachige SAP-Anwendergruppe)minorGerman-speaking SAP User Group membership
- ALOS GmbHcoreKyocera subsidiary alongside AKI. Both companies are now under common Management Board. ALOS and AKI complement each other's offerings within the Kyocera Group, expanding the group's capabilities in document management.
Scale indicators10 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
AKI competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Nuance Communications (Microsoft): Nuance, now part of Microsoft, provides enterprise document/output management and workflow automation at significantly greater scale, overlapping AKI in document process digitization across healthcare and large enterprise.
- OpenText: OpenText is a large enterprise content and document management vendor whose output management capabilities overlap with AKI's PrinTaurus, especially in regulated industries and SAP-centric environments.
- Tungsten Automation (formerly Kofax): Tungsten Automation offers document capture, workflow, and output management at enterprise scale, competing with AKI's PrinTaurus and FAPrint in document process automation and SAP output management.
Direct peers
- LRS (Levi, Ray & Shoup): LRS is a long-standing specialist in output management and print spooling for SAP and enterprise environments, with VPSX as a direct competitor to PrinTaurus for SAP and cross-manufacturer print infrastructure.
- PaperCut Software: PaperCut offers cross-manufacturer print management with strong SMB and education presence and growing enterprise traction, overlapping AKI in vendor-agnostic print management and managed print services.
- Y Soft: Y Soft provides enterprise print management (YSoft SafeQ) including pull-printing, security, and SAP integration, competing with AKI in mid-market and large enterprise cross-vendor print management deployments.
- ThinPrint (HP): ThinPrint (acquired by HP, part of Cortado) provides print management and compression software for virtualized and cloud environments, directly overlapping AKI's PrinTaurus in Windows and virtual desktop print optimization.
- MyQ: MyQ is an enterprise print management provider offering server-based solutions with security and workflow features; it is both a competitor and a listed cooperation partner of AKI in the DACH market.
Emerging players
- DocuWare: DocuWare provides cloud-based document management and workflow automation, with partial overlap to AKI's e-invoicing and document process digitization offerings in the European mid-market.
- EFALIA: EFALIA is a European document management and output software vendor listed as a cooperation partner of AKI; it offers overlapping capabilities in document workflow, making it both a partner and a partial competitor.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
AKI social profiles
Digital presenceAKI compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance8 records
AKI financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
AKI leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
AKI funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
AKI M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about AKI
What does AKI do?
AKI develops and sells the PrinTaurus software platform, a cross-manufacturer print management solution that enables enterprises to centrally administer and operate printing infrastructure across multiple printer vendors. The software is SAP-certified (including for S/4HANA Cloud), supports high-availability printing, label printing via PDF2Label, and security/rights management, and is complemented by Operational Services (24/7 managed print services) and Digital Printer Rollout professional services.
Is AKI a public or private company?
AKI is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was AKI founded?
AKI was founded in 1986. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is AKI based?
AKI is headquartered in Meerbusch, Germany, in the Europe region.
How does AKI make money?
Six revenue lines are on record. Software Licenses are the primary driver. The others are software Maintenance, operational Services, digital Printer Rollout, hardware Sales and rental/Software-as-a-Service.
Who are AKI's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Nuance Communications (Microsoft), OpenText and Tungsten Automation (formerly Kofax). Direct peers are LRS (Levi, Ray & Shoup), PaperCut Software, Y Soft, ThinPrint (HP) and MyQ. Emerging players are DocuWare and EFALIA.
Does AKI have an API?
No public API is recorded for AKI.
What industry is AKI in?
AKI's product category is Enterprise Print Management Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAJANAL, POD Platform Software & Workflow Automation (Order Routing, Prepress, MIS), with a secondary code of BPAEAIAM, Print & Peripheral Services (Managed Print, scanners, peripherals). Its NAICS code is 5132 and its SIC code is 7370.