NEWS OF THE MICROFILM INDUSTRY
DECEMBER/JANUARY 1988 No 8
If you run a Microfilm Bureau, do you STILL think you’re insignificant? The length of time that the present situation continues for, will be decided by the accountants of the companies
*The first edition of the Micrographics Market Place came out in October 1986. The editorial in that first edition was entitled “If you run a Microfilm Bureau, do you think you’re insignificant?”, the editorial went on to discuss how the 400 Microfilm Bureaux in the U.K. represented a minimum tutnover of £60 million per year, which was probably half of the total Industry. retrospect, it seems that the message was heard loud and ear by a number of the Multinationals in the Industry when you consider what has been happening in the past 12 to 18 months. Agfa-Gevaert have always been bureau orientated when it came to selling their camera film and, in some respects, they had many years of experience in building up a close relationship with a specific bureau. However, over the last 12 months, Kodak with their B-Link scheme and Bell & Howell have been fighting very hard for a share of the microfilm bureau industry’s business. Until recently, neither Kodak nor Bell & Howell often sold their supplies or equipment to the trade, or when they did it was at a very low or zero discount. We now have the situation where Bell & Howell and Kodak seem hell-bent on fighting each other for the bureau business regardless of the ultimate consequences. It can only be a matter of time before Agfa themselves decide to come out and play, though they may decide that their existing policy of using a small number of well-established dealers is, in the long term, the best policy to adopt. ^^owever, it may not be just the farsightedness of The Micrographics Market Place which has prompted these changes. Other factors which could have influenced the situation include the massive depression of the US dollar against the pound, which has resulted in goods manufactured in the USA or USA related countries being very, very cheap to import into the United Kingdom. Kodak, over the previous 10 years, have tended to let their microfilm market stagnate, based on the dangerous assumption that a quality name is all that is needed. Kodak have recently been very prominent in reversing this trend. Bell & Howell, once their monopoly on the rib microfilm jackets was broken, had to start competing in the ‘real’ world where price had to relate to cost of manufacture and the level of competition. A further factor with Bell & Howell is that they are likely to be taken over or, at least, be the subject of a management buy-out in the not too distant future; at times like that any management worth its salt makes sure it shines as brightly as possible. Obviously the moves that Kodak and Bell & Howell have been making lately have cost them some profit margin. To some extent this has been offset by the decline of the dollar and the increase in turn-over that they have received.
concerned deciding whether the new, lower gross margins are sufficient to retain viability. This will be further influenced by a turn-around in the relationship between the pound and the dollar. One vital piece of information which should always be remembered is that the main supplies items required by microfilm bureaux are camera film, microfilm jackets, diazo film, aperture cards and equipment. With the exception of 3M, none of the multinationals actually manufacture any of the products that they sell in the United Kingdom. This means that they are merely merchants in our market place and, therefore, particularly subject to present market trends and currency fluctuations. So Far, So Good. The microfilm bureau industry has, by hook or by crook, used its clout to alter, drastically, the price that it pays for its microfilm raw materials in the last 18 months. However, not all the things that we discussed in our first article have come to pass, one significant requirement of microfilm bureaux has so far been ignored. continued on Page 3
See Pages 4 - 8 for Product News The Micrographics Market Place
1