The Recycler Issue 316

FEATURE
Coming together and embracing the challenges: Remanexpo 2019
same old structures for the
future. Everything needs to be
ready for the change.”
Data Direct was also eyeing a
new company structure, saying
that it was setting its sights on “a
complete new business flow.”
“If we could sit here in a year’s
time having achieved that,” said
Peter Cowan, “with all the ducks
in a row, and all the boxes ticked,
that would be a very, very good
position to be in. If we achieve all
the targets we’ve set ourselves for
2019, we’ll be delighted, and the
champagne will be flowing.”
Hubei Dinglong’s Ian Copsey
explained that company was focussing
on its new products, such as new
toners for use with Konica Minolta and
Brother machines, saying it would be
“good to see that moving well in
2019.”
Teresa from CET was also hoping for
continued success with the company’s
key products, in particular for making
the case for quality as the overarching
factor: “If we focus on speed of
production, there is a risk that we will
ignore the quality of the product, or
the real needs of the market,” she
explained. “This year, we want to
provide a very high-quality product to
our customers, so we will go slowly, to
focus on quality and compatibility.”
“The most important thing in
business is for your customer to trust
you,” Teresa continued. “We are
seeking a win-win-win situation, not
just a win-win! A win for our
customers, a win for our suppliers, and
a win for CET too!”
Teresa further explained that the
company was hoping to “develop the
CET brand” in the near future. “A few
years ago, we didn’t have a lot of
publicity for our brand, but next year
we will change our packaging, and we
will have more exposure for our brand,
and our brand image. We want to
become an international company.”
Integral’s Jan Hagemann was also
thinking of branding, revealing the
company’s new packaging that was on
display for the first time in Frankfurt.
“We’ve been upgrading our design,
so our boxes are featuring more of the
corporate design, with the corporate
colours more integrated. We hope to
represent to the customer the value of
our products this way, and I think it’ll
have a positive impact.”
On a similar note, for Christof Frei
of Turbon, the key ambition for 2019
was to further establish the Turbon
brand, following 2018’s company
reorganisation.
“We want to establish the brand
Turbon in Europe in a positive way, to
show it in print media, in social media,
using the campaign around our
#turboneu hashtag, everywhere, so
that people are aware of us,” he said.
“In the second half of the year, our
ambition is to push our brands, such as
IBM, Agfa Photo, Emstar, and to offer
to our resellers and customers a
modern platform, the best platform, for
being able to resell the products.”
2019 will see the 40th anniversary
of Katun, and the company’s Cinzia
Gandini and Heidi Boller were hopeful
it will be a year to remember for the
Dutch reseller. Gandini explained that
the company was hoping to “spread
the good message associated with our
anniversary – that we’ve been in the
industry for forty years, we’ve always
been growing, and we’ve had great
success across the globe. We want to
make sure our successful story is
known in the market, and this
milestone is a great way to
communicate that.”
Other companies had different
ambitions for the year ahead, with
both Ninestar and Armor looking to
make ground in the provision of
value-added services for its customers.
“The traditional channel is full,”
explained Ninestar’s Ruby Wei, “so we
are seeking potential new strategies
for new business.” Citing the example
of the company’s new label printers
as “part of our strategy to expand
our business,” Wei explained that
Ninestar is “not sticking to the current
consumables, we’re expanding to other
lines of business.”
“We want to educate our customers,
and to push them towards a healthy
industry,” Wei continued. “We want to
show them the value of cartridges that
are high-quality and IP-safe, and we
hope for a win-win in 2019.”
For Armor, meanwhile, the key
ambition was twofold: Further growth
for the company’s newly-launched
copier range, which Gerwald Van Der
Gijp explained was “already growing a
lot,” and in addition, more success for
Armor’s OPS managed print services
(MPS) programme.
“The signals I’m getting about that
programme are very positive, Van Der
Gijp explained, “and we have been able
to transform from a traditional
transactional business model to a
contractual one. What Armor is doing
is transforming ourselves from
supplying just cartridges, into a
services -based company.”
“It could be services we add to our
products,” he continued, “it could be a
contractual approach, it could be
services in logistics, services in the
supply chain, services in sales – we are
strongly focussed on how we can add
value to our partners, and how we can
add value to ourselves.”
42 THE RECYCLER • ISSUE 316 • MARCH 2019