Five who thrive by tempering technology with the personal touch
At Glenwood, Minnesota-based American Business Forms, technological changes in the industry present both opportunities and challenges.
Because of its ability to buy back time, President Larry Zavadil believes that Internet technology is one of his company's biggest assets.
"The Internet gives customers the ability research and order products without having to be personally guided, face-to-face, through the process," Zavadil said. "With the extra time, sales associates can again prospect during the day, and write orders in the off hours."
When used improperly, however, Zavadil stressed that e-commerce can be as much of a hindrance as a help.
"Many large companies are going to find that for many of their needsespecially in promotional products or customized formsit is very difficult to simply throw some specifications out on the Internet and get the desired results," he predicted. "The Internet doesn't have the solutionsit's the people behind it that have them."
Technology is also easing communication at American, as the company has introduced two new toolsACES (American Customer-driven Electronic Solution) and AIMS (American Information Management System).
"ACES is an e-commerce tool used in communications with customers. AIMS is the backside of that, automating American sales associates and connecting them to the main frame host in Glenwood," said Zavadil. Once completed, "we will have a fully integrated system," he said, "from quote request through invoicing and detailed customer history."
Acknowledging that the industry isn't about just forms anymore, Zavadil explained that American operates as a consultant to its customers.
"We do not just present a solution, we present multiple options so the customer can make the decision that is best for their company. We discover the best way to fulfill a need, not only to save hard dollars but also soft dollars."
Finally, Zavadil said that the company's ability to stick to its original philosophy has contributed to its continued success. "We always remember who comes firstthe customer is No. 1," said Zavadil, "sales associates are No. 2 and vendors are No. 3. We never stopped focusing on that order and, in doing so, American also wins."
SFI is on a missionto be the one-stop-solution-provider to corporate America for graphic arts and business consumables. The company's supply chain management and fulfillment systemiGetSmartis the electronic platform for this relationship, offering full end-to-end services such as real-time inventory, ordering and nationwide distribution.
"I believe that our e-commerce strategy has already positioned us far ahead of the pack, " said Roger Kimps, president and CEO of the Norfolk, Virginia-based company.
According to Kimps, clients are increasingly demanding total solutionsincluding e-commerce, real time inventory, distribution and superior reporting capabilitiesto better control and grow their businesses.
SFI intends to seek out and serve these needs wherever clients are located. Expanding the customer base and product offerings involves adding solutions-oriented distributors to the team. "Our goal of nationwide distribution and sales support is a priority and necessity," said Kimps.
While clients are still somewhat price conscious, Kimps feels they are catching on to the difference between product price and the full cost of procurement, realizing the value-added benefits of a one-stop-shop-provider offering a full e-commerce system for purchasing, managing and distributing their print and office consumables.
While certain areas such as traditional business forms face major challenges, Kimps feels that the industry for graphic arts is strong. "We have strategically positioned ourselves to be a true and bona fide supplier of all graphic arts and business consumable needs," said Kimps, "and reducing our vulnerability to any one product line will help us maintain our strong outlook in any market condition.
"The Internet will play a major factor in the marketplace," he continued, "and those with an inferior e-commerce strategy will be displaced as customers are increasingly able to connect directly with suppliers."
As major direct manufacturers realize the importance of distributors, some are forming operating divisions to sell their products. What impact this will have on the industry remains to be seen. But for now, SFI is committed more than ever to partnering with its present traditional distributor-oriented suppliers.
As Kimps sees it, you can try to keep ahead of all that is happening and predict the next great product line, or you can focus on being a solutions provider and develop and use technology to efficiently manage and deliver whatever products clients may need. "At SFI," he said "we have chosen the road less traveled, and I believe it will continue to make all the difference."
You could say ProForma has its own version of the 1-2-3 Success plan. But unlike Weight Watchers, ProForma's objective is increasing members' bottom lines through products, technology and acquisitions.
According to Greg Muzzillo, president and CEO of Cleveland-based ProForma, expanding offerings within the business forms, commercial printing and promotional items product channels, "helps the company's 520 independent owner members take their businesses to the next level."
ProForma has staffed each of the three product channels with an internal support system of professional consultants who know the lingo and marketing psyche behind the products. Members are thus assisted in effectively selling across all three channels, maintaining ProForma's status as a total source of supply.
In addition, ProForma has significantly upgraded its e-commerce capabilities over the past 18 months, modifying its electronic business center and online stores to better serve suppliers, member owners and end-users. Maintaining an efficient e-commerce system will continue to be a priority for future growth and continued success.
ProForma's strategic plan also involves increasing the number of independent member owners and aggressively expanding into global and international markets.
Muzzillo explained that the company's Evergreen Groupestablished four years agoassists member owners in buying and selling businesses within their areas as people either retire or move on to new opportunities.
So far, the group has helped 75 owner members start new businesses or significantly grow existing ones. "The ProForma structure offers the combined marketing clout and buying power of a quarter of a billion dollar organization," said Muzzillo.
Besides establishing and selling businesses, The Evergreen Group also enables industry sales professionals to tap into ProForma's resources and sell for member owners without getting into their own business.
According to Muzzillo, member owners can come into the organization making $100,000 a year and utilize ProForma's combined marketing and purchasing power to increase profits to more than $1 million dollars a year. "Helping to make peoples' dreams come true is a powerful feeling which helps to empower others," he said.
Without the type of support ProForma offers, distributors can get stuck behind a desk grappling with administrative tasks which takes time from the actual selling and marketing that grows their businesses.
"Our member owners don't have to sit behind their desks and try to reinvent the wheel," said Muzzillo, "ProForma has already perfected it for them."
A major acquisition company since 1988, Dallas-based Precept Business Products has set its sights on internal enhancements to advance top notch service and meet new customer demands.
This is a strategy that President Paul Cabra feels will give Precept leverage as e-commerce infiltrates the industry.
"We want to review each of our locations carefully and pinpoint the expertise of each so that we can spread it internally," said Cabra. "It behooves me to capitalize our synergies on what we've acquired."
Cabra explained that obtaining companies means buying into new product lines that must be introduced to other locations where salespeople can be thoroughly educated.
"We might have an office on the West Coast that recognizes the potential for services currently offered only on the East Coast. Our objective is to bring that service to other locations," Cabra explained.
By equalizing services throughout Precept's 30 offices, Cabra believes he is able to develop a needed commodity that compliments the company's e-commerce advancements. A combination that breeds success, he noted.
"Distributors who want to remain leaders in this industry must provide Internet-based service while still providing the same customer service and products," he said. Precept is doing this by focusing on the traditional, e-commerce and value-added solution needs of customers.
Said Cabra, "Our customers are changing. They are downsizing and expect a single source for all their needs."
As a result, Precept changed its image from being a printer to a single source, value-added solutions system by implementing print on-demand and inventory management capabilities through the Internet.
Cabra believes that by focusing on such demands, Precept will continue to compete in the marketplace and remain a primary competitor.
Cabra can't recall a time when the printing industry experienced more rapid change than in the past five years.
"But the changing technology is not something the industry fears, it is a situation that we know we must adapt to," he said. "We're focused on building a stronger system around those changes."
Cabra reminded that some services will not be diminished by new technology anytime soon. This includes heavy duty graphics and commercial print items that, Cabra stressed, remain a much-needed commodity.
Maintaining a balance between personalized attention and technological demands is key to the survival of any distributor today, according to Cabra. "What will remain forever are clients who need sales people to take care of them," he said.
GBS has invested a lot of resources into developing its Internet-based ordering and requisitioning system, and customers' reactions are proving that it was well worth the effort.
Currently called DocuNet (a name change is in the works), GBS' system is "an ordering system, a requisitioning system and a document management and document control system," explained Skip Dragoiu, president and CEO of the Canton, Ohio-based company. "We're getting some eye-popping responses from customers who see it."
Dragoiu believes that the industry is moving toward technology-based systems and technology-based suppliers. "Our customers aren't looking at us as a print manager anymore. They're looking at us as a commodity manager and technology leader."
He noted that while a lot of the major directs say they have Internet-based systems, "We're not convinced that any of them have a real sophisticated offering. They say they have it, and they may in fact have some of it, but they use it mostly as a bait-and-switch strategy. In reality, they are just trying to sell business forms."
While that may make sense for directswho have presses to fill and large amounts of equipment to keep busyGBS is focusing efforts on a bigger picture.
"Our customers want us to handle all of their printing requirements and, because they are purchasing them on the same system internally as they're purchasing their operational supplies, we are handling a myriad of products," said Dragoiu.
For example, GBS has one customer to which it ships eyeglasses, contact lenses, eyeglass screwdrivers and cases. "Because we can do it better than any of their other suppliers, we store the products, control the inventory and then ship it. It's much more of a commodity issue than a print management issue."
A ISO-9001 and QS-9000 certified company, GBS expects much from its suppliers. "We are asking our suppliers to comply with those requirements," said Dragoiu, who added that the company hasn't gone so far as to require suppliers be registered as well. "However, we are asking that they comply with international quality standards requirements." If a supplier isn't performing to the required standards, said Dragoiu, "we'll take action. It used to be that you used the better suppliers, but the others stayed on your list. Now we let them know what we expect."
He explained that if a company doesn't meet expectations, they are given the opportunity to do so. "If they still refuse, we remove them from our list. That may sound harsh, but what it's doing, in essence, is strengthening our supplier relationships," Dragoiu said.
Currently, GBS is moving into its three-year planning sessions. "We are very excited about the coming years because of what we have in place with DocuNet," Dragoiu explained.
- Companies:
- GBS Filing Systems
- Proforma
- Places:
- Glenwood, Minnesota