OPI 292 SEPT 2019 A

BIG INTERVIEW

Connecting the

business products world

Sarah Hunter, Officeworks September 2019

INSIDE THIS ISSUE l

Staples offloads European businesses l

End of the SOFEA road l

Leadership change at Lyreco

l Fellowes Brands acquires l B2B e-commerce marketplaces target SMBs l ABC & NAOPA reviews

Special Issue

JAN / SAN

CONTENTS 16 Big Interview Every channel, not just retail 24 Hot Topic E-com giants muscling in on the B2B SMB market 34 Advertorial 40 years of innovation at viscom vendor Bi-silque 40 Advertorial Sustainability focus at Mitsubishi Pencil in the UK 42 How to... ...get the price right 44 Advertorial ECI’s new European vision 48 Preview: Climb of Life OPI talks to Philip Lawson 50 Preview: Big Buyer Italy’s premier industry show 54 Review: ABC Strong in San Diego

Big Interview: Sarah Hunter, Officeworks

Sarah Hunter is a relatively new kid on the block at Officeworks, having started as Managing Director of the Australian office supplies retailer in January this year and replacing her longserving predecessor Mark Ward. Her involvement with Officeworks’ parent Wesfarmers goes way back, however, as she worked for the Coles Group for the previous eight years, most recently to lead the demerger of the group from Wesfarmers.

Continuing Ward’s legacy of customer focus and always being where that customer wants to be is Hunter’s mantra.

Special Issue

HOT TOPIC: THE TIDE IS TURNING

Special Issue

JAN / SAN 28 Category Update Jan/san as a way to grow

Special Issue

36 Opinion Time to dry your hands

JAN / SAN

38 Case Study GOS making jan/san strides 52 Preview: ISSA Show North America Cleaning up in Vegas

Special Issue

REGULARS

BREAKROOM

SPECIAL

5 Comment 6 News

Special Issue

14 Social Spy

Special Issue BREAKROOM

SPECIAL

September 2019

At least now there are some [marketplace] options. Whether or not any of them turn out to be viable for independent dealers is a different story, but I think there is a hunger and a need for the OP sector to link up with some of these marketplaces. It gives dealers an extra channel and vertical that they can steer their customers too.

At the end of the day, they can leverage their fulfilment partners, manufacturers, or different product categories through an eBay, for example, and still maintain their own customers.

In terms of resources, it could be a win-win in a way that it doesn’t seem to be with Amazon.

JAN / SAN

56 Review: NAOPA This year’s winners revealed

BREAKROOM

60 5 minutes with...

Kim Leazer

SPECIAL

62 Final Word Regina Henrich

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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 News Editor Andy Braithwaite +33 4 32 62 71 07 andy.braithwaite@opi.net Freelance Contributor David Holes david.holes@opi.net

SALES & MARKETING Chief Commercial Officer Chris Exner +44 (0)7973 186801 chris.exner@opi.net Head of Media Sales Chris Turness +44 (0)7872 684746 chris.turness@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 Amy Byrne +44 (0)20 7841 2950 amy.byrne@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 (0)7718 660249 debbie.garrand@opi.net

S

Never a dull moment...

ometimes the summer months here in Europe and the northern hemisphere as a whole can be a rather dull affair, with not much happening from a business point of view from day to day or week to week. Good for those holidaying obviously, and I hope everyone has returned to their desks refreshed and raring to go again.

This year has been a little different, however, and there’s been plenty to catch up on once the swimming shorts, flip-flops or golf clubs were put away again. Just think of all the top-level appointments at Lyreco, Askul, Newell and Amazon Business or indeed the M&A activities at Fellowes Brands, Staples Solutions/Raja and ACCO Brands (see News, page 6).

One of the big stories [of the summer] coming from the US was the devastating fire at S.P. Richards One of the big stories coming from the US was the devastating fire at S.P. Richards’ (SPR) HQ and distribution centre, of course. It wasn’t quite the talking point that the wholesaler had envisaged for its ABC event in San Diego, California, in early August, but it nevertheless couldn’t have reiterated SPR’s conference message of ‘Together Stronger’ more emphatically. As CEO Rick Toppin relayed details of the outstanding clean-up efforts by his colleagues, he also paid tribute to an amazing industry and humbly thanked all of SPR’s partners for their unwavering support (for more on the ABC and this year’s North American Office Products Awards, see pages 54-58).

Talking of outstanding and taking us down under to Australia, I had the privilege recently to talk to the person in charge of possibly the most successful and most envied OP superstore operator in our space right now (see page 16). Sarah Hunter filled Mark Ward’s enormous boots at Officeworks in January of this year. And while she still calls the company an office supplies retailer, it’s evidently so much more than that, with Hunter referring to its ‘every channel’ strategy on several occasions. Its formidable online presence constitutes a core part of its success and it’s clear that Amazon – the biggest online rival for many – has not made significant inroads yet in Australia.

‘Yet’ is perhaps the pertinent word here.

Amazon, its various iterations as well as other e-commerce operators, are also put under the spotlight elsewhere in this issue of OPI as Michelle Sturman investigates the pros and cons of getting involved in B2B online marketplaces (see page 24).

HEIKE DIECKMANN, EDITOR Have a great month.

Twitter: @opinews Linkedin: opi.net/linkedin Facebook: facebook.com/opimagazine App: opi.net/app

Connecting the

business products world

Office Products International Ltd (OPI) 2nd Floor, 112 Clerkenwell Road London, EC1M 5SA, UK Tel: +44 (0)20 7841 2950

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No part of this magazine may be reproduced, copied, stored in an electronic retrieval system or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with provision of the copyright designs and patents act of 1988. Stringent efforts have been made by Office Products International to ensure accuracy. However, due principally to the fact that data cannot always be verified, it is possible that some errors or omissions may occur. Office Products International cannot accept responsibility for such errors or omissions. Office Products International accepts no responsibility for comments made by contributing authors or interviewees that may offend.

September 2019

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NEWS

well-established online office supplies business in France called Welcome Office.

The Staples Solutions transaction, however, is set to propel Raja to the next level, taking annual sales to more than €1 billion. Calling it “a unique opportunity”, Kapel-Marcovici said there would be significant cross-selling possibilities between Raja and Staples’ customers and that the four acquired brands would now be “re-energised” under their new ownership following several years of upheaval.

The Raja CEO will also be able to count on internal group expertise in the office supplies channel as she crafts the strategy for the enlarged company. Leading Udo Bär since the beginning of this year is former iba CEO Christa Furter; running Raja’s UK subsidiary is ex-Spicers Sales and Marketing Director Tom Rodda, and both Raja Group Managing Director Alain Josse and Purchasing and Marketing Director Ulrick Parfum spent several years at Viking.

Analysis:

Staples Solutions sells European units

www.opi.net

Staples’ French, Italian and Spanish operations have been acquired by European packaging specialist Raja

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In late July, Staples Solutions announced that it had agreed to sell its business units in France, Italy and Spain to European packaging specialist Raja for an undisclosed sum.

The deal includes four direct brands – JPG, Bernard, MondOffice and Kalamazoo – as well as smaller contract operations in all three countries, together representing annual sales of around €320 million ($355 million) and employing almost 1,000 people.

The transaction is expected to close in October following customary regulatory approvals and the completion of certain employee representative consultations.

France-based Raja is best known for its packaging business, but CEO Danièle Kapel-Marcovici told OPI that the decision to acquire the Staples Solutions businesses formed part of a wider strategy to be a multispecialist offering a one-stop-shop solution to clients. “It is one of the strategic goals we have had for some time, although not necessarily via such a large acquisition,” she said.

In fact, Raja already has a relatively diversified product range outside its core packaging category, selling a variety of office, mailing, facilities, safety, hygiene and MRO supplies.

Its 2017 acquisition of Germany-based group Udo Bär strengthened its OP and industrial equipment proposition and it has a

REDEFINING THE CORE For Staples Solutions, the sale of France, Italy and Spain to Raja represents the third divestment since private equity firm Cerberus took ownership of the company in 2017. In June 2018, Staples Business Advantage in Ireland was acquired by leading local dealer Codex while, in the same month, the 39-store Netherlands retail business was sold and rebranded to Office Centre.

Providing some background to the latest transaction to OPI, CEO Dolph Westerbos pointed to the need to reduce complexity in the Staples Solutions business model and to the challenges of running wholesale, retail, online mail-order and contract businesses at the same time. He also recognised issues in the credit insurance market that forced Staples Solutions to look more closely at liquidity management and at its investment options.

The Staples Solutions transaction [...] is set to propel Raja to the next level, taking annual sales to more than €1 billion

Danièle Kapel-Marcovici

The upshot is that Staples Solutions will now focus on its non-transactional contract customers – larger SMBs, enterprise accounts and the public sector. This is where the company has been able to arrest several years of declines and return to growth in the past year. “It’s the area where we’ve had the most success from a revenue point of view,” Westerbos confirmed.

What does that mean for the future of Staples’ retail operations in Germany and Portugal?

Westerbos wouldn’t comment on specific business units, but referred to the divestments made in the past year or so. “In all three instances there was a better outcome for both our customers and our employees, so if interest was expressed in non-core items, would we consider it? Absolutely.”

Fellowes Brands has acquired Trendway Corporation, a leader in office furniture systems, movable walls and seating. Fellowes said the addition of Trendway to its furniture portfolio creates a broader offering and will provide a 500,000 sq ft (50,000 sq m) US-based furniture manufacturing capability.

This is the second acquisition in the contract furniture category for Fellowes following the purchase of ESI in 2017. Founded in 1968, Trendway was purchased by the Heeringa family in 1973 and was under the leadership of now retired Chairman Don Heeringa for 46 years. Trendway will continue to operate from Holland (MI) and will be led by current President Bill Bundy.

Said Heeringa: “As I approached retirement, my desire was to find a way to ensure the future growth and success of the business. We are pleased to have found a partner like Fellowes, a four-generation family company with common values and entrepreneurial spirit.”

“Over the past few months we have spent time with both Don and Bill to learn the historical culture of Trendway, and we plan to lead this business into its next chapter with a similar spirit to its deep roots – while bringing greater capabilities and competitiveness to its future efforts,” commented Fellowes Brands CEO John Fellowes.

IN BRIEF Kentucky dealers merge US independent dealer Kerr Workplace Solutions has acquired the supplies division of fellow Kentucky reseller Office Environment Company.

The acquisition comes several months after a previously announced tie-up between the two companies didn’t come to fruition.

NEWS

Fellowes Brands expands furniture offering

BIC acquires in Africa BIC has agreed to acquire Lucky Stationery, Nigeria’s leading writing instruments producer with annual sales of around €5 million ($5.5 million) and a market share estimated at 30%. The transaction is expected to close at the end of this year.

LSC/Quad abandon merger LSC Communications – parent company of the TOPS and Quality Park office products businesses – is to remain a standalone group after it terminated its merger agreement with commercial print giant Quad/Graphics.

The deal fell through after it was challenged by the US Department of Justice.

Amazon launches jan/san private label Amazon has quietly introduced a B2B private label brand in the US called AmazonCommercial. So far, the range is limited to nine jan/san SKUs covering toilet paper, facial tissue and paper towels which are packaged for bulk purchasing.

According to Amazon’s website, the brand “creates value for businesses by providing professional grade, cost-effective products”. The AmazonCommercial paper products available are described as “septic safe” and are made from “100% virgin white paper”.

Last year, Amazon launched a number of jan/san products under its Amazon Basics brand that were tagged as ‘Professional’, ie seemingly aimed at the B2B market. Amazon Basics, however, may lack credibility with B2B purchasers given its presence in a wide range of categories. That might put off buyers looking for specialist products which can withstand the rigours of a professional environment such as a workplace restroom or factory floor. Perhaps this is where AmazonCommercial comes in and it will be interesting to see how the e-commerce giant develops this new brand.

Distribution Management expands Pennsylvania DC Distribution Management, the parent company of Supplies Network, has expanded its Northeast distribution centre (DC) in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, to support customer demand and future growth expectations in a high-volume region. The DC now has four times the capacity of the previous facility.

September 2019

Nienkämper buys out ICF ownership stake High-end Canadian corporate furniture manufacturer Nienkämper is once again an independent entity after buying out the ownership interest of International Contract Furnishings (ICF). Nienkämper had been part of ICF since 1994 and is now owned by a family trust. Founder Klaus Nienkämper will remain as Chairman and continue to lead the design direction of the firm.

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NEWS

Analysis:

Crucially, as SOFEA entered what turned out to be its final months, only three reseller members – ADVEO, Groupe Alkor and Antalis – remained, with two of those undergoing important structural/shareholding changes themselves.

OPI understands that manufacturers had lost confidence in the entity to deliver on its mission.

SOFEA Chairman, tesa’s Matthias Schumacher, said he had battled until the end to try and onboard more resellers and persuade them to publish the product data. It appears that SOFEA’s was a classic ‘chicken and egg’ situation, whereby too many vendors and resellers watched from the sidelines and took a ‘wait and see’ stance.

Schumacher also admitted that changes in the European reseller community over the past five years had worked against the organisation.

Former global powerhouses Staples and Office Depot – which had been early supporters of SOFEA – had sold their European operations to private equity firms and were therefore undergoing their own internal changes; ADVEO, although a member, was reeling from its bankruptcy and subsequent break-up.

“The sad part is that we were really ready,” he told OPI. “All the hard work had been done, the system had been tested and was working, the IT platform was stable and the first companies were ready to go.”

Time called on The European product rating association was officially closed at the end of August

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The Sustainable Office European Association (SOFEA) was dissolved on 31 August after about five and a half years in existence. The final decision to close down the organisation came following a member vote at a general meeting held at the end of June.

It’s a disappointing ending for the association that was formally established during Paperworld in Frankfurt in January 2014. Its aim appeared relatively straightforward: to establish and then run a pan-European environmental evaluation and rating system for office products which was then to be used by the reseller community.

The idea was that manufacturers would only have to evaluate each product once instead of responding to multiple requests from resellers across Europe.

The goal at that initial, well-attended Paperworld meeting had been to achieve membership numbers of 100 within 12 months.

Unfortunately, SOFEA never got anywhere near that figure and, following several departures at the end of 2018, ended with just 15 members.

In addition to that lack of widespread industry engagement, the absence of scale for a non-profit association dependent on membership fees hampered it throughout its lifetime.

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The sad part is that we were really ready

SOFEA Chairman Matthias Schumacher

FRUSTRATIONS SOFEA Managing Director Anita Gunther-Singh also expressed her frustration about the end of the association. “This was a real opportunity to add value in the office products community,” she lamented, adding: “You can build the greatest system in the world, but if no one is using it...”

Gunther-Singh and Schumacher both acknowledged that there were some shortcomings with the entity: the limited number of product groups didn’t encourage all vendors to get involved from the start and diluted the relevancy of the project for resellers while speed to market was relatively slow, making it difficult to maintain momentum. Also, the size of the task facing SOFEA had perhaps been underestimated and the association lacked resources in some areas.

Interestingly, Schumacher suggested that SOFEA’s failure highlighted a lack of wider-scale collaboration within the European OP community.

“There’s a missing link,” he said. “There are various national trade associations working in their own markets, but there is a tendency to point fingers at one another rather than come together with a single industry voice to take us forward.”

He continued: “I also work closely with the DIY trade in Europe. It has a well-established and well-supported European association that is light years ahead of the OP industry. I don’t have the answers about how we could manage it, but I believe this is something we should consider.”

NEWS

IN BRIEF

Newell to keep RCP

Newell Brands has confirmed that it intends to retain its Rubbermaid Commercial Products (RCP) unit.

RCP had been classified as held for sale and discontinued operations on Newell’s balance sheet as part of a major brand simplification programme.

The company said its decision to keep the division was based on the strength of the Rubbermaid Commercial brand, its competitive position in a large and growing category, and its track record of strong cash flow generation, sales growth and strong margins.

RCP’s annual sales last year were just over $1 billion, with around two-thirds of that coming from its commercial business and the other third from consumer-facing brands focused on the outdoor, garage and refuse categories. In 2018, the division made around $220 million in operating profit and is now set to account for a 40% year-on-year improvement in Newell’s earnings per share figure for 2019.

On the company’s second quarter earnings conference call, interim CEO Chris Peterson denied that this U-turn had been made because of a failure to sell RCP. He explained that the division had not seriously been marketed for sale because it was always intended to be one of the last divestitures of the transformation plan.

He also pointed to complexities that would have arisen by having to carve out the Rubbermaid Commercial supply chain from the Rubbermaid Consumer portfolio that Newell plans to keep, saying the two are “relatively integrated”.

GSA makes combined MRO and jan/san awards The US General Services Administration (GSA) has named 30 suppliers to its new Maintenance Repair Facility Supplies (MRFS) purchasing channel, a category that accounts for $2.8 billion in annual federal government spending.

The adoption of the MRFS channel combines GSA’s previous MRO and jan/san categories into one programme in an effort to streamline the purchasing process. Products include hand and power tools, paints, and a wide range of cleaning equipment and products.

30 blanket purchase agreements (BPA) have been made under the GSA’s Multiple Awards Schedules numbers 51V, 73 and 75, with all but four of the awardees being small businesses. The new BPA holders include independent dealers Supply Chimp (the only awardee on all three schedules) and Supplies Now, and large resellers such as Grainger and MSC.

www.opi.net

ISSA launches CMI consulting programme

10

Worldwide cleaning industry association ISSA has launched a consulting initiative through its educational arm, the Cleaning Management Institute (CMI), which is available to ISSA members in the US, Canada, the UK and Latin America.

The programme has been designed to help cleaning organisations advance and reorganise their operations and systems through a holistic, seven-step approach. It includes a series of consultations centred on culture, training, leadership and workloading.

ECI acquires in Europe Newly-rebranded B2B software firm ECI is to acquire Trivest Beheer, a provider of vertical software solutions to the SMB manufacturing sector in Europe. The deal is expected to close in the current financial quarter, with Trivest’s nearly 3,000 customers and over 300 employees set to join ECI’s Manufacturing division.

TMR buys GEM UK franking machines and mailroom equipment distributor The Mailing Room (TMR) has completed the acquisition of GEM UK Mailing Solutions. GEM is TMR’s fourth acquisition in the past two years as it follows through on its five-year growth programme.

Manuscript Pen buys wholesaler UK calligraphy and writing instruments manufacturer Manuscript Pen Company has acquired distributor Lime Art & Stationery and its subsidiaries. The two businesses will now trade as a single company.

Flex makes major California acquisition US imaging and managed print company Flex Technology Group has bought CBE Office Solutions, Southern California’s largest office technology provider.

CBE’s executive team will remain in their roles. It is Flex’s 15th acquisition since it was acquired by private equity firm Oval Partners in early 2016.

Weedon joins Print-Rite Europe Print industry veteran Steve Weedon is the new CEO of Print-Rite Europe, which includes two Pelikan units in France and Germany that were acquired in 2017.

NEWS

Leadership change at Lyreco

Clover addresses sale rumours

New head of Amazon Business

Shoichiro Iwata forced out as Askul CEO

Global business products reseller Lyreco has named Greg Liénard as CEO following the sudden departure of Hervé Milcent in July. Milcent left Lyreco after just over four and a half years in charge, with company veteran Liénard stepping into the role.

Most recently Managing Director of Lyreco Asia, Liénard has been with Lyreco for more than 20 years, also serving as the group’s HR Director and Manager of the mergers and acquisitions team.

The France-based reseller also revealed details of an important change at board level. It has been confirmed that Nathalie Gaspard will take over from her father, Georges, as President of the group from the Greg Liénard beginning of 2020.

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Alexandre Gagnon

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17-year Amazon veteran Alexandre Gagnon has been confirmed as the new VP of Amazon Business following the departure of Prentis Wilson.

French Canadian Gagnon had been running Amazon’s Canadian and Mexican businesses since 2013, and has held a variety of roles since first joining the company in 2002. These included helping set up Amazon Canada, and a spell in Europe where he supported the launch of Amazon in Italy and Spain.

His appointment comes after Wilson – who had overseen the development of Amazon Business into a $10 billion B2B powerhouse in less than four years – took up the role of President at online wholesaling start-up Boxed.

In August, Clover Technologies denied it had been sold as rumours continued to circulate about the company’s future.

Only a few weeks prior to this, the ink and toner remanufacturer confirmed that it had brought in strategic advisors after the value of a leveraged loan had nosedived following a bleak business outlook.

Performance has been hit by a large customer loss in its Wireless division and the negative impact to Clover of closer relations between HP and Xerox for toner supplies. “Clover is operating in the ordinary course of business and its number one priority remains serving its customers,” the company said in an 8 August statement.

The firm added that no transfer of ownership to a new strategic investor had occurred, but added the caveat: “[We] cannot provide any assurances as to whether any such transaction will occur in the future.” It also confirmed that it was still “evaluating strategic options to address its existing capital structure”.

Shoichiro Iwata, the long-standing CEO of leading Japanese office products reseller Askul, has retired after failing to get the backing of the company’s main shareholders at its annual meeting in early August.

His departure came after Askul’s two largest shareholders, Yahoo Japan and Plus Corporation – which together control around 55% of its voting rights – sided against Iwata’s reappointment. This followed a disagreement about the strategy for developing the LOHACO B2C e-commerce platform.

Taking over as CEO at Askul is Akira Yoshioka, company board member and most recently the COO of the LOHACO joint venture with Yahoo Japan. The 51-year-old has been with Askul since 2001 and has held a number of senior positions since then.

He took on the LOHACO role when the e-commerce platform was established in 2012.

Yoshioka’s appointment will likely lead to better relations between Askul and its largest shareholder, but the future of LOHACO as a joint venture between the two companies still remains uncertain.

Iwata had been closely associated with Askul since it was created as a division of Plus in 1993. When it was spun off in 1997, he became Askul’s President and was named as CEO three years later.

Akira Yoshioka

Shoichiro Iwata

Essendant’s VP of its Vertical Markets Group (VMG) David Haugh left the wholesaler in August to take up a role leading the government business of industrial supplies reseller MSC. Haugh joined Essendant – then still known as United Stationers – in 2004 and led its ‘war on waste’ cost-reduction initiative. He then became part of the team that set up the wholesaler’s Public Sector Management Group, which later became VMG. Since then, VMG has been a highly successful unit at Essendant, achieving strong double-digit growth in partnership with some of the leading independent dealers in the US. It accounts for sales in excess of $250 million in what Essendant sees as a billion-dollar opportunity for the independent channel.

At the time of going to press, Essendant President Harry Dochelli confirmed to OPI that he and VP of Sales Renee Starr were still finalising the appointment of Haugh’s successor.

Saligram named as new Newell CEO Ex-OfficeMax chief Ravi Saligram will take over as the new CEO of Newell Brands, effective 2 October. Newell began its CEO search in March this year after the departure of Michael Polk. The company is currently being led on an interim basis by its CFO Chris Peterson.

Saligram will join Newell with a reputation as someone who leads business transformations: at OfficeMax, his tenure ended after the sale of the company to Office Depot; more recently at Ritchie Bros – where he was in charge since 2014 – he oversaw the largest acquisition in the company’s history.

Newell has been implementing a wide-ranging “accelerated transformation plan” over the past 15 months as it looks to become a more focused, simplified company. Despite progress with this plan, it has not found favour with investors, and Newell’s share price has fallen by around 50% in the past 12 months.

End of the road for ADVEO Italy

NEWS

Haugh leaves Essendant

ADVEO Italy is being liquidated after an eleventh-hour agreement to save the wholesaler collapsed. At the beginning of June, the future of ADVEO’s Italian subsidiary appeared to have been assured after a last-minute binding offer was received from an undisclosed party in a deal worth around €7 million ($7.7 million).

Managing Director Luca Borroni had told OPI that the closing of the acquisition was a “formality”. That said, it still depended on certain financial aspects of the separate transaction for the acquisition of ADVEO’s French and Benelux operations by private equity firm Sandton Capital Partners and the wholesaler’s banking consortium.

It has transpired that the prospective buyers of ADVEO Italy had not been fully aware of certain running costs related to fees for IT and brand assets that were being demanded by Sandton – these assets having been acquired by the private equity firm in its France/Benelux deal.

Now the process to wind up ADVEO Italy has begun, something that will likely be completed by the end of this month or early October as stock is sold off, staff is laid off and other loose ends are tied up.

It remains to be seen what impact the demise of ADVEO will have on the Italian market in the short term. Richard Scharmann, CEO of pan-European group PBS Holding – which has just entered the Italian wholesaling market via a greenfield entity called Dekstoo – predicted the possibility of “chaos” in the key back-to-school season after many dealers waited until the last minute to find alternative sources of supply.

PICTURE OF THE MONTH

ACCO buys leading Brazilian supplier

Nestlé brand Nespresso has partnered with Swedish bike brand Vélosophy to produce a bicycle made from recycled aluminium coffee capsules. 1,000 limited edition RE:CYCLE bikes made from more than 300,000 recycled Nespresso Arpeggio capsules are now available. They are being sold exclusively on Vélosophy’s e-commerce platform for a price of €1,290 ($1,440) each.

September 2019

ACCO Brands has strengthened its position in the Brazilian market with the acquisition of leading notebook vendor Foroni, effective 1 August, in a deal worth around $57 million.

The São Paulo-based company – founded in 1924 – will add about $60 million in full-year sales for ACCO, with its contribution for the rest of 2019 expected to be $35 million. One of Brazil’s top school supplies brands, it joins Tilibra in ACCO’s Brazilian brand portfolio.

The manufacturer is financing the transaction with a combination of cash and debt. A portion of the purchase price – approximately $6.3 million – will be held in escrow for a period of at least six years in the event of any claims against the sellers under the purchase agreement.

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SOCIAL SPY Social media highlights from the business products industry around the world Mercateo UK Limited

Staples Canada

Have you ever wondered what it’s like getting 400 people from 14 different countries into one picture?

It’s exhilarating. And we did just that at the start of our Summer Fest in Köthen, Germany, celebrating our diversity and unveiling our new goals. They’re nothing short of putting a man on the moon, but then again, that’s what good teams are built for.

Genuine Parts Company

Cricket anyone?? Here at GPC we love staying active and #engaging outside of the office!

www.opi.net

Lyreco Benelux

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Recently our drivers participated again in our annual #LyrecoDriversDay. During a sun-drenched day they were treated to numerous interactive workshops and interesting sessions. We think it is important that our drivers keep the bar high for both themselves and our customers.

20 Staples Canada stores across Ontario hosted young entrepreneurs as part of the province’s Summer Company programme, giving them the opportunity to showcase their innovative businesses to their communities.

We are proud to have participated in this important initiative and are happy to have played a role in helping these creative minds work smarter, learn more and grow every day. #worklearngrow

“Newell Brands is excited to support @apsupdate. We wish everybody a great start to the school year,” said Chris Peterson, Interim CEO & CFO. Here he is with Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Dr Meria Joel Carstarphen! #GiveAtNWL

BIC

This month the @CityOfLasVegas was accepting school supplies instead of fines for parking violations.

We’re skipping the parking violation and donating $5,000 in BIC school supplies directly to the Teacher Exchange to show our support!

Matt Dodd

Senior Executive Director, Corporate Philanthropy, City of Hope

Terrific day at the annual TOPS Golf Outing and Vendor Summit at the Arrowhead Golf Club in Chicago!

Big thanks to President Matt Roberts, the TOPS team and their business partners for raising $40K for City of Hope!

BIG INTERVIEW

Every channel,

EVERY

TIME

Retail is a tough place to be for office supplies operators, OP superstore retailing even more so. With stores still at its successful core, Officeworks in Australia has defied the odds for many years and new Managing Director Sarah Hunter is intent on keeping it that way with the company’s ‘every channel’ strategy

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www.opi.net

arah Hunter is a relatively new kid on the block at Officeworks, having started as Managing Director of the Australian office supplies retailer in January and replacing her long-serving predecessor Mark Ward. Her involvement with Officeworks’ parent Wesfarmers goes way back, however, as she worked for the Coles Group for the prior eight years, most recently to lead the demerger of the group from Wesfarmers.

Continuing Ward’s legacy of customer focus and always being where that customer wants to be is Hunter’s mantra. She talks to OPI’s Heike Dieckmann about Officeworks and how this retailer has defied the adverse odds of so many retailers and remains a thriving, growing business with a long and prosperous future ahead.

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OPI: Your Officeworks history is still fairly short, but you have some assets working in your favour in your new role of running Australia’s biggest OP operator – a background in retail and finance to name but two. Can you briefly chart your career path and what led you to your current position?

Sarah Hunter: I was born and raised in Australia and, as you alluded to, my educational background is in accounting and finance, as well as business management. I left Australia in early 2000 and spent nearly 11 years working and living in London, UK, in a variety of industries and sectors, including financial services, publishing, aviation and infrastructure.

My last role when I left the UK was Finance and Strategy Director for Gatwick Airport.

When I returned to Australia in 2010, I began working at the Coles Group which had just been acquired by Wesfarmers and was going through a significant turnaround.

I worked at Coles across the group and its various businesses – Coles Supermarkets, Coles Liquor and Coles Express – in a number of commercial and finance roles. My first step into an operational role was the opportunity in 2015 to run all of the supermarkets in the state of Victoria for Coles, comprising 210 stores and 28,500 team members.

I went on parental leave to have my second child, but was tempted back early when I was offered the incredible chance of leading the demerger of Coles out of Wesfarmers. It was Australia’s largest ever demerger and the fastest.

Coles is now listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) and is an ASX 20 business.

About a month before the listing, I was announced as the new Managing Director at Officeworks, which became effective in January 2019. And here we are just eight months later.

OPI: So you’ve seen quite a bit of change within Wesfarmers already. About two and a half years

BIG INTERVIEW Sarah Hunter

We continue to deliver strong growth and good returns for shareholders ago, there was a lot of talk about Officeworks either being up for sale or potentially being floated. Those ideas were fairly quickly abandoned. Can you elaborate on Wesfarmers strategy back then and now?

SH: That’s really a question for Wesfarmers. My understanding is the Wesfarmers leadership at the time took the view that, ultimately, Officeworks was going to deliver better returns for shareholders as part of Wesfarmers Group than it would have achieved as a separate standalone business, regardless of whether there was a sale or IPO.

OPI: I would go as far as to say that, in our sector at least, Officeworks is the envy of many when it comes to financial results. I realise it’s reporting season and you can’t divulge much.

Can you give a snapshot of highlights though?

SH: All I can say is what was published at the half-year results. For the first six months of the financial year to 31 December 2018, we grew 8.2% to revenues of about A$1.1 billion (US$743 million).

We had an 11.8% increase in EBIT for H1 to A$76 million. That’s stronger EBIT than sales growth which I believe is a sign of a good performance across the board. Return on capital delivered was 17.2% – again, a great return to shareholders by anyone’s standards.

In terms of the past few months, we had a strong start to the calendar year, but there’ve been challenges as well, economically and politically.

That’s quite normal and affects every retailer and indeed business in an election year [editor’s note: elections in Australia were held in May 2019].

September 2019

OPI: But that’s completely off the cards now?

SH: Wesfarmers maintains that every business is available for sale at any time at the right price.

If the return of a sale or IPO is more attractive to shareholders than what can otherwise be generated over the long term, then that’s worth looking at.

Personally, I think the financial history of Officeworks and our most recent trading results show that we continue to deliver strong growth and good returns for shareholders, so we’re certainly making a positive contribution to the Wesfarmers portfolio.

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Sarah Hunter BIG INTERVIEW www.opi.net 18

OPI: OK. Let’s move on from financials then.

You’re celebrating your 25th anniversary this year. At a time when retail in general and the OP superstore concept specifically is struggling, Officeworks seems to be somewhat immune to the massive challenges and indeed is often hailed as a shining example of how to remain relevant in this era of digitisation and online shopping. What’s the secret?

SH: You’re right, it’s been 25 years since we opened that first store in Richmond, Victoria, in June 1994 and it’s a very proud time for the business. I’ve grown up with Officeworks in my life.

I’ve always been a customer – first as a teenager and now as a parent and professional, buying arts and crafts, school and business supplies.

And looking at it from the customer point of view is where I think our success comes from.

We have a history of innovation and of listening to our customers, being responsive to their needs, which has meant we’ve always stayed on top in terms of our range and relevance. This focus on innovation and customer relevance drives our decision-making – from being one of the first large-scale bricks-and-mortar retailers in Australia to drive an online proposition, to our evolution to creating a true ‘every channel’ strategy. We put ourselves where we believe our customers expect us to be, whether that’s online, mobile, in store, via phone or on social media.

I believe a true ‘every channel’ philosophy is still quite unique today, not just in Australia, but globally. It’s not stores versus online, but a holistic attitude around delivering the best possible customer experiences with relevant ranges and solutions at a low price.

OPI: You’ve recently opened your biggest – and the world’s largest you say – OP superstore in Mentone, on the outskirts of Melbourne. What does that store look like?

SH: It’s a bit over 6,500 sq m (65,000 sq ft) in terms of floor space and offers customers more than 35,000 products. Again, I’ll refer to our ‘every channel’ philosophy here. We, for example, have a small online picking hub – kind of a mini distribution centre (DC) – at the back of this store which allows us to offer same-day delivery to parts of Victoria for our business customers. It means that in terms of SKUs, we can cover 98% of an average online order out of the store, so we don’t have to pick from our DCs, nor does the customer have to wait for it to come from our DC on the other side of town.

In addition to this hub, the store has a considerably wider range around education resources and art supplies, as well as a large commercial furniture and technology section, thereby catering very well for both the end consumer and business end of the spectrum.

Everything you can buy in the Mentone store you would be able to buy all around Australia through our website, but you can’t always see it in a traditional local store because of the much smaller size. Mentone is very much about showcasing our range and helping customers reimagine Officeworks and thinking of us in a different light.

OPI: How many stores do you have in total?

SH: We now have 167 and they are located across every state and territory in Australia. They start from about 200 sq m, so materially smaller, going up all the way up to the largest superstore in Mentone.

Our average store carries 15,000 SKUs, while Mentone covers more than 35,000 products, which is almost as many as our web shop offers (40,000 SKUs). As such, the new store reflects really well the breadth and depth of our entire range.

A true ‘every channel’ philosophy is still quite unique today, not just in Australia, but globally OPI: How many staff do you have in total?

SH: We employ just over 8,000 team members.

OPI: You’ve been very steady in terms of store count unlike so many of your global counterparts. What determines your store openings and closings?

SH: Our store portfolio isn’t the only driver of our growth, and perhaps there are different considerations from your ‘typical’ retailer. We’re looking at where B2C customers need us, where there are B2B growth opportunities and what we can cover via our online store.

Overall, we are growing our footprint, but the choice of location depends on many factors including small business or population growth in the area.

OPI: As regards your business model, you’ve mentioned the ‘every channel’ strategy a number of times. When we spoke to Mark Ward in some depth in 2013, he said online sales were about 12-13% of total revenues. How do the figures stack up now?

SH: It’s sitting at over 20% now. What’s really important, however, is that our stores continue to grow too, rather than online cannibalising their sales.

OPI: As such, I’m guessing that the big guys like Winc and the combined Complete Office Supplies (COS)/Lyreco entity are not direct competition for you?

SH: That’s right. There are parts of the market where we compete with them, but we also go up against a wide variety of retailers such as Ikea, Kmart and Harvey Norman and indeed local newsagents and online retailers like Amazon.

We don’t have a like-for-like competitor – there’s not another Officeworks in Australia, in the way that there is an Office Depot versus a Staples OP superstore in other parts of the world.

OPI: Can you describe your customer base?

SH: Outside of buying for their business, our customers are shopping for their school or university supplies, art and craft hobbies and professions, printing photos of their favourite memories, and buying furniture for their home office or study nook. They are also keen to get their hands on the latest technology.

When looking at our B2B customers, we have a split model. We have what we call ‘managed’ customers – businesses that are bigger spenders and need a personalised offering, with someone to call or who can visit them and help them with their purchasing. These customers are looked after by a separate team.

In most of our stores, we have in-store business specialists. Their role is to help and support small firms in the local area. They might not have huge budgets, but they need solutions to help them run and grow their companies.

OPI: Have you noticed a change in the market since the coming together of COS with Lyreco and the creation of Winc?

SH: I haven’t. What I would say is that the market is as competitive as it has ever been, but we haven’t seen a step change per se as a result of the consolidation that’s happened.

OPI: What about small independents that are organised in the groups? We always hear that Officeworks is one mighty competitor, but that you can’t match the service and attention to detail of a small dealer.

SH: Independent dealers are a part of the market meeting the needs of some customers. In the office supplies space, like I said, the market continues to remain competitive, and in addition to having a huge focus on remaining relevant to our customers, we also believe that we need to continue to deliver great service.

Having a wide range and low prices is expected these days. What makes people choose to shop with us versus others is the knowledge of our team and whether we deliver a shopping experience that is easy and engaging.

OPI: You briefly alluded to Amazon a minute go.

What’s your view of this operator that has now been in Australia for about 20 months?

SH: The Australian market had been fairly forewarned about Amazon’s intentions. But we were already in a very tough sector and I don’t think anyone was resting on their laurels, assuming there was nothing they needed to do about price, range and service. There was no complacency, whether you’re talking about Amazon, Alibaba or any other new player in the market.

OPI: I read a Morgan Stanley report a couple of years ago which said that out of all players in our space Officeworks will ultimately be the worst affected by Amazon...

SH: Well, so far it hasn’t turned out that way. The most important thing is that we have a strategy and we stick to our knitting. We listen to our customers

September 2019

OPI: What percentage of retail sales comes from the B2B side?

SH: We don’t split it that way, because we find that our customers often shop with multiple missions. I personally am a good example of that.

I might be on my way home from work, but go in the store to pick up some new crayons for my daughter.

I also want to buy some filing products for my home office because it’s tax time and I’ve got to get my documents organised. And then I need some stuff for the office, like paper for the printer and a new notebook. This is what I mean by multiple missions – I’m coming into the store with several hats on. We’ve found that if you segment your customer base too much at that level, you actually isolate people and that’s obviously not what we want to do.

As technology changes, home and work is merging, particularly for small businesses, so the B2B versus B2C label often isn’t appropriate anymore. Our ‘every channel’ strategy plays very much into this as it supports customers wherever and whenever they want to shop with us.

BIG INTERVIEW Sarah Hunter

OPI: In the past, there’s never been an Officeworks focus on the large corporate client base. Has that changed at all?

SH: No, it hasn’t. That’s not our customer target and focus. There’s been no change in our philosophy over the years.

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Sarah Hunter BIG INTERVIEW

and we offer them a range and solutions that are relevant, at low prices that they trust, and with great service. If we continue to do that, it doesn’t matter where the competitor comes from, we will maintain a growing business.

OPI: And I guess you have a price-match policy, so an Amazon or Alibaba will never beat you on just price?

SH: Exactly. It’s part of the reason why our customers continue to shop with us – they know and trust our pricing. Given the economic conditions in Australia over the past couple of years, plus rising energy prices and stagnant wage growth, value is very important.

OPI: That plays nicely into your private label range I assume?

SH: It does and it’s vital for us. The education sector is a good example where our private label range is doing very well. At the start of the academic year, customers – parents in other words – want to have a good range of school supplies. Some are brand conscious, but many don’t actually care about the brand, they just want to be able to afford a good-quality set of coloured pencils that their children need.

OPI: What’s your own brand range called?

SH: We have a few. For students, we have a brand called Studymate. If you are a small business owner, then the range that would resonate with you is J. Burrows. We also have a fashion stationery brand named Otto. For pre-schoolers and primary school children, our arts and crafts brand Kadink is popular. And we have our value brand which is called Keji.

www.opi.net

OPI: What percentage of your SKUs are own brand products or what percentage of sales do you generate from them?

SH: It’s not something we disclose. It depends on the category and whether we feel our suppliers already meet the needs of our customers. If they don’t, we will consider filling the gaps that exist – that’s broadly how we approach it.

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OPI: Talking of suppliers, there’s been a fair amount of consolidation in the market. Has that affected you?

SH: Not substantially. We have a tight supply base in terms of the number of suppliers and we’ve also invested over the past few years to build really strong partnerships.

We like to promote Australian manufacturing and Australia-sourced products where possible.

For example, we work very closely with an art supplier in Victoria that makes a lot of paint and other arts and educational products for us. And as we’re increasing our focus on this category, we are working to create new and innovative products, which drives growth for the supplier and for us.

OPI: What else is important to your customers?

SH: For some, corporate social responsibility is a key driver – we have seen an increase in

We like to promote Australian manufacturing and Australia-sourced products where possible customers making choices based on ethical sourcing or from a sustainability point of view. We like to be at the forefront of developments in these areas. We recently took balloons out of our stores that we would give to children and replaced them with FSC sustainably-sourced paper windmills.

Paper and plastic are really big topics. Both of our key private label brands – J. Burrows and Keji – are ethically accredited. Similarly, we have an arrangement with Greening Australia to deliver ‘Restoring Australia’, a retail-first initiative that sees two trees planted for every one used. This is based on the weight of paper-based products customers buy at Officeworks.

Plastic is something we’ve taken a reasonable position on to date, but there’s a huge amount to do.

I don’t think our industry has grasped the importance of this topic yet – we are still sending far too much plastic through our end-to-end supply chain and therefore through to landfill. And that applies to both the product itself and the packaging. We definitely need to get our arms around it much more.

OPI: While we’re on the subject of CSR, it’s something you feel strongly about at Officeworks judging by what’s written in the media.

SH: We do. It is very important to us and we’re closely aligned to the values of our parent company in that regard. Wesfarmers is more than 100 years old and we’ve adopted from it our strong ethos around the end-to-end sustainability of the business. It’s been proven time and again that businesses which imbed a corporate social responsibility mindset into their decision-making outperform the market.

It can help you be an employer of choice and retain talent, but it makes commercial sense too.

Having an ethical supply chain means you have consistency in terms of your sourcing and you build long-lasting relationships. On top of that, not having returns and throwing stuff away means you’re

Sarah Hunter BIG INTERVIEW

we see a lot of opportunities, particularly as our customers are telling us that they trust us and are keen for us to help them find solutions to problems, not just products.

OPI: What about furniture installation and things like that?

SH: We do it, but very much at what I call the start-up level. It’s about designing and fitting out somebody’s first office or perhaps the one after that. We worked with an engineering consultancy, for instance. It started with two people less than three years ago and has grown to a company of 30 staff. We’ve helped that business in its journey along the way with both products and services.

reducing your cost base. There’s a variety of lenses to look at this through.

Focusing on our team, being an employer of choice and working in partnership with our local communities are also key to our long-term sustainable growth.

OPI: How strong are you in adjacent categories such as breakroom, jan/san and PPE? SH: We have an offering in all of them, but it’s basic and confined to key items like coffee, biscuits, high-vis jackets and other things that small businesses might typically need. PPE in particular in greater depth is usually more relevant for bigger corporate customers that we don’t go after.

OPI: What are your best-performing product categories currently?

SH: We continue to outperform the market in the core office supplies area. We’re achieving that through innovation in range predominantly and by staying on top of trends and always bearing in mind the fashion element. We’ve got some positive growth from recent ranges we’ve brought in from Japan, for instance, and are also looking at innovation around some interesting areas that may otherwise be seen as quite traditional like bulldog clips. We’re bringing on board the best of what we see globally – things like ‘build your own pen’, for example.

Across the spectrum, we’re seeing excellent growth in education, largely due to our involvement in early learning. Parents want to find solutions for their children and as toy stores don’t really exist anymore, they are looking elsewhere for ideas of how to promote their children’s growth and learning in a fun way. This has been a real success story for us.

We also continue to make great strides with our end-to-end solutions. For example, our Print & Copy business can help start-ups with all their signage, business stationery and promotional products as they’re setting themselves up.

www.opi.net

OPI: I recall that you bought Geeks2U earlier this year. What does that bring to the table?

SH: It’s very complementary. It’s still very much a separate business, owned by Officeworks and reporting into it, but we’re cross-branding and cross-advertising it. Geeks2U offers a service to our customers which effectively means that, if they come and buy network equipment, a laptop and a printer from Officeworks, Geeks2U can help them install it and make sure it’s set up at home and the devices all talk to each other properly.

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OPI: Is the service proposition getting bigger for you then?

SH: Generally speaking, service for us, if you exclude Print & Copy, is very much in its infancy.

I would go as far as to say Geeks2U was our first real foray into services. It’s early days, but

OPI: So you think there’s plenty of scope left in the traditional ranges?

SH: Absolutely. In the core office supplies space we think the addressable market in Australia is about A$6 billion – we only have 22% share. If you include print, copy, technology, furniture and things like packaging, it’s a A$20 billion market and we don’t even have a 10% share of that.

On top of that, like I said, we are looking at things like education and more services and solutions for our small business customers – there are some fantastic growth opportunities there. And customers are asking for them. That, in my opinion, is the art – finding the solutions that our customers want rather than thinking of something we could sell, but no one’s asking for.

Officeworks’ new, “world’s biggest” OP store in Mentone, on the outskirts of Melbourne

OPI: To conclude, after just a few months in the job at Officeworks, what has been your key takeaway so far?

SH: It’s really important to be alert, to continue to listen to our customers, understanding what their needs are and making sure that the range and the experience that we create for them is relevant.

I believe this is what’s made us successful in the past 25 years and as long as we continue to do that, it will make us successful in the next 25.

HOT TOPIC

Online buying is becoming more and more prevalent in the B2B sector and now e-commerce giants are looking to cash in on the market – by Michelle Sturman

T

www.opi.net

he battle for share of wallet in the office supplies channel continues to intensify, with new business models taking slices out of an ever-decreasing pie. B2B e-commerce, however, has turned out to be a double-edged sword for many resellers, especially those using Amazon and its B2B platform Amazon Business. In some of the biggest B2B markets, Amazon Business now offers office supplies buyers a broad product range, Prime for Business, numerous delivery options and much more.

Conversely, everyone knows that, while maybe selling thousands of dollars' worth of goods through Amazon’s marketplaces, many operators are not able to turn a profit because of factors such as increased fees and competition, along with lower margins. “Lots of dealers tried Amazon early on, but because the prices and the margins in our industry are already so tight, coupled with the customer service that they typically provide, nobody has really been able to make it work,” says Mike Tucker, CEO of US office products trade association NOPA.

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UNDER FIRE No matter which part of the supply chain it relates to, each time Amazon makes an announcement everyone flinches in anticipation. But the tide may be turning. The company is now facing scrutiny on both sides of the Atlantic for its business practices, in particular the treatment of third-party (3P) vendors that sell on its marketplace.

In the US, Amazon is facing numerous lawsuits, including an antitrust case filed by the US Department of Justice that is investigating

whether Amazon exploits access to data to give it a competitive advantage over its marketplace sellers. Recently also, the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia ruled that Amazon can now be liable for defective goods sold on its site by 3P sellers, although that ruling only applies to this particular state.

Meanwhile, over in Europe, EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager has opened an anti-competitive case against Amazon, stating: “European consumers are increasingly shopping online. E-commerce has boosted retail competition and brought more choice and better prices. We need to ensure that large online platforms don't eliminate these benefits through anti-competitive behaviour. I have therefore decided to take a very close look at Amazon's business practices and its dual role as marketplace and retailer, to assess its compliance with EU competition rules.”

Elsewhere around the world, businesses such as The Warehouse Group (TWG) in New Zealand are clearly pre-empting the entry of Amazon in the country. TWG recently launched a B2C e-commerce marketplace featuring one million products and more than 1,500 brands, including stationery and office products.

Definition

Online marketplace: An e-commerce platform where third-party companies can sell their goods or services to customers and the transactions, and often fulfilment, are processed by the marketplace owner.

Opi.net poll

Resellers/vendors: what online marketplaces do you sell products on?

13%

7%

n None n Several, but not Amazon n Amazon and others n Just Amazon

33%

47%

HOT TOPIC Online Marketplaces

CRITICAL TIMING Following the success of Amazon and also Alibaba, which have gone some way towards validating the online marketplace segment, it is no wonder that other e-commerce giants including eBay, Walmart and Shopify are following suit. It demonstrates the importance of the $24 trillion global B2B e-commerce market as all the aforementioned businesses have begun wooing SMBs through enhanced offerings and services on their own marketplace platforms and offerings.

Natalie Malaszenko, SVP of eCommerce at Office Depot, is excited by the prospect: "B2B marketplaces will increasingly play a critical role in total B2B commerce. Most transactions are still manual today, with online marketplaces offering a helpful alternative for businesses to expand and make their processes frictionless. We are truly at the dawn of B2B e-commerce in the US." Like with anything else, there are pros and cons to using a marketplace versus a direct e-commerce site. For dealers, they can be a relatively easy entry into the world of online sales without having to deal with any of the operational requirements of e-commerce, or a stepping stone towards building an omnichannel customer experience.

Talking to OPI, Zoro President Kevin Weadick says: “Marketplaces tend to attract high levels of traffic and are one option Zoro [author's note: Zoro is an e-commerce site of MRO reseller Grainger] uses to advertise our large – and growing – product assortment of nearly three million items. We find that customers have an affinity for a particular channel, and in order to attract them, we have to meet them where they shop. "eBay and Walmart are two primary examples of marketplaces where Zoro offers its products; we further partner with Google to scale the merchandising of our large assortment."

Malaszenko agrees, adding that Office Depot also uses available B2B marketplaces with the "goal of connecting with and selling to more SMBs that might not come directly to our platform".

In a recent development, multichannel commerce platform Shopify now provides a fulfilment network for merchants of all sizes. Made available first for access in the US, Shopify will give sellers a network of distributed fulfilment centres and use machine learning to ensure timely deliveries and lower shipping costs. Other enhancements include specific shipping rules and pricing for various products, while payments allow merchants to sell in multiple currencies and get paid in local currency. Another forward-thinking addition is the ability to bring the in-store experience online by displaying products in 3D.

I have [...] decided to take a very close look at Amazon's business practices and its dual role as marketplace and retailer

September 2019

IT’S ALL IN THE DELIVERY Hybrid marketplace eBay has opted for integrated end-to-end fulfilment through its Managed Delivery service. Also beginning rollout in the US, the aim is to provide faster and more reliable delivery on millions of goods. The initiative is aimed – but not exclusively so – at sellers with high-volume inventory.

Managed Delivery will provide sellers with the ability to outsource the storage, packing and shipping of products through 'expert' logistics partners managed by eBay. The new service allows sellers to store inventory closer to buyers in strategically located warehouses across the US, resulting in faster delivery time and lower shipping costs. Due to go live in 2020, eBay CEO Devin Wenig says of the initiative: “Managed Delivery will be a competitively-priced logistics solution for businesses selling high-volume goods in popular categories like electronics. The implementation of this service will dramatically lessen the shipping burden on sellers, while improving the shopping experience and making unboxing fun for buyers.”

The company has also launched multi-user accounts, a ‘buy it again’ feature and mobile delivery status for package tracking.

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Online Marketplaces HOT TOPIC www.opi.net 26

In the race for speediness in the e-commerce channel, Walmart fired back at Amazon with a free next-day shipping solution for consumers back in May (see Hot Topic, OPI June 2019, page 24), although its marketplace fulfilment is serviced by logistics firms such as start-up Deliverr. In fact, Deliverr and other companies of the same ilk may hold the key to fast delivery options outside the Amazon ecosystem by taking care of requirements including the packing and shipping of products from various marketplace platforms such as eBay and Shopify.

As this issue went to press, Walmart was gearing up to announce additional enhancements to its two-day delivery experience for its sellers, including multiple fulfilment centres, the ability to map inventory to centres, and the use of a solution provider for some items. All this, Walmart clearly hopes, will make it attractive to the SMB market as the fight to entice B2B sellers heats up.

OPENING MARKETS Perhaps the most exciting development so far is the introduction of China-based online behemoth Alibaba opening up its B2B marketplace Alibaba.com to US sellers. Originally created to connect suppliers in China with buyers in overseas markets, now US SMBs can sell on the platform, both domestically and internationally.

To support the release, features for US-based vendors include an interface for managing a digital store, along with CRM and communications tools and online payments. Alibaba has also introduced ‘anchor sellers’, of which Office Depot and Robinson Fresh were the first two on the platform.

“By becoming an anchor seller, we can reach a larger small business audience and provide them with the products and services they need to compete on a global scale,” said Office Depot CEO Gerry Smith at the launch.

This Alibaba/Depot deal builds upon the “strategic collaboration” announced back in May between the two companies and backs Smith’s plan to expand Depot’s B2B business, which now accounts for around 70% of the reseller's sales.

The association is aimed at providing US SMBs with access to a single online destination for goods and services to help their businesses grow (see Analysis, OPI April 2019, page 6).

“With Office Depot, we will be able to offer SMBs more choice, greater access, and further opportunities to grow. We’ll accomplish this by leveraging Office Depot’s local relationships, capabilities and expertise alongside Alibaba’s global platform, technologies and proven marketplace model,” commented Alibaba Head of North America B2B John Caplan at the time.

In an update, Malaszenko adds: "We launched our marketplace pilot earlier this year with the goal of providing SMBs with a forum to reach our approximately ten million business customers. We are strategically expanding this to include more sellers on our platform and help both SMB sellers and buyers grow."

As Tucker adds: “At least now there are some [marketplace] options. Whether or not any of them

50.7% In 2018, electronic channels accounted for

of B2B transactions in the US

Source: Digital Commerce 360 – 2019 US B2B E-commerce Market Report

turn out to be viable for independent dealers is a different story, but I think there is a hunger and a need for the OP sector to link up with some of these marketplaces. It gives them an extra channel and vertical that they can steer their customers to.

"At the end of the day, they can leverage their fulfilment partners, manufacturers, or different product categories through an eBay for example and still maintain their own customers. In terms of resources, it could be a win-win in a way that it doesn’t seem to be with Amazon,” he adds.

While Office Depot has not made any such claims, speculation suggests that the Alibaba collaboration could put the office supplies reseller in contention as a marketplace option to rival Amazon, and as a potential candidate, along with Walmart or eBay, for the US General Services Administration (GSA) e-commerce portals, also known as the Commercial Platforms Initiative.

There is a hunger and a need for the OP sector to link up with some of these marketplaces PROS AND CONS E-commerce marketplaces may not be a recent addition to the B2B sector, but Amazon rivals are clearly upping their game in terms of services and options for SMBs. That said, while marketplaces offer access to a wider audience and can take care of marketing and logistics, the flipside is often increased competition, especially against better-known brands, coupled with increased price transparency as well as lower brand equity and customer loyalty.

For the time being, however, they are good testing grounds for those wishing to reach new customers or supplement their own direct selling site, as Zoro’s Weadick explains: “Shopping behaviours are changing in the B2B space as millennials now constitute up to half of the market as they move into jobs responsible for company purchasing decisions. We know these customers are looking for a simple, streamlined process; to gain their business, e-commerce sites must have the products they’re looking for, while also making it easy to search for, find and buy them.”

CATEGORY UPDATE

Special Issue

JAN / SAN

Specia

JAN

Specia

BREAK

SPE

Specia

A clean bill OF HEALTH Special Issue BREAKROOM

SPECIAL

The vast jan/san sector continues to roar ahead and resellers involved in this category are reaping the benefits. Those not yet on board would do well to reconsider, say the experts – by David Holes

A

www.opi.net

n economic upswing in the US and increasing awareness among businesses of the PR importance of keeping their premises clean is driving sales in the jan/san sector to new levels.

There’s been strong demand for products in this segment over the past year, as Nick Lomax, VP of Sales Food & Beverage and Jan/San at US wholesaler S.P. Richards, points out: “The category continues to accelerate at a rapid pace, with disinfectants, towels and tissues, bin liners and cleaning equipment among its top products.

We’re continuing to invest in larger assortments and deeper inventory levels, plus gaining the expertise to educate customers and sell into this sector, despite its complexities. Expanding this category is a strong part of our short- and long-term growth goals.”

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OPPORTUNITIES FOR INDEPENDENTS At Australian dealer group Office Brands, Merchandise Manager Andrew Gilbert reports significant growth in jan/san over the past 12 months: “The majority of our dealers now have some level of involvement in the sector as it’s recognised as a key opportunity for growth and a relatively easy addition to their other offerings.

Most involvement is in non-technical areas such as paper-based janitorial lines. Previously, more

complicated areas – such as chemicals where health and safety compliance and regulations apply – have tended to restrict the ability for our dealers to get involved in this category. However, this is slowly changing, with suppliers providing great support for our members.”

In the UK, Tim Beaumont, Managing Director of dealer group Nemo, says that its members have seen 17% growth in the category over the past year despite competing against established ‘specialist’ companies in this market. “This means acquiring new customers can be tricky,” he explains, “but by leveraging the strong, personal relationships they have with existing clients, our dealers are having considerable success upselling into the jan/san market. The elephant in the room is that some traditional carriers won’t take chemicals which can limit distribution, but members are finding alternative delivery companies that allow them to take advantage of the opportunities.”

Shifting continents to the US, Frank Hoard, Director of the Facility Supply Channel at dealer group Independent Suppliers Group (ISG), points out that consolidation among traditional jan/san suppliers is causing disruption in the mature distribution market. This is allowing its members to establish themselves in this sector and expand their offerings beyond conventional OP. “With freight costs continuing to skyrocket, we’re seeing

BREAK

SPE

The majority of our dealers now have some level of involvement in the sector as it’s recognised as a key opportunity for growth and a relatively easy addition to their other offerings WASHROOM DRIVERS There is a growing appreciation of the impact that washroom facilities have on users, both from a health perspective, but also in the way they influence the perception of a building as a whole.

Despite being such a small proportion of the total footprint – typically less than 5% – facilities management companies receive four times more complaints about the restroom than any other area within a building.

It is no surprise, therefore, says Chris Wakefield, VP for European Marketing & Product Development at GOJO Industries-Europe, that facilities managers are looking for solutions that improve the end-user experience while also making it easy for staff to maintain the washroom.

“Consumers are much more likely to practise healthy hand hygiene if the user experience is enjoyable. Technology can play a key role AF’s Anti-bac+ range

in achieving this. User-friendly and intuitive dispensers, effective yet pleasant formulations and a welcoming, well-maintained washroom make all the difference.”

Lomax, meanwhile, contends that the strong US economy and increased profits are giving companies the scope to invest in their jan/san facilities. And many of the dollars are being lavished on the washroom, with new, higher-end fixtures and fittings installed. He adds: “While doing this, businesses are also able to make longer-term savings by using more efficient solutions that have lower cost-in-use and which save time by employing refills that are quicker to replace.”

September 2019

BIOLOGICAL WARFARE The constant battle against malevolent microbial organisms – those viruses and bacteria that present a danger to human health – is another huge driver within the jan/san sector.

Renee Buchanan, Communications Manager at P&G Professional, states that effective cleaning and sanitisation programmes are top of mind for key decision-makers across the spectrum, from independent food service operators to national hoteliers and every business in between. “With the continued and increasing popularity of online consumer review sites, businesses are working even harder to ensure that their premises are not only disinfected to a high level to ensure the health and safety of employees and guests, but also look, smell and feel clean, to help avoid impactful negative ratings or reviews.”

Adds Lomax: “Companies are investing a huge amount of money trying to reduce employee illnesses which costs them billions of dollars each year. Items such as sanitising stations and first aid kits are being upgraded and there’s also far more focus on reducing the risks of cross-contamination with a move towards touch-free soap and towel/tissue dispensers.”

According to Wakefield, this type of technology is having a big impact in the jan/san sector, especially when it comes to infection control and influencing healthy hand hygiene behaviour.

“Touch-free soap and sanitiser dispensers have become an increasingly popular option that are welcomed by users who can be reluctant to touch taps, dispensers and dryers if they don’t look clean or are leaking,” he says. “When these machines detect the presence of hands, they will distribute the exact amount of product required each time which helps reduce wastage. And because they are not touched by multiple hands, they are far more hygienic.”

Considerable effort now also goes into developing technologically advanced formulations which are both effective against germs, kind to skin and, importantly, a pleasure to use. They need to be fast-acting, not only in laboratory testing settings but, critically, in real life.

At HK Wentworth in the UK, Group Marketing Manager Julia Vorley says that there’s been a growing clamour from its customers for office space cleaning solutions that contain certified antibacterial benefits. Accordingly, the company

CATEGORY UPDATE Jan/San

real growth from independent dealers due to their efficiencies in delivering products over ‘the last mile’.”

He adds: “Year-on-year growth in jan/san has increased 10% for our members and we expect that trend to continue for a multitude of reasons. With jan/san houses selling out to national distributors that only want to deliver in larger quantities, the reality is that most of the bigger names you know in this sector are starting to leave the mid-market customer behind. As such, independent dealers are uniquely positioned to help customers when it comes to their daily jan/san needs.”

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Jan/San CATEGORY UPDATE

has spent a significant amount of R&D time on the development, testing and registration of its new Anti-bac+ range, with successful launches in the UK, Germany and France. She states: “These products offer a highly effective weapon in the fight against germs on office and workstation equipment. They have been put through their paces against a range of standards, passing with flying colours and proving effective against HIV, all forms of influenza viruses, Ebola, rubella, measles, SARS and much more. One of the most impressive features of the range is the speed of the sanitising effect which is fully effective after just 30 seconds.”

CLEAN TECHNOLOGY Perhaps one of the newest trends to reach the jan/san industry is IoT technology which can play a key role in ensuring that facilities are accessible, well-stocked and well-maintained.

Historically, staff have had to physically monitor washrooms to check stock levels and replenish supplies. This inevitably leads to situations where dispensers run dry or are refilled when the previous stock is only half used (rather than risk running out) – a waste of both money and precious resources.

Potentially, that’s a thing of the past now (see also Final Word, page 62).

GOJO Industries-Europe, for example, has launched a range of items employing this smart

GOJO Industries’ SMARTLlNK dispenser

technology known as GOJO SMARTLINK Electronic Monitoring Solutions. Mobile apps link to connected dispensers providing real-time data and which use predictive analysis algorithms to calculate when they will need refilling. This system eliminates the need to rely on human judgement and gives managers the control to effectively plan stock replacement, staffing allocations, and training requirements, all from their phone or tablet.

As Wakefield explains: “Digital innovation offers easier ways to monitor hand hygiene behaviour, stock levels and refill requirements.

Adoption of such technology is growing rapidly as these innovative solutions are now more affordable for commercial cleaning and janitorial companies to implement.”

An interesting adjunct to the rise of smart cleaning equipment is raised by Donato Colucci, Business Unit Manager at Italian reseller Errebian: “The increasing amount of cleaning equipment embedded with sensors and connectivity is likely to enable resellers to invoice customers on a ‘cost-in-use’ basis, rather than just for tanks of products. As the OP industry is already very skilled in this way of invoicing – for example with managed print services – we are ideally placed to tackle this new development compared to ‘old-fashioned’ cleaning specialists.”

OPPORTUNITIES ABOUND, BUT WHAT ABOUT THE CHALLENGES? Despite the fantastic potential, the obstacles that OP operators venturing into the jan/san category face should also not be underestimated. Here’s a snapshot of some of them:

www.opi.net

ANDREW GILBERT (OFFICE BRANDS) “The lack of a consistent national supply chain is a problem in Australia. Many vendors are strong in particular regions, but struggle to provide a consistent level of service to our geographically-diverse dealer base. We continue to look for suppliers that have regional warehouses and can provide short lead times.

“A major issue for us is to be competitive in a market with some very strong specialist competitors. Due to our relatively small volumes, we rely on wholesalers to fulfil many of our requirements rather meet the minimum order levels required by manufacturers. With the additional costs associated with a wholesaler in the supply chain, we do struggle to win business on price.”

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FRANK HOARD (INDEPENDENT SUPPLIERS GROUP) “The biggest challenge our independent OP dealers face is getting to grips with how the sales cycle and sourcing of products differ in the jan/san sector. To be competitive with traditional distributors in this category, you must be willing to stock a sufficient number of SKUs and then have your sales team focus on your particular range. The higher your revenues, the better your cost of goods will become.”

RENEE BUCHANAN (P&G PROFESSIONAL) “End-user customers often encounter high rates of employee turnover. This can affect many areas of the business, but additionally impacts on the effectiveness of cleaning programmes as new employees need to be trained on processes and solutions. Customisable training, simplified materials offered in multiple languages and robust online offerings at the P&G Professional University are just a few of the ways we help combat these potential gaps.”

TIM BEAUMONT (NEMO) “Price is still a considerable factor when it comes to customers purchasing items in the jan/san sector and the rise of online vendors is especially troubling. Our dealers do well when they can focus on the overall basket of products and benefit from having a close relationship with clients. This includes offering a complete CSR and environmental policy, for instance, which is especially advantageous when selling to big blue chip companies.

“Also, with paper-based items still dominant in the washroom, paper market price fluctuations can make stocking these difficult and very vulnerable to price increases. The number of products available in variable sheet sizes and pack sizing also confuses the consumer.

That said, our industry is becoming better at differentiating the basic items customers can buy at supermarkets from the more professional stock we sell, which is helping them make meaningful price comparisons.”

Andrew Gilbert

Frank Hoard

Renee Buchanan

Tim Beaumont

Jan/San CATEGORY UPDATE

In a separate development, ISG’s Hoard says that the use of new materials in offices is also opening up the sector to independent dealers: “Particularly, changes in flooring technology have removed one of the major hurdles for our members.

New hard-wearing, unwaxed laminate floors don’t require the extensive maintenance time and high-priced chemicals that traditional alternatives needed to keep them in good condition. As such, the level of expertise and the need to stock large volumes of expensive chemicals has been reduced, acting as a disruptor in this market and providing opportunities for new entrants.”

According to Nemo’s Beaumont, customers expect clever products for their money, but it’s often the simplest solutions that achieve success.

He explains: “The P-Wave antibacterial handle (P-hold) – a snap-on sleeve for door handles that uses silver ion technology to combat pathogens – is a great example. It’s simple and effective, and has been a relatively easy sell for our dealers.”

A GREEN CLEAN Along with the rise in technological solutions, there is also an ever-growing nod towards consumer preferences and demands. End users primarily want an easy, enjoyable experience, but their awareness of environmental and health issues has resulted in a desire for products and processes which are both effective and also minimise the impact on the planet. This trend has resulted in a drive for items that balance performance against their ‘eco’ and ‘health-friendly’ qualities.

“Sustainability is now built into everything we do and taken into account at every stage of the product life cycle, from the selection of raw materials, to manufacturing, packaging,

distribution, in-use and disposal,” says Buchanan. “Our customers want responsible items, but still need quality solutions that work and often there is a trade-off to be made.

P&G Professional takes a holistic approach to sustainability with products that save resources, can be used for multiple purposes and which clean and disinfect first time. This limits the need to re-use them too often and reduces the amount used, leading to a total operational cost reduction for our customers. When fewer products are needed overall, there’s obviously a clear environmental benefit too.”

Reducing single-use plastic is still top of the agenda across the board, according to Beaumont, with the focus on reducing its use in packaging most dominant in the jan/san sector. This has had a knock-on effect on the demand for concentrated cleaning formulas with refillable/reusable containers that don’t go straight to landfill.

Our customers want responsible items, but still need quality solutions that work and often there is a trade-off to be made He concludes: “Society in general is becoming much more aware of recycling and our impact on the environment, and this is driving purchasing habits. Customers are no longer just wishing for environmental accreditations, they actively require them to meet company policies, so we are seeing a shift to solutions that have the right story behind them.”

JAN/SAN E-COMMERCE REVIEW

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A recent report from US research group Apruve looked at the B2B e-commerce offerings of 75 of the top jan/san distributors in the country and rated them based on three broad criteria: user experience, marketing and shipping, and B2B product needs.

The top three highest-rated companies, in order, were Office Depot, CleanItSupply.com and Staples. Apruve stated that while there were good examples of e-commerce portals among the leading jan/san distributors – among them the above three which scored highly across the board – there was still much room for improvement. The main criticisms Apruve highlighted on those websites ranking below average on the overall list were as follows:

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• Not mobile responsive: with 74% of all purchasing research now done from mobile devices, this is a serious error • No volume pricing: it gives new buyers little incentive to place large orders • No product reviews: this lack of ‘social proof’ is a glaring omission these days • No guest checkout: a serious disincentive for one-off/irregular customers

Keeping it simple – the P-Wave snap-on antibacterial handle

• Gated sites: no access without an account login.

This also has a negative effect on SEO, meaning new customers may never find your website.

The full report can be downloaded at: https://apruve.com/apruval-rating-reports/ jan-san-distributors/

ADVERTORIAL

Bi-silque:

Innovating FOR 40 YEARS Innovation is at the heart of visual communications (viscom) vendor Bi-silque and has resulted in the company’s success and continued growth during its 40 years of existence

B

i-silque has always prioritised three pillars of innovation: social responsibility, environmental impact and economic growth. Looking back in time and at the current organisational structure, these innovations are clearly visible. For example, Bi-silque fully supports its employees and families, has the latest state-of-the-art equipment available in its factory, and warehouses and offices in several countries to support its customers.

All this progress has been important for business growth and has resulted in Bi-silque’s leadership in the viscom market. However, the company is probably best known for product-related advancements such as its Cradle to Cradle Certified range, which now incorporates eight product families and makes it a leader in this category.

www.opi.net

ADDITIONAL BENEFITS OF BEING CRADLE TO CRADLE CERTIFIED

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Besides the recycled content and the recyclability of the product’s components, the Cradle to Cradle Certified Product Standard also investigates: • The material health of products to ensure that no hazardous substances to humans and the environment are utilised • The percentage of renewable energy used to manufacture the products • The water stewardship of the manufacturing plant and of certified products • The social impact of the organisation within the community

Bi-silque’s product innovations don’t stop there. The company launched the Industrial Range in 2017 which continues to develop and improve to this day. It is a growing market segment due to the current awareness of the importance of visual communications on the shop floor. Visible signage helps to increase the overall efficiency of manufacturing processes, reduce waste and, most importantly, improve employee well-being and safety.

WORKPLACE DESIGN In 2018, Bi-silque launched the ARCHYI. brand, focusing on high-end visual communications aids designed to enhance collaboration,

The Industrial Range was launched in 2017

ADVERTORIAL Bi-silque

THE BEAUTY OF THE NEW GLASS PANEL • Glass surface boards come in standard sizes of up to 2.4 m, but without the weight of normal glass, making these boards easily transportable • With best-in-class writability and erasability, the boards are cleaner-looking and also easily wiped down • An extremely thin glass surface and a whiter and clearer board means there’s no shadowing in the background • There is no need for high-strength magnets for paper fixation as per other glass products in the market • The panel core construction offers an extremely flat surface as well as sturdiness, without being heavy • The boards are excellent for extensive use and highly durable due to the glass layer • Available in different product constructions including wall mount and mobile creativity and efficiency. The ARCHYI. difference lies in the use of advanced materials which enable products to blend in better in the workspace.

Taking into account current workplace trends, Bi-silque has also developed sound reduction room dividers to improve communication in open space environments.

The ARCHYI. range has grown substantially over the past year and now includes several collections featuring mobile, robust, high-performance and, in many cases, versatile solutions. This brand is ideally suited for design solutions that inspire people to be more collaborative, connected and creative in their place of work. Bi-silque has continuously launched new ARCHYI. offerings that meet the challenges of visionary and future offices, addressing end customers’ needs and their expectations in the work environment.

www.bisilque.com

Innovation has always been one of Bi-silque’s most important traits in ensuring ongoing growth and constant success

More recently, Bi-silque revealed a new board marker – the Inkstring – which, thanks to the innovative gel ink type, provides a smoother writing experience. One of the outstanding features of this marker lies in its cleaning – the ink is very easy to remove, even after a few months on the board, leaving almost no ghosting on most whiteboard surfaces. Due to its construction, the Inkstring marker has close to three times the writing longevity compared to standard markers. A vital environmental benefit is that, when erasing the ink from whiteboards, it does not release microdust and therefore maintains the surrounding air quality.

Innovation has always been one of Bi-silque’s most important traits in ensuring ongoing growth and constant success, and its progressive nature will certainly not end here. The big question therefore is: “What’s next?”

As the manufacturer celebrates its 40th anniversary, the need to keep on innovating is even more important. To prove this point, earlier this year it released a new writing board panel that dramatically improves the user experience.

September 2019

TRANSPARENCY AT ITS BEST Glass is recognised as the best writing surface for users. Bi-silque’s latest invention is a new panel with a glass layer of 0.25 mm thickness over lacquered steel, making it unique and with no equal in the market. This product is designed for intensive use and offers an outstanding user experience. It is recommended for those customers who demand a high performance from all their equipment and materials.

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OPINION

Special Issue

JAN / SAN

It’s time to DRY OUT

Special Issue BREAKROOM

SPECIAL

Everybody talks about the importance of washing your hands. But what about drying them properly – isn’t that just as vital, asks Lisa Veeck

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www.opi.net

uch has been written about the significance of handwashing to prevent infection, especially in healthcare settings. And while the fight to protect our fellow humans, the environment and our own health has not yet been won, progress has definitely been made.

But why isn’t there the same emphasis on hand drying? Sure, there have been debates on the topic in terms of product, such as blower versus paper. Otherwise, however, there exists a strange imbalance in publicity for this vital second phase of hand care’s role in infection prevention.

Today’s healthcare facilities are legally required to post signs saying something along the lines of: “Employees must wash hands before returning to work.” But there are no mandates covering hand drying. Even many users of washrooms appear biased, willing to spend the suggested 15-20 seconds (incidentally quite a long time – the average time it takes to sing Happy Birthday) to wash their hands, only to flee the bathroom waving their hands in the air or, worse, wiping them on their own less-than-hygienic clothing. And off they go to visit patients, touching doorknobs, tray tables and patients themselves.

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ALARMING STATISTICS There are real reasons for these behaviours, of course, such as inefficient blow dryers and unabsorbent paper towelling, for example. For busy staff in healthcare settings, it can even come down to the fast pace of patient care and even fatigue. A study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology found that hospital and

healthcare workers wash their hands less frequently near the end of their shifts compared to earlier in the workday.

In fact, the study discovered worker compliance with handwashing protocols fell 8.7% on average from the beginning to the end of a typical 12-hour shift. That’s alarming to say the least.

Lastly, but no less importantly, poor drying habits are often the result of simple human impatience – or a lack of understanding regarding how important hand drying is to infection prevention.

The vital role of hand drying in infection prevention should […] not be ignored RESEARCH SUPPORT Research supports the fact that hand drying is just as vital to maintaining good hand hygiene as handwashing. A University of Bradford study published in the Journal of Applied Microbiology revealed that leaving hands wet after washing increases the spread of bacteria.

It said: “The degree of wetness of hands appears to greatly influence bacterial transfer and dissemination to surfaces and items touched. This probably occurs not only because of the physical aspects of moisture droplets transferring between one surface and another, but also because the bacteria may be maintained in a physiological state that makes them better able to survive in the new environment.”

TAKE THE PAPER OPTION According to the clinic, hand drying effectiveness includes drying speed, degree of dryness, effective removal of bacteria and prevention of cross-contamination. It also notes: “Most studies suggest that paper towels can dry hands efficiently, remove bacteria effectively and cause less contamination of the washroom environment.”

COMING SOON...

The Handwashingforlife Institute also contends that using paper towels to dry hands after washing helps remove bacteria from hands and reduces general bacterial counts by an average of 58%, including germs loosened by handwashing.

As for speed, the average time to achieve 95% dryness is 12 seconds with a paper towel versus 43 seconds with hot air dryers, according to the Institute. A Mayo Clinic study supports the hypothesis that few people use hot air dryers long enough to ensure more than 55-65% dryness.

Not all paper towels are the same, of course, in terms of their effectiveness. For speed, cost and efficiency, Handwashingforlife recommends one-ply. But not just any one-ply. It says: “Highly absorbent, task-textured paper towels are born from paper mills that have access to high absorbency, long-fibre, high-bulk pulps. Paper mills with specialised equipment can process, form, dry and compress these pulps into towelling that is both highly absorbent and has excellent wet strength. A properly engineered process yields a towel that is pleasant to use, dries hands quickly and extends cleaning effectiveness.”

Finally, selecting the proper dispenser is also important. Hands-free towel dispensing prevents cross-contamination by eliminating the need to touch handles, dials, buttons and other dispenser parts. These can be germ-laden and would defeat all the good handwashing has done by immediate recontamination.

Much is made of the importance of proper handwashing, and it should be. But the vital role of hand drying in infection prevention should also not be ignored.

Lisa Veeck helps clients of all sizes achieve their communication, social media, public relations and other content-creation goals. Before setting up her own company Clean Communications in November 2018, she worked for global cleaning industry association ISSA for 20 years, most recently as Global Communications & Editorial Director.

Veeck can be contacted at lisa@ cleancommunications. biz; +1 773 484 7412.

OPINION Hand Hygiene

Another research article in the same journal added: “If hands repeatedly remain damp because of ineffective hand drying, it can lead to skin excoriation which, in turn, can lead to altered and higher populations of bacteria colonising the skin.

This has been found to be a particular problem [...] where routine duties require multiple instances of handwashing per hour. It can lead to greater carriage of Gram-negative bacteria plus yeasts.

“More worryingly, Staphylococcus aureus (in other words MRSA) can become established as part of their normal skin flora. Hand drying to decrease microbial counts at the skin surface is now recognised as an essential part of handwashing procedures aimed at reducing the spread of methicillin-resistant Staph. aureus in hospitals, but few protocols stipulate exactly how to dry the hands, or for how long.”

Researchers at the Mayo Clinic agree that wet hands are especially dangerous in healthcare settings: “The transmission of bacteria is more likely to occur from wet skin than from dry skin; therefore, the proper drying of hands after washing should be an integral part of the hand hygiene process in healthcare,” states The Hygienic Efficacy of Different Hand-Drying Methods: A Review of the Evidence.

...OPI’s annual Green Thinking supplement which will be published this autumn Featuring: - Interviews and opinions - Legislative news - Sustainability best practices - CSR initiatives - Product category updates

CONTACT

September 2019

GREEN THINKING 2019

For all editorial enquiries contact: michelle.sturman@opi.net For all advertising enquiries contact: 37 chris.turness@opi.net

CASE STUDY

OPI: To put that into context, can you give a quick overview of GOS? CS: Sure. The company was founded in 1968 with a focus on office supplies. I took over as CEO in 1989. Over the years, we added categories such as office furniture, the whole breakroom and coffee service spectrum, promotional products and, of course, jan/san. We also had a print shop, but I sold that in October 2018. Our total sales currently are in excess of $20 million.

OPI: Do you serve the whole of the US? CS: Sort of. Our main focus geographically, in terms of where we have sales reps that deal directly with our customers, are the Carolinas in the US. That’s where 85% of our revenues come from.

But we can cover the whole of the country through our first-call wholesaler Essendant.

Special Issue

JAN / SAN

OPI: What’s your typical customer?

CS: A business with 100 employees or fewer, that’s what you might call typical. There are exceptions in that we have some considerably larger accounts as well, but the core base is in that ballpark.

Special Issue

JAN / SAN

Speaking

Special Issue

THE LINGO

BREAKROOM

SPECIAL

In thisIssue case study, OPI shines the spotlight Special on a company that has made great strides

BREAKROOM in its jan/san efforts – South Carolina-based

SPECIAL family business GOS

G

www.opi.net

reenville Office Supply – or better known as just GOS – is a company that started off with office supplies just over 50 years ago. Over time, it’s expanded into other sectors, maximising opportunities where there was potential and cutting its losses where the bad ultimately outweighed the good. OPI’s Heike Dieckmann spoke to company owner and CEO Charles Scales about the dealer’s foray into jan/san and how that category has skyrocketed over the past few years.

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OPI: Let me start with a simple question: how important is the jan/san category to you?

Charles Scales: In a word – very! It’s a sector that’s been growing in the triple digits for us for a number of years, so we’re really pushing that category. It now represents about 20% of our total sales.

OPI: All these categories GOS now covers and that you mentioned: did you expand into them as a result of a decline in OP or in response to what your customers wanted and asked for?

CS: It was a natural evolution. Like I said, we had a printing business too, but it was not a focus area for us anymore because printing sales overall had been in decline for a while. So when I had an opportunity to sell that business, I did.

OP now is flat which I think is pretty indicative of the industry as a whole. Furniture is good and growing. But the shining star is jan/san. We even recouped the loss of the print shop last year with jan/san sales – printing was a $1.5 million business.

OPI: How long did it take you to reach those revenues – about $4 million I guess – in jan/san?

CS: We’ve been building up the category over the past five years. We started off with selling all the basics – toilet paper, hand towels and the like.

About two years ago, we were awarded all the jan/ san business from a very large local hospital that we had been supplying with office products for years. That large contract really spearheaded our growth, whereby we could go direct to vendors such as Kimberly-Clark, Diversey, Ecolab and so on. It put us properly on the jan/san map.

Now we have a very comprehensive offering, including all the chemicals and machinery such as floor and vacuum cleaners.

We were awarded all the jan/san business from a very large local hospital that we had been supplying with office products for years. That […] put us properly on the jan/san map

OPI: Given that your offering is now quite broad – you mentioned chemicals, machinery, etc – how important is an in-depth knowledge of the category?

CS: It’s vital. We have specialists in each of our product categories, like furniture, promotional, etc.

In jan/san, we employ two full-time experts. Our sales reps are selling all of our products, so they would go out regardless, but they take the relevant specialists along with them to help with identifying particular needs, aid with training, and so on.

FAST FACTS: Founded: 1968 Headquarters: Greer, South Carolina, US Owner/CEO: Charles Scales Sales: $20 million+ Staff: 55 Coverage: US

Finding the decision-makers and being able to talk their language comfortably and knowledgeably can be difficult We’re a member of AFFLINK and are often using the supply chain services association for our training needs. Essendant and of course the manufacturers are also good with providing help.

OPI: Talking of Essendant, how would you describe the wholesale support specifically from a jan/san perspective?

CS: I would say it’s above average. The range could be broader and occasionally we supplement from S.P. Richards. We’re actually stocking a lot of our key products direct from the vendors and are mainly using Essendant as a fill-in. The wholesale support is something we’re looking at very closely all the time, however.

Charles Scales with his three sons (from left) McLain, Andrew and Charles IV who all work in the family business

OPI: Does the Essendant/Staples coming together have any bearing on what you might decide going forward?

CS: So far, we’ve seen nothing detrimental as a result of that situation, that’s all I can say.

OPI: What are the main challenges in getting into and being successful in jan/san?

CS: Finding the decision-makers and being able to talk their language comfortably and knowledgeably can be difficult. That’s certainly where our sales reps have struggled. And without the help from our jan/san specialists they would never have delved as deep into the segment as they have.

You have to know the chemicals, the machinery and speak the lingo to get the more ‘complicated’ sales over the line.

CASE STUDY GOS

OPI: Did most of your expansion into the sector come through your OP customers, so you’ve effectively grown the size of the basket?

CS: For about 70% of our revenues, that is true.

The remaining 30%, however, have been new customer wins, ie companies that just wanted jan/san products from us.

OPI: I’m guessing then that the buyers are not the same, even if it’s an existing customer?

CS: No, in most cases you’re talking to someone else which means that while you have a foot in the door, so to speak, you’re essentially building the relationship from scratch again.

OPI: What are the biggest trends that you’re seeing in the category at the moment?

CS: It really depends on the demographic of the customer. What might be a big trend in Chicago, for example, might not be that important where we are. Robotics in cleaning is a good example of that. I know it’s happening, but it’s still a little early for most of our customer base [see also Final Word, page 62].

OPI: What about things like wifi-enabled soap dispensers and the associated cost, health and productivity benefits they bring? Is there demand for these products?

CS: We’re seeing some interest and the likes of GOJO Industries, Kimberly-Clark and Ecolab are obviously catering for those needs. The hospital that we service is looking at it, for example. But it is in fact a cost thing. How do you measure cost when doctors and nurses don’t wash their hands often enough and you get an infected area? What’s that cost value when you go back to the cost of the soap?

It’s the same in education. Everybody wants to do the right thing to prevent the spread of bacteria like MRSA, but do schools want to pay the preventative price? Quite often they don’t or can’t, and it’s not something we get asked for a lot. If we do, we can supply it.

September 2019

OPI: So what is the next big thing for you in the category in its broadest reiteration?

CS: We’re currently looking into the first aid and safety area as another adjacent sector that complements our jan/san offering. Do we need a specialist, for example, from a knowledge point of view? In fact, is there enough business out there to warrant a specialist? We are exploring all those aspects, but it’s early days and a work in progress.

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ADVERTORIAL

The

WRITE WAY

A move for Mitsubishi Pencil’s operations in the UK last year prompted the division to take a closer look at its carbon footprint and sustainability efforts. OPI talks to Director of Sales and Marketing Paul Smith about the project and its results

I

n February 2018, Mitsubishi Pencil Company UK moved its entire operations to new premises in Milton Keynes. With the ability to work closely with the architect and building contractor throughout the design and construction process, the environmental benefits of collaborating on a new building were becoming increasingly clear.

This inspired the team to create a project to improve the company’s sustainability and carbon footprint efforts across its UK operation.

It involved every aspect of the supply chain, from packaging to shipping, as well as applying for several ISO accreditations.

Mitsubishi Pencil Company UK Director of Sales and Marketing Paul Smith spoke to OPI about the project and its wider environmental implications.

www.opi.net

OPI: Your new environmentally-friendly building inspired the Mitsubishi Pencil Company UK team to create a whole sustainability project. Can you explain more?

Paul Smith: The project has led us to introduce plastic-free packaging into the UK market.

Commonly within the writing instruments industry, products are packaged in traditional heat-sealed, single-use plastic blister cards. Our new packaging marks a change from this type of blister card to 100% cardboard, plastic-free packaging. As well as being plastic free, the new packs are completely biodegradable, recyclable and compostable.

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OPI: You say that the new packaging is recyclable, biodegradable as well as compostable. With regards to the compostable component – does this require specialist composting facilities?

PS: It does not require any specific facilities, no. In fact, it can be discarded in regular

household or office recyclable collection bins, or even disposed of in a garden compost bin. If it inadvertently ends up in landfill, it will biodegrade naturally, so there will be no negative environmental impact.

OPI: Does the new packaging possess any other environmentally-friendly qualities?

PS: Absolutely. From sourcing to manufacturing, every effort has been made to ensure the packaging reduces our carbon footprint. The pack’s board is climate neutral and made from 100% PEFC-certified paper, which is the world’s largest forest certification system for sustainable forest management.

The inks used are vegetable, rather than mineral-based, the latter often being derived from fossil fuels. The packs use a non-toxic, water-based blister varnish that does not affect composting or cause environmental damage, plus its gloss UV varnish uses energy-efficient UV light to finish. The result is fantastic-looking packaging that’s sustainable and environmentally friendly. We have applied a high-quality litho print finish and the process has been designed with eco-concerns at its heart. The print pre-press uses chemical-free Kodak computer-to-plate technology.

Packaging is printed using a Komori Press, which boasts one of the shortest press set-ups available anywhere; this significantly cuts paper and water waste while also vastly reducing the use of press consumables.

Plus, its direct dampening system – where the dampening solution is applied directly to plate – enables non-alcohol printing using the minimum amount of water.

We have used the same UK-based printer to produce the new packaging, requiring minimal set-up and reducing air miles.

OPI: What is your timeframe for the roll-out across all the product ranges?

PS: The change started in July 2019 and as existing packaging is depleted, we will migrate to plastic-free packaging. Our target is for all our core ranges to be transitioned by the end of 2020.

OPI: To get this project off the ground, you must have worked with the entire supply chain?

PS: We engaged with our existing UK-based manufacturing supply chain for the entire process.

This is good news for the UK economy and does not increase lead time, impact flexibility, or increase our transportation carbon footprint.

more ethical service, thereby reducing our trade partners’ and end users’ recycling requirements.

OPI: Have you had to deal with the perception that green products are more expensive?

PS: Green packaging is slightly more expensive, so we have developed our portfolio in conjunction with a wide-ranging review of operational processes to ensure we are as efficient as possible. We have no plans to increase our prices due to the specific roll-out of this range.

Our aspiration is to sell more volume to offset the additional cost as consumers understand the environmental benefits.

OPI: Was it difficult to make it all work?

PS: Once we explained our objectives, suppliers came on board very quickly. There seems to be a real appetite within the UK packaging industry for this type of project.

OPI: How would you rate your products in terms of sustainability?

PS: As a global manufacturer of writing instruments, and art and craft materials with over 130 years’ heritage within the industry, we are continually investing in research and new product development. Our UK initiative is very much focused on packaging and the supply chain, with our R&D colleagues based at head office in Japan focusing on sustainable product development.

OPI: Does this mean each of Mitsubishi Pencil’s territories implement their own standards?

PS: Currently, each country has its own criteria.

However, the UK is leading the way and we are continually sharing best practices with fellow subsidiaries and distributors throughout the world.

Paul Smith

OPI: What are your short and long-term sustainability goals?

PS: For the long term, the goal is to reduce our carbon footprint and be more sympathetic to the environment. More immediately, our priorities are to migrate from the single-use plastic packaging to the new plastic-free packaging. This started back in July with the initial launch in conjunction with stationery and office supplies chain Ryman.

OPI: One final question: what’s your view on sustainability in the OP industry overall?

PS: Some product categories and some resellers are more advanced and motivated than others.

Ultimately, end-user demand for these products is growing. We look forward to being part of an industry than can offer more benefits over the coming years.

September 2019

OPI: Other than the new packaging itself, what other sustainability initiatives have been implemented through the project?

PS: We have set out our own green criteria to engage with existing and future suppliers. Going forward, we want to work with those that have the same passion for sustainability as we do.

Investment has also been made in new equipment that ensures our transit packaging is free from single-use plastic.

We have launched new, specially-designed inner and outer boxes which has resulted in shipping less ‘fresh air’, and an increase in pallet capacity of up to 20%. One of the biggest challenges we faced was replacing existing pallet shrink wrap which traditionally is made from polyethylene. The product now used is certified in accordance with ISO 9001:2008, produced from 100% recyclable polyethylene material and complying with the European Single-Use Plastics directive.

We are continuing to investigate alternatives such as a vegetable-based wrap and cardboard pallet wraps. A printing machine is being installed that enables us to move away from outer box transit labels.

At present, the plastic backing paper is the source of most of our unrecyclable waste.

According to a report from our waste collection company, 97% of Mitsubishi Pencil UK’s waste has now been diverted away from landfill, and we hope to increase this further. The entire UK facility has low-energy LED lighting and next year we will see solar panels being installed for the warehouse. Our customers are now getting a

ADVERTORIAL Mitsubishi Pencil Company UK

OPI: Was the new packaging invented in the UK, and if so, will it roll out to other countries where Mitsubishi Pencil operates?

PS: Yes, it was created in the UK, but our aspiration is to roll it out into markets such as the EU, Australia and elsewhere.

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HOW TO...

e h t s I E

C I R P HT? RIG In the first part of this How to… guide, Marc Pinner tackles pricing as part of the overall marketing mix

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www.opi.net

he role of marketing in companies has transformed beyond recognition in recent years. Previously often described as ‘the colouring-in department’, marketing today is the lifeblood of not just new start-ups, but also of thriving established businesses, firms where marketing drives strategy and where it sits at the very heart of the organisation.

The common thread for these businesses is that they take marketing very seriously. It might be in their strategy: how do we grow, how do we disrupt the conventional codes, or how do we make our organisation customer and market-focused, lead in innovation and have the agility to make it happen for all? Or it could be in their ‘outside of the box’ thinking. The box is you and your current situation; the outside is what’s happening in the wider market, what your competitors are doing or what is occurring in other sectors that is disruptive or different, where the customer experience is greatly enhanced and perhaps simplified. These are fundamental strategic areas any business that wants to create a marketing-led, competitive advantage must tackle.

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THE POWER OF MARKETING In office products, I get really excited when I see operators use the power of marketing in what they do. You can see it. A dealer or a brand that stands out in what it’s trying to do, be that the way the pagination in the traditional catalogue seeks to engage; how products are presented in the office superstore; a targeted ad on a relevant webpage; the way a story is told in the media – any media – or

simply when sales people tell you what they are doing.

For this last one, there is a story around the value proposition and employee advocacy which can be told another time. For now, let’s celebrate pricing…

Pricing as a competitive advantage Having a competitive advantage is how a business differentiates itself and sets itself apart from others.

But it can fail to materialise if the broad strategic thinking is not followed through to implementation.

Having a great product or proposition is not enough if the other parts of the mix are not aligned.

Taking strategy all the way through to delivery is often via the traditional marketing mix. The 4Ps, the original concept established back in the 1940s, has some exciting and some not quite so interesting parts: product, promotion, place and pricing.

Marketers always enjoy product – product management, and anticipating and fulfilling consumer demands. Promotion is usually some form of advertising which can be creative and that’s exciting too. The more boring parts of the mix are place – the channel or route to market element – and pricing. These two fundamental aspects of the marketing bundle are sometimes downplayed or simply outsourced to the sales team.

But price management is a key performance indicator in any thriving business. Price can have an immediate and direct impact on the bottom line.

If prices are compromised through negotiations or stealth-type rebates for the sake of rebates, then margins are squeezed, ultimately devaluing brand equity. So good price management, led by the marketing team and marketed and sold efficiently and clearly, can lead to a strong competitive advantage.

Sell more at higher prices I once worked for a firm with a mantra of ‘sell more at higher prices’. Recounting this to others, they would say, “well, of course”, “that’s obvious” or “sounds far too simple”. But a simple message is often the best message – generally understood, engaged with and shared. ‘Sell more’ was a simple call to action: up-sell, cross-sell, apply distribution pressure throughout the chain.

As for higher prices, this very clear statement meant that everyone would try and apply it to everything they did. Marketers would set the pricing bar at a level that consumers would be willing to pay, not just what they would like to buy it for, and adjust their marketing investment accordingly. Customers would ‘get it’, as the insight was driven by consumers themselves and not by what could be negotiated as cheaply as possible. Sales people would look at their account base, manage their budgets and consistently plan to deliver profitability for the business.

The market would evolve too – office products don’t need to be deflationary when everything around them is inflationary. That’s absurd.

So what happened to the business I was referring to? It thrived. The whole organisation was aligned with clear KPIs, smart objectives and a consistent culture.

Seek support from the finance department When pricing becomes a key component in the way companies approach their marketing and is used well, engaged with and the vision is shared by all, the finance team becomes a key supporter. Over the course of my career, I have battled with finance teams who aren’t put in a good place at the commercial table – they are distant colleagues who show interest only when numbers are down, or budgets aren’t being met.

Stakeholder management [...] should be on the job description of every employee; relationships for a marketer shouldn’t stop at sales, but have finance as a key partner as well Pricing as a tool is most effective when the finance department helps put together some of the go-to-market plans. If this group supports the solution, it’s like having a best friend at business reviews and budget time. Stakeholder management in any business should be on the job description of every employee; relationships for a marketer shouldn’t stop at sales but have finance as a key partner as well.

Ultimately, all departments share the same aim: running a solid, profitable business with plenty of brand equity. Good pricing is a key lever in all of this.

THE HEART OF MARKETING In summary, pricing in any company should sit at the heart of the marketing effort. With good data and good people, sold to customers where buyers understand the pricing strategy, it can make a huge difference to an operator’s efficiency and profitability.

September 2019

Managing pricing isn’t easy, but it should be Let’s assume consumers are willing to pay a price for a product. But what happens when the cost of raw materials changes? What happens when you move from one geography to another, where the market price may differ, where exchange rate

fluctuations change prices, and where there are other barriers like tariffs?

In business, and probably in every aspect of modern life, data is crucial and drives decision-making. Making sound decisions is the panacea for any business person. As such, when pricing can seemingly become complicated, from one geography to another, from one channel to another, there are tools that, at the touch of a button, can simplify this.

While Bitcoin or even the euro have homogenised pan-geographic pricing, there are still experts out there who can make a difference – they can analyse the data and make sound decisions. Then you have the ultimate gurus of pricing, the work colleagues that you would avoid like the plague because every working minute of every working day is spent gathering and analysing data to find the lack of logic in a pricing strategy or proposal.

Graphs, gap analyses, spreadsheets, you name it. This still exists today, but using sophisticated CRM tools also allows for clear, simple and logical data presentation.

HOW TO... Pricing

Marc Pinner is a marketing consultant who adds value and improves an organisation’s marketing performance. He has spent many years in global leadership positions developing businesses, modelling and executing strategy, and creating and managing change.

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ADVERTORIAL

A NEW

EUROPEAN vision With a robust five-year plan and new leader in place, ECI is ready for a reinvigorated era of growth for its European operations

E

CI Software Solutions – referred to as ECI since its rebrand – is one of the most prominent technology solutions providers in our industry. Headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, the US is where its largest customer base of independent dealers is located. But ECI has also had a long-standing presence in Europe, particularly in the UK. Brian Bowerfind, President of the US Distribution and Net1 Divisions, has recently taken on the additional position of Distribution Division President for Europe.

With this direct leadership role in the company’s EU operations, Bowerfind is tasked with maximising the opportunities for the company – and its independent dealer customers – in Europe.

He spoke to OPI about his vision for the business, shaped by the ongoing digital transformation of the wider market.

www.opi.net

Our European colleagues provide invaluable insight into everything we do

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OPI: ECI has been serving the OP dealer community for 20 years. How would you summarise the changes in our industry during that time?

Brian Bowerfind: The face of online retail has changed beyond recognition, with e-commerce giants such as Amazon, Alibaba and eBay all allowing customers to order almost anything they want in just a few clicks.

This digital transformation has undoubtedly put pressure on small and mid-sized office products dealers which sometimes struggle to

compete. Without the same IT and marketing budgets to develop their own platforms, they can potentially miss out on up-selling and promotional opportunities, and even sales and contracts.

ECI remains the leading trusted provider for 4,500 independent dealers across the globe – our ability to innovate and help them to adapt during this period of transformation is central to our offering and the value we bring.

OPI: As a company, you’ve recently invested significantly in your European business. Why is that market important to you?

BB: Office products dealers in Europe are leading the world when it comes to the innovative approach they’re taking.

From a US point of view, we continue to invest millions of dollars every year in our global cloud infrastructure to help customers be at the forefront of technology. Our European colleagues provide invaluable insight into everything we do.

Through direct engagement and collaboration, we get vital information that enables us to understand their priorities.

This crucial collaboration informs our product development roadmap on a global basis ensuring our products remain relevant and on target.

We will soon be launching the inaugural ECI Roadshows in Europe. We are currently busy finalising the details for these events which will take place later this year, and we will be sharing them as they become available.

We are actively engaged in a five-year growth plan to further bolster the service delivery and support we provide for our customers in Europe.

These are exciting times for us.

As our industry consolidates and the competition grows more diverse, the need and ability to use data in a very efficient way becomes vital Developing advanced e-commerce strategies to keep web content fresh, make the utmost of up-selling opportunities and, importantly, attract and retain customers are major focus areas for us in both geographies.

We’ve been working hard on our range of digital services to support OP dealers here in Europe and pride ourselves on our ability to learn and share best practice across our entire network.

OPI: What is the biggest threat for OP dealers right now in your opinion?

BB: In our view, it continues to be competition from e-commerce giants eroding market share for independent OP dealers. They need to ensure they remove as many barriers as possible for their customers, especially large organisations which have the potential to be their biggest customers.

One example of a barrier is integrating with major procurement platforms to make purchasing as easy as possible. Large companies tend to use their own e-procurement software, so it’s important we ensure that our systems are compatible with theirs.

When pitching for a new account, our customers are frequently asked whether their e-commerce platform integrates with that of the business.

This is because time-pressed procurement teams do not want to double key data unnecessarily; they should be able to input it once to place an order – it’s something called PunchOut. A good e-commerce platform will redirect from the customer’s system to your own, making the process as seamless as possible.

We’ve invested significantly to ensure we’re breaking down barriers like this, helping our OP dealer customers to become the obvious choice for their customers.

OPI: What’s next for the industry?

BB: In just one word, I would say ‘data’. As our industry consolidates and the competition grows more diverse, the need and ability to use data in a very efficient way becomes vital. Business intelligence coupled with detailed analytics is becoming more and more important.

ECI is focused on providing our customers with the data they require to make timely decisions.

We continue to expand our business intelligence offering which in turn allows independent dealers to compete. They need to understand who is buying what, when and where and at what price. They need this information at their fingertips and process it in a user-friendly, understandable format.

Brian Bowerfind

September 2019

OPI: What impact has digital had and how can dealers leverage the resulting opportunities?

BB: Consumer behaviour has changed – in the B2B as well as B2C environment – with professional buyers in particular placing more emphasis on product detail than ever before when making a purchase.

Highly-detailed product descriptions and numerous pictures are often seen as a prerequisite for customers when making a buying decision – it helps them feel more confident when making a purchase. This is why the top online retailers include plenty of detail.

Office products might appear to be more ‘standard’, but by including as many details as possible to help people make an informed choice and limit the chance of costly returns, OP dealers can leverage this trend to increase sales.

We now provide ‘e-commerce as a service’ via our digital services team. With a person just an email away, OP dealers can access the required skills without the need to employ an in-house digital marketing expert to upload promotional banners or profile a seasonal product range, such as calendars and diaries, ahead of the new year.

ADVERTORIAL ECI

OPI: You have a large customer base in the US. Are there any trends on that side of the Atlantic dealers over here could learn from?

BB: Absolutely. And it’s true, we do have broad shoulders with a lot of resources, experience, expertise and support coming from the US. There are similarities between the US and EU markets, with global forces influencing dealers on both sides of the Atlantic. That said, the UK is widely regarded as one of the world’s leaders when it comes to e-commerce, with online revenues representing one of the highest percentages of total retail sales anywhere in the world.

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EVENT

The two million CLIMB OF LIFE PREVIEW

STEP CHALLENGE

On 8 November 2019, members of the UK OP industry will once again take to the mountains of the country’s Lake District to raise money for cancer research. OPI’s Heike Dieckmann finds out more...

www.opi.net

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s the 2019 fundraising for the Climb of Life (COL) gets underway in earnest, participants will see a new face at the helm of the organising committee – Philip Lawson (pictured bottom right). Recently retired from UK industry association BOSS, Lawson is not only an avid trekker in his own leisure time, he’s also deeply passionate about the country’s OP sector and its philanthropic contributions. This year’s COL proceeds will once again – and for the 13th time – go to the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), an organisation very close to the heart of the 120 climbers involved, the support team and indeed the many and far-reaching fundraising personalities.

self-deprecating humour as well as, of course, his own personal relationship and history with the charity we now support – the ICR. COL wouldn’t be COL without Graeme’s ever-present smile and while we would like to take some off the burden off him, we’re also hoping that he will continue to be as involved as he wants to be for many years to come – it would not be the same without him.

OPI: You’ve recently retired from your CEO position at BOSS and the UK office products industry per se. Why then take on the role of lead organiser of the annual COL event?

Philip Lawson: Graeme Chapman MBE has spent the past 31 years establishing this significant industry event and it’s very easy to underestimate the time it takes to organise something of this magnitude. As such, I can think of nothing more worthwhile to do with some of my spare time than to help reduce the amount of heavy lifting that Graeme has to do. My wife Heather is also helping with some of the administrative tasks.

At the same, I relish the opportunity to remain connected with an industry I love and the friends I have made within it.

OPI: I believe you’re a keen walker, having completed many of the UK’s national walking trails over the past few years. Why add COL to your already busy walking schedule?

PL: As you say, I love walking, it’s as simple as that. The Lake District is one of the most beautiful places in the world, and it is a pleasure and a privilege to walk in it – even in November! To be able to do so with an extra sense of purpose adds enormously to the enjoyment.

Those who have taken part over the years – including, of course, OPI itself, plus VOW, Commercial Group’s Andrew Stacey, Hamelin, etc – know very well how challenging the trekking is. But the fundraising is also incredibly hard work and time-consuming – again, OPI and all the people and companies I’ve just mentioned have first-hand experience of this.

OPI: These are big boots to fill, following in Graeme’s footsteps?

PL: Huge indeed! I’m hoping Graeme will stay on for many years as the ambassador of the event.

COL is intertwined with his personal brand of

OPI: What’s been your involvement with COL in the past?

PL: I’ve been hiking with the BOSS team for the past three years, and Heather and I started helping with the admin last year in a small way.

OPI: What’s the theme of COL this year?

PL: ‘2 million steps forward in the fight against cancer’. There should be around 120 of us walking

Please get in touch with Heather or Philip Lawson at climboflife2019@ gmail.com if you wish to be involved in this year’s COL in any way. The event is always a sell-out in terms of numbers, so early applications are essential.

OPI needs your help in its fundraising efforts! To sponsor Team OPI, please visit www.opi.net/ COL2019. Thank you!

EVENT Climb of Life

July/August, page 60], VOW’s Carol Houston’s Jump of Life in mid-July and Hamelin’s Philip Beer’s Ride of Climbs, which he announced at the recent BOSS Members Day and involves riding 12,000 metres up a number of the Tour de France’s most challenging hill climbs over eight days, will all help with the fundraising. There are many other people I could – and should – mention, such as Jason and Frances Stephen, Darren and Jennie Renshaw, Richard and Sue Ford, etc. They all do extraordinary things in terms of raising monies for COL. OPI: You mention, among everything else, the Ride of Life which will be happening for the second time this year. Are you involved in that event as well?

PL: Durable UK’s Sean Starkey, Safescan’s Steve Robinson and up to 30 other cyclists have my utmost respect and support for their event on the 19th September. While I can’t take part due to being a highly incompetent – to the extent of possibly being dangerous – cyclist, I shall be willing them all on. They did brilliantly in their first year and I’m delighted as it all counts towards our overall efforts. on the day and I will be asking each group leader to take a pedometer. If each person does 16,667 steps or more – a considerable distance in mountain-climbing terms – we will have taken two million steps between us on the day.

OPI: COL has been fundraising for the ICR for many years now. Why is this again the chosen charity for you to support?

PL: Yes, this is the 13th year, but sadly we all continue to be affected by cancer, whether personally, through family, friends or colleagues.

Johnny Clegg, the iconic South African anti-apartheid musician and a personal hero of mine, died very recently at the age of 66 of pancreatic cancer. So for Johnny and all cancer sufferers out there, we can’t give up the fight.

I’ve seen first-hand the amazing work that Professor Paul Workman and his team do at what is the UK’s number one academic research institute out of a staggering total of 154. They really value our support and we know our funding is put directly into exceptional research without a penny being wasted.

It’s truly an outstanding group of people coming together every year, be they main or small fundraisers, volunteers or guides – they all make this event happen. With such strong support and an amazing group of people involved, we can only go forward collectively in our help towards the battle against cancer. Hopefully two million steps forward. See you on 8 November!

September 2019

OPI: What are your hopes and aspirations for COL 2019 in terms of fundraising targets?

PL: It would be fantastic if we can continue to beat the previous year’s total – last year we raised £103,000 ($129,000). I’m fully aware this will be an increasingly tough challenge, especially for such an established event with broadly the same format and, importantly, the same dominant fundraisers.

However, our industry has shown that we can grow the scope of COL by enlarging our offering. That’s why affiliated events such as the Ride of Life on 19 September [see Event, OPI

Those who have taken part over the years […] know very well how challenging the trekking is. But the fundraising is also incredibly hard work and time-consuming

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EVENT

BIG BUYER PREVIEW

BIG BUYER:

Up and Up

F

rom 13 -15 November 2019, resellers, manufacturers and distributors from the stationery and office, art and craft, school and promotional goods sectors will come together at Big Buyer in Bologna, Italy, to conduct business, see and hear about the latest trends and innovations, and network with their peers.

Now in its 24th year, Big Buyer is recognised as an Italian event with an ever-growing international appeal: over 30% of foreign exhibitors will display their wares for the first time at the trade show, according to organisers Epieffe, while many others will return after years of benefitting commercially from attending the fair. Well-known names include BIC, Stabilo, Staedtler, Pilot Pen, Schneider, Clover Imaging Group, Faber-Castell, The Navigator Company, Exacompta and Mondi.

www.opi.net

INTERNATIONAL APPEAL Simonetta Pfeiffer, General Director of Epieffe, says: “We are very satisfied with the level of international participation, from exhibitors and visitors alike. It means the event is important to the growth strategies of the global operators.

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Buyers clearly regard Big Buyer as a real opportunity to identify new opportunities and get in touch with an increasingly broad and diverse exhibitor base that not only displays the latest and most innovative products, but also a variety of post-sales tools and solutions.”

Decision-makers, adds Pfeiffer, come from all over Europe as well as countries such as the United Arab Emirates. They visit not just for the international vendors, but also for Italy’s many homegrown manufacturers. Big Buyer is the only fair for the stationery and office sector with a specific ‘Made in Italy’ focus – an important part of the overall mix for today’s buyers. Among the Italian exhibitors are Cartiere Paolo Pigna, Arda, Fabriano-Fedrigoni, Blasetti, Cartotecnica Favini, Sicad Group and Saul Sadoch.

The timing of Big Buyer in November also works well for visitors, as they can preview all the must-have collections for the following year and begin working on their strategic assortments.

As always, the chance to see new products and solutions is complemented by the opportunity to hear about the latest trends and take part in a comprehensive range of discussions, seminars and award ceremonies.

The event is important to the growth strategies of the global operators

MARK THE DATE Big Buyer will be held from 13-15 November 2019 in Bologna, Italy.

WHAT’S NEW? Wellness is one of the most topical trends that will be explored in some detail at Big Buyer, with a designated space assigned to the concept. The new Special Wellness Area will focus on ergonomic equipment and solutions, designed to make the workplace a better space and improve productivity and happiness of the people who work in it.

From sit-stand workstations and sophisticated lighting to soundproof wall systems, this is an area that will provide plenty of inspiration and spearhead commercial success for buyers.

Among the manufacturers that will feature in this part of the show are Fellowes Brands, Durable, Linea Fabbrica and Unisit.

EVENT

Special Issue

JAN / SAN

Special Issue

JAN / SAN

providers and end customers in a variety of ways.

They can see the latest cleaning innovations on the show floor and take advantage of the broad range of education programmes to become more familiar with the distribution trends in this space and understand the sector’s particular needs.”

Special Issue

Clean sweep IN VEGAS ISSA SHOW NORTH AMERICA PREVIEW

T

Special Issue BREAKROOM

SPECIAL

www.opi.net

his year’s ISSA Show North America will be held from 18-21 November in Las Vegas. Heralded as the largest event ever produced by global industry association ISSA, it’s expected to attract more than 16,000 cleaning and facility solutions professionals looking to conduct business, learn the latest industry trends and uncover fresh solutions to the day-to-day challenges they face.

“The show is renowned for creating a dynamic venue for professionals in all aspects of the cleaning industry,” says ISSA VP of Marketing Jonathan Adkins. “In addition to the expansive trade show floor filled with the cleaning industry’s latest innovations, we have the most robust education curriculum of any expo in the sector.”

In total, more than 100 education sessions will be available and each will be led by an industry expert. Attendees can select individual meetings they wish to attend or they can follow one of several curated tracks with, for example, a focus on ‘Health Care’ or ‘Green Clean Schools’, among the six options available. Other topical sessions will cover subjects such as business management, self-improvement, emerging technologies and infection control.

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TRENDS, CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES According to Adkins, this year’s sector trends centre on preserving occupant health via cleaning, maintenance and safety measures, with training for frontline workers, supervisors and managers a key priority. Automation and the increasing use of IoT, connected devices and robotics for autonomous cleaning are also beginning to have an impact, though a labour shortage is presenting a significant challenge for the service side of the industry.

What’s on offer is highly relevant for the adjacent OP industry, he explains: “ISSA Show North America offers the ideal platform for office products dealers to learn about these issues and connect with cleaning manufacturers, service

SPEAKER SPOTLIGHT An ‘All-Access’ Pass will give delegates admission to a range of spotlight speakers and education sessions. These will include ‘Marvelless’ Mark Kamp, a motivational speaker whose presentation ‘Opportunity Rocks’ will teach you how to perform “like a rock star” in both your business and your life.

Entrepreneur and global consultant Kristen Hadeed will present ‘Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast’. Her message is that trust, accountability and empowerment are key to creating a culture where people will come to work excited and go home feeling appreciated and fulfilled.

A number of other experts will speak across the four-day event. ‘Technology for tomorrow’ is a topic that looks at technological advancements across the cleaning industry and how these will affect the future work environment, for instance.

BREAKROOM

SPECIAL

Special Issue

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ISSA Show North America offers the ideal platform for office products dealers to learn about [...] issues and connect with cleaning manufacturers, service providers and end customers in a variety of ways

MARK THE DATE Next year’s ISSA Show North America will be held from 26-29 October 2020 in Chicago, US.

ATTRACTIONS AND EVENTS 2019 marks the tenth anniversary of the ISSA Innovation Award Programme. The association is celebrating this milestone by devoting a section of the floor to an Innovation Centre that will feature demonstrations and presentations from entrants.

A speciality cleaning area and theatre, meanwhile, will hold unique education sessions presented by exhibitors from across the health care, residential and restoration segments.

Additional highlights include a ‘Solve for X’ booth that intends to tackle specific industry challenges and where attendees can collaborate through peer-to-peer idea exchanges. The International Pavilion featuring exhibitors from more than 26 countries will be complemented by the First-Time Exhibitor Pavilion and Start-up Village.

Away from the bustling trade show floor, the ISSA Sports Bar will provide a welcoming venue for delegates to network, relax and consolidate all the information and food for thought they’ve been given.

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STRONGER ABC REVIEW

together

‘Together Stronger’ was the theme for S.P. Richards and its Advantage Business Conference this year, and what an apt slogan it turned out to be

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he 2019 Advantage Business Conference (ABC), the annual event of US wholesaler S.P. Richards (SPR), took place in San Diego, California, this year.

Understandably, one of the main talking points of the show was the devastating fire that pretty much destroyed the company’s distribution centre and headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia.

The wholesaler’s independent dealers, vendors and other attending partners got to see the devastation up close as shocking images of the fire were shown at the beginning of the General Session on the first day of the ABC. There were gasps from the audience as the full extent of the damage was revealed. This turned into what would be the first of two standing ovations that morning as SPR staff filed through the audience to take their seats through cheering and high-fives from delegates. The second was to honour the four DC supervisors who ensured there was no loss of life as the fire raged through the building.

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INDUSTRY SUPPORT As SPR CEO Rick Toppin quipped when he took to the stage, it wasn’t quite the opener and speech that had originally been prepared and he praised the wholesaler’s staff for their hard work in the aftermath. While ‘Together Stronger’ was chosen as the ABC slogan long before the fire, it certainly became clear it was the most apt theme that could have been chosen and was frequently used throughout the entire event.

Toppin also pointed out that you can’t win in today’s trading environment with “business as usual”, and everyone must evolve how they

operate in order to meet a rapidly changing world.

Achieving this require every part of the extended business supplies channel – manufacturer, reseller, wholesaler and distributor – to work together.

The fire also provided a different perspective on being stronger together as the wholesaler’s partners rallied around to support it. This was highlighted through a selection of messages shown from the many hundreds that had been received. Toppin commented: “We operate in a very competitive business, but we also work in an industry with tremendous compassion and humanity. From all of us at SPR, we will never forget the support that you’ve shown us.”

A final announcement regarding the fire revealed that some of the SPR team would be moving into new headquarters the week following the ABC (mid August). The office is located just a few miles from the original HQ, next to parent organisation Genuine Parts Company (GPC). The rest of the staff are expected to be in the new building by 1 November 2019. In terms of the Atlanta DC, this will be housed within a new 500,000 sq ft (50,000 sq m) facility, also just a few miles away from its current location, and will be ready later this year.

MOVING FORWARD Onto other business, the wholesaler outlined its growth strategy moving forward, reiterating the need to work together and taking a larger slice of the $100 billion+ market. Toppin said that just as the independent dealer channel relies on SPR, they both in turn rely on the supplier community for innovation and support. Additionally, buying groups and other industry associations play a vital role in being stronger together.

SPR said it will invest in the core office channel and accelerate market share growth in this area, along with the jan/san and safety category.

Other ventures include new, customer-facing capabilities, additional pricing options and increased support for dealers.

Remarkable: The story must be worth telling, otherwise it will simply not be told.

Repeatable: Video conferencing firm UberConference found its differentiator by taking the mundane ‘hold music,’ and creating a fun song that became a talking point.

Reasonable: Bigger is not always better.

Customers will not tell a story if they don’t believe it.

Relevant: Any trigger must make business sense.

There are also different types of talk triggers: Generosity: Provide customers with more than they expect.

Speed: Be faster than your customers anticipate you to be.

Usefulness: Continue to be more useful and helpful than clients hope for.

Empathy: Every time you work with a customer, offer empathy first and information second.

TALK SHOW The seminar schedule that followed the General Session generated plenty of talking points, with presentations offering sage advice from industry pundits such as Jennifer Rae Stine, Krista Moore and Marisa Pensa. The SPR forums, meanwhile, provided valuable information on practical tools and new product lines available in the wholesaler’s jan/san, safety and furniture categories.

One of the last sessions of the day – sponsored

by Office Products Women in Leadership – was

delivered by motivational speaker Rufus Stephens.

He got delegates in the mood for change through a rousing entrance at the beginning and received a standing ovation for his efforts at the end. In between, Stephens challenged attendees to follow their passions, no matter their age.

Unsurprisingly, the most popular seminar of the day was the follow-up presentation on Amazon

by NOPA CEO Mike Tucker. Once again, it was standing room-only as the entertaining and informative talk looked at some of the ways in which Amazon has used its dominant position to gain market share. Tucker revealed details of some of the legal challenges the online giant is facing both in the US and other parts of the world, and highlighted its problems in dealing with counterfeit goods and grey markets.

EVENT ABC 2019

MAKE A DIFFERENCE Following Toppin on stage in a fast-paced and dynamic session, keynote speaker Jay Baer asked a simple question: do you want to be the same, or do you want to be different? He asserted that word of mouth influences over 90% of B2B purchases and that between 7-9 people in each organisation are involved in every decision. He urged dealers to offer a differentiated customer experience that generates talking points.

To give customers a reason to work with you, Baer implored dealers to create a talk trigger – an operational choice, made on purpose, that creates customers conversations. Talk triggers include:

VALUABLE EXPOSURE The final day of the show kicked off with SPR’s SVP Merchandising Jack Reagan thanking vendors for their support, particularly during the fire. A surprise addition to the agenda was the appearance of GPC CEO Paul Donahue who said he was proud of the SPR team, adding that “the resiliency and determination of this team is inspiring for all of us at GPC.”

From all of us at SPR, we will never forget the support that you’ve shown us The announcement of the three dealer award recipients of the North American Office Products Awards (NAOPA) concluded the General Session.

Suppliers then got the chance to show off their wares and discuss business with dealers during the Business Solutions Expo for the remainder of the day which ended with the popular prize drawing and the final NAOPA winners (see page 56 for a NAOPA review). Wrapping up another ABC, attendees were treated to a celebration of the past 20 years at the evening’s Gala Dinner.

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winners AND THE

ARE...

For the 2019 NAOPA, there were six recipients in total. Coming from a diverse range of award categories, they all thoroughly deserve industry recognition

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he first North American Office Products Awards (NAOPA) handed out during the S.P. Richards Advantage Business Conference (ABC) this year in sunny San Diego, California, were the three dealer awards. These recognise individuals within the OP sector who have gone beyond expectations in their everyday business dealings.

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YOUNG EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR WINNER: BETH FREEMAN, EVP, FSIOFFICE Presented by industry veteran and founder of InterBizGroup Tom Buxton, Beth Freeman became part of FSIoffice as a baby when her parents, Kim and Mark Leazer, created a nursery at work for her and her sister. After graduating from the University of North Carolina, she joined FSI full time.

Buxton summed up Beth’s worthiness for this award in three words: precise, poised and passionate. He added that she exemplified everything that is good about the younger generation. In reference to ‘precise’, Buxton said that Beth had participated in numerous large winning bids, and “she gets it”.

She is “poised” with a calm and confident demeanour that everyone pays attention to. Finally, Beth is “passionate” about the business, is a hard worker, doesn’t miss deadlines, and responds quickly to all forms of communication.

Commenting on receiving the award, Beth said: “I am very honoured to have received the NAOPA Young Executive of the Year award. I have always wanted to be in the OP industry and am thrilled to get the chance to work with so many great people in our sector today.

“I am incredibly grateful to my grandfather, Jimmy Godwin, for starting FSI, and to the rest of my family for allowing me to be a part of this business and all that they have taught and continue to teach me each day. While there are many challenges that we face, I believe that they should instead be viewed as opportunities. I hope to work with the leaders of today and tomorrow to bring about changes that move FSIoffice and the independent dealer channel ahead.”

Congratulations to Beth Freeman, a well-deserved recipient of the award.

NAOPA REVIEW PROFESSIONAL OF THE YEAR WINNER: JON ROSSMAN, PRESIDENT, CHUCKALS OFFICE PRODUCTS The purpose of the Professional of the Year award is to find the finest, already established, talent in the industry who is influencing the future of the independent dealer channel (IDC).

Last year’s Young Executive of the Year Myers Jordan of Herald Office Solutions presented the trophy to Chuckals President Jon Rossman.

Jordan praised Jon for seeing opportunity in the industry when many outsiders did not, and for being an incredible success story and mentor.

Jon first arrived in the business supplies sector in 2010 as VP of Chuckals, a local OP company based in Tacoma, Washington. Over the past decade, he has completely immersed himself in the industry, and in 2017 proved to be a strong successor to Chuckals co-founder Al Lynden when he took over the business as owner and President.

Talking to OPI, Jon said: “It is truly a shock and incredible honour to be recognised for the 2019 NAOPA Professional of the Year award. The industry and its people are remarkable and have taught me so much. I am lucky to say that I have found work that I can truly be passionate about, and everyone has been incredibly willing to share and help with any problems or successes they have encountered. I owe this accolade to those who have allowed me to learn and grow from each one of their experiences.

“As an industry, we have the chance to make a difference in our communities and to build our businesses. I feel very lucky to have the opportunity to continue that mission alongside some of my best friends.”

Congratulations to Chuckals’ Jon Rossman for your contributions to the OP sector, as well as your own community.

INDUSTRY ACHIEVEMENT WINNER: SIMON DE GROOT Industry Achievement recognises individuals who have made a truly outstanding contribution to the OP industry over the course of their career and helped advance the IDC. According to the presenter of the trophy, NOPA President Mike

Top: Beth Freeman Bottom: Jon Rossman

NAOPA 2019 EVENT

Tucker, Simon ‘Scoop’ de Groot is the epitome of integrity, kindness, generosity and humour – a constant professional who has dedicated his career to independent dealers.

Employed by NOPA in the 1970s as its Managing Editor, Simon chronicled the industry as the association changed from NOPA to BPIA to OFDA and finally to IOPFDA, before eventually founding Independent Dealer magazine.

On receiving the award, Simon praised the IDC for its competitive nature, particularly against businesses that have more money, marketing muscle, people and technology. He also pointed out the generous nature of dealers in both contributing to industry charities as well as for caring deeply about their own communities.

“It’s been my pleasure and my very great privilege to try and tell the unique story of the IDC for the past 40 years. This award is really special, but whatever contribution I may have made to the business pales in comparison to what it’s given me.”

BUSINESS PRODUCT OF THE YEAR WINNER: CHARGETECH – 8 BAY PIN CODE VIDEO CHARGING LOCKER Although a relative newcomer to the OP industry, ChargeTech is already making a name for itself by offering a new category for dealers to enter.

The winning Business Product of the Year was the company’s video charging locker, which not only powers up mobile phones, but also provides a safe storage unit for valuables.

ChargeTech VP of Sales Mike Netter commented: “ChargeTech is grateful and thrilled to win Business Product of the Year for our video charging locker. Just as exciting is that now the OP industry can charge up sales in a whole new category with a product that can provide dealers the opportunity for deep penetration in their current customer base. It can also open whole new markets with prospects they may not have approached before.”

VENDOR AWARDS The remaining three NAOPA trophies – the vendor awards – were handed out at the end of the ABC Business Solutions Expo.

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INNOVATION OF THE YEAR WINNER: 3M – SCOTCH FLEX & SEAL SHIPPING ROLL Innovation is the key to driving the business supplies industry forward. 3M – a perennial award contender – has created a packaging solution to that saves time, money and waste. The Flex & Seal Shipping Roll requires users to simply cut, fold and press. It doesn’t need filler, is water and tear-resistant, and comes with a built-in cushion sheet to protect items.

Vonnie Provinzino, Shopper Marketing Manager of 3M’s Stationery & Office Supplies Division, said: “There are so many steps to preparing an item for shipment, and we saw the struggle that many individuals and SMBs were facing with the process. The Scotch brand Flex & Seal Shipping Roll is designed to save time, materials and space – some of the key challenges that businesses face in their effort to compete in the fast-paced e-commerce environment. 3M is tremendously proud to receive the Innovation of the Year award from OPI and strives to continue to bring this type of innovation to the market for years to come.”

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2019 NAOPA vendor award winners. L-R: ChargeTech, ACCO Brands and 3M

PEOPLE’S CHOICE WINNER: ACCO BRANDS – GBC FOTON 30 AUTOMATED POUCH-FREE LAMINATOR The final NAOPA award was voted for by delegates at the ABC and OPI readers based in North America. And for the third consecutive time, ACCO Brands took home the trophy.

This year, ACCO displayed its ability to boost the traditional office products category with the launch of the GBC Foton 30 Automated Pouch-Free Laminator. Designed to improve productivity, the laminator automates the entire process, making it both time-efficient and cost-effective. Users can drop up to 30 documents at the time and save over 30 minutes that would have previously been spent dealing with the lamination process.

Ryan Pattee, Senior Director of Product Marketing at ACCO Brands, told OPI: “We are thrilled that the GBC Foton 30 was voted as the 2019 People’s Choice award winner. ACCO Brands has always prided itself on innovative and quality products and has continued that tradition with the GBC Foton 30, the first fully-automated desktop laminator.”

5 MINUTES WITH...

Kim Leazer

CAREER Q&A

What’s your life philosophy?

Do justly, love mercy, walk humbly – Micah 6:8.

What special skill do you possess?

I am great at pulling off surprises.

Describe yourself in one sentence.

I like variety in my life – beyond FSIoffice and my family, I mentor college students and women transitioning off the streets.

What scares you?

Someone hurting my grandchildren would be my greatest fear.

What makes you happy?

Spending time with my family at our beach house during the summer. I love cooking, swimming and sitting on the porch, sipping iced tea and watching the world go by.

Optimist or pessimist?

Optimist, no doubt.

Favourite author?

Jane Austen.

What’s your favourite cuisine?

Italian.

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What would be a good theme song for your life?

Every praise by Hezekiah Walker.

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Kim Leazer, FSIoffice

What words do you use the most?

Intentional, focused and committed. Success follows a company that embraces these words, creating an environment where excellence can thrive.

Early bird or night owl?

Early bird.

Where would you most like to visit and why?

Italy, for its beauty, people and history.

What’s your worst character trait?

I’m very direct.

What are you particularly good at?

Organisation.

Your childhood ambition?

To be a sales person.

Describe your current job.

As CEO of FSIoffice, I am part of the family management team. As I am responsible for the growth and expansion of the OP division, my primary focus is taking this vision and implementing it on a day-to-day basis.

Best moment in your career?

When my dad told me he was proud of me and thanked me for my efforts at FSI. The industry figure you most admire?

My dad for his true integrity, entrepreneurial abilities and forward thinking. He has always said: “If you are not moving forward, you are moving backwards.”

Very true.

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

More willingness for cooperation. Egos rule the day far too often in our sector.

FINAL WORD

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THE YIN & YANG

JAN / SAN

of humans and robots

I

magine a building where all cleaning operations are monitored and managed remotely, maintenance is forecast, uptime is optimised, and trouble-shooting solutions are immediately available. Picture demand-based systems that indicate in real time when cleaning is required.

All of the above is reality already, of course.

Having worked in the professional cleaning industry for over 30 years, I’ve experienced a bundle of issues, however:

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• Lack of qualified young professionals.

• Customers asking for better cleaning performance which puts managers of crews under pressure, as over 80% of the total cost of cleaning is labour-related.

• High staff turnover leading to additional training needs.

• More customers preferring night-time cleaning, meaning higher wages for staff.

• Cleanrooms, pharmacy and security areas requiring extremely well-educated personnel.

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WITH HELP FROM THE ROBOTS Automation and equipment connectivity are transforming the effectiveness of professional cleaning. Indeed, the use of robots offers promising solutions to many of the challenges I’ve just referred to.

Robots offer a level of efficiency that human cleaners are simply not able to reach. They also help to reduce work accidents. A good example of this would be window cleaners, which often have to work at dangerous heights in high wind speeds.

All that said, I often get the impression that employees are worried about these developments. They are afraid that robots will eliminate their jobs. The fact is that only by working in close cooperation, employees and robots will be able to meet the considerable challenges of the current and, even more importantly, future cleaning demands.

Cleaning robots only eliminate the simple, repetitive and often boring components of a worker’s current job. As a result, staff can focus more on complex, thought-intensive tasks that robots cannot perform. Naturally, to fully exploit the potential of humans and machines working side by side, continuous professional development and training is mandatory.

As little as ten years ago, mops, rags and buckets, all used by people, cleaned most surfaces. Since then the speed of change has accelerated. Robots now easily clean more

than 200,000 sq ft (20,000 sq m) per day. Quite often, they use laser scanners and ultrasonic detectors to identify obstacles around them. They can pick up rubbish and dispose of it appropriately.

Optical transmission devices also allow robots to use elevators in order to reach their destination independently.

They can learn their routes to prepare them Special Issue for unsupervised and very efficient cleaning to BREAKROOM ensure hygiene and safety. When the job is done, they guide themselves back to their home station where they recharge and refill.

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Regina Henrich, European Manager, ISSA

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REPLACING TRADITION Traditional cleaning methods can only kill a certain level of bacteria, and over time many pathogens have gradually developed a resistance to the chemical cleaners that have been used in the same surroundings for years.

Only by working in close cooperation, employees and robots will be able to meet the considerable challenges Using pulsed xenon UV, for instance, some cleaning robots are especially designed to kill bacteria in hospital rooms to curtail infection rates. For high-traffic public restrooms, meanwhile, the industry has developed customised approaches: robots that scrub toilets and floors, have their own water tank and brushes, and special sensors to avoid running into objects and humans.

POSITIVE CHANGE Overall, any system being established in your company should be smart, meaning it should be able to gather as well as analyse data in order to provide transparency, allow benchmarking, and forecast how to increase performance.

I’m convinced that robots will not eliminate the human element; instead, they will make use of people’s unique capital and by that reduce cost and increase sustainability in the long term.

We need an optimistic perspective on robots.

The integration of internet technologies, robotic and human intelligence will help to promote a positive image of the cleaning industry and of the way the world views cleaning. That, in turn, will attract young and qualified staff to want to work in this industry. There’s much to look forward to in the years to come in my view.

NEXT ISSUE Big Interview Jennifer Smith, CEO, Innovative Office Solutions Top 100 Who’s in, who’s out?

Hot Topic Credit insurance Category Update l Mailing and packaging l Stamping Events l OPI Global Forum l Prevail 2019

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