Vol 100 issue 03 2016

MARCH 2016 R50. inc

vat

THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE STATIONERY, HOME AND OFFICE PRODUCTS ASSOCIATION

My Office Magazine www.facebook.com/shopsa.ZA

PAPER PERFECT

100 PENCILS AND PENCIL CRAYONS

Introducing the new REM820 Micro Cut Shredder

Cuts an A4 Page into 2000 pieces

SHREDS

8

SHEETS

BIN CAPACITY

20

LITRES

S4 P5

CUT SIZE: 2x15mm

Rexel code: 301028 Sound level: 58 dBA Also shreds CDs and Credit Cards

www.rexelsa.co.za

Contents My Office magazine is the official magazine of the Southern African Association for Stationery, home and Office Products (shop-sa). It was first published in 1916. The stationery and office supply industry is a fast-changing environment. We aim to write and select articles that will both inform and benefit readers, keeping them abreast of current and future market trends.

The magazine is read by over 25 000 buyers and sellers of stationery and office products each month.

FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1916

Vol 100 | March 2016 www.myofficemagazine.co.za | www.facebook.com/shopsa.za

NEWS

32 | INDUSTRY NEWS Industry-related news and announcements 36 | ECO NEWS A green news update

SALES SAVVY

12 | PENCILS AND PENCIL CRAYONS A closer look at an old office staple 18 | PAPER PERFECT How to sell paper to your customers to improve your bottom line

PUBLISHER Rob Matthews - robm@icon.co.za

SPECIAL FEATURES

EDITOR Leigh Richter - leigh@shop-sa.co.za

06 | INDUSTRY INSIGHTS: THE RISE OF M-COMMERCE E-commerce over smartphones is on the rise in SA 08 | SHOP-SA CENTENARY A look at some memorable shop-sa events 22| IT FOCUS A simple guide to implementing social media for your business 47 | THE REAL STUFF – NOT MARKETING FLUFF This month we speak to Peter Hidden of D4B

ASSOCIATE EDITOR AND MARKETING Wendy Dancer - wendy@shop-sa.co.za EXECUTIVE SALES MANAGER Kim Kotze - kim@shop-sa.co.za NATIONAL OFFICE Design and Layout: Vanessa Bentley New Membership: Wendy Dancer Johannesburg Office PO Box 3226, Parklands, 2121 6 Edward Street, Kensington B, Randburg, 2194 Tel: + 27 11 781 0088 / 89 Fax: + 27 11 781 2828 Email: info@shop-sa.co.za Website: www.myofficemagazine.co.za CONTRIBUTIONS Letters and editorial contributions are welcomed and should be addressed to the editor at editor@ shop-sa.co.za. Publication cannot be guaranteed and is subject to space and the editor’s discretion.

THE LEGAL BIT Whilst every effort is made to ensure accuracy the publisher and editor cannot accept responsibility for supplied material. The opinions of contributors are not necessarily those of shop-sa. Copyright is strictly reserved and no part of this magazine may be reproduced in whole or in part without the written permission of the publisher.

Stationery sponsored by

Member of the Audit Bureau of Circulation

PRINTED BY Colorpress (pty) ltd.

Office paper sponsored by

Published by

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24 RETAIL SAVVY

24 | CHAIRS OF THE FUTURE Nissan has developed an office chair that parks itself 26 | ARTS AND CRAFTS Decorate Easter eggs with these easy tips 28 | JAN/SAN: PAPER PRODUCTS Paper products used in the office

BUSINESS SAVVY

03 | FAILURE BY ANY OTHER NAME …

Failure is just an opportunity to learn, says Gavin Moffat 04 | MIND YOUR MANNERS Manners appear to be a lost art, says Aki Kalliatakis 05 | LABOUR LAW What should job applicants tell prospective employers, asks Ivan Israelstam

26 IN EVERY ISSUE 02 10 21 27 30 37 40 48

| | | | | | | |

EDITOR’S LETTER EVENTS WIN THIS! WEB BUTTONS CRIME ALERT PRODUCT SHOWCASE BUYERS’ GUIDE PUNCHLINE

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editor’s letter

Draw your own conclusions

O

n Wednesday 24 February Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan delivered the 2016 Budget Speech. As part of his plan for the economic turnaround of the country, he committed to cutting government expenditure and reducing South Africa’s trade deficit.

In order to do this, Gordhan has enacted a number of tax proposals which will affect both consumers and businesses.

The government plans to raise R9,5-billion through increases in excise duties, a raised general fuel levy and greater environmental taxes.

A further R2-billion will be raised by adjustments to capital gains tax and transfer duty.

Tax payers were granted some unexpected relief, with tax breaks for lower- and middle-income earners; and VAT remaining at 14%.

A new sugar tax and tyre levy will be implemented, and the plastic bag levy will also go up.

While the news may not be all bad, 2016 is shaping up to be a tough year economically. With the rand losing ground to the dollar and the country on the brink of being downgraded to junk, now is the time to go back to the tried-and-tested staples of your business.

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In our stationery article on page 12, we look at the old industry stalwart, the pencil, while our How to Sell feature on page 18 covers its trusty counterpart: paper.

Our jan/san article on page 28 covers the paper products most needed in the office environment.

If your core business needs a boost, it might be time to move your brand into the social space. According to a social media snapshot put together by World Wide Worx and Fuseware in 2015, there are 11,8-million Facebook users and 6,6-million Twitter users in South Africa. Choose a platform that is right for you with our simple guide on page 22.

Perhaps it’s time to join the world of e-commerce, which is increasingly being accessed by the South African public on their mobile devices (page 10).

And while the general public and businesses alike may be struggling to make ends meet, it seems criminals are stepping up their games. Our Crime Alert on page 30 is a sign of the times. Be aware of new scams and report any suspicious activity to us as soon as possible.

Until next month

Lei g h

Vol 100 - March 2016

business savvy

Failure by any other name …

Failure is just an opportunity to learn

T

homas Edison once said: “I have not failed 10 000 times. I have not failed once. I have succeeded in proving that those 10 000 ways will not work. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work.”

That’s what I think of when I see my eldest daughter’s cat.

The cat’s name is Zeppelin – named after arguably the best rock ‘n roll band, like, ever. She’s still a kitten at about nine months old, and is playful, full of energy and possesses all the right qualities: a little bit of love; knowing when to purr to pull your heart strings; and disappearing for just long enough that you begin to miss her.

She is almost one of the most persistent breathing life forms I have ever encountered.

We recently ended up with my motherin-law’s cat, Amalie, who is unfriendly to say the least. Nonetheless, Amalie has become part of the family and discovered that not all humans are unpleasant, leading her to bouts of joy which are quite out of character.

Zeppelin is persistent in that she really wants to be friends with Amalie. She tries consistently to “engage” with her, talk to her, play with her and eat her food.

OK, so the last part won’t help Zeppelin’s cause.

Amalie is absolutely resistant to all her www.myofficemagazine.co.za

kitty charms. They have wonderful stand offs and conversations that involve primal tail fur explosions and growling sounds from deep inside throats – a symphony of a fight for feline supremacy.

The wonder is that Zeppelin will not give up. She is not deterred by the reaction that she receives, and seems to have an infinite and untapped desire to persist and be friends.

I watch her day after day and wish that I could have the same level of grit and resilience.

Don’t get me wrong: I can persist, as many around me can, but I’m not sure if I have the innate ability to make 10 000 light bulbs before succeeding.

This lead me to examine what persistence really is.

Is it about self-worth? Believing that you can do it, and that you will succeed at what you’re doing – and therefore the failure, or lack of success, is just part of the journey?

Is it about feeling like you are the master of your own destiny and that what you start you will be able to successfully complete? Maybe it’s about not judging yourself when things don’t work out the way that you planned? Or perhaps don’t actually plan success ahead of completing the task, but just do it with little expectation of an eventual outcome other than success?

It could well be about realising that you have to move forward and that the failure of a single thing is not an obstacle but merely part of the process of not stopping.

Amalie’s rejection seems to have little impact on Zeppelin, but that may well be

because she is a cat and does not have neurons firing in the same way that we do.

What should we do to persist more?

For me the answer is tied to resilience.

In our world of instant gratification, failure is not rewarded. The concept of a beta culture does not seem to have taken hold. The idea that whatever you are doing is one part of a journey, and that you do not know the ending so everything that happens is relevant in some way or other.

Beta culture means that it’s probably good enough right now, so move on to the next step or iteration. That’s part of learning resilience. Not everything works the first time and that’s OK. It’s just fine to do things more than once, as long as we learn from the process and improve at a constraint rate. Actually the rate of improvement doesn’t have to be constant, as long as it takes place.

Resilience is about the ability to face challenges and get up each and every time. How you get up or how long it takes is less relevant than the fact that you do.

Resilience is intertwined with persistence.

How do we practice persistence? Get up each time and go back for more.

Remain less attached to the outcome than we currently are. Don’t judge ourselves so harshly in the process of our journey. Be kind to those around us and see failure for what it is: an opportunity to learn.

Be like Zeplin: go back for more, just because.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT GAVIN MOFFAT @GAVINMOFFAT

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business savvy

Mind your manners

I

’m sure that a good psychotherapist would have a field day with me and my personal quirks. In fact, she could probably spend the next 30 years in weekly sessions with me, and still not get through all of the “stuff” that upsets me in today’s world. I fantasise about spending the rest of my life on a little island where I could choose a bunch of like-minded people, and we could adequately get on with the task of survival.

What brought on this little tirade? Today my car broke down and, because I am clueless about most mechanical things, I wondered what I would do while all the other cars whizzed by. I opened the bonnet – a sure sign that I hadn’t randomly stopped in the middle of the road to wait for someone – and a few minutes later, to my great relief, a traffic officer pull up behind me. At last, I thought to myself, someone who can help me get out of my little quandary.

With a rather stern look on his face, he walked up to me, ignored my outstretched hand of friendship, and asked me if I had broken down. With great enthusiasm I confirmed his suspicion, at which point he asked me, “Where is your triangle?”

A bit confused, I asked him to repeat the question, and he impatiently said that, in terms of Regulation 214 (2) (a) of the National Road Traffic Act, all vehicles in South Africa were compelled to carry a reflective emergency warning triangle that was to be displayed at the scene of any breakdown. Failure to do so could result in a fine of R500.

I stared at him, and he muttered something about letting me off this time, walked back to his car, and drove off.

I was furious. Talk about kicking a man when he is down! All of my irrational frustration with today’s discourteous, bad-mannered, corrupt and self-focused world exploded.

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You see, I remember the days when the world was kinder and gentler – and a place where you could depend on people’s manners. I remember when traffic police helped you when you were in trouble; when people greeted you politely and called you “sir”. They also used words like please and thank you, and even stood up to offer their seats to women and older people.

Of course it didn’t help that the day before a young waitress in a restaurant asked me to pass on a plate of food to my son because she couldn’t be bothered to go around the table, and later asked if I was “bagging” my leftovers. At the same meal I also saw the kids at the neighbouring table sticking their chewing gum right under the rim of the table, and licking their steak knives while their parents ignored them and SMSed their friends.

A few days before I had sat in a supermarket queue listening to two employees animatedly talking in a language that I couldn’t understand, and glaring at me for daring to interrupt their private conversation.

I was also in a bad mood because when I took a bunch of change we’d been saving for years in a big bottle to my bank, they charged us to count it all up. Because I have to pay car guards to look after my car in public spaces for fear that they will scratch it if I don’t. Because the people at the Post Office have been on strike for seemingly years now, and because you can’t buy any appliance these days without planned obsolescence.

I’m in a bad mood because last week I got an article from a world-famous consulting company that discussed The Misunderstood Millennials, but the authors didn’t bother to discuss the frustrated baby-boomers who have to pay their excessive salaries for no visible results or success.

I’m in a bad mood because my wife and family travelled to a wedding in another

country, where we had to pay the hotel extra for our children to be “baby-sat” because there was a no-kids policy at the wedding, and then had to listen to about 90-minutes of boring drunken speeches of the couple’s friends. But no one actually thought to say thank you for coming all this way to join the celebrations.

I remember that not so long ago children – yours and mine – would stand up when you walked into a room, rather than ignoring you while they busied themselves on some electronic gadget with a bright screen.

Was it all good in the old days? Of course not! People smoked wherever they wanted to, there were only three TV channels, the popular music was sometimes awful, and you couldn’t order take-aways to be delivered to your home.

(In fact most meals in my home consisted of something and boiled cabbage.)

So, like all older people, I yearn for the good old days, but this epidemic of disastrously bad manners had its origins in a generation of men with whom I am very familiar, because one of them looks at me in the mirror every day when I shave. Somehow, in our race to be independent and make the most of the post-World War II world, to be rid of the centuries-old unfair structures of society and the poverty and inequality created by manipulative leaders, in the 1960s we “hippies” started asserting that this world was built for our selfish benefit, and we should take from it whatever we can.

I think it’s time for a backlash, and a good place to start would be with manners.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AKI KALLIATAKIS

Vol 100 - March 2016

labour law

Degrees of disclosure What should job applicants tell prospective employers?

I

t is not unusual for job applicants to deceive prospective employers in order to improve their chances of getting the position.

In a South Africa where jobs are particularly scarce and competition for work is fierce, such deception is very common and takes many forms.

For example: • Claiming qualifications that do not exist; • Falsification of CVs and academic certificates; • Provision of false reference letters; • Exaggeration of skills and experience; • Lying about reasons for termination of previous jobs; • Denying a current pregnancy; • Lying about the age; • Provision of incorrect referees by replacing the names of previous superiors with names of friends or colleagues who then give glowing references; and • Withholding of information, such as criminal convictions and disciplinary action.

The key questions are: • What information does the law require the job applicant to provide; and • What legal recourse is there for the employer who subsequently finds that it has employed someone who deceived it prior to employment?

It is generally accepted that the employer has a right to full and accurate information that is genuinely pertinent to the decision to employ a job applicant.

While this is the general rule, many exceptions exist, particularly where the information in question relates to the employee’s personal circumstances. www.myofficemagazine.co.za

For example, Section 6 of the Employment Equity Act (EEA) prohibits discrimination against job applicants on a number of arbitrary grounds, including race, gender, pregnancy and age.

Logically, therefore, it would normally be unacceptable to fire an employee who had withheld information related to these prohibited arbitrary criteria.

For example, it would, in most cases, be wrong to fire an employee for having failed to inform the employer, during the job application stage, that she was pregnant.

Although the employee may have proved to have been dishonest about this during her interview, job applicants are not required to divulge such information.

However, where the deception of the employee relates to the employee’s ability to do the job and thereby satisfy the employer’s operational requirements, the employer is on firmer ground should they wish to bring disciplinary action against the employee.

For example, in the case of Evans versus Protech (2002 7 BALR 704), the employee had, prior to employment, informed the employer that she had previously worked as a qualified hairdresser and that a certain person was to be contacted for a reference.

The employee was then employed.

Thereafter the employer discovered that the employee had never worked with the alleged referee and that the employee had not been a qualified hairdresser. The employer therefore dismissed the employee.

The CCMA found that the dismissal was procedurally unfair because no disciplinary hearing was held, but substantively fair because the employee had not been justified in lying about her qualifications during the job application stage.

In the case of TAWU obo Louw versus Volkswagen (2003 BALR 493), the job

applicant, falsified the salary he had been earning at a previous job. On the weight of this false information Volkswagen employed him in a senior post.

Volkswagen dismissed the employee on discovering the lie. The CCMA found the dismissal to be fair on the grounds that the employee’s dishonesty had destroyed the trust relationship between the parties.

However, in the case of NUMSA obo Engelbrecht versus Delta Motor Corporation (1998 5 BALR 573), the CCMA found the dismissal of Engelbrecht to be unfair despite the fact that he had failed to inform the employer, at the job application stage, of a previous act of dishonesty. The arbitrator re-instated the employee.

The above labour law cases neither mean that it will always be acceptable to dismiss employees for having given false information when applying for a job nor that it will always be unfair to fire employees who had withheld information such as acts of dishonesty.

What these cases do show is that: • Employers need to check all information that job applicants give them; • Employers have the right to question such information even after having hired the job applicant; • Employers must hold disciplinary hearings before acting against deceitful employees; and • Employers must, before holding such hearings, consult with a reputable labour law expert as to whether the deceptive behaviour in each individual case merits discipline and dismissal.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT DR IVAN ISRAELSTAM THIS ARTICLE FIRST APPEARED IN THE STAR

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e-commerce

M-commerce: Moving on up E-commerce spend via smartphones in South Africa is set to grow by 70%

A

ccording to a new survey by research organisation Ipsos, e-commerce spending

by South Africans via their mobile devices (m-commerce) is set to grow by 70% in 2016. This figure is set to outpace overall e-commerce spend in SA, which is forecast to grow by 29% this year.

E-commerce spending via mobiles accounted for 25% or R7-billion of all online transactions in 2015, says Efi Dahan, regional director for PayPal in Africa and Israel. Payment service PayPal commissioned the Ipsos survey.

The survey further reported that South African shoppers spent R28,8billion online in 2015, which is expected to grow to R46-billion by 2017 – of which mobile will account for R19-billion.

“There is no doubt that the rapid penetration of smartphones in South Africa will continue to be the driving force of online shopping in upcoming years,” says Dahan.

Most South African online shoppers (59%) buy locally, with 37% buying both local and cross border and 5% buying exclusively from international providers.

The most popular online shopping

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destinations for locals are the US, UK and China, but Dahan warned that security was a challenge.

“I believe that the smartphone shopping experience will continue to evolve as consumers feel greater comfort and security.”

Security firm Trend Micro recently reported that hacked PayPal accounts with a guaranteed balance of $500 (R7 941.54) were traded for $6.43 (R102.51) on the Deep Web. And Check Point reported that giant e-commerce platform eBay had failed to fix a security flaw dubbed “JSF**k” that allows cyber-crooks to use the platform as a phishing and malware distribution platform.

Dahan says that the online space made geographical borders irrelevant.

“Though international shopping is still less popular locally, with the growing variety of products, larger range of prices, improved shipping options and increasing confidence in e-commerce, we believe that South African consumers will continue to purchase online, regardless of physical borders.”

PayPal is the most popular online payment method for South Africans who shop internationally at 68%, followed by Visa Credit card at 37%, the survey showed.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT DUNCAN ALFREDS FOR FIN24; WWW. AFRICABUSINESSCOMMUNITIES.COM

M-commerce: a global phenomenon 1. M-commerce transactions are growing tremendously. They are forecast to reach up to 33% of the e-commerce market in the US and 40% in the global market.

2. M-commerce sales reached figures of up to $77-billion by the end of 2015, and these sales figures are projected to double to $153,5-billion by 2019.

3. Personal computers and tablets may still account for the majority of e-commerce transactions, but m-commerce transactions through smartphones are fast closing the gap according.

4. Among smartphone users, iPhones lead the way over all other devices, with a 12% growth rate in m-commerce transactions, accounting for up to 10% of all e-commerce transactions in the United States.

5. Social media has always been an important factor that contributed to the tremendous growth of mobile device use. The discovery of m-commerce through social media is on the rise.

6. Research has highlighted that up to 59% of retailers are placing greater priority on optimising their Web sites for mobile Web and m-commerce.

7. Consumers are shifting their focus from apps to the mobile Web for m-commerce transactions.

8. With m-commerce on the rise, marketers are adapting time-tested strategies to generate better sales regardless of platform. This includes the use of coupons in a mobile format, which are forecast to be used by as much as 40,5% of US companies.

Source: www.business2community.com Vol 100 - March 2016

e-commerce

T

he rise of a mobile world means endless opportunities to transact in a private and secure way. We are no longer confined to our homes, our laptops or local retail outlets. We can now do everything previously limited to a PC environment via our mobile devices.

The world is embracing this in record numbers, and no more so than Africa.

But it hasn’t always been this way.

Emerging markets like Africa continue to face road blocks and hurdles when it comes to the explosive growth of m-commerce. A lack of awareness around what’s available and how to transact using mobile devices are pervasive issues.

Education is going to be key to ensure consumers continue to jump on board and feel comfortable with any mobile transaction.

Increasing concerns about security and risk is also high on the list. Even more so than with Internet-based e-commerce, ordinary users worry about the safety and reliability of conducting business over a wireless connection.

Another challenge is developing applications for multiple networks and a wide range of devices. Whilst there are limited major Web browsers for PCs, in the world of mobile phones there are multiple operating systems with multiple browsers, so the same application can look completely different on different screens. Without standardisation, developing m-commerce applications can be prohibitively expensive.

And last but certainly not least is the lack of high speed connections. Access to high-speed networks is important www.myofficemagazine.co.za

M-commerce: the future of Africa to providing “rich” applications. The dedicated 4G networks that will deliver higher speeds for mobile connections are not yet available across all of Africa.

Why m-commerce?

People have an intimate relationship with their mobile phones. They are not limited by location – by their very nature, they are everywhere.

Mobile devices are filing up “boredom time” on the go that retailers have never before had access to.

This consumer down time is a key marketing gap. And if marketers are looking for the ultimate “mobile” consumer to promote their products, they need look no further than Africa. The region is witnessing one of the strongest increases in mobile data use in the world.

Forecasts point to a 20-fold increase by the end of the decade in Africa, with mobile Internet traffic doubling between 2015 and 2016.

Driving forces One of the most significant reasons why m-commerce is growing faster in African markets is its underdeveloped traditional banking channels. All African countries are classified as either emerging or frontier markets. The African Development Bank (AfDB) estimates that less than 25% of African families have bank accounts.

The World Bank also estimates that less than 25% of adults have an account at a formal financial institution. Without doubt there are wide disparities between countries and a considerable proportion of their population is without access to traditional banking services as in many other countries in the region.

Further factors influencing Africa’s m-commerce boom is the rapid growth of the middle class.

While Nigeria leads the pack in terms of countries witnessing high economic

growth, closely followed by South Africa, even lesser known countries like Morocco, Senegal, Kenya and Mozambique are making their presence felt on the economic map of Africa. The growing middle class in these countries has more spending power and wants better product and services within shorter delivery periods.

The African growth story has caught the imagination of big players in the world of m-commerce. According to AT Kearny’s 2014 African retail development index, sub-Saharan Africa has one of the fastest urbanisation rates and mobile adoption rates in the world. As a result, online giants like Kaymu and Jumia have opened shop in the region, funded by the deep pockets of Africa Internet Group (AIG). Recently Jumia, who likes to call itself “the Amazon of Africa” announced fresh investments worth $150-million. But unlike Amazon, Jumia’s core focus is all about mobile and riding the m-commerce train. It’s becoming an extremely competitive market with new players launching every day. Therefore the critical refinements necessary for players like Jumia to maintain their current position and continue to pursue their goal of market domination will be based on speed and usability of the platform as demand for mobile phones and mobile shopping continues to grow.

Conclusion There is a general assumption that, in the world of technology, Africa needs to learn from more advanced markets. But what if it is actually leading the way? Perhaps it is the time where Africa has lessons to give rather than to receive? I think with such a “mobile first” continent like Africa, m-commerce is definitely an industry where Africa will lead the way. And it has to; its economic existence depends on it.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

BY GLENN DAVIES, GROUP CEO OF INIGMAH my office magazine

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shop-sa centenary

shop-sa had a look through the archives to bring you the highlights of previous association events

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Vol 100 - March 2016

100 years of good times

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events

Diarise this A list of industry-specific events and exhibitions to mark on your calendar 15 – 16 March THE LIGHTING SHOW AFRICA SANDTON CONVENTION CENTRE, SANDTON, JOHANNESBURG

This two-day event will allow leaders in the industry to showcase their products, services and solutions at Africa’s largest solar and energy exhibition. Different industries sectors, such as computer hardware and software, electronics and electrical goods, industrial products and business services, will be covered.

15 – 18 March PROPAK SOUTH AFRICA EXPO CENTRE, JOHANNESBURG

This four-day event will showcase products from the highly-competitive packaging, food processing, plastics, printing and labelling industries. Propak Africa is co-located with the FoodPro, Pro-Plas Expo, The Gapp Print Expo and Pro-Label Africa shows. This event will skilfully harness the synergy and strengths of various interrelated industries in the packaging materials industry.

15 – 18 March PRINT EXPO-SOUTH AFRICA EXPO CENTRE, JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA

The Print Expo is ranked as the sub-continent’s essential forum for the printing, publishing and electronic media-related industries, and bridges the gap between conventional and state-of-the-art thinking. It will also reveal the latest digital technology to the printing and associated industries

18 – 21 March DECOREX DURBAN DURBAN EXHIBITION CENTRE, DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA

This four-day event showcases products from the building construction, home furnishings and home textiles, business services, architecture and designing and furniture industries.

25 March – 03 April RAND SHOW EXPO CENTRE, JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA

This 10-day event boasts a number of exhibitors and presenters who showcase their products and services. The show has been an event of choice for many.

07 April AFRICA PRINT REGIONAL EXPO POLOKWANE MEROPA CASINO POLOKWANE, POLOKWANE, SOUTH AFRICA

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This event showcases products like the latest equipment and consumables related to the commercial and digital printing industries. Grow your customer base, offer your clients a wider range of products and solutions and remain at the forefront of technology in the business services, computer hardware and software, industrial products, printing and publishing industries.

Vol 100 - March 2016

stationery

Draw your own conclusions Pencils Standard pencils Graphite pencils are the pencils we all know and love, and are most commonly used for drawing and completing schoolwork.

There are more varieties of graphite pencils than any other kind. In spite of the name, pencil leads do not contain the toxic chemical element lead, but are typically made with graphite and clay, or plastic polymers. This mixture leaves grey or black marks on the substrate, which can be erased easily.

Most graphite pencils have a combination of numbers or letters stamped onto them. These numbers and letters indicate how hard or soft the lead of a pencil is. The higher the number H, the harder the lead, meaning the pencil will produce a lighter line. The higher the number B, the softer the lead. This results in a darker line. The numbers and letters usually range from 6H to 9B. The familiar, yellow pencils with pink erasers on top are HB, which sits right in the middle of the range.

Mechanical pencils A mechanical pencil – also known as a clutch pencil, a propelling pencil or a technical pencil – is a pencil with a replaceable and mechanically extendable solid pigment core.

Unlike traditional wood-encased pencils, the graphite in a mechanical pencil is not bonded to the outer casing, but is instead extended as it becomes blunt.

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Mechanical pencils provide lines of constant width without the need for repeated sharpening. They are used by people who work in pencil all day, such as draughtsmen, architects and mathematicians.

Mechanical pencils can also be used for fine-art drawing.

Did you know?

Mechanical pencils first appeared in the 18th century. Many designs were patented in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Mechanical pencils can be divided into two basic types: those that both hold the lead and can actively propel it forward, and those that only hold the lead in position.

Screw-based pencils were the most common type of mechanical pencil in the earlier part of the 1900s. This mechanism ensures that the lead is brought down the dispensing column by twisting a screw. A slider is moved down the barrel of the pencil.

Pencils of this type typically have a locking mechanism to allow the lead to be pushed back into the pencil.

Clutch pencils are activated by pressing the cap at the top. This opens jaws inside the tip, and the lead is able to drop down the barrel towards the tip of the pencil. When the cap is pushed down and the lead is in free-fall, it can fall out of the pencil entirely. It is worth holding the pencil just above the work surface,

and the lead will stop when it touches the obstacle.

Some types of clutch pencils contain mechanisms to incrementally advance the lead.

Clutch pencils use thicker leads than screw-based pencils, and can only hold one piece of lead at a time.

Ratchet-based pencils have lead which is held in place by two or three small jaws inside a ring at the tip. A button on the end or side of the pencil controls the jaws. When the button is pushed, the jaws move forward and separate, which allows the lead to advance down the barrel of the pencil. When the button is released and the jaws retract, the “lead retainer” (a small rubber device inside the tip) keeps the lead in place, preventing it from either falling freely outward or riding back up into the barrel until the jaws recover their grip.

Ratchet-based pencils are a variant of the clutch pencil.

Mechanical pencils that are shaken back and forth to release lead are a type of ratchet-based pencil. Pencils of this type may also have a button so that the user can manually advance the lead if necessary.

Another type of ratchet-based pencil advances the lead automatically. In this design, the lead is advanced by a ratchet but only prevented from going back into the pencil by friction. The nib is a springloaded collar that, when depressed as the lead is worn away, extends out again when pressure is released.

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Yet another type of ratchet-based pencil has a mechanism that twists the pencil lead at six degrees counter-clockwise every time the lead is pressed on to the paper. This means wear is evenly distributed and lines are of uniform thickness.

Most mechanical pencil mechanisms can only house a single lead diameter.

Some pencils contain several mechanisms within the same housing, so as to offer a range of thicknesses, but these are rare.

The lead of mechanical pencils is also available in a range of hardness ratings.

The hardness required will depend on the user’s desired balance between darkness and durability. The lead most commonly found in mechanical pencils is identical to HB, although not as thick.

Mechanical pencils with coloured leads do exist, but they are quite rare.

Pop-a-point pencils Pop-a-point pencils, also known as stackable pencils or non-sharpening pencils , were pioneered by Taiwanese stationery manufacturer Bensia in the early 1970s Many short pencil tips are housed in a cartridge-style plastic holder, decorated with patterns or colours. A blunt tip is removed by pulling it from the writing end of the plastic body and re-inserting it into the bottom of the holder.

Graphite sticks A graphite stick is similar to a standard pencil, but instead of a wooden body with a lead core, they are comprised of solid sticks of graphite. The advantage of these graphite sticks is that they produce thicker, bolder lines that pencils can’t match.

Graphite sticks are used by artists to block in shadows and dark tones over a large surface area.

Charcoal pencils Charcoal pencils are very similar to graphite pencils but but they have cores made of compressed charcoal. This is a much softer material than graphite, www.myofficemagazine.co.za

producing richer and deeper blacks.

Charcoal pencils combine the depth of charcoal with the control and precision that a pencil provides. These are usually used for impressionist drawings, quick sketches, or in conjunction with regular pencils to add a little more depth to a drawing.

Carpenter’s pencils A carpenter’s pencil is a pencil with flat sides. This makes it easier to hold and use in the tight spaces that craftsmen are confronted with, such as the corners of pieces of wood. The fact that the core is not round means that thick or thin lines can be drawn by rotating the pencil.

Thin lines are required for high precision Different diameters of mechanical pencil lead and their uses • 0.20 - technical work • 0.30 - technical work • 0.40 - technical work (only available in Japan) • 0.50 - general writing, general technical work or beginner’s technical work • 0.70 - general writing • 0.90 - students/general writing • 1.00 - rare, used in pre-1950 Parker pencils • 1.18 - used in older pencils • 2.00 - drafting lead-holders • 3.15 - non-drafting lead-holders • 5.60 - non-drafting lead-holders Source: Wikipedia

markings and are easy to erase, while thick markings are needed to mark on rough surfaces such as wood or walls.

The type of lead used in these pencils is strong enough to withstand the stress of marking on these usual surfaces.

Typically carpenter’s pencils are more robust, and able to endure in dirty, demanding environments such as construction sites and workshops.

Because of their unusual shape, carpenter’s pencils do not fit into a standard pencil sharpener. They are usually sharpened with a knife.

Similar pencils (called “jumbo pencils”) are sometimes used by children, although these tend to have a softer core. This allows the child to draw with less effort. Designers and artists may also use carpenter’s pencils to draw thick lines. They are sometimes used in calligraphy – Old English letters are easier to draw with a carpenter pencil than with an ordinary pen.

Did you know?

The flat pencil is one of the oldest pencil types. The first versions were made by hollowing out sticks of juniper wood. A superior technique was then discovered: two wooden halves were carved with a groove running down them; a plumbago stick was placed in one of the grooves; and the two halves were then glued together – essentially the same method in use to this day.

Source: Wikipedia my office magazine

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Pencil crayons Standard coloured pencils These brightly coloured pencils are a staple of the classroom and craft box. The pencils are made of a wooden cylinder with a core of pigment. The pigment can be wax- or oil-based, and contain varying amounts of additives, pigments and binding agents. Professional-level pencil crayons are much softer, with wax-based pigments that transfer to paper more easily.

Pencil crayons come in a vast array of colours, but in the event that the right colour can’t be found it can be produced by layering pigments one on top of the other, and blending.

Erasable coloured pencils Unlike wax-based coloured pencils, erasable pencil crayons can easily be erased.

Erasable pencil crayons are used mainly in sketching, where the objective is to create an outline using the same colour that other media (such as wax pencils, or watercolour paints) would fill, or when the objective is to scan the colour sketch.

These pencils may be used by animators instead of the more traditional graphite pencils. They don’t smudge as easily, and the different colours allow for better separation of objects in the sketch.

Erasable colour pencils are also used in the publishing industry by copy-editors and proof-readers. Their markings stand out more than graphite but can be erased.

Watercolour pencils Water-soluble or watercolour pencils are pigment-based and work much in the same way as coloured pencils. The unique quality of watercolour pencils is that the “lead” pigment dissolves quickly in water. This means you can apply different amounts of water to the lines you have drawn to create a traditional watercolour effect, or dip the pencil directly in water to add very bold areas of colour.

Watercolour pencils are an ideal gateway into the watercolour world. They offer a greater degree of control when compared to a paintbrush.

They can also be used alongside coloured pencils to add splashes of very vibrant colour, or highlights.

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Vol 100 - March 2016

Drawn to perfection

For generations, Goldfaber has been treasured for its superior quality and remains the standard by which others are measured. Finely ground graphite and clay are meticulously blended to produce a superb, ultra-smooth writing and drawing experience. Each pencil is carefully crafted using the finest cedar wood; sourced from certified sustainable forests and SV bonded to prevent lead breakage.

Goldfaber is available in 12 grades of hardness to enhance your creativity in the classroom, studio or office.

Distributed by Bantex South Africa (PTY) LTD

E+I 3763

Johannesburg: 011 473 9800 Cape Town: 021 592 1173 Durban: 031 569 1080 Namibia: 061 26 1061 Trade Enquiries: sales@bantex.co.za

how to sell

Paper perfect A simple guide to selling your customers the best paper for the job

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how to sell

Paper is generally made from the fibres of wood, typically from pine trees. Trees are felled and delivered to a pulp mill in the form of logs, wood chips, waste paper or even paper pulp from other mills.

Whitening the pulp As a natural product, wood pulp is brown. It must therefore be bleached in order to make white paper. This is done with chlorine or chlorine compounds, as well as with oxygen or hydrogen peroxide.

Chlorine-based processes have a larger environmental impact, and so chlorinefree processes are preferred.

The furnish The mix, or furnish, consists of a blend of pulp. This blend is generally made up of differing proportions of hardwood and softwood, depending on the “recipe” for a particular type of paper.

At this stage, various chemicals are added depending on the particular specifications of the paper to be made.

Chalk or clay may be added to enhance brightness and smoothness; dyes are added for shade control; optical brighteners are added for whiteness; and sizing agents are added to make the paper repel moisture.

All the components are dissolved in water and mixed with the pulps. Water is the most important component at this stage, and it takes approximately 100l of water to make 1kg of paper. This is then ready for conversion on the paper machine into a continuous sheet of paper.

Making pulp At the mill the logs are stripped of their bark. They are then either ground to fibres for mechanical wood pulp or processed to chips for chemical pulp. Recycled pulp is made using waste paper.

To grind wood into fibres, it is mixed with water and milled.

During a chemical pulping process, lignin, the natural “glue” that holds the

Refining the pulp In order to give the pulp the exact properties for a particular type of paper, the bleached pulp has to be refined.

This is done by passing the pulp through a system of rotating and stationary blades. This enhances the way the fibres mesh together, increasing their bonding properties and making for stronger papers.

The paper machine This machine has three major components – the base sheet forming section, the press section and the drying section – and its primary function is to create a uniform web of paper.

The furnish is agitated to prevent the fibres from clumping. The furnish is rapidly de-watered, the fibres begin to bond and a mat is formed. From here, the furnish moves

aper comes in a vast array of colours, shapes and sizes, and it is very much a part of our everyday lives. To help your customers choose the best product for their purposes, you will need to understand all of the different aspects of paper.

How paper is made

wood fibres together, is dissolved. This frees up wood fibres. The resultant pulp is either sulphate or sulphite pulp, and the fibres are clean and undamaged. Paper made from chemical pulp is often called “wood-free” or “fine” paper.

Newspapers, cardboard boxes and magazines are de-inked as part of the recycled pulping process. This type of pulp is turned into things such as fluting (the wavy middle layer of corrugated cardboard).

Debunking paper myths The paper industry often gets a bad rap from environmentalists and consumers alike, but all is not as it seems.

Did you know that: • The paper industry is one of the most ecoresponsible industries and contributes to reforestation.

• One person consumes 212kg of paper per year, on average. This is the equivalent of 500 kWH of energy consumption – but a computer consumes 800 kWH. • Sending 10 e-mails a day for one year results in the same carbon emission as driving 1 000km by car.

• Paper can be recycled up to seven times without losing any of its original quality.

• A page displayed on a screen for three minutes consumes more energy that the printed equivalent.

• An electronic invoice sent via e-mail releases 242g of CO2 the equivalent of the production and dispatch of 15 paper invoices.

Visit www.antalis.co.za for more information.

Source: Antalis

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to the press section where it squeezed between a series of pressure rollers. From there, the paper moves to a drying section.

At this point the paper may have other elements, such as a surface coating with starch, added to it.

The paper is then wound into a large wheel.

Calendering Calendering is a finishing process used on paper. Sheets of paper are placed between metallic plates and passed through spring loaded rollers in a calendering machine. This is to smooth the paper out and enhance the gloss.

The paper passes through up to 16 rolls which apply pressure and heat to the coated paper surface. These rolls have different surfaces. Steel rolls and elastic rolls achieve the various glazing and surface treatments. This process is also used to achieve different textures.

Finishing At this point the paper is cut to the size required by the customer. The jumbo reels are transported to a finishing department, where they are dispatched for delivery as is or processed into specific paper sheet sizes on a sheeter.

Characteristics of paper Texture Paper is available in a range of textures, from very smooth to quite rough.

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Smoothness is an important characteristic, especially if your customers are using paper to print on.

The smoother the paper is, the sharper the printed image. Certain types of paper are optimised for different functions. For example, laser printer paper is optimised for use in laser printers. It improves printer performance, especially for colour and complex graphics. Inkjet printer paper ensures images print cleanly without bleeding.

Rough papers have greater texture, providing an interesting element to an art project or painting. Watercolour paper and handmade papers are very rough.

Weight The weight of the paper is also important.

The higher the weight, the greater the thickness of the individual sheets of paper. Weight, or grammage, is measured in grams per square metre (gsm). Most paper for use in printers ranges from 80gsm to 160gsm. Tracing paper is very thin (40gsm) while card stock is between 200gsm and 250gsm.

Performance Paper performance is usually determined by how well the paper is suited for the task at hand. As with most things, the more expensive a paper is, the more likely it will be to be good quality.

With regards to cut sheet paper, printing sharpness is important. How

clear will the print be? Will the ink smudge or blur? Sharpness is provided via a combination of paper finishes and weight.

Cut sheet paper with consistent, reliable performance helps reduce printer wear and tear. Paper dust (a result of using poor quality paper) can harm printers in the long run.

Appearance The appearance of paper is also important. Papers with a low opacity will allow light to shine through. In general, that means ink will show through too. Multi-purpose paper is fairly translucent, while thinker papers tend to have a higher opacity. Thicker paper will be resistant to ink bleeding through.

Another aspect of appearance is whiteness. When it comes to cut sheet paper for a printer, whiter is better. The whiter the paper being printed on, the better colour and black and white copies will look.

Coloured papers should not leech colour.

Sustainability Some types of paper come with a Forest Stewardship Council logo (FSC). This means that the timber used to produce the pulp was grown in a responsible manner and has been certified as such.

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how to sell

Types of paper When selling paper to your customers, make sure to ascertain their needs. There are many different types of paper, and they are used for different applications.

To determine which paper will be most suitable for your customer, ask them what they plan to do with it.

Continuous form paper Continuous form paper is usually perforated at regular intervals and is joined together like an accordion. It is typically used by impact (dot matrix) printers. It can be single ply or multi-ply, with carbon paper between the layers. The highest grade of continuous paper is similar to typing paper, with a fine perforation.

The most common sizes are 241mm x 279mm and 381mm x 279mm.

Continuous form paper is commonly used by businesses that are required to give customers copies of invoices, such as mechanics and couriers.

Cut sheet paper The standard, white paper that your customers buy in a ream and use in their inkjet and laser printers is called cut sheet paper. It ranges in size from A5 (148mm x 210mm) up to A0 (841mm x 1 189mm) in speciality printers. Variations are offered in thickness, smoothness or a combination thereof. Paper is often supplied by printer manufacturers to ensure the best colour reproductions. Be sure to ask your customers what type of printer they use to ensure you sell them the correct paper.

Photograph paper Customers who want to print their own photographs will require special photographic paper, which is coated with specially-developed chemicals for a glossy finish. The chemicals also ensure there is no bleeding or smearing of ink. The paper itself can be thin sheets of plain paper or thick, multi-layered paper. Different types of photo paper have different thicknesses and textures. Some photo papers have the grain and weight of watercolour paper or art canvas.

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Thermal paper Thermal paper is a fine paper coated with a chemical that changes colour when exposed to heat. The paper, which comes in rolls, has a protective top-coating to prevent fading. Despite this, the paper is light sensitive and fades easily. This type of paper will usually be used by customers who print receipts, such as those with tills and credit card machines.

Security paper Security paper is a type of paper that incorporates features that help to authenticate a document as original. This is done through the use of watermarks or invisible fibres.

This type of paper is used for identification documents such as passports, certificates and government documents.

Paper for arts and crafts In general, the paper used for arts and crafts is different from other papers in that it is brightly coloured or patterned, and has different textures.

Tissue paper – this is a type of very thin paper with a smooth surface. It is available in a range of bright colours and is best suited to wrapping, packing or craft projects.

Tissue paper for crafts is usually sold in sheets. It is inexpensive but does tear easily.

Tracing paper – this is a very thin type of paper (around 40gsm) that is transparent enough to see through onto the paper below. It is used in arts and crafts to trace and transfer patterns and images.

Crepe paper – this is another type of thin paper but it has a crinkled (creped) surface. This makes it slightly stronger than tissue paper and it can be stretched.

Crepe paper is not colour-fast and will bleed if wet. It is used for craft projects and gift wrapping or table decorating.

Origami paper – this is a thin type of paper that is made with folding in mind.

It is sold in squares and is often patterned on one side and plain on the other, although it can be found in solid colours or plain white. It is used for origami,

scrap booking and card making. Origami paper is relatively expensive.

Construction paper – also known as sugar paper, this is a light- to mediumweight multipurpose paper with a slightly rough surface. It is available in a wide range of colours and is used in arts and crafts projects like papier mache, decoupage, printing, picture making and scrapbooking. It is especially popular with children as it is brightly coloured and relatively cheap.

Brown paper – this strong paper is ideal for wrapping, covering schoolbooks and making papier mache. It can be bought in sheets or rolls.

Parchment – also known as vellum, this is a thin but tough paper with a translucent quality. Parchment is ideal for crafts such as card making, stamping and embossing. It can be plain or patterned and is made from vegetable pulp that has been treated with sulfuric acid.

Watercolour paper – this is a type of very thick paper with a rough, textured surface. It is usually white and is used by artists who work in watercolour paints.

Watercolour paper needs to be primed before use. Wet the sheet of paper and stretch it. Allow to dry before using.

Card stock – also known as pasteboard, this type of paper is thicker and more durable than normal paper, but thinner and more flexible than cardboard.

It is available in a range of colours and finishes and is ideal for making cards and using in craft projects.

Paperboard – this is a thick type of paper that is available in a range of colours and finishes. Paperboard is always thicker than standard paper, and starts at 225gsm. It is ideal for book covers and school projects. Although it is a heavy duty paper, it is easy to cut.

Cardboard – this is considered to be any paper with a weight greater than 130gsm. Corrugated cardboard is a type of card with two or more layers of paper with a fluted layer in between. Corrugated card is usually brown, but it is found in other colours. This type of paper is ideal for craft projects because it is stiff and holds its shape.

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Vol 100 - March 2016

win this

Win this!

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Send your contact details to competitions@shop-sa.co.za with Tower in the subject line.

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ANOTHER GREAT BRAND FROM

IT focus

Get social media savvy Do you know the best ways to leverage social media for your business?

S

ocial media is defined as Web sites and applications that enable users to create and share content while participating in social networking.

And if you haven’t started using social media to market your products and services, you’re missing out.

Traditional marketing can be expensive.

Social media marketing is low cost, giving you a direct line to current and prospective customers. However, it is time-intensive and can bring about as much good for your brand as bad.

Here are a few ways to navigate the potential minefield that is social media: Do your homework Behind every exceptional social media campaign is a great strategy. Social media is all about connecting with your audience on an authentic level. To do that, you have to intimately understand

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your current and potential customers.

The key to this is to define your audience. Distinguish individual character profiles by age, gender, interests, location or profession.

Co-ordinate your messages If you treat each social media platform as a stand-alone effort, your success will be limited. Your networks should work together to help you achieve your goals.

Consider your Web site as your brand’s home base. Co-ordinate your social media efforts to push people to your Web site where they can buy your product or service. If you want visitors to follow your

Did you know?

Social media management tools help you to organise and manage your daily social media activities.

Hootsuite is a social media dashboard that offers monitoring, scheduling and analytic services.

Buffer is another way to share what you want on social media. Users can add updates to their Buffer queues, and it will be posted at optimum intervals throughout the day.

various social profiles, make sure you display clickable social icons prominently.

Use a blog to establish your brand’s voice and share information on a more personal level. It’s also a valuable opportunity to engage with your site visitors and lead them through your sales funnel.

When it comes to a blog or Web site, include a call to action asking readers to like or follow you on your chosen platform(s).

Integrate live social media feeds so visitors can see your recent activity. When your audience can see what you’re sharing, they may be more likely to follow you.

Incorporate sharing buttons on your pages and posts to ensure that your content is share-friendly.

Start an e-mail newsletter. It’s an important way to stay top-of-mind with your audience. This should also contain prominent social media icons.

Choose your platform Not all social media channels are created equal. Each one has a different primary audience and focus. It’s important to understand the differences so you expend your efforts on the right channels.

Vol 100 - March 2016

IT focus Start, but start small Once you’ve defined your target audience and chosen your platform(s), it’s time to get social.

Social media takes time and energy, which are precious resources. Set yourself up for success by starting with a manageable load.

The best way to guarantee consistency is to incorporate social media into your daily routine. Block out the time on your calendar for managing your social media accounts. Do this in one or two different time slots every day.

In your first month or two, expect to spend a minimum of 15 to 30 minutes a day on social activities. You can increase the time as you see fit.

Use audience profiles to determine what original and curated content you’ll share and create an editorial calendar to keep track of that content.

Facebook This is a platform that you can’t ignore.

It has upwards of 1,5-billion users and is very popular. But it is also the most difficult to navigate. To really succeed, you must be a conversational brand, or become one.

It takes a lot of money and effort to build an audience – and then Facebook keeps you away from them by severely limiting access to your audience. While Facebook seems simple (and free), it’s not.

To get your content onto a timeline, you probably need to spend a lot of money on quality, promotion, or both.

If you are celebrity or a beloved and established brand in your community, Facebook might be ideal. If you are a regional company, perhaps not.

The platform is great for making initial connections that can lead to reliable reach on another platform, like a blog.

LinkedIn LinkedIn was originally seen as a great place to look for a job, but there was not much socialisation. That has all changed with LinkedIn’s new emphasis on publishing. Now, any member can use LinkedIn as a blogging forum and tap into the potential exposure of LinkedIn’s vast audience. For those who have not been able to patiently build a dedicated blog community, this is an amazing opportunity – and scores of people are finally finding an audience for their work. The main limitation is that this is a business site, and published posts require a business lesson behind them. And of course, ultimately, LinkedIn still owns the audience.

Twitter This microblogging platform is not as simple as it might appear. As users are limited to 140 characters, it can be quite difficult creating something meaningful in that small space. Twitter stands alone in its ability to create a huge, relevant audience quickly, but you cannot target groups of followers with messages. www.myofficemagazine.co.za

Listen and share Social media conversations are happening all around us. Social listening is an excellent tactic to monitor what people are saying about your brand. Respond

Instagram One of the reasons this platform is so popular is that it is so easy to use. Snap a photo and post. This platform offers the opportunity to create connections with relatively little work. Another advantage is that there is no timeline editing. Every subscriber has an equal chance of seeing what you post.

Pinterest This platform has a low workload but offers high reach. Primarily, you are creating audience value by curating content (rather than creating content) from other sources on the Web into logical pages that will inspire and entertain. And if you do an excellent job with curation, you can build a very loyal audience. One sign of the platform’s ability to create an active audience is that “pinned” items (similar to favourites or likes) drive more Web traffic than any other platform.

Snapchat This is a social network that moves away from integration. It is a closed network, for the accountholder and their friends only. Snapchat allows users to share images or videos to their list of current contacts or send a picture, video or instant message privately. Users can also create custom “snaps” by doodling on their picture before sending, or including emojis. Companies should not use Snapchat themselves, but rather allow people with Snapchat to be their brand ambassadors. Snapchat is used by the younger generation.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT MARK SCHAEFER, MARKETING CONSULTANT; BRETT MAGILL, FREELANCE SOCIAL MEDIA CONSULTANT

to comments, mentions and feedback even if it’s negative. Always aim to turn negative into positive.

Content is the crux of social marketing.

Unfortunately, combing through the Internet for good content to share can be slow and time-consuming.

To avoid getting bogged down, set up a process for organising and aggregating quality content that provides value to your audience. Add the content to your editorial calendar and you can share it when you’re ready.

Create a daily plan With a steady stream of content in the pipeline, you’re primed to post and engage on social media.

Make a list of the activities you plan to do every day – and stick to it.

When you’re comfortable with those daily activities, join groups and communities to target specific demographics. Initiate and participate in more conversations by asking questions and posting comments on updates by others.

Continue to personalise your brand by welcoming new followers and thanking them for sharing your content.

Above all, be intentional about your social activities. Success isn’t about chance; it’s about strategy and tactics.

Advertise If you want to accelerate your social media performance, it’s worth your time to explore paid advertising options. Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn all offer ways to garner more sales, Web site traffic, brand exposure and audience engagement.

Even if your budget is small, don’t dismiss social advertising. Used strategically, it can produce great results.

Analyse results The last step is the most critical: measure and analyse your results. Tracking performance data is the best way to identify which tactics are working and which aren’t. A few things to watch are growth, engagement and sharing.

Most social media networks have tools you can use to track and measure your performance.

Review your metric reports regularly (at least once a week). Every two or three months, step back and evaluate the bigger picture. Make adjustments for anything that’s not working, and try to recreate the things that are.

Remember that social media is a marathon, not a sprint.

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furniture

Chairs of the future

Self-driving technology comes to the office with Nissan’s new prototype

A

fter a long day at work, pushing your chair under your desk before leaving the office may be the last thing on your mind. This could become a chore of the past thanks to Nissan’s self-driving technology.

The Japanese carmaker has applied the program that sees vehicles park themselves to workplace furniture.

The engineers at Nissan are excited about autonomous driving technology. So excited that they pulled themselves away from working on actual cars to demonstrate that they could make self-parking office chairs. These office chairs move around after you have left the room.

Nissan’s Intelligent Parking Chair is inspired by the company’s self-parking technology. Just as some of the its cars can steer themselves into a desired parking spot, so too can its chairs neatly slide into their designated positions at the boardroom table thanks to sets of powered wheels housed inside a circular base.

The system uses at least four cameras in the room to analyse the 3D space, communicating to the chairs how to navigate the room and tuck themselves back under the desk.

The layout of the room is preprogrammed into the system, with each chair assigned a spot at the table. When prompted, involves only a clap of the hands, motion detecting cameras in each corner of the room identify the location of each chair and the software then guides them back to their original position. These

cameras detect the location of the chairs before calculating a route and directing the wheeled chairs back to their original places.

“The meeting is finally over, and the participants are so exhausted that they forget about restoring chairs to their original state,” an engineer explains in the official YouTube video. “These innovative chairs help create a more comfortable and convenient office environment.”

The chairs were developed to show off Nissan’s upcoming autonomous automotive technology. Technology they plan to provide in either semi-autonomous or fully-autonomous capacity in at least 10 production models by 2020.

“This technology will help realise the autonomous driving in the near future,” says Nissan.

“The joy of driving without monotonous and boring moments. This is Nissan’s blueprint of the future of autonomous drive.”

However, don’t start redesigning your boardroom just yet. The self-driving chairs appear to be a gimmick to exhibit the work Nissan is doing with autonomous cars. The car company has confirmed to various sources that it does not currently have plans to release a consumer version of the product.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT IMAGES COURTESY OF NISSAN

Watch the video of Nissan’s automated office chairs moving around at www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1D07dTILH0

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arts and crafts

Easter egg extravaganza If you’d like to spend a little extra time with your children this Easter – and you don’t want them bouncing off the walls in a sugar-induced frenzy – get your arts and crafts supplies together and decorate some Easter eggs the old-fashioned way.

Dye job Place eggs in a pot and fill with water. Boil, reduce heat, add three tablespoons of vinegar and let the eggs simmer for 20 minutes.

Remove eggs from the pot with tongs and allow to cool for 40 minutes. An egg carton makes a convenient container.

To add designs to the eggs, cut evenly-sized strips of masking tape with a box cutter. Wrap the strips around the egg in a pattern that you like and press the tape down firmly with your fingernails.

Alternatively, stick differently shaped stickers onto the eggs or wrap them in rubber bands.

To add colour to the eggs, boil water and place in a number of different containers, such as in a tumbler, that will be able to hold an egg.

Add one tablespoon of vinegar and a few drops of food colouring to each container. Create a range of different colours.

Place the egg in the dye for five minutes, then remove it, pat with a paper towel and let dry for 10 minutes.

www.amadorpuppy.blogspot.co.za

The history of the Easter egg Although Easter is a largely religious holiday, some of its customs, such as Easter eggs, are very likely linked to pagan traditions. The egg, an ancient symbol of new life, has been associated with pagan festivals celebrating spring.

From a Christian perspective, Easter eggs are said to represent Jesus’ emergence from the tomb and resurrection.

Decorating eggs for Easter is a tradition that dates back to at least

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the 13th century, according to some sources. One explanation for this custom is that eggs were formerly a forbidden food during the Lenten season, so people would paint and decorate them to mark the end of the period of penance and fasting, and then eat them on Easter as a celebration.

Easter egg hunts and egg rolling are two popular egg-related traditions. In the United States, the White House Easter Egg Roll, a race in which children push

decorated, hard-boiled eggs across the White House lawn, is an annual event held the Monday after Easter.

The first official White House egg roll occurred in 1878, when Rutherford B. Hayes was president. The event has no religious significance, although some people have considered egg rolling symbolic of the stone blocking Jesus’ tomb being rolled away, leading to his resurrection.

Source: www.history.com Vol 100 - March 2016

arts and crafts

Marbled eggs

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These dyed eggs are based on the concept of Chinese Tea Eggs, a typical street snack found in parts of China where boiled eggs are soaked in tea to give them a coloured look.

Hard boil your eggs as usual. When they are cool enough to handle, roll them around on a hard surface to crack the shells. You don’t want to crack them too much – you still want the shell to stay on the egg – but you want to develop a nice, evenly cracked look.

Meanwhile, boil some water and add a range of different food colours, such as green, yellow, pink and blue, to different containers. Dissolve the food colour in boiling water. Once the water has cooled, place one or two eggs in coloured water.

Place old towels or newspaper under the bowls containing the food colouring, as the liquid may splash out and stain your work surface. Use containers that are more vertical than horizontal in dimension. Coffee mugs or tumblers work well.

Once you’ve placed the eggs in their solutions, place the containers in the fridge and allow to soak overnight.

The following day, peel the eggs carefully to reveal the coloured marbling. Place the peeled eggs on paper towel to dry. Salt the eggs and serve as part of the Easter feast, or use as table decorations.

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Office paper products

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oilet paper, paper towels, napkins and facial tissues are all classed as sanitary paper: paper products that need to be of a special grade – that is, clean and hygienic – for use in the home or office. These paper products are made from varying ratios of bleached wood pulp. There is relatively little refining, which results in the paper being soft, bulky and absorbent.

Sanitary papers are creped. Paper is dried on a cylinder and is then scraped off with a metal blade, which crimps it slightly.

This softens the paper but makes it fairly weak, allowing it to disintegrate in water.

Toilet paper As every employee knows, toilet paper is an office staple. This tissue paper product is sold as a long strip of perforated paper.

The paper is wrapped around a cardboard tube made from recycled material. This gives the toilet roll strength and allows it to be stored in a dispenser or on a toilet roll holder.

Toilet paper is available in a range of different thicknesses and qualities.

Generally speaking, the greater the ply

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the more sheets are placed back-to-back in an effort to make the paper softer, stronger and more absorbent.

Materials The biggest difference between toilet papers is the distinction between virgin paper products, which are formed directly from chipped wood, and those made from recycled paper.

Toilet paper products also vary greatly in terms of size, weight, roughness, softness, chemical residues, resistance to tearing and absorption.

Modern toilet paper may have a light coating of aloe vera or lotion or wax worked into the paper to reduce roughness.

Quality is usually determined by the number of plies, coarseness and durability.

Low-grade, institutional toilet paper typically consists of only one or two plies, is very coarse and sometimes contains small amounts of unbleached paper. This results in the toilet paper being an overall grey colour, with darker flecks.

Toilet paper of a higher quality is somewhat textured. This means that the paper is both softer and stronger than low-grade varieties.

Premium toilet paper has between two and four plies of very finely pulped paper.

Luxury toilet papers are often marketed as quilted or rippled (embossed).

An unintended problem with the

design of sheets in a roll is that separation may occur while unrolling.

Perforations can then become misaligned, meaning that sheets cannot be torn off cleanly. Toilet paper manufacturers need to balance the amount of short fibres and long fibres in their product. Short fibres advance decomposition of the paper in the sewerage system, while longer fibres provide sturdiness.

Size A standard roll of toilet paper is approximately 10cm wide, 12cm deep and weighs about 227g. The size of toilet paper sheets has been decreasing since the 1990s.

Larger sizes are available in some countries, although these sizes do require special toilet paper dispensers.

Traditionally, industrial rolls of toilet paper have 1 000 squares per roll of one ply and 500 per roll of two ply.

Manufacturers also produce jumbo 2 000-square rolls which are generally used in public bathrooms.

Designs, colours and additives Toilet paper used to come in solid colours such as pink, purple and yellow so that the rolls could be matched to bathroom dĂŠcor. However, these days solid colours are very rare. Consumers seem to prefer plain but patterned toilet paper. This toilet paper is usually white, and embossed Vol 100 - March 2016

jan/san

with decorative patterns in a variety of colours, shapes and styles.

Fragrances may also be added during the manufacturing process. However, for an office environment it is best to choose hypo-allergenic, fragrance-free toilet rolls that can be used by everyone.

Some manufacturers medicate toilet paper with anti-bacterial chemicals and extracts such as aloe vera.

Paper towels Paper towel (otherwise known as kitchen paper or roller towel) is an absorbent towel made from paper instead of cloth.

Unlike cloth towels, paper towels are disposable and intended to be used only once. Paper towels soak up water because they are loosely woven which enables water to travel between them, even against gravity. Paper towels can be individually packed (as stacks of folded towels) or come in rolls. Paper towels can be used in a way similar to conventional towels. They can be used for drying hands, wiping windows, dusting or cleaning up spills.

Paper towels are made from either virgin or recycled paper pulp extracted from wood or other fibrous crops, such as hemp. Resin is used to improve the wet strength of the towel.

The towels may be bleached during the production process. Bleached towels are whiter, while unbleached ones will have a greyish tinge. www.myofficemagazine.co.za

Rolls of paper towels can be plain or include intricate coloured images and patterns.

Facial tissues Facial tissue – also known as paper handkerchiefs or Kleenex – refers to a class of soft, absorbent disposable sanitary papers that are suitable for use on the face. They are disposable alternatives for old-fashioned cloth handkerchiefs.

These types of tissues are usually sold in boxes or in convenient packs that fit into a handbag or cubby.

Facial tissue is generally made from the lowest basis weights of tissue paper, with a gsm of just 18, layered in two or three plies.

The surface is often made smoother by light calendering. These paper types consist usually of two or three plies.

Facial tissue is made entirely from pure chemical pulp, with a bit of recycled fibre. This is because of the high quality requirements of the item.

Facial tissue paper might be treated with softeners, lotions or fragrance to get the right properties or “feeling”.

Whilst modern toilet paper is designed to decompose in septic tanks, some other bathroom and facial tissues are not. This means that items such as paper towel and facial tissues may cause blockages.

It is best to dispose of these items in a dustbin.

Paper cups and plates A paper cup is a cup made out of paper and lined with plastic or wax to prevent liquid from leaking out or soaking through the paper.

Paper plates were invented in 1904 and are made from paper pulp.

Both of these items are designed to be used only once and then thrown away. This makes them ideal for the office environment, especially at company functions.

The base paper for paper cups and plates is called “cup board”. It is made on special multi-ply paper machines.

Paper cups in particular have a barrier coating for waterproofing, and the paper needs high stiffness of between 170gsm and 350gsm.

To meet hygiene requirements, paper cups and plates are generally manufactured from virgin (nonrecycled) materials.

If the cup features an insulating layer for heat retention which never comes into contact with the beverage, such as a corrugated layer wrapped round a single-wall cup, then that layer will be made of recycled material.

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crime alert

The office thief Office workers often feel entitled to take a few office items

I

t’s the kind of thing that goes mostly unnoticed – an express-post envelope here, a couple of highlighters or a glue stick there. But is the stealing of office stationery really stealing?

In a survey of 2 000 employees conducted several years ago by Kelly Services, one in four Australians admitted taking home (and keeping) minor stuff that belonged to their employer.

It’s not as chronic as other parts of the world, such as the United States, where three in four people honestly declare their dishonesty. Apparently, the worst offenders are men with tertiary qualifications.

In a poll released in 2011 by an office design firm in the UK, respondents said pens are the most common item they steal, followed by paper, postage stamps, mugs, toilet paper and staplers.

Other workers had stolen pot plants, filing cabinets, desks, chairs and even – somehow – floor tiles. In 2012, a 69-year-old man in Germany was arrested because he had stolen 25 000kg of office supplies from a range of workplaces, much of which he kept

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stored in his basement and attic.

It seems many employers are cracking down on it.

Years ago, a fully-stocked stationery cupboard was open and available for any employee to use. These days, workplaces have the cupboard locked, with the keys restricted to the hands of reliable few.

Even the colour printer is under lock and key, able to be operated only by the swiping of a security card that tracks the amount of each employee’s usage. Paper and ink is expensive, after all.

So what, exactly, constitutes stealing?

Some would say a pen, worth only a few cents, is no big deal – but stealing a box of them is a crime.

Likewise, a thin pad of post-it notes might be OK, but a thick wad is probably wrong.

Is stealing “stealing”, no matter the quantity?

Professor Gael McDonald from Deakin University says that “theft is theft, but somehow, there is a rationalisation that occurs when we look at the amounts involved”.

A bigger issue for employers is one of trust. If managers ruthlessly restrict stationery supplies, they’re effectively

saying “we don’t trust you” to their employees. That’s bound to have a negative impact on engagement and morale. If a great employee puts in a lot of hours and delivers excellent results, surely the occasional pilfered stationery item is a small sacrifice.

SME owners would disagree. It may be a small sacrifice for a big company with plenty of resources, but small businesses need to watch every cent.

So why do employees do it? Professor McDonald explains it’s usually due to something known as equity theory.

“Individuals have a fairly good assessment of their self-worth and if they feel they are being under-rewarded, or unrecognised, they will undertake activities within an organisation that redresses this inequity,” she says.

“This is why poorly paid workers often pilfer. The moral of the story is, don’t underpay the workers as they will get it from you somewhere else; either by taking something from the company, or by cutting their time. Anything to address the inequity.”

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT JAMES ADONIS FOR THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD Vol 100 - March 2016

crime alert

Fraud warning!

Bantex has been the victim of a fraudulent change-of-banking-details notice.

The fraudulent notice is published below. This notice is accompanied by a letter from Standard Bank which is also fraudulent.

Please note that our banking details have NOT changed.

If you have any queries, please contact Bantex directly on (011) 473 9814.

6 Watt Street, Industria Johannesburg South Africa Tel: +27 (0) 11 473 9800 Fax: +27 (0) 86 609 2371

18 February 2016

Attention: Accounts Dept (Henry) Van Schaik Stores South Africa

Re: CHANGE OF BANKING DETAILS We hereby inform you of the change of our banking details. All payments must be made to the new account as the old one is closed. The new banking details are as follows:

Bank Name: Account No. Branch Code: Account Holder:

STANDARD BANK 1007 637 8851 051 001 BANTEX (PTY) LTD

We shall not be held responsible for any payments made in the old account .Your co-operation in this regard

would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in anticipation

……………………………….

Francis Van Wyk For Debtors Accounts The information transmitted in this communication is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain confidential and/or privileged material. Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of, or taking of any action in reliance upon this information by persons or entities other than the Intended recipient is prohibited. If you received this in error, please contact the sender and delete the material Bantex is liable neither for the proper, complete transmission of the information contained in this communication

GOLD SPONSORS:

SILVER SPONSORS:

Keeping shop-sa members abreast of criminal and fraudulent activity in the stationery and office products industry.

To sponsor the Crime Alert page contact (011) 781 0088.

REPORT CRIME TO wendy@shop-sa.co.za Renew your Crime Alert sponsorship today! Call Wendy Dancer on (011) 781 0088 to book your logo placement on the Crime Alert page as an industry leader in transparency, information sharing and anti-crime business ethics. www.myofficemagazine.co.za

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industry news PBSA unveils new digital signature technology Up to 80% paper reduction, an 80% decrease in power consumption, up to 90% time savings and a largely reduced usage of petroleum and diesel are all reasons PBSA (formerly Pitney Bowes SA) has launched digital signing and electronic workflow solution SignFlow.

This is according to PBSA business development manager and SignFlow co-founder Leon van der Merwe, who notes the software product – “a first in South Africa” – has now officially launched, following its BETA release in October.

This comes three years after PBSA introduced digital signatures into South Africa with its CoSign digital signature solutions. Van der Merwe says the advantage of the solution was immediately evident. “We saw the potential to drastically cut down on costs associated with printing.” He adds that about 80% of businesses’ printing is as a direct result of the need to archive and wet-ink sign documents.

But while the CoSign solution solved the problem of

businesses having to print, sign, scan and e-mail documents for signing, it did not solve the problem of documents having to be signed by multiple parties, notes Van der Merwe.

This is where SignFlow plugs the gap. “SignFlow was designed, using the latest X.509 cryptographic digital signature technology, to workflow documents to multiple parties that all need to sign or action a document. “[This means] the document originator/owner can, by using SignFlow, automatically and sequentially distribute any document to multiple parties to legally sign a document through an intelligent workflow system or from any popular document management platform like Microsoft SharePoint Online or Office 365.

“By signing documents electronically with SignFlow, the electronic version of the document becomes the original,” explains Van der Merwe. “This has a huge impact on archiving of documents as it is not required at any stage to print these documents for long term archiving.

Kemtek sponsors The GAPP Conference The GAPP Conference, taking place at Nasrec on 16 March in Association with Nashua, has attracted the attention and additional sponsorship of Kemtek Imaging Systems.

The GAPP Conference is a business seminar addressing the printing, packaging and signage industries.

The conference, which features leading business, political and industry commentators and speakers, will be held in conjunction with The GAPP Print Expo trade show taking place at Nasrec from 15 to 18 March as part of the Propak Africa Show.

According to Gavin van Rensburg, group MD of Kemtek Imaging Systems, the conference offers the industry as a whole the opportunity to gain useful insights into the future.

“At a time when there is uncertainty about economic and political factors in our country combined with a difficult climate in our industry, this conference will help answer many of the questions which are on people’s minds. We are happy to sponsor this conference and to assist in bringing this information to our clients and the market as a whole.”

The GAPP Conference will be held in the Black Eagle Room at Nasrec and will include tea breaks, lunch and the opportunity to interact with speakers.

Proceedings for the day will be managed by the Master of Ceremonies Derek Watts, award-winning journalist and anchor of MNET’s Carte Blanche. He will be joined

by Justice Malala who will outline the political state of the country and what we can expect in the run-up to the elections.

Alec Hogg will give an overview of the economic climate in the country and

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where South Africa finds itself as part of the world economy.

These two wellknown business analysts will be accompanied by industry speakers Linda Jackson, focusing on the role played by standards in the packaging industry; Mike Horsten, who will look at the large-format printing and signage market; and Laurel Brunner, who will address the state of the international printing industry.

Vikesh Roopchand, MD of Sentient Events – a subsidiary of Sentient Publishing, says: “This sponsorship by Kemtek, in addition to the Association sponsorship by Nashua, shows that the industry sees the need for top-level information and realises the value in the line-up of speakers we

Derek Watts

Justice Malala

have attracted to the conference. Our aim is to inform and educate printers, packaging manufacturers and signage suppliers on the latest trends and developments and to provide them with everything they need to take their companies forward in the current climate. This is the first time that a conference of the stature is taking place and we, at The GAPP, are thrilled to be able to bring this to the industries we serve and are so passionate about.”

Alec Hogg Vol 100 - March 2016

Do you or your business owe SARS Money?

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industry news

Antalis promotes good paper choices

Paper sourcing and usage is an integral part of a comprehensive corporate and social responsibility (CSR) strategy.

By implementing a responsible paper sourcing and usage policy focused on recycled paper or paper produced from sustainable virgin fibre, enterprises can demonstrate their commitment to conducting business responsibly and encouraging the development of sustainable forestry.

To support companies in their efforts to integrate paper into their CSR policies, Antalis, Europe’s leading paper merchant, has developed its Green Connection Initiative with the Green Star System (GSS) at its core. The GSS attributes a number of stars to each paper product according to its environmental credentials allowing customers to make informed, responsible choices.

The Antalis Green Connection is completely aligned with its parent company Sequana’s global CSR strategy, which has three key objectives: • Ensure responsible sourcing of the products Antalis sells; • Ensure Antalis commits to environmental excellence in its everyday business; and • Support Antalis customers in their commitment to green paper and printing.

Hotels, restaurant and theatre reviews and household products are commonly ranked by consumers on a star-based system.

Antalis therefore chose this universallyrecognised point of reference as the indicator of the different levels of eco-responsibility for its Green Star System, ranking papers from zero to five green stars.

Even those unfamiliar with the growing number of ecological certifications can easily understand the system and identify the most environmentally-friendly products.

While the GSS is designed to be accessible to everyone and to simplify the intelligent choice of products with a lower environmental impact, its definition is based on exhaustive information and stringent requirements regarding the origin of the wood fibres and the paper manufacturing process.

• Origin of the fibre – for a product to be eco-responsible the wood fibres must either be FSC/PEFC certified or at least 50% recycled from postconsumer waste, with the remaining in line with FSC or PEFC standards.

• Manufacturing process – for a product to be defined as eco-responsible, the mills that produce the paper must carry either ISO 14001 certification (based on a framework for the development of an environmental management system – EMS – and the supporting

audit programme) or the EU Ecolabel (lifecycle based approach).

As part of its Green Connection initiative, Antalis has developed a number of additional tools and solutions which aim to promote environmental excellence amongst all the stakeholders in the paper industry and to defend the industry as a responsible, sustainable economic player.

These include: • The “Did you know?” video, which debunks all those widespread myths about the paper industry which is in fact the greatest user of renewable energy and contributes widely to reforestation.

• The Antalis Green White Paper, which provides concrete advice on how companies can integrate paper into their sustainable development strategy and the advantages of a properly managed paper sourcing policy.

• The Antalis Green Brochure, which presents the merchant’s complete eco-responsible product offering, its characteristics and application possibilities.

• The environmental ECO calculator developed with Arjowiggins Graphic, which allows companies to calculate the reduction in their environmental impact when using the Antalis range of eco-responsible papers.

drupa breakfast seminar held in Johannesburg The Southern African-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in co-operation with Messe Düsseldorf, held a breakfast seminar at the Hyatt in Rosebank on 11 February in preparation for the drupa 2016 show. drupa is the world’s leading exhibition for graphic and industrial printing, as well as media and multichannel

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technology. Speakers included Maximilian Butek, deputy CEO at the SA-German Chamber; Sabine Geldermann, director at drupa; Claus Bolza-Schünemann, chairman of the drupa Advisory Board; Charnia Yapp, editor of Africa Print; Ryan Miles, MD of Heidelberg; and Gavin van Rensberg, MD at Kemtek.

Vol 100 - March 2016

Watch the movie!

Need help in choosing the right paper In the beginning, Antalis was only paper. Plain sheets of paper. But did you know that Antalis now supplies the most extensive range of traditional papers, packaging boards as well as newsprint and supports specifi c new generation digital printing? Antalis responds to the needs of many businesses like yours around the world. In the printing and office paper sector as well as in Graphics and visual communication support, packaging solutions and logistical services. To discover all that the women and men of Antalis can do for you, just ask Antalis.

011 6886000

www.antalis.co.za

PRINTING AND OFFICE PAPER • VISUAL COMMUNICATION EQUIPMENT AND SUPPORT MATERIAL • PACK AGING SOLUTIONS

eco news

Paper recycling made simple

T

he Paper Recycling Association of South Africa (PRASA) encourages all South Africans to do their bit by recycling paper products for drop-off at local recycling depots, or for gathering by collectors who earn a living by selling it back to mills.

Golden rules for paper recycling As a starting point, it is important to remember these golden rules: • Get to know what paper products are recyclable and which are not.

• Separate your recyclables from wet waste. Paper items that are wet (used paper plates) or soiled (tissues and disposable nappies) cannot be recycled.

• Take a second to separate any non-paper packaging from paper or cardboard.

• Always keep paper clean and dry, as this ensures a quality fibre for use in making new products.

• Invest in or make a paper-only bin or box for easy sorting.

Recycling at home • Space permitting, you may want to have a few paper bins around the house.

• Decide what you want to do with your recyclables – have them collected or drop them off?

• Strike up a conversation with a waste collector in your suburb and make an arrangement to have them collect your paper and cardboard on a convenient day.

• Keep a box or crate in your car so that you can do a weekly drop-off on the way to work when runniing other errands.

• Make family, friends and visitors aware that you recycle.

Recycling at school • Enrol in a paper recycling programme and raise funds for your

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•

•

•

school.

Actively encourage parents to drop off their recycling during their school runs.

Place clearly marked, brightly coloured recycling receptacles in classrooms and on the school grounds.

Contact PRASA for a presentation to share the value of recycling with teachers and learners.

Recycling at work • Place paper-only bins for easy separation from other recyclables and wet waste, especially in areas where paper disposal is likely to take place.

• Mark recycling receptacles clearly or perhaps use a colour-coded system.

• Find out what your company wants to do with recyclables – have them collected or drop them off?

• Support a local small business or informal collector by arranging for them to collect the office recyclable paper, boxes and other paper packaging.

• Make staff and visitors aware of the office-recycling programme. It may take regular education and encouragement, and some fun incentives.

Visit the following useful Web sites for more information: www.recyclepaper.co.za www.mywaste.co.za www.recycling.co.za

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT GINA VERRASTRO FOR WWW.PENCILS.COM; PRASA

Did you know?

In 2014, 64% of South Africa’s recoverable paper was collected for recycling. This equated to 1,1-million tonnes, enough to fill 1 276 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

• Only 5% of households conscientiously recycle their paper.

• Recycling just a tonne of paper removes the need for three cubic metres of landfill space.

•

Don’t snub the pencil stub Pencil stubs, broken pencils, pencils with empty tips where the graphite had broken inside: don’t throw them away. You can recycle pencils and give your old pencils new life with these craft projects.

Pencil jewellery This project works especially well with coloured pencils, but any pencil will do.

Simply cut the pencils and drill a hole through them to make beads, or clue them together in different shapes to make brooches.

These cool baubles would make great gifts for teachers, artists and pencil aficionados.

Eraser stamps If the pencil is worn down or broken, yet the eraser is intact, carve those erasers to make tiny stamps with neat designs. Decorate stationery, letters and postcards, homework, memos or even your hands. Just make sure you’re using washable ink.

Picture frames You can also construct cool picture frames using your old pencils. Keep it uniform by cutting pencils to the appropriate size, or you can get creative. Try cutting pencils down to various sizes and gluing them around a plain frame with the tips pointing outward. You can frame photographs, artwork, awards and even letters.

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Vol 100 - March 2016

product showcase

THE FIRST AND ONLY GEN 5 INTEL PRO WIDI CERTIFIED WIRELESS DISPLAY RECEIVER AVAILABLE TODAY. Specially designated for business environment, ScreenBeam Pro Business Edition enables users with compatible mobile devices to wirelessly display any content on the TV or projector within a few seconds. In seconds, you can share whatever is on your mobile device (presentations, documents, spreadsheets, videos, websites, apps, photos, etc.) with everyone else in the room.

And ScreenBeam Pro Business Edition supports all the key manageability and security features that IT departments need.

Tel: 011 467 0227 E-mail: helpdesk@techexpress.co.za Web: www.techexpress.co.za

LX DESK MOUNT LCD MONITOR ARM Durable polished aluminum construction! Tested to perform 10 times the expected life-cycle of other competitive brands at roughly half the price.

Sleek and streamlined, the LX frees up space and allows positioning of your display for greater productivity. Reposition your LCD with just a touch. Up. Down. Forward. Back. The LX provides unparalleled range of motion Sleek and streamlined, the LX frees up space and allows positioning of your display for greater productivity. Reposition your LCD with just a touch. Up. Down. Forward. Back.

Tel: 011 467 0227 E-mail: helpdesk@techexpress.co.za Web: www.techexpress.co.za

MY OFFICE PRODUCT SHOWCASE To showcase your products here, call Wendy Dancer on 011 781 0088 for pricing and availability.

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ARE YOU A MEMBER OF SHOP-SA? IF NOT, JOIN NOW.

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product showcase

D036536 DURACELL CHARGER 45MIN AA CHARGER Use the Duracell Charger to recharge your AA or AAA NiMH batteries. It can charge two AA/AAA batteries in 45 minutes and it comes with 2 AA premium Duracell Rechargeable Pre-Charged batteries that are 50% longer-lasting per charge and are ready to use. Charger Specifications: • 2 AA and 2 AAA premium rechargeable batteries included • LED Charge Status Indicator shows when charging is complete • Works with all rechargeable AA and AAA NiMH batteries • Charges 2-4 batteries at a time • Auto Shutoff when batteries are charged

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D803824 DURACELL RECHARGEABLE AAA 800MAH 4S (10 PACKS) With a longer-lasting charge* and fewer recharges, Duracell Rechargeable batteries set themselves apart from the competition. Get hundreds of uses out of each Duracell rechargeable battery and save hundreds of rands. Our powerful NiMH batteries with Duralock are well suited for high-drain or frequently used devices, including: • Video Game Controllers • High-powered Flashlights • Baby monitors and more

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DURACELL LITHIUM COIN BATTERIES Duracell special application batteries offer reliable, long-lasting power you’ve come to expect from Duracell. And you can be assured it’s a battery you can trust since Duracell is the #1 trusted brand of pharmacists and medical & office professionals.

The Duracell lithium batteries are designed for use in: • Security devices • Fitness devices • Calculators • Medical devices • Watches

• Key fobs and more

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DURACELL PLUS POWER - BUY 4 & GET 2 ABSOLUTELY FREE These batteries have been engineered to deliver the power you need for all your household devices. And because Duracell is the #1 trusted brand of parents, pharmacists, and first responders, you know it’s a battery you can trust.

Duracell alkaline batteries with Duralock provide power to your lifestyle in devices like: • Toys • Remote controls • Flashlights • Calculators • Clocks and Radios • Portable Electronics • Wireless Mice and Keyboards

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Vol 100 - March 2016

product showcase

ARCSERVE® UDP Fueled by data growth and technology advancements such as virtualization, current data protection architectures come up short in a number of areas and essentially perpetuate data protection islands or silos. Today’s IT is about the interdependence of its systems and applications in the context of service delivery. Understanding and proving that you can recover in a business-reasonable amount of time with a business-acceptable currency of data is crucial.

Metrics such as Recovery Point Objective (RPO) and Recovery Time Objective (RTO) have become synonymous with business availability.

E-mail: info@cloudondemand.co.za Web: www.cloudondemand.co.za

ENTERPRISE ENDPOINT DATA PROTECTION & GOVERNANCE The mobile workforce is an essential part of today’s organisations, but it creates a number of challenges for IT. Unpredictable schedules, varied network connections and data dispersion all complicate efforts to protect corporate data. inSync is built to meet these needs, providing full data protection and enabling effective data governance, all while providing secure, on-demand access and collaboration for remote workers.

E-mail: info@cloudondemand.co.za Web: www.cloudondemand.co.za

THE WORLD’S BEST NOTEBOOK, DESKTOP & TABLET WARRANY Welcome to T-Care, the ONLY warranty on the globe that covers your customer for ...

Manufacturer warranty: covers physical manufacturer faults Accidental damage: covers all physical damage caused by the user anywhere in the world Data retrieval: retrieves and returns lost data Data back-up: backing up of all data before machine is switched on.

Turnaround time guaranteed or the device replaced, and all included at no extra charge within the same price. One warranty and one price per product type: notebook, desktop, tablet.

Tel: 011 531 2200 Web: www.channelcapital.co.za

RAINBOW TWISTERS ARE 4 TIMES THE FUN! NEW Bostik Rainbow Twisters are wax crayons but even better! Each Twister has a combination of four colours, making colouring in 4 times more fun. No need for sharpening, they are protected by a durable plastic barrel with a twist-up mechanism to prevent breakage and waste.

6 Rainbow Twisters in each pack!

www.facebook.com/BostikSouthAfrica

Tel: 021 555 7400 • Fax: 021 552 1870 E-mail: marketing@bostik.co.za Web: www.bostik.co.za

w w w . m y o f f i c e m a g a z i n e . c o . z a

my office magazine

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SOURCE PRODUCTS HERE A ADDING MACHINE, POINT OF SALE AND MACHINE ROLLS PaperGeni Rotunda (Pty) Ltd. ADHESIVES, GLUES AND SPRAYS BIC South Africa (Pty) Ltd. - Correction Fluid, Glue sticks & Super Glue Palm Stationery Manufacturers - New Wave Freedom Stationery - Marlin ART, CRAFT, GRAPHIC AND DRAWING MATERIALS CTP Stationery - A4 coloured poster boards Freedom Stationery - Marlin Max Frank - Uni, Artline Pentel S.A (Pty) Ltd. - Oil pastels and watercolour paint

40

B BAGS AND CASES D.O.S - iStay Flip File - Business cases.

Freedom Stationery - Space Case and Marlin Global Bag And Sportswear Manufactures Custom schoolbags ,tracksuits Kolok - Kenton, Port Topmark - School Bags, Laptop Bags, Pencil Cases, Sports Bags, Luggage BATTERIES Kolok - Duracell Nikki Distributors - Duracell Batteries Nikki Distributors - Energizer Batteries BIN RANGE Krost Office Products BINDING ACCESSORIES AZ Trading - Plastic Comb, Wire, Thermal & Covers CTP Donau - Donau files and slide binders, A4 poster board Kolok - Geha binding combs and covers Parrot Products - Parrot Comb Binding Machines

Press Products - wire, combs, coil, covers Rexel Office Products - Rexel and GBC BINDING MACHINES AZ Trading - DSB, Neorel D.O.S - Prima, DSB, Leitz Kolok - Geha binding machines Parrot Products - Parrot Comb Binding Machines Press Products - Bindquip Rexel Office Products - GBC and Rexel ranges

BOARDS BIC South Africa (Pty) Ltd - BIC Velleda School Whiteboards CTP Stationery - Flip Chart Pads Freedom Stationery - Marlin Hortors Stationery - Legal Notices i.e. Basic Conditions & OSH Act and Leave and Absence Chart Kolok - Geha interactive boards Max Frank - Artline Flipchart Markers, Artline, Maxi whiteboard markers Palm Stationery Manufacturers - New Wave Parrot Products - Full range of boards and accessories. Custom boards printed to your specification Rexel Office Products - NOBO whiteboards, pinboards, easels and accessories. Quartet magnetic white/cork boards BOOK COVERS CTP Stationery - Poly Prop Donau heavy duty covers Empire Toy & Stationery - Butterfly paper Freedom Stationery Gordon’s Productions - contact paper woodgrain, marble, pattern designs. Magic cover back to school clear and coloured self adhesive paper. (4M rolls, A4 and lever arch).

Plastic coated brownkraft rolls and pre-cut polythene covers.

Grafton Paper Products Palm Stationery Manufacturers - brown paper rolls, poly rolls, gift-wrap RBE - Papersmart

CTP Stationery - Impala and premier books and pads Freedom Stationery - Manufacturers Hortors Stationery - Legal registers Impala Vuwa Stationery Manufacturers Palm Stationery Manufacturers Power Stationery - Powerstar RBE - NCR Business Books Rexel Office Products - Colourhide notebooks BOXES AND CARTONS CTP Stationery - Archiving Systems Rexel Office Products Specialised Filing Systems - Archive and Off-Site Tidy Files - Acid free archiving products

C CALCULATORS Kolok - HP Nikki Distributors - Truly calculators Palm Stationery Manufacturers - New Wave Power Stationery - Powerstar Rexel Office Products - IBICO CALENDARS CTP Stationery - Diaries assorted sizes CALLIGRAPHY Max Frank - Artline CANTEEN Kolok - Tea, Coffee, milk etc, Sunbeam (appliances) CARBON PAPER AND FILMS RBE - NCR Business Books CD’S, DVD’S AND DISKETTES Kolok - Verbatim, Kenton CLIP BOARDS CTP Stationery - DONAU brand Parrot Products - Masonite and whiteboard

BOOKS AND PADS BSC Stationery - Treeline

Binding doesn’t get any simpler!

CombBind 100

CombBind 110

CombBind C200

CombBind C210

buyers’ guide CLIPS, FASTENERS AND PINS Freedom Stationery - Marlin Grip Binders - Essentials, Stephens, Penguin Tidy Files - Filing solution

COLOURING BOOKS Empire Toy & Stationery - Empire books Freedom Stationery - Marlin Palm Stationery Manufacturers - New Wave COMPUTER ACCESSORIES Kolok - Verbatim, Kenton, Port Krost Office Products Pyrotec - Tower Inkjet-laser labels, business cards and photo paper COMPUTER CLEANING Kolok - ComputerCare, Multipro Pyrotec - Tower computer cleaning range COMPUTER CONSUMABLES CTP Stationery - Full range of DONAU files KMP - for computer consumables Kolok - Penguin (Ribbons, Toners, Inkjets), Till and fax rolls Redfern Print Services - Redfern inkjet/laser/ copier labels and a full range of stationery labels COMPUTER HARDWARE Kolok - Blazer UPS systems, Geha (Interactive white boards) CORPORATE STATIONERY & GIFTING Star Stationers and Printers CRAYONS AND CHALKS Freedom Stationery - Marlin Palm Stationery Manufacturers - Chalks and Crayons Power Stationery - Powerstar

D DESK SETS AND ACCESSORIES BIC South Africa (Pty) Ltd - Desk Set Solo Delux Freedom Stationery - Marlin Krost Office Products Rexel Office Products - Rexel Eco Range

See page 46 for contact details DIARIES, PLANNERS AND ORGANISERS CTP Stationery - CTP Brand Hortors Stationery - Legal diaries Rexel Office Products - NOBO planners, refills and T-card kits, Quartet Monthly/ Weekly planner South African Diaries - For all your diary needs DICTATION - TRANSCRIPTION Olympus Audio S.A - Digital Voice Recorders, Transcription Kits and Accessories.

Powerhouse Dictation for Philips - Dictation, transcription, meeting recording, mini-tapes, foot pedals, accessories DRAUGHTING AND DRAWING OFFICE SUPPLIES CTP Stationery - A4 Poster Boards

E EMBOSSERS AND ENGRAVING Rubber Stamp & Engraving Co - Ideal & Trodat Embossers (pocket, desk and electronic), Trotec ENVELOPES AND MAILING BSC Stationery - Leo Envelopes CTP Stationery - Commercial envelopes Global Envelopes - CelloWrapped, peel+seal, Self-Seal, FullGum and Printed Grafton/Star KZN Envelopes - Manufactures of Printed and Plain Envelopes Merpak Envelopes - Complete range of quality envelopes Narayan Wholesaler - Wholesaler of Quality Envelopes, Peel and Seal PaperGeni RBE - Papersmart ERASERS & ERASING / CORRECTION FLUIDS BIC South Africa (Pty) Ltd - Tippex tape, bottle and Pen Freedom Stationery - Marlin Max Frank - Uni Palm Stationery Manufacturers - Tape/Erasers Pentel S.A (PTY) LTD - Hi-Polymer and Ain eraser, correction tape and pens Power Stationery - Powerstar

F FAX ROLL MANUFACTURERS Rotunda (Pty) Ltd. FILES AND FILING African Filing Systems - Top retrieval filing and arching products BSC Stationery - Treeline, Mobifile CTP Stationery - Full range of quality DONAU brand Flip File - Executive display files, expanding files, Document folders, dividers Freedom Stationery - Edo / Unifile Palm Stationery Manufacturers - Lever arch, Ringbinder files, Manilla flat folders Grafton/Star Kolok - Geha (Binding machines) Palm Stationery Manufacturers - leaver arch, ring binder files, manilla flat folders.

Pentel S.A (Pty) Ltd. - Display book Vivid, document file, clip file and presentation file Rexel Office Products - Prima and Rexel ranges Specialised Filing Systems - Top Retrieval, Archive and Off-Site Tidy Files - Filing solutions

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FILES MECHANISMS Press Products - Lever arch, Ring binders FOLDERS CTP Stationery - DONAU Brand Freedom Stationery - Marlin Palm Stationery Manufacturers - View files, polypropylene & board folders Tidy Files - Specialised FORMS - LEGAL AND MISCELLANEOUS Hortors Stationery - complete range of custom, company, miscellaneous, magisterial, etc.

FURNITURE - OFFICE & SCHOLASTIC Krost Office Products - accessories New Era Office cc - Specialising in all office furniture desks, chairs, credenzas, boardroom tables, etc Reboni Furniture Group - Manufacturing and distribution of educational and office furniture Specialised Filing Systems - Cabinets, Shelving and Hi-Density

Working for you

CombBind C250 Pro

WireBind W20

MultiBind 230 Comb & Wire

ThermaBind T400

www.rexelsa.co.za

SOURCE PRODUCTS HERE

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G

L

GUILLOTINES AND TRIMMERS AZ Trading - DSB, Kobra Beswick Office Products - Fellowes, Vivid Maynards Office Technology - IDEAL Shredders & Guillotines – SA Distributors Press Products - BindQuip Rexel Office Products - SmartCut and ClassicCut

LABELS Freedom Stationery - Marlin Nor Paper Pyrotec - Tower stationery, inkjet-laser labels Redfern Print Services - Redfern Inkjet/laser/ copier labels and a full range of stationery labels Rotunda (Pty) Ltd. Specialised Filing Systems - Filing Tidy Files - Filing solutions

I

LABELLING MACHINES Kemtek Imaging Systems - Distributor of Brother P-Touch Labelling System

INDEX TABBING AND DIVIDERS CTP Stationery - DONAU Brand board and P.P Flip File - Index Tabs, Flip tabs Freedom Stationery - Marlin Grip Binders Palm Stationery Manufacturers Rexel Office Products - Rexel, Mylar and Prima board

LAMINATING MACHINES AZ Trading - DSB, Speedlam, Lamiace D.O.S - Tofo, DSB, Leitz Kolok - GEHA and Galaxy Parrot Products - Parrot A4 and A3 Laminators Press Products - GMP Rexel Office Products - GBC and Rexel ranges

INKS KMP - for computer consumables.

Max Frank - Shachihata, Artline Rexel Office Products - Numbering machine ink Rubber Stamp & Engraving Co - Trodat, Noris fastdry, security, numbering, franking.

Laundry.

LAMINATING POUCHES AND MATERIALS AZ Trading - A0 to ID card size Kolok - GEHA, Penguin laminating pouches and rolls Parrot Products Press Products - GMP Rexel Office Products - GBC

J JANITORIAL Kolok - Goldenmarc (Cleaning products), Brooms, Mops and equipment.

MARKERS BIC South Africa (Pty) Ltd - Permanent Markers, Highlighters, whiteboard Freedom Stationery - Marlin Interstat Agencies - Edding Max Frank - Artline , Maxi, Uni Parrot Products - White board, permanent and OHP markers. Wide range of highlighters Penflex - White board, flipchart, permanent markers, highlighters Pentel (Pty) Ltd. - Maxiflo, white board marker and paint marker Power Stationery - Powerstar MATHEMATICAL GEOMETRY SETS & ACCESSORIES Freedom Stationery - Marlin Palm Stationery Manufacturers Power Stationery - Powerstar MINUTE AND GUARD BOOKS Hortors Stationery - Company registers, minute books and other legal registers

N NUMBERING MACHINES Rexel Office Products Rubber Stamp & Engraving Co - Reiner Dater/Numberer (manual/electronic), Trodat

LEGAL STATIONERY Hortors Stationery - All legal registers, forms, diaries etc

O

LETTER TRAYS Krost Office Products

OFFICE ERGONOMICS Rexel Office Products - Kensington copyholders, risers, footrests, Rexel range of electric staplers and punches which reduces chances of RSI (repetitive strain injury)

M MAILING TUBES CTP Stationery

OVERHEAD PROJECTION AND ACCESSORIES Kolok - Penguin Transparencies Max Frank - Artline Parrot Products - Data Projectors, OHPs, screens and rear projection film

Excellence Accelerated Get it right first time, in less time.

Fusion 1000L

Fusion 1100L

Fusion 3000L

buyers’ guide

See page 46 for contact details

PENCIL LEADS BIC South Africa (Pty) Ltd - Criterium 0.5mm leads Freedom Stationery - Marlin Max Frank - Uni Pentel S.A (Pty) Ltd - Ain lead, standard lead - various grades

Penflex - Penflex Overhead projector pens Rexel Office Products - NOBO

P PACKAGING Merpak Envelopes - Postsafe packaging range PAPER AND BOARD CTP Stationery - DONAU A4 poster boards Empire Toy & Stationery - Butterfly paper Freedom Stationery Grafton/Star Kolok - Geha (paper media), EPSON, HP, CANON, Nor Paper Palm Stationery Manufacturers - Cubes and board Paper World Handmade Paper, Embossed Paper, Specialty Papers, Scented Paper Board, Paper Products Peters Papers - Rotatrim, Typek and Smart Copy Power Stationery - Powerstar RBE - Papersmart Rexel Office Products - Prima Paper & Board TRIBE - TRIBE Inkjet Paper and Film PAPER FOLDING MACHINES Maynards Office Technology - IDEAL Shredders & Guillotines – SA Distributors PENCILS BIC South Africa (Pty) Ltd - BIC Evolution Graphite, BIC Matic Clutch ,Velocity Clutch, Atlantis Clutch, BU4 Clutch Freedom Stationery - Marlin / Edo Max Frank - Uni Palm Stationery Manufacturers Pentel S.A (Pty) Ltd - Hotshot, Mechanical Pencil, Techniclick Pencil.

Power Stationery - Powerstar Rexel Office Products - Rexel HB & Derwent Staedtler SA (Pty) Ltd - Tradition, Wopex, Technical, Clutch Pencils and lead

PENCIL SHARPENERS Freedom Stationery Palm Stationery Manufacturers Power Stationery - Powerstar PENS BIC South Africa (Pty) Ltd - Clic, Crystal, Orange and Prismo Freedom Stationery - Marlin and Edo Max Frank - Artline, Maxi, Uni Palm Stationery Manufacturers Penflex - Penflex ballpoints and rollerballs Pentel S.A (Pty) Ltd - Superb Ballpoint, Energel Pen Power Stationery - Powerstar Staedtler SA (Pty) Ltd - Ball point, Fineliner, Gel and Pigment liner pens PEN CARBON BOOKS Freedom Stationery - Marlin Power Stationery - Powerstar RBE - NCR Business Books PERSONAL STATIONERY CTP Stationery - Home office and personal filing system, diaries Grafton/Star PLANNING BOARDS AND ACCESSORIES Parrot Products - Range of year planners, term planners, maps and in/out boards. custom printed boards designed to specification.

Rexel Office Products - NOBO planners

Olivetti Imports - Distributors of Multifunctional Printers / Copiers Star Stationers and Printers Unicopy & Stationers CC - for all your printing & stationery requirements PRINTER CONSUMABLES Impression Management - Prinart, Logic, Q-Ink, Sanchi, Oliser and ATI KMP - For computer consumables.

Ink Spot Suppliers - Suppliers of all brands of inkjet and LaserJet cartridges Kolok - Epson (inkjet, large format etc), Lexmark, HP, Brother (Toners and Inks), Oki (Toners, inks and Ribbons), Tally Genicom (Ribbons), Seikosha (Ribbons), Panasonic (Toners and Ribbons), Kyocera (Toners), Printronix (Ribbons), IBM (Ribbons), Ricoh (Toners), Fujitsu (Ribbons), Pantum (Toners) Nor Paper PaperGeni Royce Imaging Industries - Remanufacturers and suppliers of inkjet and laser cartridges Technical Systems Engineering - Suppliers of quality compatible cartridges and bulk inks for Epson, Canon, Lexmark, HP and Samsung

43

PUNCHES AND PERFORATORS Freedom Stationery - Marlin Krost Office Products Parrot Products - Parrot range of punches Power Stationery - Powerstar Rexel Office Products - Rexel

R RUBBER STAMPS Max Frank - Schachihata X Stampers Rubber Stamp & Engraving Co. - Trodat

POINT OF SALE PRINTER ROLLS PaperGeni Rotunda (Pty) Ltd. PRINTING Kolok - Epson, Lexmark (Hardware), HP Printers, Oki (Hardware) Pantum, Samsung

RUBBER STAMP MANUFACTURING EQUIPMENT Rubber Stamp & Engraving Co - AZ Liquid polymer, TROTEC laser engraver, flash system

Working for you

Fusion 3100L

Fusion 5000L

Fusion 5100L

www.rexelsa.co.za

SOURCE PRODUCTS HERE RULERS Freedom Stationery - Marlin Palm Stationery Manufacturers Power Stationery - Powerstar Penflex - PENFLEX rulers

S

44

SCHOLASTIC SUPPLIES BSC Stationery Sales - Treeline CTP Stationery Empire Toy & Stationery - Butterfly Flip File - Flip File display books A5, A4, A2, A3 Freedom Stationery - Marlin and Edo Gordon’s Productions - contact paper woodgrain, marble, pattern designs. Magic cover back to school clear and coloured self adhesive paper. (4M rolls, A4 and lever arch). Plastic coated brownkraft rolls and pre-cut polythene covers.

Grafton Paper Products Impala Vuwa Stationery Manufacturers Max Frank - Artline, Maxi, Uni Palm Stationery Manufacturers Parrot Products - chalk boards/slates Power Stationery - Powerstar Pyrotec - Tower Adhesive Book Cover 45cm x 2m SCISSORS AND CUTTERS Freedom Stationery - Marlin Palm Stationery Manufacturers Power Stationery - Powerstar Rexel Office Products SCRAPBOOKING Rexel Office Products - Trimmers and guillotines Rubber Stamp & Engraving Co - Making memories, Clearsnap, Marvy, Ranger, Bazzill, Carl SHREDDERS AND ACCESSORIES AZ Trading - DSB, Kobra, Roto, Repairs to all makes D.O.S - Kobra Kolok - GEHA entry level and high-end shredders

Nikki Distributors - Nikki shredders Parrot Products - Parrot range of value shredders Rexel Office Products - Rexel range Maynards Office Technology - IDEAL Shredders & Guillotines – SA Distributors SLATES Freedom Stationery - Marlin Parrot Products - Whiteboard and chalk board

SPIKE FILES Grip Binders

Rexel Office Products - Storage boxes Specialised Filing Systems - Filing Tidy Files - Filing solutions

T TAPES Freedom Stationery Palm Stationery Manufacturers TELECOMMUNICATIONS Nikki Distributors - Siemens office phones

STAMPS, STAMP PADS AND INKS Kemtek Imaging Systems - Distributor of Brother Stampcreator PRO Rubber Stamp & Engraving Co - Trodat, pre-inked stamps, stamp and fingerprint pads

STAPLING MACHINES AND STAPLES Freedom Stationery - Marlin Interstat Agencies - Genmes Krost Office Products Parrot Products - Parrot range of staplers Rexel Office Products - Rexel range

STATIONERY SUNDRIES - SCHOLASTIC CTP Stationery - DONAU Scissors and cutting knives Freedom Stationery - Marlin, Edo and Unifile Palm Stationery Manufacturers - New Wave Power Stationery - Powerstar

STENCILS Freedom Stationery

TELEX ROLLS AND TELETEX PAPER Rotunda (Pty) Ltd. THERMAL ROLLS Rotunda (Pty) Ltd. TONERS AND CARTRIDGES KMP - Computer consumables Kolok - Penguin (Inkjets and Laser toners), Epson, Lexmark, HP, Canon, Pantum (toners), OKI, Samsung PaperGeni TOP RETRIEVAL FILING Optiplan a div of Waltons - Paper based top retrieval filing systems Specialised Filing Systems - Total Solution and more Tidy Files - Complete onsite and offsite filing solutions TOYS, HOBBIES AND GAMES Freedom Stationery Pyrotec - Toby Tower Stickers and Activities TRANSFER LETTERING AND SIGNS Parrot Products - Vinyl lettering

STORAGE SYSTEMS CTP Stationery - Archiving Systems Suspension Files Kolok - Verbatim (hard drives, USB sticks etc), HP, Sandisk

TRANSPARENCIES Kolok - Penguin transparencies for inkjet and laser OEM, Penguin and HP Transparencies Rexel Office Products - NOBO range

Spend 98% less time shredding*

UPGRADE TO

AUTOFEED *Max saving when using an Auto+ 500X compared to a traditional feed shredder in a similar price level.

Auto+ 60X

Auto+ 80X

Auto+ 100X | 100M

buyers’ guide

See page 46 for contact details

45

DID YOU KNOW? • The Buyers’ Guide is an affordable way to highlight your brands while simultaneously introducing up-and-coming stockists to the trade.

• The Buyers’ Guide is a valuable sourcing tool to market your business and the brands that you carry.

• To book space, contact Wendy on wendy@shop-sa.co.za or (011) 781 0088.

Working for you

Auto+ 200X

Auto+ 300X | 300M

Auto+ 500X | 500M

Auto+ 750X | 750M

www.rexelsa.co.za

CONTACT DETAILS HERE African Filing Systems 011 614 9445

www.africanfiling.co.za

(

015 298 8795

Box 862, Ladanna, 0704

(

021 552 9680

Box 403, Milnerton, 7435

7

086 540 6892

info@africanfiling.co.za

7

015 298 8315

infopol@koloksa.co.za

7

021 552 9681

sales@redfern.co.za

AZ Trading

Redfern Print Services - Durban

Kolok - Port Elizabeth

(

086 111 4407

www.aztradingcc.co.za

(

041 406 9900

Box 3163, North End, 6056

(

031 205 9598

dbnoffice@redfern.co.za

7

011 792 9732

sales@aztradingcc.co.za

7

041 406 9920

infope@koloksa.co.za

7

031 205 7092

www.redfern.co.za

BIC South Africa (Pty) Ltd

Redfern Print Services - Johannesburg

Kolok - Namibia

(

011 474 0181

PO BOX 43144, Industria, 2042

(

00264 (61)370500

Box 40797, Ausspannplatz, Namibia

(

011 837 4119

Box 1445, Crown Mines, 2025

7

011 474 6068

16 Maraisburg Road, Industria, 2042

7

00264 (61)370525

valne@kolok.com.na

7

011 837 8917

jhboffice@redfern.co.za

BSC Stationery Sales

Kolok - Nelspruit

Rexel Office Products

(

011 086 2900

Box 278, Brakpan, 1540

(

013 758 2233

Box 4338, White River, 1240

(

011 226 3300

www.rexelsa.co.za

7

011 420 3322

sales@treeline.co.za

7

013 758 2235

infonel@koloksa.co.za

7

011 837 2781

sales@rexelsa.co.za

CTP Stationery

Kolok - Bloemfontein

Rotunda (Pty) Ltd.

(

011 226 5600

Box 43501, Industria, 2042

(

051 433 1876

PvtBag X01, Brandhof, Bloemfontein

(

021 799 5770

15 Hillstar Avenue, Wetton, 7780

7

011 474 9242

sales@versafile.co.za

7

051 433 2451

infobfn@koloksa.co.za

7

021 761 5601

rotunda@iafrica.com

D.O.S (Denton Office Solutions)

Royce Imaging Industries

Kolok - Botswana

(

086 000 7468

info@dosptyltd.biz

(

00267 393 2669

PvtBag B0226, Bontleng, Gaborone

(

011 792 9530

www.royceimaging.co.za

7

086 237 4614

www.dosptyltd.biz

7

00267 317 0762

clemencem@vbn.co.bw

7

011 792 9480

sales@royceimaging.co.za

Empire Toy & Stationery

Rubber Stamp & Engraving Co - Head Office

Krost Office Products

(

011 614 2243

Box 261524, Excom, 2023

(

011 626 2067

Box 75401, Gardenview, 2047

(

011 262 1400

Box 931, Wendywood, 2144

7

011 614 3075

empire@netactive.co.za

7

011 626 2912

sales@krost.co.za

7

011 262 1414

trodat@rse.co.za

Flip File

Rubber Stamp & Engraving Co - Cape Town

KZN ENVELOPES

(

021 638 3105

Box 2190, Clareinch, 7740

(

031 465 3992

P O Box 41259, Rossburgh, 4072

(

021 448 7008

Box 931, Wendywood, 2144

7

021 633 6942

ashly@flipfile.co.za

7

031 465 1669

info@kznenvelopes.co.za

7

021 448 7014

cpt@trodat.co.za

Freedom Stationery - Johannesburg

Rubber Stamp & Engraving Co - Durban

Max Frank

(

011 314 0953/4

Box 6459, Halfway House, 1685

(

011 921 1811

Box 200, Isando, 1600

(

083 377 4109

Box 931, Wendywood, 2144

7

011 314 0957

gpsales@freedomstationery.co.za

7

011 921 1569

sarah.schoeman@tigerbrands.com

7

031 266 1082

dbn@rse.co.za

Freedom Stationery - Cape Town (

021 557 9152/3

36-38 Silverstone Rd Killarney Gardens

7

021 557 9155

cptsales@freedomstationery.co.za

Freedom Stationery KZN (Head Office)

Maynards - Olympus Audio S.A / Olivetti Distributors (

0860 00 1922

South African Diaries

sales@maynards.co.za

(

021 442 2340

Box 4862, Cape Town, 8000

www.maynards.co.za

7

021 442 2341

phoneyman@sadiaries.co.za

Staedtler SA (Pty) Ltd

Merpak Envelopes

(

032 459 2820

Box 478, Mandini, 4490

(

011 719 7700

sales@merpak.co.za

(

011 579 1600

www.staedtler.co.za

7

032 459 3255

sales@freedomstationery.co.za

7

011 885 3174

www.merpak.co.za

7

011 608 3497

admin@staedtler.co.za

Freedom Stationery - East London

Specialised Filing Systems

Narayan Wholesaler

(

043 731 2422

Box 14111 West Bank 5218

(

083 444 0959

7

043 731 2421

elsales@freedomstationery.co.za

7

011 869 7243

Global Bag And Sportswear Manufactures

narayantextiles@gmail.com

(

011 477 0640

7

011 477 3528

www.specfiling.co.za

Star Stationers and Printers

New Era Office cc

(

031 305 6507

P.O Box 18586, Dalbridge, 4014

(

011 334 2013

Box 10383, Lenasia, 1821

(

031 569 1061

luke@starstat.co.za

7

031 301 6553

www.globalbags.co.za

7

011 334 7358

kuban@neweraoffice.co.za

7

031 569 1094

www.starstat.co.za

Global Envelopes

Technical Systems Engineering

Nikki - Cape Town

(

031 465 5544

info@envelopes.co.za

(

0860 006731

cpt@nikki.co.za

(

011 708 2304

Box 1532, Northriding, 2162

7

031 465 5634

www.envelopes.co.za

7

0800 204868

www.nikki.co.za

7

011 708 1799

sales@tse.co.za

Gordon’s Productions

Tidy Files

Nikki - Durban

011 943 4210

(

031 705 8713

Suite 69, PvtBag X4, Kloof, 3640

(

0860 006731

dbn@nikki.co.za

(

7

031 705 8714

jacquie@gordons.co.za

7

0800 204868

www.nikki.co.za

Topmark

Grafton/Star Paper Products 011 262 0777

(

011 262 0780

7

011 421 1300

(

Nikki - Johannesburg

www.tidyfiles.co.za

(

011 837 8045

Box 550, Bergvlei, 2012

(

0860 006731

jhb@nikki.co.za

7

011 837 7442

sales@graftonpaper.co.za

7

0800 204868

www.nikki.co.za

Tower (Division of Pyrotec) - Cape Town

Grip Binders

Nikki - Pretoria orders@tigerpaper.co.za

Hortors Stationery

info@topmarksa.com

(

021 787 9600

(

0860 006731

pta@nikki.co.za

7

021 787 9791

7

0800 204868

www.nikki.co.za

Tower (Division of Pyrotec) - Johannesburg

(

011 620 4800

Box 1020, Johannesburg, 2000

Nor Paper

7

086 612 4663

orders@hortors.co.za

(

011 011 3900

7

011 011 4099

Impala Vuwa Stationery Manufacturers

sales@nor.co.za

PvtBag X1, Capricorn Square, 7948

(

011 611 1820

59 Lepus Rd, Crown Mines, 2025

7

011 611 1834

tower@pyrotec.co.za

Tower (Division of Pyrotec) Durban

(

036 634 1535

Box 389, Ladysmith, 3370

Optiplan a division of Waltons

(

031 701 0192

Box 594, Pinetown, 3600

7

036 634 1890

impalastat@mweb.co.za

(

011 620 4000

Pencil Park, Croxley Close, Herriotdale

7

031 701 1285

tower@pyrotec.co.za

7

086 681 8256

rcurrin@gp.waltons.co.za

Tribe

Ink Spot Suppliers (

011 854 3013

7

011 852 3013

Palm Stationery info@inkspotsuppliers.co.za

Interstat Agencies - Durban

(

011 314 4746 (Jhb)

Box 6280, Halfway House, 1685

(

031 507 7051

viran@palmstat.co.za

7

021 386 4261 (Cpt)

tribe@global.co.za

7

031 507 7053

www.palmstat.co.za

Unicopy & Stationers CC

(

031 569 6550

Box 201707, Durban North, 4016

PaperGeni

7

031 569 6559

interstat@mweb.co.za

(

011 011 3900

7

011 011 4099

Interstat Agencies - Cape Town

(

031 201 8415

122 Che Guevara Road, Glenwood, 4001

info@papergeni.co.za

7

031 201 8672

sales@unicopy.co.za

www.papergeni.co.za

Versafile

(

021 551 9555

Box 36696, Chempet, 7442

Paper World

7

021 557 5456

Capetown@interstat.co.za

(

012 250 1477/8

info@paperworldsa.com.

7

012 250 0322

www.paperworldsa.com

Interstat Agencies - Port Elizabeth (

041 453 2558

Box 27693, Greenacres, 6057

Parrot Products

7

041 453 8504

pe@interstat.co.za

(

011 607 7600

debbie@parrot.co.za

7

011 615 2502

www.parrotproducts.biz

Kemtek Imaging Systems 011 624 8000

(

0866 101 185

7

Box 86173, City Deep, 2049

Penflex

labelling@kemtek.co.za

(

021 521 2400

Box 36964, Chempet, 7442

7

021 521 2402/3

info@penflex.co.za

Kemtek Imaging Systems - Cape (

021 521 9600

Box 181, Cape Town, 8000

Pentel S.A (Pty) Ltd

7

021 551 5032

brenth@kemtek.co.za

(

011 474 1427/8

Box 202, Crown Mines, 2025

7

011 474 5563

www.pentel.co.za

Kemtek Imaging Systems - KZN (

031 700 9363

Box 15685, Westmead, 3608

Peters Papers

7

031 700 9369

Sandim@kemtek.co.za

(

011 677 9000

sadlerly@peterspapers.co.za

7

011 622 6646

www.peterspapers.co.za

Kemtek Imaging Systems - PE (

041 582 5222

Box 15685, Westmead, 3608

Powerhouse Dictation

7

041 582 5224

clinth@kemtek.co.za

(

011 887 1056

info@speech.co.za

7

086 555 3833

www.speech.co.za

Kemtek Imaging Systems - PTA 012 804 1410

(

PO Box 816, Silverton, 0127

Power Stationery (

032 533 4003

Box 1305, Verulam, 4340

7

032 533 3254

powersta@netactive.co.za

012 804 4286

johlettat@kemtek.co.za

(

021 709 0190

Box 183, Steenberg, 7947

Press Products

7

021 709 0199

kmppty@iafrica.com

(

011 493 6332

marketing@pressproducts.co.za

7

011 499 1019

www.pressproducts.co.za

7

KMP

Kolok - Head Office (

011 248 0300

Box 4151, Johannesburg, 2000

Pyrotec

7

011 248 0381

infojhb@koloksa.co.za

(

021 787 9600

PvtBag X1, Capricorn Square, 7948

7

021 787 9791

tower@pyrotec.co.za

Kolok - Cape Town (

021 597 2700

Box 6385, Roggebaai, 8012

RBE Stationery Manufacturers (Pty) Limited

7

021 297 2799

infoctn@koloksa.co.za

(

011 793 7321

7

011 793 7348

Kolok - Durban

46

Redfern Print Services - Cape Town

Kolok Polokwane

(

011 226 5600

Box 43501, Industria, 2042

7

011 474 9242

sales@versafile.co.za

sales@rbe.co.za www.rbe.co.za

(

031 570 4900

Box 4206, Riverhorse Valley East, 4017

Reboni Furniture Group

7

031 569 6880

infodbn@koloksa.co.za

(

086 173 2664

www.reboni.co.za

7

086 627 7737

sales@reboni.co.za

my office magazine

(

Vol 100 - March 2016

the real stuff

The real Not stuff marketing fluff Peter Hidden, operations and technology D4B, sister company of My Office What’s the highlight of your working career?

Completing my MBA was a highlight. It was a personal devleopment journey, which still carries on today, and enabled me to get involved in exciting opportunities If you could change one thing about your industry, what would it be?

People’s perception of it and the realisation that it’s not just about office supplies or database management but so much more than that – it’s a system and a process which has the potential to change how people work for the better What do you like best about the office products industry?

The blend of how traditional office supplies are often taken to the next level and evolved through technology like 3D printing

What’s your favourite meal?

A good Sunday roast Do you have a hobby?

Fantasy Premier League soccer and photography What music did you listen to in the car this morning?

The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round Do you have any pets?

Two cats What was your first car?

Honda

What’s your greatest personal achievement?

My Family. My amazing wife Karen, and our two daughters Describe yourself in three words Pragmatic, honest, reliable Where did you grow up?

Johannesburg What was your first CD? Michael Jackson What’s your favourite gadget?

All my Apple things What’s your favourite movie?

Shawshank Redemption

www.myofficemagazine.co.za

my office magazine

47

punchline

Caption this!

Send us your funniest caption for the photograph below and you stand a chance to win a Rexel Laminator GBC Fusion 1100 A4 valued at R2 000. Send your Punchline and contact details to competitions@ shop-sa.co.za with Punchline in the subject line

Win

The Rexel Laminator is 33% faster than competitor machines, taking just 45 seconds to laminate a standard A4 pouch or 80 pouches per hour, with an additional cold setting for heat sensitive documents. Other features include: • Automatic switch off after 30 minutes of inactivity.

• Exit tray keeps pouches straight as they come through the heated rollers for a perfect, warp-free finish • Incorporates SureFlow™ Technology that reduces jamming significantly for stress-free laminating and maximum productivity • Laminates up to A4 size including ID cards, notices and certificates • Modern, compact design is easy to move around and suits most office and home environments • Single touch button interface: simple to use, no previous experience required • Three heat settings • Accepts 2 x 75 micron (150 in total) pouches, 2 x 100 micron (200 in total) and 2 x 125 micron (250 in total).

WIN ME

WINNING CAPTION FEBRUARY ISSUE Winning Caption: “I cannot wait for the milk to download” – Monique van Deventer

For the BRIGHT T at heart!

Rexel PUNCHLine Working for you

Matching staplers available

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