Supplies Wise

(Republished with permission from The Week In Imaging, January 28 – February 3, 2013) – Todd Mavis, president and CEO of Katun Corporation, shares his thoughts on the trends driving Katun’s business and the imaging and technology industry in 2013, the challenges faced by Katun and the industry, and what Katun has in store for 2013 to help its resellers be successful.

What are some of the trends that will drive your business and the imaging and technology industry in 2013?

Mavis: Doing business in over 138 countries around the world gives Katun a unique view into the trends that are happening within our industry. With few exceptions, our customers are experiencing similar business challenges. We have yet to encounter any customers that are able to escape the pressures created with the struggling global economy. Furthermore, our customers are becoming overwhelmed with the increasing amount of industry information, often times conflicting, which makes it difficult to make the right decision for their customers and their business. These strong industry trends, business uncertainty and conflicting information, provide our customers with a great opportunity to differentiate themselves further with their customers. The dealers and distributors that are able to provide their customers solutions that truly deliver on the promise of increased savings without compromising performance will succeed. At Katun we are excited in the knowledge that we can play a vital role in assisting our customers as they deliver on that promise. After all, Katun built itself into the world’s #1 global distributor of OEM-compatible image supplies and parts by doing this day by day and customer by customer.

What are some of the challenges you expect to experience over the next 12 months?

Mavis: Katun will need to be mindful and involved with ongoing emerging technologies, and staying in the forefront of developing markets. In addition, as some competitors continue to push low cost products into the marketplace with inferior image quality and inconsistent performance, we will need to clearly communicate to customers and prospects how Katun provides the best value and true cost savings. For example, we estimate that 24-billion color pages have been produced using Katun color products, with a cumulative savings around $2.6 billion – while still providing OEM-equivalent performance. Cost savings are easy for most of our competitors to achieve – but providing reliable, consistent performance is still a challenge for many of them. As an organization, we must make sure our customers understand the unique value that Katun offers.

What do you have planned to help your dealers be successful in 2013?

Mavis: Mavis: Katun will continue to provide a real value add, offering competitive pricing, a robust product offering (including a growing selection of color and printer products), and rigorous quality testing – while investing in technologies and programs that make it easier for dealers to do business with us. Katun is not just a vendor – our goal is to become an even more valued partner by offering an unsurpassed combination of top quality products, services and solutions – including tools and programs to help our customers run their businesses more efficiently and profitably.