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BIG INTERVIEW

Connecting the

business products world

Cezary Monko, ACCO Brands EMEA March 2018

Special Issue

FACILITIES SUPPLIES Special Issue

FACILITIES SUPPLIES

Special Issue

FACILITIES SUPPLIES Special Issue

VENDOR SPECIAL

In this Vendor Special issue we highlight some of the outstanding manufacturers in our sector.

And it’s not all about the product, but about initiative, collaboration andIssue a real drive to meet Special and stay ahead of customer expectations VENDOR SPECIAL

Special Issue

VENDOR SPECIAL

INSIDE THIS ISSUE Cenveo files for Chapter 11 l Platinum completes OfficeMax Australia acquisition l Shira Goodman gone at Staples Inc l Dynamic pricing: right for dealers? l Industry 4.0 tech trends l Paperworld review l LinkedIn as a sales & marketing tool

Special Issue

FACILITIES CONTENTS SUPPLIES Special Issue

FACILITIES SUPPLIES

22 Hot Topic Dynamic pricing is rife in the e-commerce channel, but how relevant is it for independent OP dealers?

Special Issue

FACILITIES SUPPLIES

42 How to... ...maximise LinkedIn as a sales and marketing tool

46 Review: Paperworld While challenges remain, Paperworld 2018 has lived up to expectations for many

Special Issue

VENDOR SPECIAL

48 Review: City of Hope Up close at this year’s City of Hope Tour

Special Issue Special Issue

VENDOR SPECIAL

VENDOR SPECIAL

16 Big Interview Cezary Monko talks about the brand new ACCO Brands EMEA

27 Vendor Focus OPI highlights outstanding vendors in our industry

Big Interview: Cezary Monko, ACCO Brands EMEA

ACCO Brands’ 2017 move to acquire Esselte Holdings led to the creation of a new $600 million business unit called ACCO Brands EMEA. OPI speaks to Cezary Monko about the reasons for the merger, the ongoing integration process and the company’s future development plans HOT TOPIC: THE DYNAMIC$ OF PRICING

37 Spotlight A look at Germany’s writing instruments vendor Stabilo 40 Vendor Profile In a challenging market, Hamelin in France manages to buck the declining trends

REGULARS 5 Comment 6 News 50 Generation Game Casey Avent 52 5 minutes with...

Raphael Carlioz 54 Final Word Jack Reagan

March 2018

Managing dynamic pricing for smaller dealers may be challenging as it will take investment in technology as well as time to be truly effective.

In an online world where you have multiple vendors selling the same product, creating true differentiation is difficult.

Therefore, to maximise sales you need to ensure your pricing is competitive and this can only be achieved by constantly monitoring other sellers’ prices and being able to respond quickly.

34 Feature Nine technology trends that form the building blocks of Industry 4.0

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COMMENT The OPI team EDITORIAL Editor Heike Dieckmann +44 (0)20 7841 2950 heike.dieckmann@opi.net Deputy Editor Michelle Sturman +44 (0)20 7841 2942 michelle.sturman@opi.net Reporter Joshua Allsopp +44 (0)20 7841 2952 joshua.allsopp@opi.net OPI Special Correspondent Andy Braithwaite +33 4 32 62 71 07 andy.braithwaite@opi.net Freelance Contributor David Holes david.holes@opi.net

SALES & MARKETING VP – Continental Europe, Middle East and Africa Ewan Dickson +44 (0)20 7841 2954 ewan.dickson@opi.net VP – North America and UK Chris Turness +44 (0)20 7841 2953 chris.turness@opi.net Director of Growth Services Jeremy Hughes +44 (0)7807 810617 jeremy.hughes@opi.net Digital Marketing Manager Aurora Enghis +44 (0)20 7841 2959 aurora.enghis@opi.net

EVENTS Events Manager Lisa Haywood +44 (0)20 7841 2941 events@opi.net

PRODUCTION & FINANCE Studio Joel Mitchell +44 (0)20 7841 2943 joel.mitchell@opi.net Operations & Production Eda Sismanoglu +44 (0)20 7841 2950 eda@opi.net Finance Kelly Hilleard +44 (0)20 7841 2956 kelly.hilleard@opi.net

PUBLISHERS CEO Steve Hilleard +44 (0)20 7841 2940 steve.hilleard@opi.net Director Janet Bell +44 (0)20 7841 2941 janet.bell@opi.net Executive Assistant Debbie Garrand +44 (7718) 660249 debbie.garrand@opi.net

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How do you measure success?

his is the once-a-year issue of OPI where we focus much of our attention on the vendor community. Who’s doing a great job in our industry and why? Who do you think will still be around in 15, 20 or 50 years?

The goalposts for greatness are not fixed, of course, and are constantly moving. Whatever even is greatness and how is it measured?

Is it the ability of vendors to constantly reinvent themselves and stay relevant in a fast-changing business environment with evolving customer needs and expectations? Companies like 3M, Fellowes, Smead and Stabilo – all featured in this issue – are good examples of manufacturers with historically traditional products that have broken away from their mould and managed to add another dimension (or several even) – to their operations.

Being ‘smart’ in every facet of your operation – on and off the factory floor – is surely the crux of success Or is it the realisation that sometimes you might be better off combining resources with another player, in the process generating synergies, maximising cost savings and achieving broader market coverage and future growth potential? (See our Big Interview on page 16 for one such example) Profit is always a good indicator of success. But that’s often not very visible given the amount of family-owned businesses and indeed the level of private equity investment in our industry.

The answer to a healthier bottom line increasingly lies in ‘smart manufacturing’ – or Industry 4.0 and all the technological advances that it comprises (see page 34 for more).

Being ‘smart’ in every facet of your operation – on and off the factory floor – is surely the crux of success: smart in the way vendors find new product niches, tap into new customer demographics and fully explore all available sales and marketing channels. And smart, of course, in the way they work with their reseller and distribution partners. We’ve put these partnerships under the spotlight in our Vendor Focus article (see page 27). Who do the resellers and wholesalers rate highly among their vendors and why?

Some of the names we’ve listed will come as no surprise at all; others are definitely less predictable. See what you think!

Have a good month.

HEIKE DIECKMANN, EDITOR

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March 2018

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Special Issue

NEWS

VENDOR SPECIAL

Analysis:

Cenveo:

Signed, sealed, delivered US-based print and envelope titan Cenveo was brought to its knees earlier this year as it struggled to survive in the digital age

www.opi.net

Embattled envelope and print products manufacturer Cenveo filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the District of New York at the end of January and was subsequently forced to delist from the NASDAQ. The group’s petition for bankruptcy in the US allowed it much-needed protection from creditors while it reshuffled the business. The proposed reorganisation strategy – which is expected to lower debt by around $700 million – has now been approved by the majority of its lenders. But it begs the question: how did the largest envelope maker in North America get itself into such a mess?

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RETURN TO LENDER Cenveo, which produces a quarter of all envelopes used in the US (around 50 billion a year) has been struggling for some time under the weight of debt in excess of $1 billion. Each year, annual debt repayments of about $99.4 million were gradually eating away at profits.

The group has also been plagued by ongoing market headwinds, particularly in its core envelope business as demand weakens.

At the end of Q3 2017, sales fell nearly 14% to $329.5 million. This decline was primarily driven by lower direct mail demand from both financial institution customers as well as wholesale and generic transactional envelope product lines.

Increased competition and the emergence of new technologies meant [Cenveo] was struggling to gain a footing when it came to pricing Meanwhile, the group’s decision to exit its coating operation in mid-2017, coupled with weaker demand and product mix changes, resulted in lower sales in its label segment, its second largest channel in terms of volume. The pre-tax loss in Q3 was $20.3 million, plummeting almost 325% from profit of around $9 million in Q3 2016.

Trading was also impacted by lower sales volumes in the commercial print arm and the publisher services

IN BRIEF BIC Graphic recruits CEO Pen maker BIC Graphic North America has appointed 30-year consumer industry veteran David Klatt as CEO. He will work alongside President Emmanuel Bruno – who will remain in his role – to head operations. Earlier in his career, Klatt was President of both the Writing segment and Specialty Business arms at Newell Brands.

NEWS

business as a result of continued pricing pressures.

Essentially, the demand for printed products just wasn’t there anymore and hadn’t been for some time – Cenveo was fast becoming a victim of the digital age.

Commenting on the Chapter 11 filing, newly-appointed Cenveo Chief Restructuring Officer Ayman Zameli said: “Consumers increasingly use the internet and other electronic media to purchase goods and services, pay bills and obtain electronic versions of printed materials. Moreover, advertisers also use the internet and other electronic media for targeted campaigns directed at specific consumer segments rather than mail campaigns.”

Private equity buys OTS US imaging supplies wholesaler Online Tech Stores has been snapped up by private equity firm Blackford Capital. The deal marks Blackford’s return to the industry, having previously invested in Quality Imaging Products, Rhinotek and Bond Street.

IMPACT OF QUALITY PARK SALE In February 2017, Cenveo announced a $50 million two-year profitability improvement plan and provided FY2017 guidance of $1.6 billion in sales and adjusted EBITDA of $150 million. Its strategy involved lowering fixed costs and reducing both its back-office headcount and geographic footprint.

However, certain cost savings have since been delayed in the hope of minimising any additional operation disruption.

Following the sale of envelope business Quality Park in November last year to LSC, the group lowered its guidance and expected to report full-year 2017 sales of $1.32-$1.33 billion with adjusted EBITDA of $110-$115 million.

However, preliminary results showed that business had eroded during Q4, knocking full-year adjusted EBITDA to $102.8 million, well below even the lower end of its restated forecasts. No doubt this was the final straw for Cenveo, as Q4 is historically its strongest quarter, generating 90% of annual operating cash flow.

The impact of restructuring is now expected to result in Q1 2018 sales of $308.2 million with adjusted EBITDA of $18.1 million.

Latest closure for ADVEO ADVEO is to close its logistics warehouse in Winkelhaid, Germany, costing around 60 jobs. It is the latest in a growing list of closures as the European office supplies wholesaler executes its 2020 Strategic Plan.

PROJECT CHELSEA With its Chapter 11 filing, the group also released a presentation it had made to its creditors at the end of last year. Entitled ‘Project Chelsea’, it detailed the new business plan which included focusing on new areas and securing debt repayment. It further outlined the key challenges that had arisen since it decided to explore a restructuring strategy. Although it has shifted from printed products to electronic alternatives to serve the same markets, increased competition and the emergence of new technologies meant it was struggling to gain a footing when it came to pricing.

The contingency plan also noted negative rumours and coverage in the media which led to customers de-risking to a greater extent than it had originally forecast. New clients were failing to sign up due to financial concerns with the company.

But Cenveo is still hanging on. In November 2017, it was awarded the prestigious 2020 US Census printing and mailing contract by the US Government Publishing Office, which is worth around $61 million and will last several years.

This key contract, coupled with the drastic reorganisation and financing plan, could well save Cenveo from total extinction.

Herman Miller seeks new CEO Brian Walker has announced his retirement as CEO of US office furniture manufacturer Herman Miller. Effective 31 August 2018, Walker is stepping down after 14 years in the top spot, ending his 29-year career with the firm.

Fuji Xerox exec named in scandal The identity of the final senior executive embroiled in the Fuji Xerox accounting scandal in New Zealand has been revealed. Former CFO Mark Allright was listed in court documents along with other defendants following a hearing in New Zealand’s High Court. Allright had previously petitioned to keep his name private.

Doody joins Staples Solutions Staples Solutions has appointed Paul Doody as Chief Marketing Officer. He joins from data management firm Innovative Systems where he held the same role. Prior to that, he worked in a number of marketing positions at Iron Mountain both in Belgium and the US. New Tech Data UK boss IT distributor Tech Data has appointed David Watts as Managing Director of UK & Ireland, assuming full responsibility for operations in the region. Watts is a long-time employee at the distributor, having first joined the company in 1998.

Amazon Business debuts in France

March 2018

Amazon Business has launched in France, opening up the country’s €71 billion ($79 billion) B2B e-commerce market.

The internet giant’s standalone B2B portal has already rolled out in the US, Germany, the UK, Japan and India. Now covering the top three markets in Europe, Amazon Business’s French debut is expected to bring opportunities for SMBs already selling products on the UK platform to expand their businesses and reach new customers on the continent.

Online B2B sales currently represent around 3% of total commerce in France, while Amazon.fr clocked 16 million visitors a month last year.

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NEWS

Analysis:

Will Platinum complete trans-Tasman deal?

www.opi.net

US private equity firm Platinum Equity is now focused on finalising its New Zealand bid after acquiring OfficeMax Australia

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In early February 2018, Platinum Equity announced the completion of its acquisition of the OfficeMax business in Australia for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition by Platinum – which owns Winc (formerly Staples) in Australia and New Zealand – had been given clearance by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) at the end of November 2017 (see News, OPI December 2017/ January 2018, page 9).

Immediately after announcing the closing of the acquisition in Australia, Platinum said that “over time it intends to bring together the OfficeMax business in Australia with Winc Australia”.

“The combination of Winc and OfficeMax in Australia will create a business that can offer greater value, more choice and a better customer experience,” said Adam Cooper, Principal at Platinum Equity. “We will bring together the best of both companies, creating an innovative enterprise under the Winc brand.”

Winc CEO Darren Fullerton said teams from Winc, OfficeMax and Platinum Equity would work together to “ensure a seamless transition”.

However, to what extent the integration of Winc and OfficeMax can begin is still not clear. While the quotes in the Platinum press release suggest a done deal, the use of the words ‘intends’ and ‘over time’ points to a future less certain. That is because Platinum is still trying to secure the acquisition of OfficeMax New Zealand, a transaction that is the subject of a High Court injunction from New Zealand’s Commerce Commission (ComCom) and Australia-based reseller COS. The operations of OfficeMax Australia are largely run from its New Zealand business which is still owned by Office Depot Inc. This means that the

directors of OfficeMax New Zealand would appear to find themselves in a ‘two masters’ situation, serving both Office Depot Inc and Platinum.

Platinum clarified its strategy somewhat in a statement to OPI: “At this stage, we intend to commence planning for the integration of the businesses. This is an extensive exercise to work through and will take considerable time. Any integration activities that do occur prior to resolution of the ongoing New Zealand case will be done so with the country’s regulatory matters in mind.”

ComCom also said it is keeping a close eye on the situation, telling OPI: “The Commission has sought details of the proposed transitional arrangements between OfficeMax Australia and OfficeMax New Zealand to ensure the competitive position between Winc New Zealand and OfficeMax New Zealand is not compromised.”

Platinum’s confirmation that it will embark on an extensive planning phase is surprising given that the ACCC gave clearance for it to buy OfficeMax Australia more than three months ago; one would assume that planning teams have been working on the project since November. Or it may be that Platinum is playing for time as it tries to push through a deal that is acceptable to ComCom in New Zealand – after all, the real prize is the OfficeMax business in New Zealand.

ComCom declined to comment on whether it is engaged in a dialogue with Platinum over potential solutions ahead of the High Court hearing that is planned for June, but OPI sources have recently suggested that Platinum is still willing to divest Winc New Zealand in order to get ComCom approval to buy OfficeMax New Zealand.

The directors of OfficeMax New Zealand would appear to find themselves in a ‘two masters’ situation, serving both Office Depot Inc and Platinum However, given the competitive landscape in New Zealand – including the recent demise of reseller Corporate Consumables – it is by no means certain that ComCom would allow this to happen, even supposing that Platinum could find a suitable buyer for Winc New Zealand.

There are still a number of ways all this could play out, including Office Depot Inc being ‘stuck’ with its OfficeMax assets in New Zealand.

Goodman leaves Staples Staples Inc CEO Shira Goodman was ‘let go’ at the end of January, her departure confirmed in an internal memo by Executive Chairman John Lederer. He wrote: “During this leadership transition, nothing changes day-to-day […] We have a great opportunity in front of us to continue to strengthen our customer relationships and accelerate our growth in 2018 and beyond.”

Private equity owner Sycamore Partners was quick to line up a replacement for the 26-year Staples veteran. Within days, Coca-Cola’s North American President Sandy Douglas was named as CEO. He is due to start the role in April, following his previously announced retirement from the drinks giant (for more on Douglas, see ‘Who’s Who in OP’, page 12).

Goodman took over as CEO of Staples in 2016, shortly after regulators scrapped its plans to merge with Office Depot. She was charged with heading the reseller’s strategy to shift focus away from its waning retail business and instead concentrate on B2B and corporate customers.

Following Staples’ takeover by Sycamore in June last year, the new owners decided to keep her at the helm, seen by many as a huge vote of confidence in her leadership capabilities. It led to Goodman being ranked as one of Fortune magazine’s ‘Most Powerful Shira Goodman Women of 2017’.

Ownership change at Trodat

Austrian stamping vendor Trodat has announced a new ownership structure, marking the end of a long-standing partnership.

The Müller-Just family has agreed to buy out the Doppler family’s share alongside investment firm ImWind Group, giving it a majority ownership of the Wels-based manufacturer.

Following the deal, the Müller-Justs now own 75%, with ImWind holding the remaining 25%. The purchase price was not disclosed.

The buyout has also resulted in the departure of CEO Michael Peduzzi, while CFO Peter Hofmann is set to step down later this year.

Supervisory board member Christopher Müller – grandson of Trodat founder Walter Just – will act as interim CEO until a replacement is appointed.

Christa Furter departs Office World/iba

Christa Furter has stepped down from her CEO role at Swiss reseller iba and multichannel operator Office World.

Furter, who remained at the helm of the two companies when they were bought from Swiss parent Migros in October of last year by MTH Retail Group in Austria, will be staying on in an advisory and consultative position. Leadership of Office World and iba will be handed to Annett Seonbuchner and Johann Pintarich respectively.

While both entities have their own CEOs with Seonbucher and Pintarich, MTH Retail said that Office World and iba will be working much closer together and will legally become one company.

Seonbuchner has been with Office World since 2012 while Pintarich comes from MTH Retail’s Pagro Christa Furter subsidiary in Austria.

A new international coalition has been forged between five of the OP industry’s most globally-recognised dealer groups.

Office Choice in Australia, TriMega in the US, Novexco in Canada, Office Friendly in the UK and South Africa-based Inovocom have united to establish the International Office Products Alliance (IOPA).

The organisation aims to drive collaboration among all the groups’ management teams in the areas of private label, best practice, corporate and dealer benchmarking, and business model enhancement.

IOPA will see a yearly schedule of online meetings and international conferences.

The first of these will be held in June 2018 in conjunction with the OPI European Forum in London, UK, to determine the roadmap for the next two years.

The announcement followed news that Office Choice had left Australasian purchasing organisation OPANZ earlier last month, a group it had helped to establish back in 2015.

In related news, Daniel Kelly has been made Chairman of Office Choice. He takes over from John Donaghy who resigned from the board earlier this year. Kelly is currently Managing Director of Office Choice dealer Stuart & Dunn and has been a board member for six years, three of them as head of its IT Committee.

BIRD FEED

IN BRIEF

@BOSS_Fed A great turnout at our Manufacturer Forum today. Excellent presentations, discussions and networking.

HSM’s Robbins retires Popular UK industry figure Barry Robbins has retired after 17 years of service at shredder manufacturer HSM. He entered the office supplies industry almost four decades ago and worked for pen manufacturer Pentel for many years before joining HSM as a National Accounts Manager in 2000.

@PhilJones40 Illustration of the factory that used to sit on our site here in Tameside, making Jones sewing machines.

@shannonsinnz And people keep asking why I put up this pic of Wilson in my cube... #HomeImprovement

Follow us on Twitter @opinews

Fujifilm takes control of Xerox

IS replaces Foster US dealer group Independent Stationers (IS) has appointed Ty Blankenbaker to replace Mike Foster as Director of Merchandising. Foster stepped down in January after more than 27 years with the group. Blankenbaker has been with IS since 2006 and most recently held the role of Senior Merchandise Manager.

Keurig buys Dr Pepper Coffee and beverages manufacturer Keurig Green Mountain has acquired Dr Pepper Snapple Group.

The organisations are set to merge and will become known as Keurig Dr Pepper. The deal brings together many well-known global drinks brands such as Dr Pepper, 7 Up and Snapple with Keurig’s beverages range.

New Chairman for Advantia UK dealer group Advantia has appointed a new Chairman.

Managing Director of Premier Office Supplies and long-serving board member Mike Heaps has stepped into the role, taking over from Bob Geens who retired from the group at the end of last year.

Takkt buys UK web dealer Office equipment supplier Takkt has boosted its e-commerce offering with the acquisition of UK-based Equip4Work, which sells furniture, warehouse and business equipment via various online platforms.

The deal is worth £35 million ($48.5 million) and will add to Takkt Europe’s recently launched digital division newport group.

March 2018

The days of independence are over for iconic US EOS vendor Xerox after Japanese camera maker Fujifilm struck a deal to take control of just over 50% of Xerox shares, giving it a majority stake in the firm and total ownership of the Fuji Xerox subsidiary.

Fujifilm plans to combine the operations of Xerox with its 56-year joint venture Fuji Xerox, which currently serves primarily the Asia Pacific market. This is to be followed by international restructuring to cut more than 10,000 jobs worldwide by 2020, around one fifth of its workforce.

Once absorbed, the two are set to form an $18 billion global technology giant, the largest document solutions organisation in the world in terms of sales. It expects to deliver total cost savings of at least $1.7 billion.

The new company – referred to as ‘New Fuji Xerox’ – will be headquartered between Norwalk (CN) in the US and Tokyo in Japan. Current Xerox CEO Jeff Jacobson will remain at the helm to become CEO of the newly-formed entity.

The announcement is a slap in the face for billionaire financier Carl Icahn – a major shareholder in Xerox – who recently called for the removal of Jacobson and had urged the group to end its partnership with Fujifilm. Along with fellow activist investor and Xerox shareholder Darwin Deason, he said the firm needed to make major changes and “remove the ‘old guard’” if it were to reverse continuing revenue declines.

In February, Deason attempted to sue Xerox to stop the takeover. In a suit filed with the New York State Court, he alleged that certain terms of its involvement with Fujifilm were “hidden” from shareholders. Xerox publicly refuted Deason’s claim.

NEWS

Dealer groups form global alliance

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NEWS

UK industry veteran Alan Hickman passes away

www.opi.net

OPI is saddened to report that OP veteran Alan Hickman passed away on 16 February 2018 following a short illness.

Alan was a highly-respected and popular figure in the UK business supplies industry. Internationally, he was best known as the man behind European wholesaler alliance Interaction.

His retirement in April 2017 ended a 50-year career during which time he led some of the biggest companies in the UK office supplies industry. He started out in 1967 as a Market Analyst at speciality paper merchant Wiggins Teape – which later became Arjowiggins – and after five years moved to filing products manufacturer Twinlock where he held various market research and corporate planning roles.

In 1976, he joined contract stationer HJ Chapman (absorbed by WH Smith in the mid-1980s) where he became Marketing Director. Nearly five years later, he returned to Wiggins Teape and took up the position of Sales and Marketing Director.

Alan spent much of his career – more than 16 years in total – at Kingfield Wholesale, working his way up to the position of Managing Director. In 1999, Kingfield Wholesale merged with fellow OP wholesaler John Heath to form Kingfield Heath (now VOW) and Alan was made CEO. He stepped down two years later.

While at Kingfield (in 1997), Alan founded Interaction, successfully bringing together some of the key wholesalers across Europe. He also instigated the launch of Interaction’s flagship Q-CONNECT range, which recently celebrated its 20th anniversary.

Interaction Managing Director Jan Van Belleghem – who was personally hired by Alan over 17 years ago – called him a ‘founding father’ of industry collaboration who helped lay the groundwork for some of the conversations that are shaping the sector today. He said: “We wish to honour this visionary man who was instrumental in building trust among companies from various nations in collaborating towards common goals.

Under his chairmanship the seeds were planted for what has become Europe’s leading alliance of OP distributors.”

Before retiring, Alan worked as part-time Executive Chairman for four years at office furniture distributor TC Group, having first joined in 2002 as non-executive director.

Alan is survived by wife Dawn and his children James and Eleanor. In a note to Alan’s former colleagues, Dawn said: “Alan retained his humour, thoughtfulness and selflessness right up to the end.”

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WHO’S WHO IN OP

Top 100 new entry 2018: Sandy Douglas – CEO, Staples Inc Following the departure of Shira Goodman at the end of January (see page 9), Staples Inc owner Sycamore Partners quickly appointed outgoing Coca-Cola boss Sandy Douglas as the new CEO of the North American business products reseller. Specifically, he will oversee the North American B2B delivery entity which does not include the separate US and Canadian retail units.

Douglas will officially start in his role on 2 April 2018, following his planned retirement from Coca-Cola on 1 March that was announced last October. The 56-year-old has been with Coca-Cola for the past 30 years, most recently as the head of its $10 billion North American division.

Until Douglas joins Staples, John Lederer, the Executive Chairman of both Staples Inc and the US and Canadian retail businesses, will lead the company on a day-to-day basis.

Amazon spooks shipping giants

Shares of global delivery services firms FedEx and UPS took a beating after it emerged that Amazon may be about to launch its own rival delivery solution.

In an article entitled Amazon to Launch Delivery Service That Would Vie With FedEx, UPS by the Wall Street Journal, sources close to the company revealed that the internet giant was planning to unveil ‘Shipping with Amazon’ or SWA, a new service that will provide end-to-end delivery for businesses. It is apparently poised to roll out the offering to its third-party merchants in Los Angeles (CA), followed by a wider launch across the rest of the US. Investors were quick to recognise the repercussions this could have on the big postal delivery players in the US market, shaving almost 5% off the share price of both UPS and FedEx. Speaking to OPI, a UPS spokesperson said that it continued to support Amazon and would not comment on the utilisation of its services. FedEx meanwhile took a more defensive stance. SVP of Integrated Marketing and Communications Patrick Fitzgerald told OPI: “The headline in the Wall Street Journal demonstrates a lack of basic understanding of the full scale of the global transportation industry.”

Amazon already provides shipping to customers using its ‘Fulfilment by Amazon’ programme, but SWA will include both ends of the chain, picking up items directly from vendors as well.

Delivery has been a big part of Amazon’s expansion in recent months. In February, the group announced a two-hour grocery delivery service for Prime Members through Whole Foods, the high-end supermarket chain it purchased last year.

48% 1in3 Above: Alan in retirement Right: featured in OPI in 2000

of people admit they they’ve fallen asleep in a meeting

office workers k say the winter weather affects their productivity

Beleaguered US beverages and office products supplier Crystal Rock has been acquired by Canada-based beverage solutions service provider Cott.

The transaction – which is expected to close this month – values Crystal Rock at around $35 million, or $0.97 per share, representing a 22.8% premium to its closing price on the date of the deal.

Once completed, Crystal Rock’s operations will merge with those of Cott and become a wholly-owned subsidiary of the group, subsequently delisting from the New York Stock Exchange.

2017 proved to be a tough year for Crystal Rock as it struggled to compete in an unforgiving OP market. For the 12 months ended 31 October, overall sales fell 10% to $59 million. The Office Products business experienced the biggest fall, with sales plummetting 54% compared to the previous year at $3.3 million.

Sales declines in the OP segment were primarily due to heavy competition in the marketplace, particularly from online sellers.

Crystal Rock diversified into selling office products back in 2011, but as a result of unsustainably low margins, the company

NEWS

Crystal Rock sold for $35 million

began scaling back on the category in 2015, focusing more on its core Water arm.

In 2017, the contribution to total sales from OP was down to 6% compared to 11% in 2016. Sales of bottled water now account for 47% of total sales.

The rise of e-commerce has made it easier for smaller resellers to compete more effectively with Crystal Rock’s model which has hefty operating expenses.

Meanwhile, large players like Staples, Office Depot and WB Mason with greater capital resources already have a better footing in terms of pricing.

What’s more, as highlighted in its annual report, the group said the evolution of modern business practices towards the ‘paperless office’ could well reduce the available market for some of its products.

But even if Crystal Rock did retreat completely from selling OP, its coffee

category is still taking a beating from increasingly agile e-commerce sellers and sales fell 7% last year. As for water, the group has already identified a decline in sales and rental of its water coolers thanks to discount retailers, not to mention emerging regulation and public opinion surrounding plastic bottle waste in the US. All of this meant that Crystal Rock needed to make some drastic changes. That’s where buyer Cott comes in.

In terms of volume, Cott is the largest route-based service supplier of its kind, providing bottled office water, custom coffee roasting, iced tea blends and extract solutions for the US catering industry. It has a network of 2.3 million customers and delivery points spread across North America and Europe. It appears to have the resources and capacity to tackle some of Crystal Rock’s ongoing difficulties.

March 2018 13

best

BIG INTERVIEW

of

Special Issue

VENDOR SPECIAL

The

BOTH

WORLDS

The merger of Esselte Holdings and ACCO Brands’ legacy EMEA operations proves that privately-held and publicly-listed businesses can successfully be combined

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CCO Brands’ 2017 move to acquire Esselte Holdings led to the creation of a new $600 million business unit formally known as ACCO Brands EMEA. Responsibility for the division was handed to the experienced former Esselte management team led by Cezary Monko. Over the years, under private equity ownership, they had transformed Esselte into a lean, efficient, entrepreneurial and – importantly – profitable business. The challenge would be to combine this culture with the publicly-held ACCO, whose own European operations had been struggling to make money and were heavily focused on the UK market.

A year after the transaction, the ‘heavy lifting’ of the merger has mostly been completed, and results point to a new impetus for ACCO in Europe. OPI’s Andy Braithwaite met up with Monko at Paperworld in Frankfurt at the end of January for an update on the integration process and to learn more about his plans for the development of the company.

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OPI: Perhaps we can start with a quick resumé of your career to date.

Cezary Monko: It’s been almost 26 years now since I started as a sales manager in the newly-established Esselte in Poland. It was 1 April – April Fool’s Day – that I started; I still think it was symbolic!

And then it was Esselte all the way. The past 15 years were of special importance to me – I first became European President of Sales, then President of Europe, and then CEO. Last year we sold the company to ACCO Brands and I became President of ACCO Brands EMEA.

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OPI: How did the merger come about?

CM: ACCO and Esselte had been looking at each other for at least 20 years, trying to buy out one another. For various reasons, this did not happen earlier, but when ACCO made the move, we were also ready to go.

We were owned by JW Childs which had acquired us 15 years before. That, of course, is about three times longer than the expected time for private equity investors, so it was high time for them to sell us. At the same time, they were looking for the right partner and the only really good fit – I’d say the perfect fit – was ACCO. For us [the Esselte executive management team], it was clear that there was only one industry buyer that we would like to sell to and JW Childs came to the same conclusion on their own. It was the right fit both timing- and business-wise.

OPI: I guess in terms of trade buyers, the number of potential candidates was quite limited.

CM: It was indeed. We had several conversations with potential financial buyers and some of them were interested, but we preferred an alliance with ACCO. In the end, the dialogue was quite prolonged. We first started talking in 2015, so it took almost two years to reach a conclusion. And as always in negotiations like this, there were some ups and downs. It’s quite a difficult combination: Esselte is a complex organisation in Europe and ACCO, being a market leader, is complex too, so we needed to find the right combination and formula.

BIG INTERVIEW Cezary Monko

OPI: When you say ‘complex’, is that because that’s normal when you’re a large organisation or were there specific peculiarities?

CM: Both companies were built historically on acquisitions, so there was a huge number of subsidiaries, legal entities and layers involved. From a legal standpoint, where the complexity lied was in building the structure for the new organisation from hundreds of entities in Europe, some of which were dormant but still needed to be taken into account when you’re creating a new company.

wanted to eliminate while keeping in mind, of course, our desired market position and the economic benefits of these actions.

Then we looked at company culture and the merger of a private equity-owned business and a public company. 15 years of private equity leaves a strong mark on an organisation.

OPI: Can you give some examples?

CM: Sure. At Esselte we went through a long and intense journey of implementing lean management, and I can confirm that we are a pretty lean organisation in Europe. Several processes were simplified which we define as ‘elimination of waste’.

There was a lot of bureaucratic ‘fatigue’ that we tried to get rid of from the perspective of planning management, manufacturing, logistics, office processes, internal reporting, and so on.

March 2018

OPI: So how did you merge these two entities in Europe and what is the situation now?

CM: Obviously, we knew ACCO from the market and we knew that there were a lot of synergies and a lot of characteristics which were complementary.

But we didn’t know any details and they didn’t know too much about us either, other than an overall perception of being a good fit. As you know, legacy ACCO was strong in the UK and we were less so, while in continental Europe that’s where we play a bigger role and they were less developed.

The first thing we looked at was the overlap in the EMEA business segment: offices, distribution centres, functions, etc. We identified areas that we

15 years of private equity leaves a strong mark on an organisation

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BIG INTERVIEW Cezary Monko

Clearly, we didn’t have much external reporting being a private company. As such, we came from a pretty straightforward, efficient, dynamic and quick decision-taking environment and fused with a public, US-based, Sarbanes-Oxley-compliant and risk-conscious organisation. That was a difference we had to deal with.

The challenge really was how to combine the two into one which would not be the same; not the old Esselte or ACCO, but the new ACCO Brands EMEA. The way I approach it is to preserve as much of the lean thinking and the lean way of working as possible, but still become compliant and meet all the requirements of the stock exchange and public reporting. It’s been a challenge.

OPI: What has the integration involved in terms of reducing the number of facilities from X to Y? CM: We have eliminated nine country offices where we had overlap and three warehouses. We also significantly restructured the legacy ACCO UK organisation and merged it with Esselte UK – that was the most complex integration.

OPI: Let’s focus on that for a minute. As you’ve mentioned, ACCO was very strong in the UK, less so in Europe.

CM: Yes, so legacy ACCO in the UK took the lead and they now manage the new entity which is built on the ACCO UK organisation based in Aylesbury. We preserved part of the legacy Esselte organisation and merged it into ACCO, and we also moved our Esselte branch into the ACCO warehouse near Birmingham.

It’s now all run as one organisation in the UK, which is ACCO Brands UK. The same pattern applies to every other country, but in reverse. We used Esselte as the base and merged people, branches and the business of legacy ACCO in those markets into Esselte in much the same way.

There are certain strategic decisions ACCO made previously that affected their ability to act in the market I think both organisations consist of really great people. There are certain strategic decisions ACCO made previously that affected their ability to act in the market. They basically withdrew from several mainland Europe markets and treated them as export markets which just didn’t give them enough strength.

Therefore, we should really benefit from the Esselte presence there.

OPI: Let’s look at the market in general. What are your thoughts?

CM: When we were beginning to merge with ACCO a year ago, I considered that as a big change in itself and I thought it was good that [the market in general] was stable. But of course, it wasn’t – we’ve probably never seen such a level of change in the market in one year.

As you can imagine, I’m speaking about ownership changes with our major international customers.

I see both positives and negatives associated with these developments. We are a global business headquartered in the US; we’re not an American business in Europe. On the one hand, it’s positive for us to work directly with European and local businesses with less of a dependency on the US. However, the transition from listed companies to private equity-owned – and we have a lot of experience with that as Esselte used to be a listed company in Sweden before private equity bought us – is risky and sometimes causes a lack of stability.

There’s a lot of people change, a lot of strategy change, a lot of short-term activities, reactions and changes. And the priority, in particular in a private equity-led organisation, is about deriving as much cash as possible from the business.

March 2018

OPI: What is the actual status of the integration process today?

CM: I would say we are about half way through, although the front end is pretty much done. By that I mean the sales and marketing, cost-related synergies are either already achieved or announced.

We also know the future footprint and the location of most of the functions and the personnel; much of that has been announced.

Work in progress is the integration of the company culture and back-end functions, including supply chain, finance and IT. From 1 January 2018, we have been operating as one customer-facing company, but the ultimate objective out of all of that is, of course, to grow sales. I will not claim that the integration is complete until we see that using and leveraging the sales organisations from both sides and the brands coming from both legacies have resulted in solid growth.

Hopefully, I’ll be able to say in a year from now that all integration, including commercial gains in the market, has been achieved.

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Cezary Monko BIG INTERVIEW

That means our ability to sell is affected by all the changes in the market. Inventories are a problem because under new private ownership they [major accounts] don’t want to have a lot of inventory, and actually rightly so. I think lower inventories mean a healthier business in the long run. We’re a lean-philosophy type of company; we don’t like big inventories, so for us responding to demand from customers to load up their inventories at year end just to achieve higher rebates was not healthy. But of course, what could we do about that? We went with the flow and supported it, but it always affected us negatively in the first period of the following year. It’s not a good stable business model.

I assume that all the steps they are taking today are going to make them healthier as a business in the longer term. That’s to be proven, of course, but today we are suffering from a lack of continuity in management teams; people have to learn the industry, the products and so on. Strategies change and there is little stability. For us it’s extremely important that we have this dominant local presence where we have some parity between big international players and strong local players.

For additional exclusive content from the interview, including the importance of the online channel (and Amazon) and a more in-depth look at ACCO Brands EMEA’s geographic and staff make-up and future plans, visit the March issue in the Magazine section on opi.net.

My ambition is to merge the cultures and create something that will keep the best of both worlds In a mechanical way, I think 2017 was a year of adjustment for these international customers in terms of inventory levels, product ranges, breadth of portfolio, the number of brands and vendors. Everything has been challenged and is under scrutiny.

From our perspective, we’re in a better position with our brands and market presence, but like every vendor, I believe we are subject to pressure this year.

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OPI: Are you where you want to be in terms of products and brand portfolio? Or have you got a new brand strategy?

CM: The brand strategy for Europe has been established and it includes all the legacy Esselte and ACCO brands: Rexel, Nobo, Kensington, Derwent, GBC, Esselte, Leitz and Rapid. These brands will stay and they cover all our current product portfolios.

Over time, we are aiming for a two-brand strategy which means that we would like to position Leitz at a premium level. That’s something we already do in stapling and punching, for instance, with Rapid and Leitz. So that’s the strategy – we now have to populate it with ideas and products.

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OPI: What about the product categories themselves? Most of them are not growing.

CM: No, but for us this is a flat market. It’s not declining, nor is there growth potential, but we have to remember that by combining Esselte and ACCO we’ve got new sales opportunities. We suddenly have several new brands and a wide array of products that we’ve never sold before. We are talking about hundreds of products multiplied by, say, 25 European markets.

That’s a huge job for us this year – to fully explore the sales potential we have versus the product potential.

OPI: But in order for you to grow you’re having to obviously take share from others.

CM: Yes. In the short run we will take share by simply including those brands into our sales proposition in markets where we were weaker.

OPI: How aggressive are you going to be in terms of winning that share?

CM: To be honest, I’d like to say that it will be more sustainable. We’ve seen that kind of thing many times where some people believe they can come in and buy the market. That’s difficult because a competitor can then do the same to you. We would prefer to do it in a more sustainable way, by investing in products and in brands, and showing where the value-add is in the long term.

That said, we do see big opportunities and we may need to be a bit more aggressive. Why not? But that’s not the core strategy for us. We’ve been here for a hundred years and we’re here to stay. We want to develop, invest and convince key players that we are in essence a one-stop shop, and they don’t have to go elsewhere.

OPI: From a personal perspective, what are your goals for the next few years?

CM: First of all, for this year I’m very excited to be honest. I hope I can contribute and create, together with the management team, a new formula and a new ACCO EMEA – neither the same as Esselte nor ACCO. My ambition is to merge the cultures and create something that will keep the best of both worlds.

That is not just a slogan: I believe in a lean way of working and behaving. I know that there are responsibilities on the public side that need to be observed, but I don’t want to lose any of the energy and the attractiveness that this team developed for the market over the past several years. It’s quite an interesting model. We were sold to ACCO, but luckily we were given the chance to drive the new company going forward. It’s very rewarding and a sign of confidence which we do appreciate.

HOT TOPIC

The

DYNAMIC$ of pricing

Pricing is always a bone of contention in any industry, business supplies no exception, but the advent of e-commerce has certainly brought the topic to the fore – by Michelle Sturman

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ynamic pricing (or real-time pricing) has been around for some time, but so far has been mainly relegated to discussions involving large retailers and the online giants. The successful launch of Amazon Business has somewhat brought this issue barrelling into the OP industry. So how much of an effect is dynamic pricing having on dealers, and is it time to start investigating and deploying this strategy?

As with just about any big issue in the OP sector, answers will depend on who you ask, so it’s surprising when the different branches broadly agree on a particular subject. Real-time pricing is one such topic.

The overriding consensus is that there is some reprieve for independent dealers on this at the moment as most procurement doesn’t work this way… yet.

But it cannot be denied that the introduction of Amazon’s B2B arm has changed the state of play. And as OPI continually reiterates, purchasing managers are younger and more digitally-savvy than ever.

The combination of the two is whipping up a perfect storm that is beginning to have an impact on

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pricing strategies, albeit imperceptibly at the moment.

Imagine for a moment the following scenario: the new purchasing manager for a customer is a late twentysomething digital native used to shopping online, hunting around for the best price, and as a consequence perfectly at ease with the concept of dynamic pricing.

It is feasible that while the customer’s office supplies contract is with a local dealer for the core basket, the long-tail, higher-margin products are being bought online as and when required. In other words, buyers are only ever a couple of clicks away from the ‘best price’.

PRICE POINTS Much of our industry is slightly shielded from the dynamic pricing effect as it’s traditionally a tender-based business and it’s not a simple process for procurement departments and OP players to make the shift away from this model. However, warns Staples Solutions UK and Ireland Managing Director Robert Baldrey: “I do think as an industry we need to wake up as we can’t keep on pricing this way.”

HOT TOPIC Dynamic Pricing

I do think as an industry we need to wake up as we can’t keep on pricing this way When the inevitable repositioning does occur, it’s unlikely to be blanket coverage of the entire industry, explains David Vidal, Partner at global management consulting firm Simon-Kucher & Partners: “Dynamic pricing capabilities will become a must-have. However, we are convinced that OP dealers should not apply it to all their product categories, especially where customer demand has limited sensitivity to price.

“Because some competition has engaged – or will engage – in some level of dynamic pricing, dealers will have to be ready to at least react in some situations.

This requires real-time pricing strategic rules, processes and systems.”

UPHILL BATTLE Attempting to compete against Amazon Business or the likes of Staples and Office Depot – the latter two themselves struggle to compete with the online-only behemoth – in terms of real-time pricing is such an uphill battle that many believe is not worth the time and investment for dealers.

As Mark Leazer, Executive Director of US dealer network AOPD, says: “Businesses operate with budgets and if you don’t know what your price is then it’s difficult to plan financially. You can go and shop for

• Dynamic pricing is generally more effective for high-velocity items.

• There’s significant expenditure required for implementation and maintenance.

• Business customers prefer price certainty on everyday items.

The most important reason, however, according to Maggio, is one of perception. Amazon, for instance, is able to use dynamic pricing successfully because it is already perceived by the general public to be a low-cost provider of whatever it sells.

Gordon Christiansen, Partner at US sales and marketing agency Highlands, agrees: “Managing dynamic pricing for smaller dealers may be challenging as it will take investment in technology as well as time to be truly effective. In an online world where you have multiple vendors selling the same product, creating true differentiation is difficult.

Therefore, to maximise sales you need to ensure your pricing is competitive and this can only be achieved by constantly monitoring other sellers’ prices and being able to respond quickly.”

Dave Guernsey, CEO of leading US-based independent reseller Guernsey, also concurs: “Dynamic pricing technology is probably a reach beyond what most, if not all, independent dealers can access.”

OPTIONS AVAILABLE There are options, however. UK independent dealer platform Office Power recently released a Dynamic Pricing Tool. According to Office Power, the new tool enables its partners to effortlessly set up multi-layered pricing strategies that are proven to increase their margins, with full visibility of how price changes could impact their bottom line.

Amazon has thrown millions of dollars behind the technology that engineers the pricing strategy

March 2018

Definition: Dynamic pricing The practice of varying the price for a product or service to reflect changing market conditions, in particular the charging of a higher price at a time of greater demand.

Also known as time-based pricing, demand pricing, surge pricing or real-time pricing.

the best prices on any given day, but that also takes time and resources.”

Leazer adds that most customers appreciate consistent prices as it promotes confidence in knowing they’re not being overcharged and can rely on their pricing from day-to-day or month-to-month.

The customer element of dynamic pricing is just one aspect of this complicated strategy. Mike Maggio, President of US dealer group TriMega, would hesitate to recommend dynamic pricing to the majority of independent dealers. He offers a number of fundamental reasons for this viewpoint:

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Dynamic Pricing HOT TOPIC

which forms the basis of its entire B2C operations and sees competitors scrambling to adjust their business models. Amazon Business faces a different reality in terms of competing effectively in the B2B world – including the OP industry – but that hasn’t stopped it from aiming right at the heart of lucrative government tenders.

A prime example is the recent fuss over the Defense Acquisition Streamlining and Transparency Act that would open up US federal agencies’ buying ability to e-commerce companies such as Amazon.

Chief among the outpouring of complaints over this idea from the US independent dealer community (IDC) was the use of dynamic pricing in the online space, which is in direct contrast to the current tenders held by the IDC (see Analysis, OPI December 2017/January 2018, page 6).

As Guernsey points out: “Dynamic pricing flies in the face of public sector regulations and processes long employed by the private sector. Moreover, it does not meet the requirements of any local or state procurement bid.

“Amazon makes the claim that using the combination of dynamic pricing and a broad marketplace of resellers, the consumer is always guaranteed low prices. Patently incorrect. That marketplace has no clue what resellers, particularly in private sector deals which are closed bid, are offering medium and large firms. We’ve regularly compared Amazon pricing to that which we offer/bid significant customers. We are lower priced on core items, and the basket of services included with this lower pricing involves services that Amazon does not provide.”

POWER TOOLS Office Power recently added the Dynamic Pricing Tool to its dealer platform.

The tool enables its dealer partners to: • Predict future margin improvements using personal sales data and dynamic pricing UI screens.

• Set target margins at department, category, brand and individual SKU levels with full visibility of the effects.

• Set and automatically adjust customer pricing at promotion, customer segment and customer contract price levels.

• Use real-time industry average pricing data to help benchmark where margin targets should be set. Office Power’s bespoke algorithms anonymously analyse data across all its dealer partners, giving dealers the ability to benchmark target margins.

• Automatically move prices when cost prices change to protect margins.

• Use analytics tools to understand how discount pricing at the customer, promotion, customer segment and basket levels affect overall and predicted gross margins.

SERVICE PLEASE The latter is an important point. The overwhelming response from many industry peers OPI spoke to about Amazon and pricing strategies, is for dealers not to try and engage in a competitive dynamic pricing process as this can quickly lead to price wars.

Managing dynamic pricing for smaller dealers may be challenging as it will take investment in technology as well as time to be truly effective

Instead, without access to pricing tools such as those offered by Office Power, for example, the advice unsurprisingly echoes Guernsey’s opinion about the value of services. The strength of small dealers versus the Amazons of this world is the personal relationship they have with their customers and their ability to increase the average order value by presenting new products and categories, and to upsell/cross-sell other items. This personalised service and expertise is still a huge challenge online and thus a competitive advantage for dealers.

Baldrey maintains that as well as making it about relationships and service, dealers also need to offer sensible pricing. It is at this juncture the industry can band together to combat the race to the bottom brought about by approaches to pricing by e-commerce companies. For example, wholesalers could work on simplifying complicated and convoluted pricing systems for dealers. SP Richards in the US, for example, does offer data on consumer pricing on multiple levels of transactions through tools such as MarketLink to provide better insight and more intelligence to actual pricing data in a transparent pricing environment. Ultimately, it is up to dealers to make use of what is available.

Dealers should take cognizance of any change in customers’ buying behaviour such as a noticeable shift away from consistent pricing and/or an increase in purchasing online. If this happens, then investment in pricing-intelligent software could become an increasingly attractive proposition.

Simon-Kucher & Partners’ Vidal offers the following sage advice: “Dealers should not rush into dynamic pricing. If it is deployed, only create and let real-time pricing rules and processes change prices if you have strong evidence that a different price point really makes you more money.”

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The topic of pricing will also be explored at the OPI European Forum in June this year. For more information, visit www.opi.net/EF2018.

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VENDOR FOCUS Special Issue

FACILITIES SUPPLIES Special Issue

FACILITIES SUPPLIES

Special Issue

FACILITIES SUPPLIES Special Issue

In this OPI Vendor Focus article we once again highlight some of the outstanding manufacturers in our sector. And it’s not all about the product, but about Special Issue initiative, collaboration and a real drive to meet and VENDOR stay ahead of customer expectationsSPECIAL – by Heike Dieckmann

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ustomer expectations are sky-high these days. Consumers, in a B2C as well as B2B environment, want to have choice, in terms of what and how they buy, how much they’re prepared to pay for it, when and how they want the product delivered, how much information they require about it, what usage criteria it needs to meet... the list is endless.

In the first instance, the onus is on the reseller community to help them in their purchasing journey, but it’s the manufacturer at the very start of the supply chain that initiates the process and makes the experience for all channel partners an enjoyable or a miserable one.

The focus of OPI is usually predominantly on the reseller channel, but once a year, in the March issue, we home in on the vendor community. Who’s

Special Issue

VENDOR SPECIAL

HOW COULD VENDORS DO BETTER? l

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Having a better and more consistent pricing approach that enables resellers to level the playing field.

Providing and sharing better, accurate and more consistent data and content.

Offering better and more personal sales representation.

Giving more product innovation.

Offering clearer medium-term marketing strategies and be reactive rather than proactive.

March 2018

In the following pages [...] we feature a wide variety of vendors that have stepped up to the plate and proved their mettle

keeping up with the constantly evolving needs of customers; who’s innovating year after year and meeting the demands for a healthy, flexible, inspiring and service-orientated workspace; who is responsive, dynamic and transparent in their approach?

In the following pages – and indeed several other features in this issue of OPI – we feature a wide variety of vendors that have stepped up to the plate and proved their mettle. Some are global giants and perennial favourites, while others are best-known in specific categories or even geographical markets.

To arrive at this list of outstanding vendors – which is by no means exhaustive and provides merely a snapshot of all that is good, great and exceptional about the vendor community – we’ve canvassed opinions from resellers and distributors from around the globe.

What was most evident from this straw poll was the importance of a solid and reliable supply chain.

Resellers also place great emphasis on partners that are able – and willing – to engage, share and quickly react to the changing dynamics of the market.

And while there was plenty of good feedback, there’s still much room for improvement too (see column, right). The road to perfection is long, winding and littered with potholes as most of the vendors on the next few pages will know only too well.

VENDOR SPECIAL

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Manufacturer Excellence VENDOR FOCUS

CORE OFFICE PRODUCTS 3M One of the best-known companies in the business supplies industry, 3M achieves that rare feat: being continuously innovative in a very established category.

Not only does it manage to come up with new products, it also drives change through them.

Says Simon McLoughlin, Traditional Category Director at UK wholesaler VOW: “3M’s development of collaborative workplace products and the way it has showcased them at events such as our Green Light has been instrumental in making the wider market see the opportunities in changing working practices.”

With its excellent digital marketing programme as well as the more traditional feet on the street, 3M also makes for an all-round winner in the reseller community. The manufacturer has been a partner for large US-based dealer Innovative Office Solutions for

many years. As CFO Brooks Smith explains: “As a fellow Minnesota company, 3M has been a strong partner of Innovative since day one. Being in their backyard, we work frequently with 3M on new ideas and concepts. They listen and value our feedback and strive to keep innovating.”

Financially too, 3M appears to have reversed its ongoing office products weakness lately. For the three months ended 31 December 2017, Q4 sales in 3M’s Consumer category were up 7.3% in constant currency to $1.2 billion. Most notably, the group reported sales growth in stationery and office supplies, despite previously-reported quarterly declines.

Revenue growth was positive in all geographic areas, led by EMEA, Asia Pacific and Latin America. Operating profit rose 17.6% to $269 million. It was the Consumer group’s strongest quarterly organic growth since 2014.

Being in their backyard, we work frequently with 3M on new ideas and concepts.

They listen and value our feedback and strive to keep innovating

Brenda Zingsheim, VP Merchandising of Office Products & Furniture, Business & Facility Essentials at US wholesaler Essendant, explains: “Bi-silque’s MasterVision range excels at showing the dynamics of what your office could feel and look like. The company took a developed category and somewhat reinvented it. It offers complete options, versus customers having to do the mixing and matching themselves, which can be a real challenge. It’s all done for them with the gallery kits that Bi-silque was first to

market with. These are great new items that will provide alternative options for consumers in the board category and lend style and fashion.”

The Portugal-based company is omnipresent in its on- and offline marketing approach and exhibits at a broad variety of trade shows – perfect in a category that is so highly visual. For its proactive approach it has won a wide range of accolades from the wholesaler and reseller communities.

Testament to its status as a rising star in the industry is the fact that it continues to expand, its latest facility having opened in France last year.

BI-SILQUE

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Bi-silque is another manufacturer that has managed to take a mature category and inject new life into it. And not just in the office segment, but spanning a wide range of sectors from industrial, education and hospitality to the home and office.

Working closely with the wholesale and reseller communities, the viscom manufacturer, according to feedback that OPI has received, has a great marketing programme which brings its ever-growing range of boards and easels right to the end consumer.

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ALSO LOOK OUT FOR...

SIGEL Sigel is an all-round office supplies company “on the move” and we’re likely to hear plenty more from this medium-sized German operator in the near future.

From a product and partnership perspective, it’s a distributor’s dream, says Tim Holmes, Commercial Manager for Office Products at Exertis Supplies: “Sigel offers everything a customer could want from a manufacturer, including good products that are well manufactured and packaged. This is a vendor that is completely understanding of the needs of the market and investing in developing its brand. It offers great communication and responsiveness when further information or support is required.”

DOMTAR Paper is a tough sector to be in right now and Domtar, like many others, is feeling the pressure from cost headwinds. But as a partner to work with, the South Carolina-based vendor is getting high praise indeed from the reseller community. Despite sales declines, paper remains one of the biggest commodities in our sector and as such a reliable partner that covers all bases is essential.

Cindy Ciaccio, VP and COO of New York-based dealer The Weeks Lerman Group, explains: “Domtar’s orders are always prompt, correct and damage-free. The company reacts quickly if we need to change schedules to accommodate unusual or unanticipated spikes in sales hits. Its customer service is excellent too – a great overall programme.”

MAPED Maped is a family-owned French company with a broad geographical coverage that spans 125 countries. But it’s its dominance in the Hungarian market that singles it out for special mention.

László Fehér, Managing Director of wholesaler Corwell, says: “Maped is a company that started only with a limited range of school products and has grown to become a leading producer of school and office products. Never afraid to enter new segments after thorough market analysis. Innovation and above all unique design marks every single one of their products. Maped always has a yearly action plan that distributors can rely on.”

Like so many paper manufacturers, James Cropper in the UK is feeling the pressure from rising pulp prices. Last November, the group initially forecast a £2 million ($2.82 million) impact to its paper division, affecting FY2017/18 results due to pulp headwinds. Since then, however, prices have risen beyond anticipated levels and it now expects to take a hit of approximately £3.5 million.

Pulp headwinds are expected to get back to normal levels within the next 12 months, but the company is keen to minimise the effect of these commodity price increases in the future and has been exploring new strategies. These plans are also in line with its commitment to sustainable papermaking. One of its most recent initiatives is CupCycling which it introduced at the recent Paperworld in Frankfurt, Germany (see also Review, page 46).

CupCycling, according to James Cropper, is the world’s first recycling process dedicated to upcycling used takeaway coffee cups. It is estimated that 2.5 billion paper cups are used in the UK each year and until recently these were unable to be recycled due to their polyethylene lining. Its pioneering CupCycling facility possesses the technology to separate the two components, rescue the paper fibre and turn it into paper products.

Back in September 2017, James Cropper announced that it is now upcycling disposable coffee cups collected from London department store Selfridges’ Oxford Street headquarters and stores, with the resulting paper being used to create the retailer’s iconic yellow shopping bags – a completely closed-loop recycling solution.

In an ideal world, of course, the amount of disposable cups used should be severely reduced if not eliminated altogether. But that’s simply not realistic, says Andrew McKenzie, Senior Sustainability Executive at UK reseller Commercial Group: “Billions of paper cups are thrown away in the UK each year and very few are recycled due to challenges posed by their plastic coating. In an ideal world, we’d all carry reusable cups around for those times when we want a latte on the go. But since this isn’t always practical, James Cropper’s CupCycling is a great way to address a contemporary waste issue. They’ve found a way to separate the plastic from the paper fibres, so the plastic can be recycled and the paper fibres upcycled.

It’s always encouraging to see new innovations in this field. Anything that gets people and businesses to manage waste more carefully and considerately has got to be a good thing.”

SCHNEIDER PEN For Germany-based Schneider Pen, green thinking has always been top of mind.

As an owner-managed family business, the company is acutely aware of its responsibilities to society and future generations, and its corporate social strategy aptly reflects its philosophy. Almost all its R&D and production facilities are located in Germany which means by default that it has to comply with the country’s stringent ecological and social standards as well as high product quality demands.

Last September, Schneider won the Sustainable Company of the Year award from European network, the Promotional Product Service Institute (PSI).

PSI’s annual Sustainability Awards are split into several categories: Economic Excellence, Environmental Excellence, Social Excellence, Environment Initiative, Social Initiative, Sustainable Product, Sustainable Campaign and Sustainable Company of the Year. The ultimate Sustainable Company of the Year accolade is awarded to the company with the highest combined score of all other categories.

Besides continued product innovation from a sustainability point of view and eagle-eyed sales drives, Schneider also excels in its marketing activities, all the way to the end consumer, creating a real pull effect for its branded products.

March 2018

EXACLAIR ExaClair, part of the Exacompta Clairefontaine group in France since 2008, is hugely popular in the UK office products community.

Outstanding product quality and design are certainly part of ExaClair’s appeal to resellers and distributors alike. But it offers more than just excellent products, says Exertis Supplies’ Holmes: “This is a company that is very focused on building its brand among the dealer community and as such is supporting distributors such as ourselves very effectively. It's creative and competitive in its approach, with good account management that is well supported by the rest of the business.”

JAMES CROPPER

VENDOR FOCUS Manufacturer Excellence

SUSTAINABILITY

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KIMBERLY-CLARK PROFESSIONAL

Headquartered in Dallas (TX), US-based Kimberly-Clark has manufacturing operations across 39 countries worldwide. Its global brands, which include big names such as Kleenex, Scott, Andrex, Huggies, Kotex and Cottonelle, touch 25% of the world’s population every day.

The company is organised in three operating segments based on product groupings: Personal Care, Consumer Tissue and Kimberly-Clark Professional (KCP).

While the facilities world is often accused of being slow in embracing the office products channel, KCP has done its homework and clearly believes that there’s something to be gained from this industry. And that’s despite the fact that it’s not always plain sailing.

The group admitted that it was facing increasing competition from rivals and shrinking markets. It is in the process of cutting costs and recently shut down ten manufacturing facilities, shedding around 12% of its global workforce. It now expects to save as much as $550 million by 2021. Q4 sales rose 3% for KCP due in part to a growing focus on the North American safety category. Sales in developing and emerging markets were also improving, thanks to increased volumes in China and Latin America.

As one large independent dealer in the US told OPI quite succinctly: “The true value of a partnership isn’t measured when things are going well, but when things don’t go as planned. 2017 had its share of issues, but KCP stepped up and responded to these challenges.”

ALSO LOOK OUT FOR...

ESSITY Sweden-based hygiene products group Essity, which split from forest products company SCA a year ago, has been making excellent progress in its Professional Hygiene arm in several of its markets, most notably in emerging regions like Latin America, Eastern Europe and Russia where it grew over 9% overall in Q4. And in particular in Eastern Europe it receives high praise.

Says László Fehér, Managing Director of Hungarian wholesaler Corwell: “We receive outstanding sales and marketing support from the well-organised team at Essity. They have a great brand – Tork is a shooting star in the facilities category.”

TESA Constantly innovating in a mature category is a real challenge. German adhesives manufacturer tesa rises to it and continually upgrades products in the mounting application segment. It manages to successfully transfer its expertise from the DIY sector and apply it in the facilities category. As well as a multichannel customer approach, tesa also favours a multi-faceted marketing strategy, with a heavy focus on online media.

VENDOR FOCUS Manufacturer Excellence

FACILITIES SUPPLIES

DEB GROUP Deb Group, acquired by SC Johnson in 2015, is a global skin care products operator that comprises 24 companies. As many resellers in the business supplies sector are increasing exploring the facilities space, Deb is becoming a highly-regarded partner. Says CEO Dave Guernsey of large independent dealer Guernsey: “Deb is a great jan/san partner – laser-focused on generating sales to our mutual benefit, with very good products and a solid supply chain.”

FURNITURE/ERGONOMICS/WELL-BEING FELLOWES

Canada-based office furniture and interiors manufacturer teknion is not a company that OPI frequently reports on. But as the focus on topics such as the healthy workplace, collaborative spaces and ergonomics increases, so does the coverage of companies that spearhead these movements and indeed those that help the reseller community maximise the opportunities.

Teknion operates in over 50 countries through its dealer network. Its products include seating solutions, tables and collaborative spaces, storage products and textiles.

This is a company that takes its workplace well-being responsibilities very seriously. Last July, it became the first manufacturer in the world to be given the WELL Certified Silver award for its downtown Toronto showroom.

Innovative Office Solutions is one dealer that values teknion very highly indeed. Says CFO Brooks Smith: “A true measure of space is how it makes you feel and teknion helps our customers feel great about their spaces. The company has been a partner of Innovative since 2015 when it became our contract furniture partner. While we had good years in 2015 and 2016, last year was less than stellar. But a partner stays with you through thick and thin and teknion is doubling down with Innovative in 2018 and is assisting us in our downtown Minneapolis plans and our expansion into the Dakotas.”

March 2018

Fellowes is a perennial favourite in our industry, for its consistently innovative and high-quality products, its ability to reinvent itself time and again, and its supply chain excellence.

Most recently it’s been at the forefront of the ergonomics and well-being movement with both superior product innovation as well as real thought leadership, according to broad consensus from the wholesaler as well as reseller communities.

TEKNION

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Manufacturer Excellence VENDOR FOCUS

TECHNOLOGY HP INC Since spinning off from HP Enterprise at the end of 2016, tech giant HP Inc has been keen to prove that it could stand on its own two feet, but knew this wasn’t easily possible without the support of its loyal partners.

Arnold Theuws, Managing Director of Netherlands-based wholesaler and dealer group Quantore, was one of many respondents who praised HP for its commitment to the OP dealer community with its sales and marketing support, allowing Quantore’s members to effectively tap into the mid-sized business market through sales of its HP Instant Ink and managed print services (MPS) solution.

One US reseller also lauded HP’s sales and marketing support and said the company had a creative approach to the challenges faced by dealers in an ever-changing market.

At its Reinvent World Partner Forum in Chicago (IL) last September, HP reaffirmed its pledge to sellers and launched HP University, a solution designed to equip its worldwide partners with first-class sales skills, product training and certifications.

Monte White, VP of Product Marketing at US-based Distribution Management, also highlights HP’s recent move into the A3 copier market through last year's acquisition of Samsung Electronics’ printing business. “This has reinforced HP’s leading position in the imaging space,” he says.

The deal has allowed HP to expand its portfolio and disrupt the $53 billion A3 copier market, bringing on board nearly 1,300 researchers and engineers as well as offering access to more than 6,500 Samsung print patents.

HP Inc CEO Dion Weisler said at the time of the agreement: “As we ignite a renaissance in printing, we’re thrilled to bring together the industry’s best and brightest talent. Together, we will build on more than 30 years of print leadership to accelerate our strategy, disrupt new market opportunities, and provide our customers and partners with unique and highly innovative print solutions."

VERBATIM Part of Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi Chemical Group, Verbatim produces computer, LED and data storage accessories and has a portfolio spanning consumer as well as professional applications. Verbatim remains the world’s number one supplier of Blu-ray, DVD and CD products, but its range is considerably more expansive, with flash memory products, external hard-drive storage solutions, computer accessories and plastic filaments for the 3D printing industry all part of the package.

Many OP players have a considerable interest in the data storage business.

Particularly the wholesalers that OPI spoke to were full of praise for this company, highlighting outstanding and long-standing partnerships. In its specific niche sector, Verbatim has repeatedly been referred to as the “most innovative company in the data storage market, always first with new solutions, open to their partners’ ideas and willing to share experiences”.

The dedication of our Verbatim account manager has been paramount to the growth of this brand across the group Gilly Blackburn, Category Director for Technology & EOS at UK wholesaler VOW, also highlights excellent partnerships with Verbatim. She says: “The dedication of our Verbatim account manager has been paramount to the growth of this brand across the group, helping us achieve 38% growth year on year. He dedicates a lot of time to helping our sales team and customers understand the range of products and the applications for which they can be used, in particular GDPR legislation, which is obviously a hot topic right now. He’s always on hand with technical know-how and has a way of distilling this into simple language everyone understands and can then transfer that knowledge to resellers or end users. His training skills are invaluable to us – he’s highly supportive of VOW customers, engages with them at events like Green Light and understands their requirements. Verbatim is a company that always goes the extra mile to help us win business.”

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LEXMARK

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Lexmark has had an eventful time over the past couple of years and readers may be surprised to see the company mentioned in these pages. Following its acquisition in 2016 by a consortium led by Chinese aftermarket supplies and printing group Apex and private equity firm PAG in a $3.6 billion deal, David Reeder took over the CEO job from predecessor Paul Rooke. He didn’t last too long, left for personal reasons last June and was replaced in October 2017 by former Phoenix Technologies executive Richard Geruson.

In terms of publicity, Lexmark has been keeping a fairly low profile for several months. For its reseller partners, however, the company is really coming through. As Distribution Management's White says: “Lexmark is gaining market share and building loyalty among the reseller community with continued support of the copier channel. The company's progressive approach to developing products, programmes and solutions is helping partners achieve growth and gain a competitive advantage in this challenging market."

FEATURE

Special Issue

VENDOR SPECIAL

Progressive manufacturers across the globe already use advanced technologies in their facilities, resulting in more productive, more cost-efficient and higherquality goods. Global management consulting firm, The Boston Consulting Group, points to nine technology trends that form the building blocks of Industry 4.0 and can take digital capabilities much further

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he rise of new digital industrial technology, known as Industry 4.0, is a transformation that makes it possible to gather and analyse data across machines, enabling faster, more flexible and more efficient processes to produce higher-quality goods at reduced costs. This manufacturing revolution will increase productivity, shift economics, foster industrial growth and modify the profile of the workforce, ultimately changing the competitiveness of companies and regions.

Advanced digital technology is already used in manufacturing, but with Industry 4.0, it will transform production. It will lead to greater efficiencies and change traditional production relationships among suppliers, producers and customers – as well as between humans and machines.

Here are the nine technology trends that form the building blocks of Industry 4.0.

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1. Big data and analytics In an Industry 4.0 context, the collection and comprehensive evaluation of data from many different sources – production equipment and systems as well as enterprise- and customer-management systems – will become standard to support real-time decision-making.

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2. Autonomous robots Robots will eventually interact with one another and work safely side by side with humans and learn from them. These robots will cost less and have a greater range of capabilities than those used in manufacturing today.

3. Simulation Simulations will be used more extensively in plant operations to leverage real-time data and mirror the physical world in a virtual model, which can include machines, products and humans. This will allow operators to test and optimise the machine settings for the next product in line in the virtual world before the physical changeover, thereby driving down machine set-up times and increasing quality.

Source: The Boston Consulting Group

5. The industrial Internet of Things Industry 4.0 means that more devices – sometimes including unfinished products – will be enriched with embedded computing. This will allow field devices to communicate and interact both with one another and with more centralised controllers as necessary. It will also decentralise analytics and decision-making, enabling real-time responses.

6. Cybersecurity With the increased connectivity and use of standard communications protocols that come with Industry 4.0, the need to protect critical industrial systems and manufacturing lines from cybersecurity threats increases dramatically. As a result, secure, reliable communications as well as sophisticated identity and access management of machines/users are essential.

This manufacturing revolution will increase productivity, shift economics, foster industrial growth and modify the profile of the workforce 7. The cloud More production-related undertakings will require increased data sharing across sites and company boundaries. At the same time, the performance of cloud technologies will improve, achieving reaction times of just several milliseconds. As a result, machine data and functionality will increasingly be deployed to the cloud, enabling more data-driven services for production systems.

8. Additive manufacturing Companies have just begun to adopt additive manufacturing, such as 3D printing, which they use mostly to prototype and produce individual components. With Industry 4.0, these additive manufacturing methods will be widely used to produce small batches of customised products that offer construction advantages, such as complex, lightweight designs.

As The Boston Consulting Group highlights, companies face some considerable challenges in the adoption of these technologies that form the basis of Industry 4.0. To build and sustain a lead in the race to full implementation, they need to broaden and deepen their practical knowledge about digital technologies, and then develop and implement tailored digital manufacturing strategies.

OPI asked a number of OP vendors their views on Industry 4.0 and how far down the line their production facilities are with the concept of smart manufacturing and all that it entails. The answers suggest that awareness is there and implementation is building. That said, the fourth industrial revolution may be upon us, but it’s certainly not in full swing yet for the business supplies sector.

Travis Kaste, National Sales Manager, 3M Stationery and Office Supplies Division Across all of 3M, our manufacturing teams have been implementing elements of Industry 4.0. Different divisions of 3M use different levels of robotics and automation and have been doing so for a number of years.

Our 3M teams have also been keeping tabs on Industry 4.0 from a product development point of view. Many of our technology platforms are aimed at enhancing manufacturing and the processes associated.

That’s really the intent of our largest business group, the 3M Industrial Business Group.

Peter Sperl, Managing Director Central Europe, Avery Industry 4.0 as a specific topic is in my view not very visible or actively discussed in the German OP industry today. It’s the same for Avery although we’ve created WePrint, a new online print business model that covers some aspects of Industry 4.0, including automated workflows in digital print production or automated customer communication in the pre- and post-production process.

The big discussion right now is around the impact of digitisation.

And this is of course a key driver for Industry 4.0, so the two in a manufacturing context are connected. I believe Industry 4.0 will gain more importance and momentum in the next few years as OP vendors make investments in new, modern and smart production equipment.

Mike Pickles, CEO, Really Useful Products To me, Industry 4.0 is just another phrase that means achieving continuous improvement in terms of a company’s manufacturing processes. Productivity lies at the very heart of it. So how do you continuously improve and become more productive? One of the many ways is to embrace technology.

We do this at Really Useful Products and I would certainly consider us to be an advanced manufacturing business. We very much use technology to drive efficiencies in the company. But it’s not about cost-cutting or reducing headcount, it’s about using machinery, robots and all manner of technology to grow the top line substantially more in percentage terms than you increase your workforce. If the business grows 15% year on year, for instance, you should be looking at increasing your labour pool by a lesser amount.

The office products industry has some challenges that other sectors don’t have. Speed is one of them. Take a look at the car industry. It works on a scheduled production with lead times of 12 weeks not uncommon.

If a customer walked into a Staples store and was told to wait for a printer for 12 weeks, he/she would walk out straightaway. Our industry responds very differently to demand. At Really Useful, we don’t have scheduled orders, we manufacture our products based on orders received for next week’s delivery. To be able to achieve that requires smart manufacturing processes. Would I refer to it as Industry 4.0? I don’t know.

March 2018

9. Augmented reality Augmented reality-based systems support a variety of services, such as selecting parts in a warehouse and sending repair instructions over mobile devices.

These systems are currently in their infancy, but in the future, companies will make much broader use of augmented reality to provide workers with real-time information to improve decision-making and work procedures.

INDUSTRY 4.0 – BIG DEAL FOR OP?

FEATURE Industry 4.0

4. Horizontal and vertical system integration With Industry 4.0, companies, departments, functions and capabilities will become much more cohesive, as cross-company, universal data integration networks evolve and enable truly automated value chains.

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The State of the OP Industry Report 2017-18

A Market Insight Resource for the OP Industry

By Martin Wilde Associates (MWA) and OPI

Once again, the past 12 months have seen the global office products (OP) industry continue to change substantially. Despite economic recovery being established in most markets, overall demand for traditional OP is steady at best, and in decline in many countries. So what is the current estimated value of the core OP market, how is this changing and which of the product categories now being sold by OP channels are faring the best and the worst? And as distributors are reporting increasing sales of alternative product categories and services, particularly facilities supplies, what is the estimated size of the available market for these items?

These questions – and many more – are constantly in the minds of our industry’s senior executives who need a reliable yardstick against which to assess their own perceptions and strategies. Martin Wilde Associates (MWA), specialist researchers to the global OP market, and OPI are proud to announce the launch of the fifth edition of their annual research study, The State of the OP Industry 2017-18, which aims to be a ‘must-have’ sourcebook for the international OP community.

This authoritative, industry-wide report is available for only £850 (a 15% discount is available for OPI VIP members – please contact eda@opi.net for further information).

Order your copy online at www.opi.net/soti2018

Special Issue

FACILITIES SPOTLIGHT SUPPLIES Special Issue

FACILITIES SUPPLIES

Special Issue

FACILITIES SUPPLIES

Special Issue

VENDOR SPECIAL

Special Issue Special Issue

VENDOR SPECIAL

Despite a declining domestic market, Stabilo is growing sales and market share. David Holes looks at the company’s winning approach...

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tabilo is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of writing instruments. The family-run German company forms part of the Schwan-Stabilo Group and has been making pens for over 160 years. The group currently comprises three separate companies: Schwan-Stabilo Cosmetics, Schwan-Stabilo Outdoor and Schwan-Stabilo Writing Instruments. The writing instruments division now has more than 1,500 employees worldwide, though its main base is in Germany where it operates from two locations.

The site at Heroldsberg – near Nuremberg – is home to the company’s administrative headquarters as well as the iconic ‘Stabilo Cube’ structure that houses around 100 employees involved with global sales, marketing and R&D. The main manufacturing plant is located 75 km away in Weissenburg, where virtually all of its ink-based writing instruments are produced.

Stabilo also has two other production sites – one in the Czech Republic where its wood-based pencil products are made, the other in Malaysia where ballpoint pens are manufactured. Additionally, it has subsidiaries across Europe, China and Singapore, where the company works closely with local sales and marketing teams to tailor its offering to meet regional needs.

approach involves a change of perspective whereby you try to look through your customers’ eyes,” says Stabilo’s Horst Brinkmann, Board of Management (Marketing/R&D/Sales). “Many market players have lost this empathy with the consumer, but for us it’s the key to turning opportunities that arise from social movements and trends into profitable economic growth.

“We’ve really strengthened existing links with our Stabilo community, a task that’s been made easier through the proliferation of social media today. The ‘target group’ approach has become outdated – brands no longer decide which audiences suit them; it’s the customers who choose the brand now and we need to put ourselves in their shoes to understand their needs.”

And it seems that this approach is working. Despite a declining market in Germany specifically and Europe as a whole over the past year, Stabilo has managed to buck the trend. The company reports increased market share, higher-than-average growth in all the countries in which it operates, and excellent results in the critical back-to-school season.

STRATEGIC FOCUS Stabilo has adopted a multichannel strategy that seeks to remain close to its customers as they move seamlessly between on- and offline media.

E-commerce is clearly a key part of the business but, as Brinkmann explains, there’s more to it than that in this highly dynamic sector: “Online shopping has been changing dramatically, both in terms of revenues as well as the customer journey that converts browsing into sales. Reviews from customers, blogs on writing instruments and video tutorials are just a few key drivers, with the bar for

March 2018

A CONSUMER’S PERSPECTIVE A core philosophy driving strategic decisions revolves around putting the end-user centre stage.

“Our consumer-centric

The ‘Stabilo Cube’ in Heroldsberg

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Stabilo SPOTLIGHT

speed and delivery now set very high.

The most important aspect for customers is that their desired products are available as conveniently as possible and e-commerce is often the easiest way to achieve this.

“But,” he adds, “retail still remains unbeatable when it comes to getting a direct feel for the product. A bricks-and-mortar shop is also the perfect stage for properly presenting writing instruments and for getting close to consumers. The real potential in my opinion lies in combining the customer’s digital journey with local retail.

The concept that encompasses this best is ‘click-and-collect’.”

CREATING BRAND LOYALTY Stabilo believes that customers’ use of its products starts during early childhood and stays with them as they progress through kindergarten, school and university, culminating in a ‘creative class’ of people within their professional environments. ‘We take care of anyone who likes to express themselves through colours’ is a brand promise that has always guided the manufacturer throughout its history.

Says Brinkmann: “We’ve found that most Stabilo fans ‘fell in love’ with us during school and university and subsequently kept this relationship with the company throughout their careers. We now have a high engagement with our creative market due to user-generated content. People are interested in what others do with pens and upload and share the content they like. They want to be inspired and like to express their individual wishes and desires.

“Regardless of their particular interests, you can be sure that there is already an online community that shares their passion. For example, there are around 15,000 posts each month on Instagram with the Stabilo hashtag. We encourage and support this by, for instance, uploading tutorial videos, connecting fans across the globe and actively communicating with them via social media.”

The increasing relevance of digital platforms and social media channels means that the company devotes a lot of time, effort and investment into the creation and distribution of content for all its marketing campaigns – there are no clear boundaries between digital and analogue anymore.

Reaching an audience via advertising such as TV and radio has become increasingly difficult to do in an affordable way. As such, when Stabilo does decide to go down this route it now always combines its output with social media elements that act as a digital extension to reinforce the main campaign.

“This could, for example, be via livestreaming on Facebook such as the recent Christmas card tutorial we ran, or the integration of user-generated content,” explains Brinkmann. “The key is to always maintain close proximity with our existing Stabilo community.”

He adds: “We are seeing increasing use of online-only campaigns. The advantage of these is that you can start them in a small way to test the response, but they can be quickly scaled up if they look promising. We successfully adopted this approach in Asia with the launch of the Stabilo Boss Pastel. It resulted in long queues of customers outside retail shops.”

Brands no longer decide which audiences suit them. It’s the customers who choose the brand now…

Horst Brinkmann

THE FUTURE While admitting that long-term forecasts are becoming increasingly difficult to make, Stabilo believes that it will benefit from a backlash against the ongoing digitisation of our professional and personal lives. The adult colouring craze was one manifestation of this.

More recently it’s taken hold in the form of journalling, hand-lettering in pastel colours and a resurgence in the use of traditional handwritten letters. This desire for a ‘digital detox’ has a huge influence on Stabilo’s current strategic compass.

The company’s business focus in 2018 is on the educational products sector, with items such as the recently-launched EASYbuddy fountain pens, for example (see above), which is aimed at helping 8-10 year olds to discover their best writing techniques.

There may also be more crossover products that bridge the analogue and digital divide. An existing example of this is the Stabilo Digipen which translates handwritten notes into digital data that can then be displayed on smartphones or tablets.

As Brinkmann concludes: “Our core business and product range sit on solid ground, but we also have room to play and venture into new areas that are still unfamiliar to us.”

www.opi.net

STABILO FACT BOX

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Founded: 1855 HQ: Heroldsberg, Germany Staff: 1,500 Revenues 2017: ¤184 million ($225 million) Manufacturing sites: Germany, Malaysia, Czech Republic Leadership: Managing Director Sebastian Schwanhäußer

VENDOR PROFILE

Special Issue

VENDOR SPECIAL

Keeping pace with an ever-changing business landscape is difficult at the best of times, but for France-based office products and stationery manufacturer Hamelin it is par for the course – after all, it’s been conquering the market for more than 150 years

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stablished in 1864, Hamelin is a leading manufacturer of school and office products ranging from notebooks, notepads and diaries, to binders, files, pockets, desk lamps and office accessories.

Headquartered in Normandy, France, the company is still proudly family-owned and has successfully steered the business with a steady hand through wars, economic crises, changing office trends and more.

Hamelin started as a maker of accounting books and ledgers and switched to school and exercise books after the Second World War. From the 1970s to the 1990s, it was busy consolidating in its home market while expanding overseas. But it wasn’t until the early 1990s that it made its first acquisition outside of France in order to grow the business.

Since then, Hamelin has developed an international presence through acquisitions in the UK, Spain, Germany, Italy, Poland, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Denmark and Norway. It now has more than 2,000 employees worldwide and annual sales of over €400 million ($498 million).

OPI talks to Hamelin CEO Eric Joan to find out more about the company and its future intentions in the face of a rapidly-changing stationery and business supplies market.

OPI: The 1990s marked a turning point in the company’s history. Up until then, what was Hamelin’s main business?

Eric Joan: To maintain our growth, we started to look outside the core categories of books and pads and acquired a few companies in our home market in the filing and envelope business. We also bought a plastic converting firm, which was the starting point for our protection and presentation segment.

Our growth continued in France in three primary groups: books and pads, envelopes and filing products. Having said that, in 2013 we decided to sell our envelope business to Swedish company Bong.

While the growth of Oxford has been fed by innovation, its success can be attributed to brand awareness In 1993, the group made its first international acquisition. We bought books and pads manufacturer Enri in Spain – it’s now called Hamelin Spain. It marked the beginning of the expansion of the company outside France.

In 2007, we bought Canson, which was an attempt for us to enter into the fine art products segment. But it was too far removed from our fundamental business and we decided to divest it. We sold Canson in 2016 to Italian group FILA which allowed us to really re-focus on Hamelin’s core school and office markets.

BREAKING FROM TRADITION For more than 60 years, Unilux has been a recognised brand of desk lamps.

Today, it features numerous product ranges designed to create a harmonious working environment through the latest technology and innovation.

Sporting new logo branding and elegant overall design, the Unilux line includes lamps, coat stands, clocks, Bluetooth speakers and manuscript holders.

The latest additions to the range expand the existing set of products and enlarge the brand’s contribution to the health and well-being of office employees. The Updown footrest and Ergodesk help workers avoid the harmful effects of a sedentary office life. Unilux also offers a discreet and powerful R-Pure air purifier for individual desk use.

The newest innovation is the intelligent Eyelight lamp.

Incorporating the My-Unilux application, the Eyelight follows the circadian cycle, automatically varying the colour temperature from warm yellow to light blue. Adjusting the quantity and quality of light according to needs improves concentration, aids sleep patterns, reduces irritability and can help with winter depression.

Hamelin CEO Eric Joan says: “The Unliux brand is growing and we are proud of the new range that we have launched.”

For more information visit: www.my-unilux.com.

March 2018

OPI: Could you please expand on the Oxford and Elba brands?

EJ: Currently sold in 90 countries around the world, Oxford is our flagship brand which we have been focused on developing since 2000. We have multiplied sales tenfold since that time and we consider it to be the category leader in mainland Europe.

It is still a key focus for our future growth.

While the growth of Oxford has been fed by innovation, its success can be attributed to brand awareness. We have TV campaigns in our core markets of Portugal, Spain, France, Germany and Poland and an active communication strategy through social media in all countries where we have a presence – especially during the important back-to-school season.

Elba is about organisational products. We prefer this term to filing products as that sounds old-fashioned and dusty. Elba is one of the major brands and we are extremely strong in most European markets.

Although this traditional segment is slowly declining, we are investing in the growth of individual organisational products and part of that strategy was the acquisition of pro|office in June 2017. It makes punched pockets, plastic folders and any kind of products to protect and carry documents. We are now pushing the Elba brand in Central Europe where pro|office was stronger than us.

Our future investments will concentrate on personal organisational items in the area of document management, both in manila and plastic-based products.

Going forward, we will also continue to develop Oxford as a leading brand for innovation in Europe.

Hamelin

OPI: How does the business look today?

EJ: In the two key school and office markets, there are a few categories where we have a strong and leading position in Europe. In notebooks, pads and diaries we are the largest manufacturer on the continent with the strong Oxford brand.

The acquisition last year of Czech-based protection and presentation business pro|office meanwhile has helped us to consolidate our position in the plastic filing products market. In manila filing items we also have a very strong position in Europe. Organisational products all fall under the Elba brand.

Hamelin proves that traditional office products can straddle the digital divide.

In January 2017, the company launched SCRIBZEE, a free smartphone app – available for both iOS and Android – that enables handwritten notes from Oxford notebooks, notepads and diaries to be scanned, saved and encrypted in the cloud.

The notes can be consulted, edited and shared, and are accessible from any device. SCRIBZEE can also be linked with Evernote. The app is compatible with the majority of current Oxford products, with plans to extend this to all items under this brand in the future.

Hamelin CEO Eric Joan says: “Today I would say that we have more than 50% of our range available and compatible with SCRIBZEE. As far as our key target is concerned – students from the age of 15, adults and professionals – our compatible products cover around 90% of our portfolio.

“We are picking up a steady pace of users for the SCRIBZEE app and with our own in-house development team working on the project, we are able to release new functionalities on a monthly basis.”

The pendulum has also swung back as Hamelin has developed physical products to incorporate SCRIBZEE digital functionalities: index cards for students to make revision notes; flipchart paper for meetings; and sticky notes to access vital information on smartphones (named Oxford Spot Notes).

VENDOR PROFILE

DIGITAL FOCUS

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HOW TO...

managers have created the company page and then left the firm. This can cause issues.

When creating your own personal page, remember that the goal is to establish yourself as a subject matter expert and leader within your industry. Your personal page should include the following details: • • • • • • • •

A clear, professional picture A branded URL Recommendations from colleagues Your skills and expertise Educational institutions and previous job history Volunteering and causes Awards and accolades Publications you have been featured in

Once this first step is complete, you can build out a company page for your organisation. This should contain the following information:

In part one of this How to… series, Jennifer Rae Schulman focused on using social media as a sales and marketing tool with specific emphasis on Facebook and Instagram. This time, the spotlight is on LinkedIn…

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inkedIn, as we all know, is a social networking website for business professionals. But the opportunities that derive from a sales and marketing perspective within LinkedIn are numerous and beneficial to any social media strategy. In fact, we are seeing more ad budgets and marketing time spent on LinkedIn than on other channels such as Twitter this year. Why? Consider the following statistics from internet service provider WordStream: • LinkedIn boasts more than 530 million user profiles.

• The average LinkedIn user spends 17 minutes on the site per month.

• 39% of LinkedIn users pay for monthly premium accounts.

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There are several aspects to consider once you begin using LinkedIn as a sales and marketing tool. These include proper profile setup, content, engaging with groups and influencers, and advertising.

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PROFILE SETUP: PERSONAL & COMPANY PAGES You need both a personal page and a company profile page on LinkedIn. In fact, you cannot create a company page without having a personal page first. If you are not an owner or stakeholder in the company, you need to always make sure that you are creating your LinkedIn company page under the profile of someone who is.

We have seen instances where interns or marketing

• A banner image. Make this strong and appealing – it’s the first thing people will see.

• Your logo. According to LinkedIn, companies with logo images get six times more traffic to their pages.

• Company details and specialities.

• Products and services you offer. Build this out as much as possible, include rich descriptions, images, YouTube videos and links back to your website.

• SEO. Company pages are SEO-friendly. Google previews up to 156 characters of your page text, so be sure that your description leads with powerful, keyword-rich copy. On LinkedIn, members can search for companies by keyword, so always include words and phrases that describe your business, expertise and industry focus.

• Career opportunities.

Another nice feature offered on LinkedIn are ‘Showcase Pages’. These are extensions of your company page, designed for spotlighting a brand, business unit or initiative. Companies like Adobe (see below) and Microsoft are using Showcase Pages to build relationships with LinkedIn members, which is precisely the intent of these pages. They do so by picking one specific focus and engaging with people who are interested in that focus.

SHARING ENGAGING CONTENT Posting daily company updates is the most effective way to attract followers to your LinkedIn pages. You can share anything from company news, industry articles or thought-leadership pieces, or ask followers to weigh in on hot topics. The more active you are, the more visible you will be.

HOW TO... Social Media

Often a blog is at the core of content sharing. Publishing thoughtful, beneficial subject matter expert content on your blog and then sharing it on LinkedIn is not only a great way to grow your network, but also generates leads and increases brand awareness.

If you don’t have a blog, LinkedIn can help you in that area too as it allows users to publish articles to their profile Source: Single Grain pages. This is a huge benefit that many people might not know about. You can publish your article right on LinkedIn! No blog needed.

Another piece of advice is to always humanise your brand on your company pages. Customers like to see what makes a company tick and the people they deal with on a daily basis. Social media sites are where the magic happens when it comes to humanising your brand. Sometimes we get caught up in “proper B2B marketing” and lose touch with the human-to-human factor. Remember, you have to win the relationship before you win the sale. Social media channels help build those relationships.

If you had to do just one thing […] it would be to join a group.

Or two, maybe three. See what the conversation is about You should use strong imagery and of course videos whenever you can. On LinkedIn, 98% of posts with images receive more comments, and posts with links have a 200% higher engagement rate, according to WordStream.

Jennifer Rae Schulman is President of Fortune Web Marketing, an online marketing agency with an extensive team of experts in the area of search engine marketing, content writers, link builders, social media gurus and creative masters ready to help businesses create and execute a digital strategy.

ADVERTISING As with all social media channels, LinkedIn offers company pages a chance to advertise their products or services. To do this, you create ad campaigns in the form of sponsored content within the Campaign Manager section of LinkedIn. It’s very similar to running ads on Facebook. One word of caution though – LinkedIn ads tend to be much more expensive than Facebook ads. You will need at least two to three times more of your Facebook ad budget for LinkedIn ads.

The goal of the ad is to target people with like-minded professional interests and to promote your content to them. By advertising on LinkedIn you can raise brand awareness, generate quality leads and gain followers. Ads will show up on both the mobile and desktop versions of LinkedIn. IF YOU DID JUST ONE THING… We are all busy and might think that we don’t have time to engage in social media. Nevertheless, it is a crucial aspect of not only how we market our company but how we market ourselves.

If you had to do just one thing – apart from setting up the pages – it would be to join a group. Or two, maybe three. See what the conversation is about.

Jump in. You’ll be surprised at how easy it is and your thoughts will flow. This is probably one of the most valuable aspects of LinkedIn. Capitalise on it.

March 2018

GROUPS AND INFLUENCERS This is the part of LinkedIn that is the most valuable, but often gets overlooked. Perhaps it’s because it takes time and effort to engage with members of groups or seek out influencers each day. However, it’s well worth it. LinkedIn provides a number of community features that allow you to communicate and collaborate with, and these include groups.

Groups help you stay informed and keep in touch with people who share your interests. You can create your own LinkedIn groups or join any number of them that focus on your area of interest or expertise.

Expand your circle of influence by participating in discussions in various LinkedIn groups. For example, if you have a white paper on your site that would be beneficial to members of a certain group, share it.

But the most important thing to do is to just be active. Answer questions, post your own questions, add comments to answers from others. Through the natural course of your dialogue, you will quickly become a subject matter expert within the group – someone all of the group’s members would want to do business with.

This leads us to influencers, and the concept of ‘influencer marketing’ which should be an integral part of any organisation’s social media strategy.

Let’s start with influencers. LinkedIn influencers enable you to connect with well-respected thought leaders in many industries, markets and walks of life.

Most offer content in the form of blog posts. You can comment on their posts and share them as status updates on your personal LinkedIn profile.

With regard to influencer marketing, we have found that LinkedIn is the most powerful tool to gain ground.

Influencer marketing is a form of marketing whereby the focus is placed on influential people rather than the target market as a whole. It identifies the individuals that have clout over potential buyers, and orients marketing activities around these influencers.

In essence, you want to have trusted, followed and respected people within your industry to talk about your brand. These are influencers. They can reach many people at one time, all of whom are most likely part of your target audience

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EUROPEAN

Forum 2018

The 7th European Forum for senior executives from the business supplies industry and associated sectors WHY SHOULD I ATTEND?

TO KEEP UP TO DATE with the latest business supplies industry trends and news TO UNDERSTAND the impact of new technology and

the fourth industrial revolution

TO ‘SHARPEN THE SAW’ – Stephen Covey’s seventh habit

of highly effective people

TO SHARE frankly and openly ideas, challenges and best practices with like-minded executives TO GAIN MORE C-LEVEL experience compared with other, broad-audience conferences TO BREAK OUT of your comfort zone

EUROPE Forum

WHO SHOULD ATTEND? Company Founders, CEOs, Managing Directors, Directors, Presidents and anyone in a senior leadership position within the business products industry.

BOOKING

Places at OPI Forums are strictly limited in order to maintain a senior, exclusive and interactive experience, so we encourage you to book as soon as possible. To find out more, please visit www.opi.net/EF2018 or don’t hesitate to contact Steve Hilleard directly at steve.hilleard@opi.net or call +44 7799 891000.

5 - 7 June 2018 The Royal Horseguards Hotel, London, UK

“

This year’s OPI Forum was one of the best that I have attended. As always, plenty of networking opportunities but combined with interesting, relevant, thoughtprovoking presentations that provided me with some tangible takeaways for my business to work on.

”

PEAN

m 2018

EUROPEAN

Forum 2018

www.opi.net/ef2018

EVENT

LIVING up to PAPERWORLD 2018 REVIEW

expectations

Challenges remain for Paperworld organisers Messe Frankfurt, but on the whole the trade fair continues to be a must-attend event for many visitors and exhibitors alike – by Andy Braithwaite

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he official Messe Frankfurt figures from Paperworld 2018 are encouraging: exhibitor numbers increased 8% versus 2017 to 1,640 while the number of visitors was up slightly to almost 33,800. There was strong international representation too: around 22,800 of the visitors (2017: 21,900) were from outside Germany and 66 nations (2017: 58) were represented by the exhibiting companies.

Julia Uherek, Messe Frankfurt’s new Group Show Director for its consumer goods fairs who oversees Paperworld and its concurrent Creativeworld and

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Christmasworld events, said she was pleased that Paperworld had been able to reverse the previous downward trend in what is still a challenging market.

The increase in attendance also comes at a good time as the event faces growing competition in the German market from the Insights-X trade show which was established in Nuremberg in 2015.

While Insights-X cannot compete with Paperworld in terms of size – in 2017 it had around 300 exhibitors and 5,500 visitors – there are those who prefer the October scheduling for the following year’s back-to-school (BTS) season. The timing of Insights-X would also appear to be more convenient for the German retail trade.

That said, Paperworld remains an attractive event for retailers that specialise in traditional office supplies, higher-end social stationery products, the BTS season and the hobby, craft and creative sectors. The range of products in these areas is impressive and certainly points to a dynamic market despite the rise of digitisation.

QUESTIONABLE B2B RELEVANCE However, the relevance of Paperworld to the ever-evolving international B2B workplace supplies and solutions channel continues to diminish, despite the best efforts of Messe Frankfurt. The so-called

Messe Frankfurt’s Julia Uherek: pleased with visitor and exhibitor numbers

Paperworld is the European trade fair we use to find new target groups and make new contacts

Horst Bubenzer, Office Gold Club: Paperworld aims to attract new types of visitors

GERMAN CUSTOMS RAID PAPERWORLD BOOTHS

As part of Messe Frankfurt’s ongoing efforts to crack down on counterfeit goods, German customs officials (the Zoll) were once again present at Paperworld.

Accompanied by representatives of brand manufacturers, Zoll officers investigated complaints against 30 exhibitors and confiscated more than 2,100 items that were suspected of being counterfeit. The confiscated products included writing instruments, pencil sharpeners, toner cartridges and product catalogues involving manufacturers from China, Korea and Portugal.

Several exhibitors had to pay security deposits of up to €12,000 ($15,000) on the spot to cover the potential costs of court hearings and fines. In total, the Zoll collected almost €30,000 in security deposits at the show.

March 2018

GERMAN FOCUS As OGC Managing Director Horst Bubenzer explained to OPI, initiatives such as the Future Office are part of a strategy by Messe Frankfurt to attract more end users and influencers such as architects, designers and facility managers to Paperworld.

Looking at it from that perspective, they would almost certainly be deemed a success, given the good attendance again at the OGC expo and seminar programme and the Future Office presentations. But the lack of an international dimension remains a concern.

This is not to say that Paperworld doesn’t still have a place in the international office products calendar.

There was a strong UK contingent again this year and before the show BOSS Federation Chairman Geoff Betts encouraged his industry peers to attend, arguing that there was a good return on investment for the price of a plane ticket and one night in a hotel.

“Paperworld delivered again this year,” he said after the event, referring to successful supplier meetings and the chance to network.

The show’s exhibitor poll also pointed to a high level of satisfaction, with around two thirds of exhibitors “very pleased” with the number of new contacts made and the standard of trade visitors.

In addition, many exhibitors gave a higher rating in terms of orders placed and target groups reached than a year ago. All in all, more than three quarters of exhibitors said they were “very pleased” with their results at Paperworld.

“We found the concept of the Future Office to be extremely persuasive,” said Andrea Cantong, Marketing Manager for Germany, Austria and Switzerland at Fellowes. “We not only met existing customers but also new target groups, such as architects and planners who are becoming more important for our business.”

Beth Wright, Chief Commercial Officer at Bi-silque, which was showcasing a new high-end brand for interior projects called Archyi as well as new products tailored to workplace collaboration, said: “Paperworld is the European trade fair we use to find new target groups and make new contacts, and to present our latest products to our best customers.”

Other exhibitors such as COLOP and HSM use Paperworld as a platform to connect with their international customers and distributors. “HSM has a very high export ratio, so it is particularly important for us to use Paperworld as a worldwide meeting point,” noted HSM’s Stefanie Keller from Public Relations.

COLOP also hosted an evening with more than 100 guests from around the world at the sumptuous Villa Kennedy hotel in Frankfurt, introducing the teams from its subsidiaries in China and India that have been established in the past year.

Paperworld 2019 will take place from 26-29 January, kicking off again on the last Saturday of the month. Hall 3.0 should be boosted by an expanded presence of the PBS-Markenindustrie members and let’s see if Messe Frankfurt provides more of an international perspective to the accompanying seminar and education programme.

EVENT Paperworld 2018

office supplies area in Hall 3.0 was a broad mix of stationery, office products, school and hobby vendors, and many of the leading global brands were again notable by their absence.

2018 was also a year when there was a reduced exhibitor presence from the German stationery and writing instruments trade association PBS-Markenindustrie, whose members agreed a few years ago to exhibit at Paperworld only every other year. Nevertheless, many of the association’s members were there in small booths as part of the Future Office expo that had been set up to highlight new workplace trends.

On the face of it, initiatives such as the Future Office ought to help Paperworld broaden its range of products and solutions for the wider workplace, but the expo was rather limited and largely designed around products offered by PBS-Markenindustrie members. It was also very much aimed at a German audience, something that can be said for other Paperworld events too, including Sustainable Office Day, Assistants’ Day and Office Gold Club (OGC). This does little to encourage an international audience to explore the event outside its exhibition booths and for a greater learning and best practice-sharing experience.

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EVENT

HELP FOR (CITY OF)

Hope

2018 CITY OF HOPE TOUR AND HALL OF FAME DINNER

Last month’s City of Hope Tour and Hall of Fame Dinner in California unofficially kicked of this year’s Generations for Hope fundraising campaign. OPI’s Steve Hilleard was there to listen, learn and support the ongoing battle against life-threatening diseases

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very year, the National Business Products Council hosts the annual City of Hope Tour and Hall of Fame Dinner. And every year senior executives from across the industry come together in Pasadena (CA) for two days to learn about City of Hope, its achievements, ongoing research and most pressing challenges.

The event is also the unofficial start to the annual business supplies sector’s fundraising campaign, which this year honours SP Richards (SPR) CEO Rick Toppin under his Generations for Hope banner.

Over the past 35 years, industry support has raised over $175 million for research, treatment and educational programmes for cancer and diabetes carried out at City of Hope.

The 2018 campaign got off to a great start, having already raised $5 million towards its $15 million goal.

This is partially a result of almost all fundraising events of last year – the campaign honoured GOJO’s Steve Schultz – being repeated in 2018 (for a calendar of events, see page 41 or visit www.cityofhope. org/nbpi). But there are also a handful of new and updated activities, all related to Toppin’s desire to open fundraising to a wider audience and get a broader group of people engaged – late February’s Ski for Hope event was one example of this.

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STRATEGY AND LEARNING The City of Hope Tour and Hall of Fame Dinner is about much more than crunching fundraising numbers, however. Strategy and learning are just as high on the agenda. The two-day event began with the National Business Products Industry’s (NBPI)

technology, industrial & jan/san and independent dealer committees coming together for their campaign updates. The committees’ charter is to grow awareness, support and generate new corporate relationships from companies in those various sectors.

On the second day, before the members of the National Business Products Council conducted their bi-annual meeting and strategy session, it was time for a very hands-on City of Hope experience – the tour, campus walk and luncheon. Some of the best-known physicians and researchers in the US were on hand to provide presentations and updates on what’s at the forefront of City of Hope’s activities and priorities right now. To say that listening to these experts in their field is a humbling – and inspiring – experience, would be an understatement indeed.

The City of Hope Tour and Hall of Fame Dinner is about much more than crunching the fundraising numbers The event concluded at the end of the second day with the NBPI City of Hope Hall of Fame Dinner where industry stalwarts and long-time City of Hope ambassadors Jerry Dittmer from HON, Sam Richardson from Fellowes and Paul Ventimiglia from PM Company were all named to the 2018 Hall of Fame class. The cocktail reception, dinner and programme emceed by Scott Light featured award presentations and contributions from long-standing supporters and patient speaker Erin Sweeney as well as a campaign update from SPR’s Toppin.

One of the highlights of the festivities included LDI owner and CEO Mike Fiterman making an impassioned speech which concluded with the announcement of his family’s donation of $200,000 to City of Hope. This prompted a round of pledges for the NBPI personal giving programme in support of the Chemical GMP Facility which raised over $350,000 during the evening, bringing the current programme total raised to $2.5 million and ever closer towards the $3 million five-year goal (2016-2020).

The National Business Products Industry’s annual Honouree Golf Outing serves as the Spirit of Life Honouree’s signature event.

This year hosted by SP Richards and specifically CEO Rick Toppin, the event will be held at the magnificent Ritz-Carlton Reynolds, Lake Oconee resort in Greensboro (GA. Surrounded by the still waters of Lake Oconee and towering oaks, Reynolds Lake Oconee will deliver an unforgettable golf experience while supporting life-saving cancer and diabetes research at City of Hope.

Guests are encouraged to bring family to the event as there will be plenty of children-friendly activities and support services.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS 2018

The annual Bob Parker Memorial Golf Outing is one of the premier events on the City of Hope National Business Products Industry calendar.

This year hosted by 3M, the event changes venue to the splendour of Sea Island (GA). Not only is this five-star resort graced with a golf course that is recognised as one of the top 100 courses in the US, the location change in 2018 to the fabulous Sea Island is also in line with Spirit of Life Honouree Rick Toppin’s quest to make this year’s campaign family-friendly and generation-spanning, structuring it to appeal to a broad range of interests.

Amid the majesty of this amazing backdrop, the Bob Parker Memorial Golf Outing commemorates one of the industry’s most beloved icons, Robert Stewart Parker.

Parker was a 25-year industry veteran who worked as President of Sanford, COO of Newell and President of O’Sullivan Industries during his career. He also served as chair of the (then called) National Office Products Council for City of Hope during which the annual fundraising initiative enjoyed unsurpassed growth, raising over $21 million from 2003 to 2006. Parker himself was presented with The Spirit of Life Award in 2002.

8-11 April Bud Mundt Charity Fishing Tournament 14-15 May Bob Parker Memorial Golf Outing

EVENT City of Hope

HONOUREE GOLF OUTING: 30-31 JULY

BOB PARKER MEMORIAL GOLF OUTING: 14-15 MAY

9 June Nashville Celebrity Softball Game 10-13 June AFFLINK Summit 20-21 June 20 HON Golf Outing & President’s Roundtable 24-25 June The Office City and Vanguard Sales Group Outing 12-15 July 3M Wonewok Event 30-31 July Honouree Golf Outing 6 August ACCO Brands Golf Outing 8-9 August Frey Gaede Golf Outing 13 August Smead Golf Outing 18-21 August SP Richards ABC 20 August Fellowes Golf Outing

BIKE FOR HOPE: DATE TBC

4-6 September 2nd Annual City of Hope Cross Industry Golf Challenge 10 September Georgia Pacific Golf Outing & Vendor Summit 12 September Howard Wolf Golf Classic 13 September Spirit of Life Gala

March 2018

Now in its fourth year, Bike for Hope – sponsored by Supplies Network, HP and HSM – sees 20+ superhuman supporters bike 500 miles in five days in support of life-saving cancer and diabetes research and treatment at City of Hope. Endurance athletes and road bikers alike are sure to have the experience of a lifetime!

Traditionally, the ride has begun in Palo Alto (CA) where HP is headquartered. It then continues for five consecutive days down the California coastline to Los Angeles.

Details of the 2018 event route will be announced soon. However, there’s no time like the present to get yourself ready to join in this adrenaline-filled adventure!

27 August GOJO Golf Outing & Vendor Summit

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Generations

VENDOR SPECIAL

FOR HOPE

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here are many success stories out there of companies where the baton of leadership has been passed on through the family for multiple generations. Among the well-known ones, Smead stands out.

Good businesses may make it look easy to still be going strong after many years, but it requires constant attention, agreement and alignment of company goals. A company’s culture and philanthropic vision also plays a key role.

In 1916, PA Hoffman became the first Hoffman to lead Smead. One hundred years later it had become a highly successful, family-owned enterprise with nearly 2,000 employees and over 3,000 products.

Harold Hoffman was thrust into the management of Smead at a young age when his father suffered a debilitating stroke in 1928. He ran the company until 1955 when he passed away unexpectedly while attending an industry meeting in Buffalo, New York.

Knowing it was her husband’s intent to pass the company on to their children, Harold’s wife Ebba Hoffman became Smead’s President that same year and ran it successfully for 43 years until her daughter Sharon Hoffman Avent became President/CEO in 1998. And 18 years later, effective 1 July 2016, Sharon announced my promotion to President. She remains heavily involved in our day-to-day business and continues as our CEO.

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A HISTORY OF PHILANTHROPY Smead’s history of philanthropy began with Harold and Ebba Hoffman and has continued through the generations. In 1955, Ebba started on a journey that transformed Smead from a relatively small family-owned business into an industry leader. In an era when a woman running a business was a rarity, she accomplished amazing feats by creating a foundation of high ideals within the company and reaching out to the community. Sharon has continued this legacy – navigating significant growth and extending the company’s philanthropic vision even further.

According to Sharon, Harold was instrumental in bringing a hospital to Hastings, Minnesota, where we are headquartered. She and her mother carried on that legacy through their caring nature, service and generosity with their continued support of local community projects.

35 years ago, when corporate leaders from the office products industry united in support of a higher cause – to help City of Hope find the cures to cancer, diabetes and other life-threatening illnesses – Smead was there from the start. And in 2003, the industry honoured Sharon, naming her as the first (and only) woman in our sector to receive the Spirit of Life Award

from City of Hope. This award is City of Hope’s most prestigious honour and is given to an outstanding volunteer who expresses the concern of City of Hope in improving both the quantity and quality of life.

Inspiring Hope was Sharon’s campaign slogan. Where else is hope more needed than among those who have none? And where else is hope more elusive than among those whose futures seem hopeless?

Proceeds from Sharon’s 2003 Spirit of Life campaign went towards supporting the Center for Biomedicine & Genetics at City of Hope Cancer Center – our nation’s largest bio-manufacturing facility at an academic

Casey Avent President, Smead

Where else is hope more needed than among those who have none? And where else is hope more elusive than among those whose futures seem hopeless? institution that is capable of producing FDA-approved biological therapeutics. The centre provides a cost-effective means to move multiple leading-edge technologies into human clinical studies more quickly, while maintaining the high level of quality control required by the FDA. CONTINUED COMMITMENT Smead continues its commitment to City of Hope fundraising efforts with an Annual Smead Golf Tournament and multiple other fundraising activities, including the City of Hope Tour, Curling for a Cure, the SP Richards Heritage of Hope Golf Outing, Office Partners’ Bass Fishing Tournament, Hike for Hope, Bob Parker Memorial Golf Outing, the Northern California City of Hope Golf Outing, the Howard Wolf Golf Classic and the Spirit of Life Gala (see page 49 for a calendar of events). Smead’s history of successful succession has not only had a positive impact on the business and the office products industry at large, but also on its culture of philanthropic efforts – like City of Hope – and the values passed on through multiple generations.

Generations for Hope is the theme for the 2018 City of Hope campaign and the entire Smead family are proud supporters of Rick Toppin and the National Business Products Industry. Alone we can do so little, but together we can do so much.

Specia Special Issue

5 MINUTES WITH...

Raphael Carlioz

What special skill do you possess?

I can rapidly identify what a person is truly like, as I can feel other people’s emotions and therefore get to see what is really behind the mask.

VENDOR SPECIAL

Best way to spend the weekend?

With my family, either for sport or for leisure. Being outside is the best.

Describe yourself in one sentence.

Slightly reserved, but deeply engaging once trust is established.

Your favourite artist at the moment?

Right now it’s jazzman Gregory Porter – an incredible voice. I’ve plans to see him in concert soon.

If you could trade places with someone for a day, who would it be and why?

I like the stars and the sky, so being astronaut Neil Armstrong during his mission to the moon would be my dream.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

I like when things are fast-paced and I need constant change. So being more patient would probably help me to enjoy the moment a bit more.

If the world had a President, who would you vote for?

There is no one at the moment, but if I could choose anyone it would be Coluche. He was a famous French comedian who fought against poverty.

What was your last online search?

I was looking at holidays to Japan – but don’t tell anyone, it’s a secret!

What would you cook for a dinner party?

I grew up in Annecy in the French Alps where I also now live. The area is well known for its cheese, so I would go for a fondue savoyarde with a glass of white wine.

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Your favourite gadget?

A common answer, but it has to be my smartphone. I don’t know how much time I spend using it on a daily basis, but it’s always close to me. I watch videos on it as much as I use it to check the news and my email.

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VEND SPEC

Where is your favourite place to visit in France and why?

I have two different places. The first is in the south, called Beauduc, which is a special place to go kitesurfing – it makes me feel like I’m the only person in the world. The second is Val d’Isere for great skiing during the day, followed by good après-ski.

Favourite author?

Katherine Pancol and her book Les Yeux Jaunes des Crocodiles (The Yellow Eyes of Crocodiles).

What are you most proud of?

My son and all my family, of course!

CAREER Q&A Describe your current job.

European Key Account Manager for Office and E-commerce at Pilot.

With the country support and a great local team, I am helping to build Pilot’s business and market share in Europe.

Your worst ever job?

None. Every job or position brings somethings different.

Even the bad jobs help us to move forward.

But, if I have to choose one, it would be when I worked as part of the cooking crew at McDonald’s when I was a student.

Your best piece of advice to someone who has just joined the OP industry?

The industry is changing, so take advantage of it. Also, don’t be shy to try new things!

What do you like best about the OP industry?

The OP industry is like a small family, so it’s great when we get to all meet up at various industry events.

Best moment in your career?

It was at Pilot and one of my first big meetings was a disaster – fighting with a new customer’s buyer. The best moment was when we both dealt with the situation and finally became good ‘friends’.

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hroughout my merchandising career, I’ve had the pleasure to work with some vendors that were not only industry-leading, but also national institutions easily recognised across the globe.

The big ones like 3M, HP, Brother, ACCO Brands, International Paper, Avery, Georgia Pacific and Kimberly-Clark quickly come to mind (and I am sure I left some good ones out).

They all are success stories. In addition to the national and global firms, I have worked with many fine family-run companies such as Smead, Fellowes and Safco that have grown to be known globally as well.

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STRONG LEADERSHIP Regardless of whether these companies are public or private, they have three fundamental aspects in common. They all have strong leaders who are very much in touch and accessible. There are many names from the past that come to mind which exemplify the kind of leaders I’m talking about.

One that jumps to the front of the queue is Jamie Fellowes. Jamie was a terrific leader with great business aptitude, but who was also a strong and active listener. Jamie knew his customers and, by visiting them all, he learned what their businesses needed. There were – and are – many more names I could add here.

The other two attributes all these vendors have in common is a cutting-edge marketing platform and a commitment to grow their product portfolios. Today, while the leadership has changed, most of these firms have remained true to their roots and are still industry-leading companies.

But as I view the landscape, a new kind of leader has evolved: somebody who uses technology to stay close to his or her customers. No longer is it as important to waste time and money on an airplane when we have mobile phones, texting, Skype and, of course, email. The pace of today’s business moves much faster than ever before and good leaders remain plugged into their customers. Again, several names spring to mind here, but the one I think of first is Brad Graves, who now runs the OP division worldwide for 3M. Easily accessible, he is a strong marketer who has surrounded himself with great people. 3M is about to launch one of our industry’s biggest marketing campaigns with its new product Extreme Notes, a new

industrial-grade Post-it note. My point is that through good leadership 3M is building teams that create a true sales culture where customers are heard, where the teams remain focused and, just as importantly, where they are flexible to meet customer needs.

LOSING THEIR WAY Unfortunately – and this is the other side of the coin – we have a glut of manufacturers in our industry that have either lost their way with customers or, quite frankly, never had the right kind of customer focus to begin with. Many of these companies are doing ok in the short term as they often have great products that we all sell. And most will survive, but

Jack Reagan, SVP of Merchandising, SP Richards

Unfortunately […] we have a glut of manufacturers in our industry that have either lost their way with customers or, quite frankly, never had the right kind of customer focus to begin with they could be so much better by just readjusting and redeploying their layers of internal focus instead of endless meetings and conference calls with their “sales prevention” teams.

As I sit here and write this in early February, I would say that my team and I have not heard from at least one third of my top 50 vendors this far into the new year. As easy as it is to communicate these days, many manufacturers remain distant from their customers, focusing internally instead.

In 2017, we at SP Richards were focused on collaborating with both our customers and our vendors. We knew that we could not be successful alone and we have had some positive results with this collaboration. In 2018, we will continue to be accessible to all our business partners and would encourage all our partners to do the same in return. It’s pretty easy these days!

NEXT ISSUE Big Interview Denis Mathieu, CEO, Novexco Hot Topic Market consolidation Category Updates l Paper l Education/ back-to-school Events l EOPA l OPI Partnership l Interclean Amsterdam