Opi march us 2016 by OPI

The word in office.

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magazine

whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s at stake for OP firms? p22

Big Interview

John Fellowes, CEO, Fellowes p14

March 2016

p26 Vendors in the spotlight Staples dumps Depot Europe p10

Contents March 2016

www.opi.net

News

Events

6 Round-up

41 Paperworld

Essendant to buy Staples contracts; successful 2015 at AOPD; Amazon Business update

10 News Analysis

Reflections on the latest Paperworld weren’t all positive and there’s some work to do

44 Green Light 2016

Staples dumps Depot Europe; Amazon’s replenishment dash

UK wholesaler VOW stepped up a gear for its second Green Light event for dealers

Features

14 Good Fellowes

In the first-ever vendor Big Interview, OPI talks to Fellowes, one of the few manufacturers that has succeeded in reinventing the wheel time and again while staying relevant

Regulars

22 Their hearts’ content

5 Comment

Progress is being made to ease the flow of product content from manufacturers to resellers

51 Where are they now?

26 Winds of change

Anders Kristiansen

OPI looks at some of the industry’s most dynamic vendors and how they’re adapting to change

53 5 minutes with... Virginie Ori

33 Calculating success

54 Final word

US dealer Office Peeps stresses the importance of working with dealer groups and in collaboration

Andrew Stacey

Advertorials

36 Category champion

A look at Portuguese vendor Bi-silque and its remarkable journey in the viscom space

46 Westrock Coffee 49 SOfEA

The stumbling block for dealers and manufacturers is that wholesalers – in terms of product content and search functionality on dealer web shops – have tended to focus on the items they stock and there hasn’t been much interest in putting additional manufacturer SKUs out there. Simply put, if the content isn’t in the system, then the dealer can’t sell it... For the full story, turn to page 22

w w w.opi.net | OPI Magazine

Editorial Editor-at-large Andy Braithwaite +33 4 32 62 71 07 andy.braithwaite@opi.net

Editor Heike Dieckmann

Comment

+44 (0)20 7841 2950 heike.dieckmann@opi.net

Deputy Editor Michelle Sturman

EU’s double-edged approval

+44 (0)20 7841 2942 michelle.sturman@opi.net

Sales and Marketing VP – Continental Europe, Middle East and Africa Ewan Dickson +44 (0)20 7841 2954 ewan.dickson@opi.net

VP – North America and UK Chris Turness +44 (0)20 7841 2953 chris.turness@opi.net

Director of Growth Services Jeremy Hughes +44 (0)7807 810617 jeremy.hughes@opi.net

Digital Marketing Manager Aurora Enghis +44 (0)20 7841 2959 aurora.enghis@opi.net

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

Production and Finance Designer Joel Mitchell +44 (0)20 7841 2943 joel.mitchell@opi.net

Operations & Production Eda Sismanoglu +44 (0)20 7841 2950 eda@opi.net

Accountant Jairo Paya +44 (0)20 7841 2956 jairo.paya@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

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As if Staples hasn’t got enough on its plate with the legal process in the US to fight the FTC’s challenge to the proposed acquisition of Office Depot, it now has to come up with an acceptable divestment solution for all of Depot’s European operations. While the European Commission has approved the transaction in Europe, its approval came with pretty hefty divestment conditions – which prompted Staples to say it would sell all of Depot’s European assets, including Viking. The trouble is, should Staples successfully overturn the FTC’s challenge – although Vendors have been on the smart money is now on that not happening – it still the sharp edge of reseller has to find a buyer in Europe consolidation and because the acquisition secular declines in cannot be closed unless the traditional categories for a EU Commission validates the number of years Depot sell-off in Europe. That means time and resources now being devoted to finding a buyer that satisfies the Commission’s requirements (more on the European approval on page 10). Should Staples be forced to abandon its attempt to acquire Office Depot, that will no doubt go down well in the vendor community. Vendors have been on the sharp edge of reseller consolidation and secular declines in traditional categories for a number of years, and in this issue we take a look at how they have been developing strategies to counter these forces – including in our first-ever vendor Big Interview (see page 14). Andy Braithwaite Editor-at-large

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News n Round-up

News from opi.net 200,000 customers for Amazon Business Amazon has revealed that it has more than 200,000 customers purchasing from its Amazon Business platform. The e-tailer launched the B2B marketplace in April 2015 and said its business customers range from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies. However, it didn’t say what revenue it generated through the platform.

Mergers & Acquisitions

Essendant to buy Staples contracts Just as we went to press with this issue of OPI, news in the long-running Staples/Office Depot saga switched back from Europe (see News Analysis, page 10) to the US, with Essendant announcing that it will acquire $550 million worth of Staples’ minority and women-owned business enterprise (MWBE) wholesaling contract business should the latter be successful in buying Office Depot. The wholesaler will pay Staples $22.5 million for this contract business. The agreement is broadly in line with what OPI reported last November when Staples was trying to negotiate an acceptable solution to the Office Depot acquisition with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). According to Staples, more than 25% of annual sales of the contracts to be divested will come from Fortune 100 accounts while around half will be from Fortune 500 companies. Essendant also confirmed that it would work in combination with MWBE dealers to service these enterprise accounts and compete with the merged Staples/Office Depot. With the FTC having already rejected Staples’ suggestion to divest $1.25 billion worth of contract business, Essendant’s offer won’t be a deal clincher, but it means Staples is not taking its foot off the gas ahead of the federal court hearing this month. Read more on opi.net.

People

Leadership changes at Staples The reference to Fortune 500 companies is bound to be music to the ears of Staples and Office Depot as they challenge the FTC over their proposed merger. The FTC is blocking the deal due to what it sees as a lack of competition in that large corporate space. Amazon’s full-year 2015 sales surpassed the $100 billion mark, increasing 20% versus 2014 to $107 billion. It now has more than 300 million active customers worldwide, with an estimated 50 million Prime members.

Large Resellers

AOPD reports successful 2015 Office products dealer network American Office Products Distributors (AOPD) has said sales

Dealer Groups 6

OPI Magazine | March 2016

Staples has announced key leadership changes in what it describes as a move to streamline its organisation and simplify its management structure. As part of the reshuffle, Shira Goodman – currently President of North American Commercial – has been named President, North American Operations. She will have responsibility for Staples’ B2B, online and retail operations across the US and Canada. Her appointment means that Demos Parneros, President North American Stores and Online, will leave Staples on 31 March after almost 30 years at the company. Responsibility for retail operations in the US has been handed to another company veteran, Otis Pannell, who will report to Goodman. Another key change is the appointment of John Wilson as President, International Operations and Transformation. He will have responsibility for operations in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Latin America and Asia. Demos Parneros

in its contracts grew in the double digits in 2013. The group added 65 new contracts in 2015 and posted an overall sales increase for the year. In addition, AOPD’s public sector contract, National Cooperative Purchasing Alliance (NCPA), was

extended until November 2017. This contract continues to be the fastest growing AOPD contract for its dealers and saw a year-over-year increase of 71% in 2015. Another major AOPD contract with healthcare group purchasing organisation Premier grew 26.5%.

Vendors

Mergers & Acquisitions

Business Performance Group FILA targets UK after acquisition changes name; announces German subsidiary The Business Performance Group (BPG) UK has changed its name to Highlands as it seeks to align itself with its US parent’s global development strategy. Explaining the name change, BPG founder and Highlands President of Global Business Development Luke Chapman told OPI that it had always been the intention to align the BPG name with the wider Highlands brand as the group expanded internationally. Nevertheless, the Business Performance name will remain within the Highlands portfolio in connection with the lead generation services that it offers to dealers. It will also remain as a separate operating LLC in North America, where it is a question of “business as usual”. Chapman further confirmed that Highlands is opening a subsidiary in Germany. The move is aimed at helping Highlands’ vendor customers to achieve better market penetration in the German market and will be the first step of a wider European expansion. Highlands has recruited an experienced German executive to lead the new subsidiary, which will officially open for business on 1 April.

Luke Chapman

Pelikan exploring strategic alternatives Pelikan International has said it is exploring strategic options for its stationery and office supplies business in Germany. Malaysia-based Pelikan International (PICB) – the main shareholder in the Pelikan AG business in Germany – said it has mandated BNP Paribas to “review its different strategic options” for Pelikan AG. These options include seeking new investors for the company through a sale of shares, PICB added. Pelikan AG has just come out of a major restructuring and organisational simplification process that involved the integration of the Pelikan and Herlitz operations.

Vendors

Italy-based stationery group FILA has said growing its sales in the UK is one of the key reasons for acquiring fine art materials vendor Daler-Rowney. FILA paid almost €81 million ($90 million) for Daler-Rowney, the Berkshire-based firm which can trace its roots back to 1763.

Daler-Rowney – one of the largest fine art products manufacturers in the world – has annual sales of around £60 million ($85 million), while EBITDA for the 2014 financial year was about £4.5 million. Private equity firm Electra had a 41% stake in Daler-Rowney. The deal is not good news for Daler-Rowney’s distribution partners. The firm distributes its products in about 70 countries, and FILA said it would integrate sales into its own network, something which is expected to take around six months. FILA operates through 11 production facilities and 19 subsidiaries around the world, has annual sales of €230 million and employs approximately 5,000 people.

Vendors

Portucel changes corporate name Paper manufacturer grupo Portucel Soporcel has changed its corporate name to The Navigator Company. It’s interesting that, as the company continues to diversify out of its core paper business, it should turn to its top-selling office paper brand for its new corporate name; though, of course, it also evokes images of navigating into new territories and markets. And paper still represents 75% of the group’s total sales. Meanwhile, The Navigator Company reported its 2015 results, revealing a top-line increase of 5.6% to €1.63 billion ($1.82 billion). w w w.opi.net | OPI Magazine

News n Round-up

Research

Key questions answered in latest OP industry report The latest annual State of the OP Industry 2015-16 report – which will be published in April – investigates the OP markets in the US, Canada, Benelux, France, Germany, UK and Australia in detail. The report is based on in-depth interviews with about 65 senior executives in these markets. Its being published by Martin Wilde Associates (MWA) – specialist researchers to the global OP market – and OPI. In addition to wider industry analysis, the

OPI Magazine | March 2016

report includes specific commentary from Martin Wilde, who has unrivalled experience of researching the global OP market. This is supplemented by further data and analysis from OPI. The data collected from the senior OP industry executives aims to answer the following questions for each country market covered by the study: • What was the value of the OP market in 2015? • What were the defining industry events in 2015?

• What happened to sales volumes, margins and profits in 2015? • How will sales volumes, margins and profits change in 2016? • What will be the value of the OP market in 2016? • Which product categories are growing or declining? • Which channels won or lost in 2015?

• What are the prospects for the key channels in 2016? • What are the prospects for the OP industry, including the rise of Amazon and the merger of Staples/Office Depot? To order a copy of the report, which will be published in April, please visit: www.opi.net/SOI2016.

news ■ Analysis

Staples ready to divest Depot in Europe Staples offers to sell off more Office Depot assets in Europe than required by regulators

10 February, the European Commission (EC) approved the Staples acquisition of Office Depot in the European Economic Area. In a press release, Staples CEO Ron Sargent said he was pleased with the decision. “This is a significant step,” he stated. “Regulatory agencies around the world understand that this acquisition will allow Staples to provide increased value and service to customers of all sizes. We look forward to a full, impartial judicial review in the United States.” However, a closer look shows that the Commission’s approval has come at a hefty price in terms of what Office Depot assets Staples would be required to divest if the transaction is consummated: no less than Depot’s entire contract business in Europe and all of its operations in Sweden. In addition, Staples has said that it will divest Office Depot’s retail, online and catalogue operations in Europe should the acquisition close, although this has not been imposed by the EC. That, of course, would include the

decision, it has basically written off acquiring any of Depot’s European assets – with estimated annual sales of around $2.2 billion – as it focuses on trying to convince a federal judge to dismiss the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) challenge to the deal in the US. There are elements of the EC’s decision that could have a bearing on how things evolve in North America. In a statement, the EU Commission said that it had cooperated closely with both the FTC and the Canadian

The [European] Commission’s approval has come at a hefty price in terms of what Office Depot assets Staples would be required to divest Viking business, meaning Staples is ready to sell the whole of Depot’s European business.

Questions remain Why would it want to do that? Firstly, Staples can only finalise the acquisition of Office Depot once the EU Commission has assessed and approved the divestitures in Europe to a suitable purchaser. There’s a stronger likelihood of attracting a buyer for the whole of Depot Europe as opposed to just the contract operations and the Swedish business. Secondly, extracting the contract side to sell off would be complicated and expensive in terms of IT and distribution. So, while Staples is publicly applauding the Commission’s

OPI Magazine | March 2016

Competition Bureau (CCB), which is also opposing the acquisition. One could assume, therefore, that they are all working from the same basic playbook on how they assess competition in the OP space. Of course, there are significant market differences between North America and Europe. But there are some key similarities too that are highlighted in the EC’s findings. Importantly, the Commission focused on the international contract market for large customers, not dissimilar to the Fortune 500 contract market in North America. It concluded that: ■

Only Staples, Office Depot and Lyreco are capable of entering into international supply contracts for large business customers in Europe.

■

Customers do not consider switching to several national suppliers as an attractive alternative. Customer requirements for servicing these contracts present high barriers of entry into this specific segment. Online resellers such as Amazon cannot currently be considered as competitors in the contract business market in Europe.

Link to US hearing These are the kinds of arguments that have led the FTC to challenging the deal in the US, so it will be interesting to see what line of attack Staples’ legal representatives follow when the federal hearing gets underway later this month. The onus is on them to convince the judge that the FTC’s market assessment is incorrect. That will probably mean falling back on the FTC’s statement following its approval of Office Depot’s acquisition of OfficeMax in 2013 which referred to a “host” of other competitors – not just Staples – in the national contract space. That Depot/’Max statement isn’t a binding document, though. The federal hearing may well leave the FTC with egg on its face because of that 2013 conclusion, but it’s not challenging Staples on that particular interpretation of the market, but on the result of the investigation it has carried out over the past 12 months. Based on that, it is difficult to see a way out for Staples unless it offers massive concessions.

Amazon introduces automatic supplies replenishment on devices such as printers

all know about HP’s Instant Ink programme, the monthly subscription service where internet-connected HP printers automatically order new inkjet cartridges when they are running low. Now the next stage in the automatic re-ordering of consumables would appear to be upon us after Amazon announced the first devices available with its Dash Replenishment Service (DRS) – meaning connected devices automatically order physical goods from Amazon when supplies are running low.

Joining the initiative After a pilot period, DRS officially started in January 2016 with the first devices selected being Brother printers, a GE washer and a blood glucose monitor. Other manufacturers set to join the initiative in the coming months include Samsung – also for printers – and jan/san vendor GOJO for its Purell soap and hand sanitiser dispensers. GOJO is launching a development project to connect its touch-free dispensing systems equipped with GOJO Smartlink technology with DRS. Dispensers track the supply level of the soap and hand sanitiser refills and automatically order a new supply through Amazon when levels are low. Sealed Air’s Diversey Care brand will soon be offering a similar

DRS service that will also collate consumption data which can be used to provide important business intelligence about washroom usage. Brother already has 45 printer and multifunction models that are immediately compatible with DRS, and this number is set to increase to more than 60 in the coming weeks. Customers don’t even have to buy a new printer in order to use DRS; if they have a compatible machine, they can sign up on the Brother website in the US to join the DRS programme.

gave an interesting presentation on this very topic. Estimates on the number of connected devices globally by 2020 vary enormously from 20-50 billion and Stevenson believes DRS could be a “huge” factor in the technology sector of our industry within a few years. “With all of the new IoT-enabled devices coming to market in the coming months and years, this type of procurement service could become the new normal for devices like printers,” he told OPI.

“With all of the new IoT-enabled devices coming to market [...], this type of procurement service could become the new normal for devices like printers” Once a customer has signed up to DRS and a device is getting low on the consumable, it triggers and processes an order through the customer’s Amazon account without any customer involvement. The customer will then receive an order confirmation notification (as with any Amazon order) and has the option to cancel if need be, in line with current Amazon order policy. An Amazon spokesperson told OPI that supplies will initially come from Amazon.com stock and not the company’s third-party Marketplace resellers, although this may change in the future depending on the device and the required supplies. If Amazon is out of stock, then the customer will receive a notification. DRS certainly highlights the growing relevance of the Internet of Things (IoT) and how it could impact the business supplies industry in the coming years. At last October’s EPIC dealer group show in Las Vegas, TriMega’s Director of Technology & Managed Services Brian Stevenson

“Amazon has become a significant competitor already, and this type of service could significantly increase its share of the tech-enabled market,” he continued. “There are significant benefits to end users, from financial to convenience. Given that reality, you could see a fairly rapid adoption as a broader portfolio of internet-enabled products are released.”

B2C target – so far On the print management side, DRS is clearly aimed at the consumer and SOHO sectors and would be unlikely to compete with sophisticated managed print contracts and services which already include automated replenishment. But who knows how Amazon could develop DRS as a solution as it ramps up its proposition for B2B customers? Stevenson advises independent dealers to “get on board” with IoT and the potential of automatic replenishment. “Accept that it’s here and be the first one to engage with your customers on the future of the office,” he said. “The opportunity to leverage the technology being embedded in products, combined with a basic value-added services offering, will ensure you maintain your existing relevance – or extend your relevance with customers.” w w w.opi.net | OPI Magazine

News ■ Analysis

Making a dash for replenishment

News ■ And finally...

TWEET CHAT

Comment

@ZenOffice

With a focus on manufacturers in this issue, OPI asked members of the industry what the greatest opportunities and challenges facing vendors in the OP channel are right now? Below is a small sample of the anonymous answers. (To read a wider selection of answers, go to the OP Business Confidence Survey Q1 2016 report on opi.net) Opportunities: customers increasingly want a one-stop shop and this presents the chance to diversify the offering. Challenges: operating in a very competitive market, there is the need to demonstrate a better value proposition and customer service in order to win and retain business. European reseller The greatest opportunity would be a FTC rejection of the Staples/Office Depot merger. The greatest challenges are secular trends negatively impacting traditional product growth, especially as technology is reducing the need for many consumable products. Jan/san and breakroom, however, continue to be growth opportunities for the office products channel. US wholesaler One of the biggest challenges surrounds the exclusive programmes that the buying groups keep signing with manufacturers. This is hurting the independent dealer channel as vendors keep moving away from this – what are the groups going to do then? US vendor

1.4 billion Smartphone units shipped in 2015

66.7 million

Expected smartwatch unit sales in 2017

3 million+

Number of workers globally by 2018 that will be supervised by a ‘roboboss’

How did you first meet your stationery love? #ilovestationery #Valentines

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How many lonely stationery beauties are out there waiting for that perfect match? #ilovestationery #Valentines

@grainger

We made some earrings... #GraingerShow style. Thanks @DEWALTtough @dremel @LyonIndustries and Westward for the help

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Thanks @grainger for having us at the #GraingerShow and we hope everyone enjoyed our seminar. We certainly did!

SNAP SHOT Bureau Valleé’s Managing Director Christel Jaffres – the daughter of founder Bruno Peyroles – recently took part in the French equivalent of Undercover Boss. The 36-year-old mother of two posed as a 28-year-old job seeker taking part in a training programme at three of Bureau Vallée’s stores.

The greatest opportunity is to focus on innovation and provide a better and wider range of solutions in the office products market, as well as into further markets such as DIY/ hardware. A slow economy generally provides a great opportunity to increase market share. The challenges facing vendors include a market that is not growing, increasing competition, rising costs and tightening of margins. Asian vendor Fast-changing advances in technology in the traditional OP product categories provide both opportunities and challenges. The possible merger of Staples and Office Depot is really going to shake the tree – vendors that do not have contingency plans in place may not have long to go. Australasian wholesaler Opportunities: online is a huge chance as many competing vendors and customers are far behind where they need to be. Amazon remains a key opportunity. Challenges: prospects for the traditional big box players look weaker than ever as they struggle to compete with online players and manage complex structures and a high cost base. Resellers have an unrealistic desire to keep trying to take more rebates when their businesses are not growing. European vendor

opi.net poll results How innovative are ‘traditional’ OP vendors?

Very 4% Somewhat 46%

Not at all 50%

w w w.opi.net | OPI Magazine

Big Interview | John Fellowes

Good Fellowes

Its first product line might date back nearly 100 years, but Fellowes is a company that has reinvented itself and its products time and again over the past century

OPI Magazine | March 2016

John Fellowes | Big Interview

by Heike Dieckmann heike.dieckmann@opi.net

the first ever Big Interview with a manufacturer – as part of OPI’s special focus on the vendor community this month – Heike Dieckmann speaks to John Fellowes about the Fellowes brand and how it has survived and thrived over the years. Fellowes’ tall standing today in the manufacturing community and the business supplies sector as a whole hasn’t happened overnight or indeed by accident. And while a certain amount of luck is undeniable, there have also been considerable downs from which the company had to claw back market share as well as brand reputation. Investment, innovation and, perhaps above all, people are the key ingredients that have made Fellowes the company that it is today – just a year away from its centenary.

“In the face of a myriad of challenges and [...] threats, we launched an exciting new technology [...] that reclaimed Fellowes’ leadership role in the shredder category”

OPI: You’re the fourth generation leader of the company – that must be quite a responsibility… John Fellowes: I receive this question from time to time... Of course, there is a significant responsibility that comes with perpetuating a multi-generational family business. However, the sense of purpose that stems from believing in what we are doing and who we are as a business far outweighs any feelings of ‘burden’. It is also important to point out that I’m surrounded by very talented people and perpetuating our business is much more of a team rather than an individual effort. Today I have three leaders that I particularly depend on: Mike Parker, our President; Jim Lewis, our COO; and Michel Van Beek, our President of EMEA and Asia. These individuals bring tremendous leadership skillsets and personal conviction that I respect and value. The four of us work with a shoulder-to-shoulder approach. OPI: Can you take us through your career at Fellowes, including major personal and company milestones? JF: I began working at Fellowes on our shredder manufacturing line when I was 16 years old. In our home, the rule was that all of our personal spending money was self-generated, so initially my pay cheques supported nights out with friends. In 2001, I joined Fellowes full time after graduating from college in California and

working for a while in the financial sector. Over the following years, I worked at Fellowes principally in marketing, product development and sales in our business machines category. I also spent a year working in our European business, living in the UK. In 2010, I became Chief Marketing Officer, in 2012 President and in 2014 CEO. During my career, I have learned much through good and bad experiences and formed some great relationships. Our launch of jam-proof shredders in 2008 was my most memorable milestone. In the face of a myriad of challenges and competitive threats, we launched an exciting new technology with a comprehensive marketing strategy that reclaimed Fellowes’ leadership role in the shredder category. OPI: I’m going to come back to shredders a bit later. But sticking with the company as a whole for now, how would you describe Fellowes today? JF: Fellowes is a business with a strong culture and deep roots in its legacy categories and brands. But, as you know, at the same time the end users that we serve are changing. They are acting and thinking differently than they did just ten years ago, and their expectations are evolving. It’s this reality that has caused us to accelerate our strategic planning process. OPI: When did this process start? JF: Most of the work began in 2011 with a clear plan that identified how we would continue leadership in traditional categories, while investing in adjacent opportunities through incremental efforts.

From left: Mike Parker, John Fellowes and Jim Lewis

w w w.opi.net | OPI Magazine

John Fellowes | Big Interview and leadership in the bigger picture. The leadership of these businesses carry a mentality that thinks in 5-15 year increments. In our industry, we probably have a mixed bag of manufacturers that are working to either survive or thrive, but it’s a hard assessment. When answering this question, we must also keep in mind that the nature of long-range strategic work is less visible or public than activity associated with mature categories. This can create a perception that short-term focus and investments are dominating long-range activity. Over the next few years it will be interesting to witness announcements and launches that might be in quiet development today. OPI: Very specifically now: what is the role of your once very traditional Bankers Box today – how have you given it a new lease of life? JF: The Bankers Box business is the cornerstone of Fellowes and started the company in 1917. We are pleased to be able to say nearly 100 years later that this business has continued to grow, right up to the current time. I think the key to our success in Bankers Box has been our teams’ unrelenting effort to sharpen this business each and every year across all elements of our 360° value proposition which includes our products, manufacturing and marketing as well as category management capabilities. At the same time, we have continued to stay ‘offensive’ in this legacy category. Today, we are focusing on international expansion and extending the usage of the Bankers Box in mature markets, from record storage to new categories like moving and general storage applications. Both of these efforts are fuelling vibrancy with the business during a

Today, we are observing continued strength in our legacy businesses like shredders, record storage, binding and laminating while some of our new efforts are starting to build tangible momentum, including workspace management solutions, air purification and moving boxes. This is creating a new and fresh energy in our business. That said, not all new efforts have been fruitful and we have had to come to terms with a number of ‘expansive initiatives’ that did not yield results after 12-24 months of investment. That’s quite natural and as an organisation we are prepared for the realities of pursuing new efforts. But the truth is that even good ideas don’t always work in the real world. The key for our business has been to recognise when a new initiative is showing signs of potential and when it is time to ‘cut the cord’. OPI: Turning this the other way round, do you think that many manufacturers in our sector are flogging the proverbial dead horse and persevering with products that are just not relevant anymore? JF: I really think it comes down to the ‘DNA’, objectives and leadership of each organisation. Overall, many traditional categories will not facilitate growth for manufacturers going forward. However, these categories are not going away and they still represent sizeable markets. Manufacturers can probably survive by focusing on traditional categories alone for the foreseeable future, but it will require continual cost-cutting which, in time, can limit the value that they are offering their customers and ultimately the end user. On the other hand, some companies in our industry don’t want to just survive; they have an appetite for growth, relevance

“Not all new efforts have been fruitful and we have had to come to terms with a number of ‘expansive initiatives’ that did not yield results” w w w.opi.net | OPI Magazine

John Fellowes | Big Interview time when it is fundamentally challenging for categories that are paper-dependent. OPI: Apart from Bankers Box, you’re also very well known for your shredders business, as you mentioned earlier. But it’s a category in continual decline and that begs the question of the need for consolidation. What’s your view? JF: Any category that is not growing will usually rationalise through various means. Like you say, the shredder category has not grown since 2008 and we do not think that it will reverse its decline any time soon. At Fellowes, we are continuing to invest in product innovation and marketing and believe that we can be the ‘last brand standing’ in shredders. Because we are picking up market share, we can continue to invest while others are pursuing cost-cutting measures in order to maintain profitability. OPI: I guess the same decline applies to categories like laminating, binding and other traditional storage products. What’s your strategy? JF: It’s all about investment and innovation. We are investing in both new and traditional segments and are passionate about ensuring our products and solutions are the most innovative in the market. This is the very nucleus of our strategy – ‘Innovation in Motion’. It comes at a price, however: product development costs are up over 70% compared to, say, six years ago, but we have always held a long-term view related to product development investments. OPI: Most of our readers will recall your troubles in China a few years back. This has been well documented, of course, so just one question: what has been the true fallout of this gone-awry relationship with your JV partner in China and what lessons have you learned from it? JF: Sure, it was a nightmarish experience, but we have learned much through the trials. We are a better company now because we endured this crisis and fully recovered. Essentially, we built a fundamentally better business than the one that went down. Today, we operate two shredder factories – one in Suzhou, China, and one in Itasca, Illinois, for high-performance machines. These two factories produce substantially better machines in a much more efficient way. We have recaptured our market share position around the world, thanks to customers worldwide who valued our brand and our business relationships.

Most importantly perhaps, we now operate in a structure where Fellowes owns and controls 100% of its assets. It is a refreshingly simple and controlled structure, compared to the unpleasant JV experience we had in China. OPI: Fellowes has won many accolades over the years – people awards, company awards, product awards… Why do you think that is and what do you bring to the table that others don’t? JF: First, credit goes to our dedicated people. These honours and awards are achieved by teams that represent our business and brand day-in, day-out. Second, we are constantly working to create new value in the eyes of our customers and consumers. These are our two most important constituents, so what represents value to them must also be important to us. OPI: Let’s finish with an overall view of the industry. What’s your opinion overall on OP reseller consolidation, for example? Who will win and lose? JF: Over the past ten years, some of the largest and most mature global ‘office products’ markets have suffered from economic and environmental factors which have stunted industry growth. Because of this, the perpetual question of “how do I/we grow?” has been on most leaders’ minds for quite some time. Given these realities, I do think that it is natural to see consolidation at the reseller and manufacturer level. Mergers and acquisitions can be a quick way for companies to grow and evolve. The winners, in my mind, will be companies that can figure out how to consolidate, but at the same time create a runway of growth opportunities for their business.

“Any category that is not growing will usually rationalise through various means”

For more exclusive content from the interview, such as a progress report of the Optrix acquisition in 2014, please visit opi.net.

w w w.opi.net | OPI Magazine

Hot Topic | E-content

To their hearts’

CONTENT

Steps are underway on both sides of the Atlantic to improve the flow of product content between manufacturers and independent dealers. With the inexorable rise of e-commerce, it is a key issue

Figures

hot off the press from the US Department of Commerce point to an almost 15% jump in retail e-commerce sales in the US in 2015 to more than $340 billion. This is the sixth year in a row the increase has been near 15% or more. The current level of B2B spend online in the US is more than double that at around $780 billion, according to a 2015 report by Forrester Research, and is predicted to grow at almost 10% a year to reach more than $1.1 trillion by 2020 (see graph, page 23). “30% of today’s B2B buyers complete at least half of their work purchases online,” noted Forrester’s Andy Hoar when the report was released. “With that percentage nearly doubling to 56% by 2017, B2B sellers will see a significant volume of offline business move online in the next few years.” Whatever the exact numbers, it now goes without saying that more and more businesses are purchasing supplies online – you only have to look at Essendant’s latest quarterly results which revealed that sales to online customers grew by more than 16% year over year in the fourth quarter of 2015. This means that resellers need to be on their game when it comes to providing customers with the sort of e-commerce purchasing experience

OPI Magazine | March 2016

they have been accustomed to through e-tail giants such as Amazon. However, you can have all the bells and whistles you like on a web store – if your customers don’t have access to the products they want and need they will probably go elsewhere. And while the Amazons, Walmarts, Staples and Graingers of this world are able to dictate which products they offer online, the same is not true for the average independent dealer, often tied to selling items listed in a wholesaler’s catalogue.

Good content equals sales Take Walmart, for example. In February, leading product content management firm Salsify announced that its customers can now publish product content in minutes directly to Walmart’s systems. Walmart introduced a new product content collection system last June and eventually wants all of its suppliers to provide content for their entire product portfolios. This matters because good content equates to higher sales (see Salsify infographic, page 24). In the independent dealer channel, things are not so straightforward. “When I speak to dealers, the biggest issue they have right now is content and how to be competitive

“B2B sellers will see a significant volume of offline business move online in the next few years”

E-content | Hot Topic with Amazon,” says one global vendor. “The problem is the wholesalers are not syndicating the content like they [dealers] need.” The aim of this article is not to pick on the wholesalers. In fact, as TJ Crayne of PTC Associates says: “Wholesalers have been doing a lot to create digital, rich content and to help their dealers sell more online.” This is an opinion echoed by Steve Bilton, Managing Director of UK-based content firm FusionPLUS Data (Fusion), a sister company of e-commerce provider Evolution. “Essendant and SP Richards have done a very good job building content,” he affirms. “When we went to the US a couple of years ago, we were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the content coming from the two major wholesalers.”

Stumbling block The stumbling block for dealers and manufacturers is that wholesalers – in terms of product content and search functionality on dealer web shops – have tended to focus on the items they stock and there hasn’t been much interest in putting additional manufacturer SKUs out there. Simply put, if the content isn’t in the system, then the dealer can’t sell it. But there are signs of a shifting mindset – after all, wholesalers have a vested interest in seeing independent dealers succeed, and as the online space becomes more important, that includes evolving to meet the needs of the changing market. “I think there is a change in their [the wholesalers’] philosophy and they are now more willing to take a look and see how they can get those products out there,” says Crayne, who is running a dealer group/NOPA e-content initiative in the US (see ‘Content consortium confirmed’, page 24). “The good news is that everyone seems to be on the same page and this is something that is good for the channel as a whole.” The UK appears to be slightly ahead of the US on the content issue, thanks in no small part to the work of Bilton and his Fusion team. The product actually started out as an internal project for Evolution webstore users. “We saw product sales increase on our Evolution platform because Fusion helped dealers’ online customers find other products outside those items they would normally buy from that dealer,” says Bilton. “Revenues going through the stores were increasing at approximately 20% a year and we realised that we could commercialise it.” To illustrate how Fusion works, take catalogue owners such as wholesalers and

B2B e-commerce sales in the US

dealer groups: Fusion can take their content, bring it into a database, cross-reference it with all similar like-for-like products in the other catalogues and then add an attribute structure to every product. Information is then made available to the dealers that can ‘switch on’ the content they choose. Fusion’s aspiration is to be the UK and Ireland’s central repository for all business supplies content, and while Bilton recognises that challenges exist in achieving this, he believes the company is “heading down that road”. “There is space and a requirement for a central data repository,” he argues. “If people are scared about that data going

F = Forecast Source: Forrester Research

“Everyone seems to be on the same page and this is something that is good for the channel as a whole” into one place, that is what contracts are all about. The only intellectual property that the data company owns is the database and the attribute structures; any data that you put in is yours.” While it is clear that industry stakeholders in the US and UK are still trying to solve the data and content conundrum, perhaps they should take a leaf out of the book of what has been put in place in Germany. More than a decade ago, four brand owners – Avery Zweckform, Baier & Schneider, edding and Esselte Leitz – formed the not-for-profit PBS Network, with leading German dealer group Soennecken and trade association ARGE PBS later joining as shareholders. PBS Network has since w w w.opi.net | OPI Magazine

Hot Topic | E-content grown to involve 370 manufacturers – from a variety of product groups – and almost 2,300 resellers, covering approximately one million SKUs that account for daily sales of more than €5 million ($5.5 million).

Content consortium confirmed Enabling their dealers to sell the products they – and their customers – want is an item high on the agenda of US dealer groups Independent Stationers (IS) and TriMega which have been working on a joint e-content project (see News Analysis, OPI December 2015, page 12). There was good news for the initiative last month when US trade association NOPA said it had joined the groups to form a consortium that aims to increase the number of SKUs added to the content library for independent dealers. The inclusion of NOPA is an important one because it opens the project up to the wider independent dealer channel in the US as opposed to it being viewed as an IS/TriMega ‘closed shop’. NOPA has retained PTC Associates, led by well-known industry technology expert TJ Crayne, to be programme coordinator and the first step will be to develop a content aggregation pilot programme. Crayne and his team will be responsible for working with the interested parties to identify a content aggregator and determine what manufacturers

PBS Network – a good example A lot of in-house and third-party added-value services have been developed using PBS Network’s content, but the underlying data and content platform is built on a not-for-profit hub, meaning that the basic structure is open to anyone. That has greatly facilitated the ability to have a relevant, accurate and up-to-date content repository in Germany and in neighbouring markets such as Switzerland, the Netherlands and Austria. With a proven platform already up and running in continental Europe, could the PBS Network operating model be the answer in other markets such as the US and the UK? After all, why reinvent the wheel? What is more, OPI understands that PBS Network is keen to expand into other markets. One of the challenges, of course, would be to bring all stakeholders together to agree on a solution. That’s why the participation of NOPA in the US is certainly a step in the right direction; in the UK, the obvious organisation to facilitate such an initiative would be the BOSS Federation – a ‘by the industry, for the industry’ project would certainly tie in with its overall remit. And then, who knows? The product content issue could finally be ‘put to bed’ and vendors, resellers, wholesalers and service providers would be able to concentrate on growing their businesses without content – or the lack of it – standing in the way as a barrier.

OPI Magazine | March 2016

“We will be looking at a spectrum of manufacturers, some that are good at doing content and some that are not so good”

Source: Salsify

and what SKUs are to be added to the content library. They will also work with the aggregator, manufacturers and other interested parties to determine specific content the industry will need to effectively use the programme. Crayne says he expects a decision on the aggregator to be made by the middle of this month and then the pilot project will be built out over a period of approximately 90-120 days. “It’s important to go through this pilot phase to ensure the project has legs and that it will scale properly,” he notes. “We will be looking at a spectrum of manufacturers, some that are good at doing content and some that are not so good, in order to get a taste for what will work and what will require extra expertise. “Even if you build the best machine out there, you still need to identify the obstacles.” One advantage of the model that is in development, according to Crayne, is that the content repository will ‘piggyback’ on existing search engines, meaning that dealers – once they have entered the pricing information – have very little to do to get the products onto their system, no matter which e-commerce platform they are using.

Special Feature | Vendor Focus

The winds of

change… In OPI’s first-ever Vendor Special issue, Michelle Sturman takes a close look at a number of office products manufacturers and their diverse strategies in dealing with today’s rapidly changing business environment

OFFICE

products manufacturers have been through the mill over the past few years. The challenges are multifold: dealing with an overall economic slowdown; the move away from ‘traditional’ office supplies thanks to the increased use of technology; consolidation across all channels; and continued pressure from the rest of the supply chain demanding their pound of flesh in the form of discounts, rebates, etc. Despite these obstacles and the various changes within the industry, many vendors have significantly upped their game, focusing

OPI Magazine | March 2016

on areas such product innovation, moves into new categories and/or markets, acquisitions, and even monumental break-ups. While the vendors featured in this article thoroughly deserve to be included, this is by no means an exhaustive list – think of it rather as a snapshot of excellence. The manufacturers featured are (in no particular order): HP Inc, CEP, Clover Technologies, Pukka Pads, Really Useful Products and Pilot Pen. We have also included Faber-Castell as a tribute to Count Anton-Wolfgang von Faber-Castell, who sadly passed away at the beginning of the year.

Office Product s International

Vendor Focus | Special Feature ISSUE NO.2 5 5

and value, says Pilot Pen European Brand Manager Ken Schoellhammer. In fact, numerous markets – including France and the UK – are growing for Pilot,

CEP In 2014, France-based CEP Office Solutions moved into an entirely new category with the launch of its ‘Take a Break’ beverages solution for the breakroom. Recognising a gap in the market, CEP developed a “unique but simple” solution in the form of interlinking parts, including storage modules, trays, dispenser trays, cups, etc. The Take a Break range has been quickly adopted by resellers after only being promoted in catalogues for the past year, helping push CEP to its best-ever year with record revenues in 2015. CEP Managing Director Cédrik Longin told OPI that its Take a Break collection opened the door to many new resellers that not only took the breakroom solution, but also showed interest in the company’s wider office supplies product portfolio. “In addition, the range doesn’t cannibalise our existing sales,” Longin says. The manufacturer is not resting on its laurels, however. Longin is fully aware that having the resellers on board is only half the battle. “Our mission now is to promote Take a Break to end users. When they see the range, they love it,” he explains.

Big Interview

Jeff Whitewa y, Group CEO, SPOT

p18 December 2015 /January 2016

with some other surprising pockets of growth across Europe. Schoellhammer explains that countries with well-educated populations, such as Romania for example, are catching up with Western Europe. Reaching the end consumer – B2B and B2C – has been a p14 p13 HP’s long priority for the company FM in transition road to grow p44 Staples th ’ battle with the FTC p22 for many years. Since the mid-2000s, Pilot has grown stronger in speaking directly to consumers, boosted by the advent of social media such as Twitter and Facebook. The vendor has fully embraced the use of digital media to reach its end users and has been highly successful with this concept, notably with its #happywriting campaign about the joy of handwriting. As Schoellhammer says: “A brand is only as strong as its end users.” Indeed, every year Pilot embarks on an extensive marketing and communications campaign that helps it connect directly with its customers. Last year’s campaign – Pilot FriXion Sponsors Best Solo Artist at the 2015 NME Awards – put the vendor firmly on the shortlist for the Marketing Initiative of the Year award for this year’s European Office Products Awards. WWW.OPI.NET

“A brand is only as strong as its end users”

magazine

NUARY 2016

Writing instruments manufacturer Pilot Pen is preparing to celebrate the tenth anniversary of its game-changing FriXion pen family this year. Introduced in 2006 in the company’s country of origin Japan, the thermo-sensitive ink technology revolutionised and reinvigorated the category. And for the past five years in particular, the writing instruments market has been relatively stable, both in terms of volume

ce.

DECEMBER 2015/JA

Pilot Pen

The word in offi

Industry pay s OP icon Tom tribute to Stemberg

For Paperworld 2016 in Frankfurt, CEP had added new products to the line. According to Longin, the new space-saving and convenient drawer selection went down extremely well with visitors and is already available in the 2016 catalogues. Paperworld visitors were not the only ones impressed with the Take a Break range. Last year, CEP won Product of the Year at the European Office Products Awards (EOPA) for its solution: judges said CEP offered a complete package with sales backing up a good product. They were particularly impressed with the simplicity of the idea, its execution and the catalogue listings it achieved. This year, the manufacturer has been shortlisted for EOPA in a different category – Vendor of the Year – so it’s clearly keeping up its progressive work. It, for example, expanded the geographic reach of Take a Break to the US through a distribution partnership with UK-based Floortex, which takes care of the logistics. CEP continues to work on innovations for the range and its other categories. “We are always looking at new markets that aren’t being impacted by the decline in traditional office products,” says Longin.

“Our mission now is to promote Take a Break to end users”

Cédrik Longin

w w w.opi.net | OPI Magazine

Vendor Focus | Special Feature

Really Useful Products

Pukka Pads

UK-based Really Useful Products has taken something as simple as a plastic box and with it built a $60 million business that stretches from the UK to Japan. Having started in 2000 as a supplier of plastic-based products, the company moved into manufacturing eight years ago and now boasts over 300 employees. This success has been helped with the break into the Asian market, namely Japan. Really Useful Products owner and CEO Mike Pickles explains that after exhibiting for many years at Paperworld Frankfurt, the organiser of ISOT – Japan’s largest stationery and office products fair – invited the company to attend its show. Accepting this invitation, and with just two existing Japanese customers, Really Useful armed itself with translators and exhibited at the event. “We just did our best,” says Pickles. The move clearly paid off, and the rest, as they say, is history – 2016 marks the company’s fifth year of attendance at ISOT.

Really Useful Products now has a Japanese agent, and Pickles says the show has also opened up trading accounts in South Korea and the Philippines, with hopes for even wider distribution in the region. As a result of conducting business in Japan, Really Useful has developed many specific new products for this particlular market. In doing so, the company has embraced Japan’s discerning product expectations and improved the overall quality standards of its range.

Really Useful armed itself with translators and exhibited [at ISOT]

UK-based Pukka Pads is the country’s brand leader in notepads and has made a concerted effort in recent times to ready itself for expansion, both internally and externally. The company announced the launch of its continental European operations at Paperworld in January – fitting considering the venture will run from its new warehouse based in Germany. Pukka Pads says the brand and its products have been in demand on the continent for some time, and it will now be able to meet this existing demand and fulfil its aim to become a major player in Europe.

The team will focus on […] making Pukka Pads an “easy-to-do-business-with company” The company is also looking to strengthen its position in the B2B sector through the launch of the Noir Concord Premium Luxury range of pads, files and copier paper. To help spur overall growth, there has been some internal reshuffling at the company, with Mike Thomsett, who joined the Pukka Group in July 2015 as Retail Sales Director, appointed Managing Director in January 2016. Thomsett has a very clear vision for the future of the business: a focus on customer service and on new product innovation, and a concerted effort to stand out from the competition. A newly-formed key account customer service team will focus on improving customer satisfaction and making Pukka Pads an “easy-to-do-business-with company”. Pukka Pads recently invested in two new warehouses at its Yorkshire location to add improvements to its distribution service. The new facilities – including new racking and a software update – will be ready for service in April this year. www.opi.net | OPI Magazine

Special Feature | Vendor Focus

HP Inc

In October 2014, HP CEO Meg Whitman finally confirmed what industry pundits had suspected for some time – the company would be split in two. Hewlett-Packard Enterprise would take care of HP’s enterprise technology infrastructure, software and service businesses. HP Inc would comprise the company’s PC and printing businesses. Finally, on 2 November 2015, Whitman rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange to signal the formal beginning of the two new companies. OPI caught up with Thomas Jensen, VP of Worldwide Channel Sales Strategy at HP Inc, to find out more about the new business and its future. OPI: Let’s start with your goals. What are the short, medium and long-term plans for HP Inc? Thomas Jensen: We are more focused and agile than ever before. We are committed to excelling within our core business – reinvigorating printing and leading the charge in multi-form factor personal systems. Also, we will tap into growth opportunities through natural adjacencies, such as capturing A3 copier pages, and expand commercial mobility. We are strategically positioned for the future where inputs and outputs will be seamless and intuitive. We will lead in 3D printing and drive immersive computing. OPI: What will be the main focus of the print side of the division this year – especially with falling supplies sales and lower revenues? TJ: HP has been the market leader in print for more than 30 years. We believe our leadership position can be leveraged to expand the market, improve supplies trajectory and capture pockets of growth. We will do this with disruptive innovation – technology, solutions and new business models that deliver better experiences for our customers. In the core, we will reinvigorate the home and grow business share. For the home, you will see us continue to delight customers by making printing easier, producing more desirable products, and accelerating new business models including HP Instant Ink and HP Ink Advantage. For the business market, we are differentiating with security, growing managed print services and solutions, and strengthening our portfolio with new JetIntelligence and PageWide offerings. Plus, with our new-found agility, we now have the opportunity to invest and win in new and growing markets, including graphics and 3D. OPI: You mention 3D printing. What stage of development are you at? TJ: In 2014, we announced our vision for 3D printing and unveiled HP Multi Jet Fusion, a revolutionary technology engineered to resolve critical gaps in the combination

OPI Magazine | March 2016

of speed, quality and cost, and deliver on the future potential of 3D printing. We will unveil our first 3D printing system later this year. We view 3D printing as an extension of HP’s 30+ years of print leadership and a significant part of our future. We also believe that we are on the cusp of the next industrial revolution, and that 3D printing will drive a seismic shift in manufacturing workflows and production. OPI: What are HP Inc’s plans for OP resellers? TJ: Our success would not be possible without our valued channel partners. Office resellers and contract stationers are independent extensions of us and important partners in our Partner First ecosystem. The new HP Partner First programme drives growth and profitability for these partners with streamlined programmes and sales and support tools, helping them succeed in today’s rapidly changing market.

“Office resellers and contract stationers are independent extensions of us and important partners in our Partner First ecosystem” Our mission is to support our partners by being: first in speed and agility; first in simple and consistent operations; and, through increased speed and simplicity, driving growth and profitability. We are focused on accelerating channel partner growth and dedicated to delivering innovative products and solutions such as HP Instant Ink, as well as a simple and clear partner programme. OPI: What’s happening with Instant Ink? TJ: The response to HP Instant Ink has been overwhelmingly positive. The programme was developed to address customer concerns about the cost of ink, the frustration that comes with running out of ink, and the worry about the environmental impact of supplies. The beauty of the service is that it provides solutions to all of these pain points, giving customers huge savings, leveraging Internet of Things technology to automatically order and ship replacement ink to a customer before they run out, and facilitating a worry-free recycling process. The HP Instant Ink programme is available in the US, Canada, UK, Germany and France, with additional markets planned for the future. Thomas Jensen

Vendor Focus | Special Feature

Clover Technologies

In tribute…

Aftermarket supplier and manufacturer Clover Technologies has been busy over the past year or so with acquisitions, new partnerships and alliances, and the implementation of a major marketing initiative. All of this has improved its service to customers, so much so that the company was recognised by the industry at the European Office Products Awards in 2015 as Vendor of the Year. Judges commended Clover for its outstanding service, successfully diversifying its portfolio and for becoming the world’s biggest collector and recycler of mobile phones and inkjet and laser cartridges. In terms of new alliances, one of the more interesting deals involves Clover becoming a strategic toner supplier for Konica Minolta – an expansion of an existing relationship between

the two companies. Last year, Clover also announced a partnership with buying group International Business Products Inc (IBPI), giving more than 300 group members access to its aftermarket toner, parts and managed print services. About a year ago, Clover announced the creation of the Clover Imaging Group (CIG) – a single marketing group encompassing all the brands in its Imaging Group under one umbrella. Now CIG is more than just a marketing concept aimed at uniting brands and services. It is a sales and marketing engine designed to offer products, services and solutions from one single entity. The company says CIG will continue to evolve as the market changes. To support the division, a new website has been launched that enables dealers to order from the entire CIG portfolio of toners, inks, server and PC parts, etc, from one destination. Additionally, clients will now have one sales representative and one invoice for the products, services and solutions purchased from CIG.

A strong manufacturer often has an exceptional leader at its helm and Count Anton-Wolfgang von Faber-Castell was one such leader. OPI pays tribute to the Count, who sadly passed away on 21 January 2016 in the US, aged 74. It was 1978 when Count Anton-Wolfgang was called up – from his then position in investment banking – to take over from his late father Count Roland von Faber-Castell in running the stationery company. Count Anton-Wolfgang’s motto was ‘making ordinary things extraordinary well’, and he clearly stuck to this philosophy over his 40 years at the head of the company. He took over Faber-Castell at a time when the business was suffering major losses, and one of his first moves was to expand the company into a new direction – cosmetics. He also responded to its struggles by developing specialised and high-quality products, including the world’s first fineline pencil with automatic lead-propulsion, the TK-Matic. He further expanded the selection of artists’ instruments and optimised the field of technical drawing instruments. In the following years, Count Anton-Wolfgang set about opening up in international markets by establishing foreign subsidiaries and production plants, especially in South America and Asia-Pacific. In 1993, the Count realigned the brand and restructured the product range into five fields: Playing & Learning, Arts & Graphics, Premium, General Writing and Marking. The following year, he successfully acquired the trademark

CIG will continue to evolve as the market changes

Count Anton-Wolfgang’s motto was ‘making ordinary things extraordinary well’ rights for North America that had been confiscated after World War One. This led to the creation of Faber-Castell USA in 1996. In 1999, Faber-Castell acquired Creativity for Kids, the leading brand of creative sets for children in the US. In 2006, he was recognised by the OP world for his many achievements with the Industry Achievement award at the European Office Products Awards. w w w.opi.net | OPI Magazine

Office Peeps | Dealer Spotlight

Calculating

success

The role that dealer groups play in the OP supply chain cannot be underestimated, but it is up to the dealers to make the most of the available opportunities on offer – and US-based Office Peeps has certainly done that

by Michelle Sturman michelle.sturman@opi.net

SOUTH

Dakota-based dealer Office Peeps is a reseller that firmly believes in the power of cooperation. Current owner Joel Vockrodt credits much of the success of the business over recent years to learning how to get the most out of its relationship with US dealer group Independent Stationers (IS). The partnership with IS stretches back to when his father – who was also on the board of directors of IS before retiring in 2009 – ran Office Peeps. Following in his father’s footsteps, Joel was elected to the IS board in 2014 as Secretary, and was recently voted in as Vice Chairman.

Keeping it in the family Office Peeps has been in the hands of the Vockrodt family for some time, but its history with the firm actually stretches

“We stock around 2,200 items from the RDC which account for over 50% of our supply sales – it’s all about selling what we buy best”

back much further. Merlin Jeitz and Jim Cook originally founded the company in 1959 and Cook’s Office Machines – as it was then known – sold and serviced typewriters. Shortly afterwards came the dawn of the calculator age and when school districts were given grants to purchase calculators, the pair seized the opportunity and eventually became the top sellers of Olivetti calculators in the US during the 1960s. The retail price of the first calculator sold was $575, almost $5,000 in today’s money! In 1981, Maury Vockrodt joined the company, which was then owned solely by Jeitz, while Cook had set up a rival company called Office Systems Inc (OSI). Vockrodt eventually left Jeitz and bought OSI. Joel Vockrodt – Maury’s son – joined OSI in 2000 and then, in yet another twist, in 2004 the pair bought the business owned by Jeitz. In effect, the firm had now come full circle, and the businesses were merged to become “one big happy family”. In 2009, OSI rebranded to Office Peeps – a nod to its employees – and in 2010, the company bought Office Necessities, based in Huron, South Dakota. Today, Joel and his wife Jessica employ a team of 33 in the two locations, which cover eastern South Dakota and south-western Minnesota.

Joel and Jessica Vockrodt, owners of Office Peeps

w w w.opi.net | OPI Magazine

Dealer Spotlight | Office Peeps Office Peeps customers fall predominantly in the B2B arena, with commercial business in all verticals, including government, banks, education and non-profits. Today, roughly half of its business is office supplies, 25% furniture and interior design services and 25% equipment and repair. A real focus over the past few years has been on categories such as jan/san and breakroom, which have seen a steady increase in sales during that period.

High-margin service While financial results are not available from the reseller, Vockrodt says the business enjoys a high profit margin, although not necessarily for the reasons one might imagine. “The quick assumption is that servicing a rural area means less competition which allows us to charge more. While I can’t discount that completely, the reality is that our customers are very comfortable with being online and we therefore have plenty of competition,” he explains. However, promoting the items stocked through Independent Stationers’ Regional Distribution Centre (RDC) programme also maintains high margins, according to Vockrodt. “We stock around 2,200 items from the RDC which account for over 50% of our supply sales – it’s all about selling what we buy best.” A firm believer in the power of networking and learning from others, Vockrodt explains that after meeting at a roundtable gathering organised by wholesaler Essendant, Office

Peeps now teams up with two non-competing dealers in the region. “We have combined sales retreats, for example, to give our respective sales teams the opportunity to receive formal training while being able to learn from each other,” he says.

It is critical for independent dealers to grow expertise in emerging categories, focus on marketing, get the most out of dealer groups and invest in technology And while the industry continues to consolidate throughout the entire office products supply chain, Vockrodt maintains there is opportunity for dealers within this changing environment. However, he says, it is critical for independent dealers to grow expertise in emerging categories, focus on marketing, get the most out of dealer groups and invest in technology.

Driven to success Office Peeps was named the winner of a new award introduced by US dealer group Independent Stationers (IS) at EPIC 2015. The Driven to Success award honours the late Bob Nimmo who passed away in 2015. All nominees demonstrated commitment and participation in the cooperative, their communities and the independent dealer channel. “This award was created in memory of Bob Nimmo and means a lot to us. We thought the world of Bob and would like to think he would be proud of our involvement in IS and our community,” says Office Peeps owner Joel Vockrodt.

OPI Magazine | March 2016

Digital dilemma

Office Peeps fact box: Founded: 1959 HQ: Watertown, South Dakota Owners: Joel and Jessica Vockrodt Geographical coverage: South Dakota and south-western Minnesota Business model: Mostly B2B First-call wholesaler: Essendant

On that last point, Office Peeps is looking to progress with its e-commerce capabilities, an area that Vockrodt feels the company doesn’t have enough control over – from setting up search rankings how it wants, to being somewhat dependent on the wholesalers for product content. However, Vockrodt says the recent announcement from the National Office Products Alliance (NOPA), IS and TriMega on e-content collaboration is a welcome development (see Hot Topic, page 22, for more on this topic). The initiative is based on aggregating SKUs and manufacturers into a digital content library that dealers can access to help them sell more on their own e-commerce platforms. “It is definitely an area that our industry can work together on, and I have hope that we will make progress,” Vockrodt believes.

Vendor Profile | Bi-silque

Category champion Bi-silque goes from strength to strength in the viscom category, enjoying success on both sides of the Atlantic

terms of success stories in OP vendor circles, you need look no further than Portugal-based visual communications (viscom) manufacturer Bi-silque. The company – founded in 1979 by Aida and Virgilio Vasconcelos and now headed by their son André – has grown to 610 employees, exports to 82 markets and produces over 2,500 SKUs in the viscom category. Known mainly for its Bi-Office and MasterVision brands, Bi-silque serves major customers such as Lyreco, Staples, Essendant, Office Depot, WB Mason, Manutan and VOW. It operates fully supported strategic business units, including distribution in the US, Canada, the UK and Germany, and will shortly be opening a facility in France. All products are made or assembled at the company-owned site near Porto, meaning Bi-silque controls the products from raw materials and production through to packaging and distribution.

Flexibility is key “Our supply chain flexibility is one of our core differentiators,” explains Chief Commercial Officer Beth Wright. “We let our customers purchase the best way that works for them and fits with their strategy. We deliver full containers to many global customers, yet stock more long-tail/niche assortments in our local facilities to give our customers growth opportunities with a full range of viscom products.”

THE

TIMELINE

The beginning 1979

Expansion 1995

Company founded by Virgílio and Aida Vasconcelos Production of cork and wood products

Opening of Bi-silque UK Production begins of aluminium products

Controlled growth and development on a number of levels has been a feature of Bi-silque’s strategy in recent years – something that is not always easy to achieve as a family-owned company – and this has built strong foundations for future success. A recent €4 million ($4.5 million) investment at the firm’s headquarters included a new, state-of-the-art showroom and a R&D unit staffed by a team of 14 full-time employees. “R&D is – and has always been – a priority, and the expanded department is focused on both technology and traditional products as it works on delivering innovation to the viscom category,” notes CEO André Vasconcelos. Some of these innovations include interactive boards that connect with multiple users simultaneously, collaborative software developed in-house that is focused on educator ease of use, and interactive tables for the commercial and education markets.

OPI Magazine | March 2016

1998

1999

Bi-Office brand is launched

First contract signed with pan-European customer

From left to right: Aida Vasconcelos, André Vasconcelos & Beth Wright

“Our R&D, new product development, production, marketing and sales are all focused on viscom”

Expansion continues 2007

Opening of Bi-silque US

2008

MasterVision, Bi-Joy & Bi-Bloco brands are launched

Bi-silque | Vendor Profile Beth Wright was promoted to the key role of Chief Commercial Officer at Bi-silque at the end of 2014 after successfully establishing the vendor as a force in the US market. She leads an energised, global team of sales, marketing and customer service professionals. Here, Wright explains how Bi-silque has developed in the past few years and how it partners with resellers to grow their viscom sales. OPI: When you look at Bi-silque today versus five years ago, how has it evolved? Beth Wright: There have been a lot of significant changes in the past five years. What I’d call a paradigm shift from a family-run private brand producer of low-cost boards to a global, fast-growing multnational with diverse product ranges and selling into many different channels. OPI: You carried out a strategic refocus in 2014. What was the rationale for that and what have been the main benefits? BW: When you grow as fast as we have in the past few years, there are times when you need to re-evaluate and refocus the company on a clear strategy. While we didn’t make radical changes to our mission of being the global leading expert in visual communication products, we simplified the message so that everyone from the factory production worker to the executive team were all on the same page and ‘pulling the cart in the right direction’. OPI: To what extent have you become more sophisticated as a business as a result? BW: Sophistication comes in many forms; we are certainly more focused as a business on core KPIs, accountability, processes and global communication/knowledge sharing. Also, we continue to structure our human capital in a way that supports our growth, yet staying as lean as possible. OPI: What’s your view of the viscom category at the moment; what are the opportunities? BW: The viscom category continues to buck the overall OP trend: the category is growing

at around 7-9% annually, so there are most definitely opportunities out there. These include tapping into current workplace trends. For example, millennials love a collaborative approach to working; therefore, white boarding is used in a big way in modern offices. We have multiple solutions to fit these needs, including extra-large boards and tiles to create custom walls. We are also seeing changes in office aesthetics, with a trend for designs that are modern and give a more home-like feeling. That drives sales in our glass products. Mobility in the workplace – using products in various spaces – lends itself to products such as mobile easels and flipcharts as well as multifunctional products like our interactive boards. OPI: What resources and tools do you provide to support your resellers? BW: Our support can vary significantly, based on the openness to partner from our resellers as well as the channel or trade class. This support can include business analytics, category management, point-of-sale analysis, best-in-class content, and product training/ end-user sale support from our vast network of national coverage representation. OPI: You focus 100% on the viscom category. What advantages do you think that gives you versus competitors that are multi-category? BW: ‘Focus’ is a word I use a lot in our business: our R&D, new product development, production, marketing and sales are all focused on viscom and this enables us to keep our finger on the pulse of trends in how the end user buys and uses our products. This then pushes us to develop new products. In the past two years we have developed over 400 new products for new channels

A new era 2009

2011

2012

Production begins of interactive solutions Bi-Bright brand is launched

Succession plan implemented and André Vasconcelos becomes CEO

20% growth

2013

Further expansion 2014

Expansion Acquisition of Edubox into Canada & TouchDimension enhances interactive solutions 16% growth

Wright highlights viscom category potential to top Essendant dealers during their September 2015 Portugal visit

2015

2016

Opening of German subsidiary

Opening of French subsidiary 27% growth plan

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601

NEW C AT

ORY FOR 2 EG

Young Executive of the Year EW 6 - N CAT 01

NORTH AMERICAN OFFICE PRODUCTS

ORGANIZED BY OPI, IN ASSOCIATION WITH S.P. RICHARDS COMPANY

CALL FOR ENTRIES Best Product - Core Ofﬁce Products Best Product - Furniture Best Product - Technology Products Best Product - Cleaning & Breakroom Product Innovation of the Year People’s Choice Award Dealer Awards Young Executive of the Year - NEW! Professional of the Year Industry Achievement

Enter or nominate online at www.opi.net/NAOPA2016 or email awards@opi.net for details The North American Ofﬁce Products Awards are held as part of S.P. Richards’ Advantage Business Conference at The Gaylord, Washington DC, USA, from 20-24 July 2016

Bi-silque | Vendor Profile and verticals, and specific products based on geographical need. Because our speed to market is second to none, we can get our customers into new products and new markets very quickly. OPI: Tell us about the five sales channels that you focus on. BW: The five channels are globals/nationals, wholesalers/dealers, e-tailers, industrial and education. Why are we organised this way? Because one solution doesn’t fit all needs. Our aim is to provide best-in-class products and services for each channel. For instance, with the education channel, they need support, installation, service and a mix of traditional and technology products to form the best-selling solutions. With the dealer community, our assortment is a ‘good, better, best’ strategy that allows the dealer to maximise the SME target market while providing a clear selling/catalogue and web strategy within the category. OPI: How is your education offering evolving in different markets? BW: Our education offering is substantial and it continues to grow rapidly. We now have a full solution of traditional and interactive products in the German market, with service built around the solution to support the educator. Our UK solution is also well built out.

“Because our speed to market is second to none, we can get our customers into new products and new markets very quickly” Another key area of support is in the schools initiatives of our large, more traditional resellers that now have catalogues and sales forces focused on gaining more wallet share in the education sector. This has been our most successful initiative in this channel so far. We are most successful when our strategies in a segment are aligned with our customers’ initiatives. OPI: So what is Bi-silque’s strategy for the next five years? BW: Our aim is to be the global leader in visual communication solutions. In five years, I see us more and more focused on integrating technology into traditional products, and having a more segmented business with additional product and sales build-outs in the education space. And you never know what acquisitions are on the horizon…

Bi-silque has invested a lot in its people over the past few years and promotes a positive team spirit

WB Mason: a Bi-silque customer success story WB Mason SVP of Marketing Dan Orr and Director of Marketing Lindsay Picard discuss how Bi-silque has become a trusted brand partner for the reseller.

OPI: How has your relationship with Bi-silque evolved since we spoke in 2013? Dan Orr: Bi-silque and its MasterVision brand is one of our fastest-growing suppliers. Our partnership has extended from a buying and selling relationship to a more integrated part of our business. They are now a part of our vertical market strategy, as it helps us gain more wallet share at key customers with innovative products. OPI: Can you give us some examples of the vertical market opportunities with MasterVision/Bi-silque and WB Mason partnering? Lindsay Picard: They are involved in supporting us on the technology side of the visual communication category with products like interactive boards and tables. Providing training and end-user support on these assisted sale items is critical for us to be successful. Also, in emerging categories with huge opportunities for growth such as food service, Bi-silque’s wide assortment allows us to have key items like A-frame menu boards that sell specifically into this market. OPI: How does their field organisation work with your branches? LP: Bi-silque has a great team calling on our business. From their executive team to a top north-east rep firm, they are in our HQ and branches at all levels. We expect our key vendors to participate in our regional shows, branch sales meetings and end-user calls; engaging in a complete marketing programme, as Bi-silque does, is the secret to success here. OPI: How else does the Bi-silque team deliver value? LP: Bi-silque continues to deliver rich content that is focused on how the end user shops for these types of products to both our web team and print merchandising team. Active involvement and commitment to the process from the Bi-silque team delivers results because they are the ones that know their product best and how they should be positioned in print and online. We work together as a team to ensure that this information translates into our customer shopping behaviours. The Bi-silque team also helps us in bidding on key tenders for boards where competitive pressure is significant. Their supply chain options are extremely beneficial for us during these times. OPI: How do you see the relationship continuing to strengthen? DO: If Bi-silque continues to expand and innovate like it has in the past three years, it will continue to prosper with our company. It also provides support with strong field coverage, which is critical for us. We believe WB Mason allows Bi-silque to bring products to market the fastest in the commercial space so it’s a good partnership. We are looking forward to the future.

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Paperworld 2016 | Event Review

A time for reflection Paperworld faces a challenge to cater to the changing business supplies marketplace

was always going to be interesting to see how Paperworld in Frankfurt panned out this year after the introduction of the Plaza concept in 2015. As a reminder, this came about after an agreement with leading German brand manufacturers trade association PBS-Markenindustrie whereby their members will have a dedicated exhibition area at the event every two years. Organiser Messe Frankfurt had hoped to lure the association’s members back this year in a mini Plaza-type format, but that did not attract enough interest to make it worthwhile, meaning that showcase Hall 3.1 was closed altogether and the office supplies sector was effectively grouped into just one single space, Hall 3.0. While some PBS-Markenindustrie members were present, either with stands or business lounges, the number of big brands absent was more noticeable this year than ever, especially with no representation from leading writing instrument vendors in Hall 3.0. That made the hall something of a hotchpot of products, including things such as string and children’s paint, without a clear focus on what the office reseller channel is actually selling. The official numbers from Messe Frankfurt point to a 6.5% decline in visitor numbers to Paperworld this year compared with 2015 – 36,733 versus 39,278 – with almost 70% of visitors coming from outside Germany. Exhibitor numbers were also down slightly, from 1,636 companies from 61 countries last year to 1,608 from 59 countries in 2016.

A balanced picture According to PBS-Markenindustrie Director Thomas Bona, quoted in Messe Frankfurt’s post-event press release: “Paperworld in Frankfurt is unsurpassed in terms of visitor and exhibitor internationality. For our member companies that pursue export strategies to sell their products abroad, the fair in Frankfurt represents a substantial platform right on their doorstep. We are very pleased with the standard of international buyers.” The feedback that OPI has received from visitors and exhibitors presents a rather more balanced picture. Mirosław Szydłowski, Managing Director of PBS Connect Polska, has noted a change

in the profile of exhibitors and visitors over the past few years: “We observe large, international players and brands missing. Moreover, we have noticed more medium and small vendors presenting their products to medium and small customers.” This is not a development that ties in with his business requirements: “As the leading multi-brand distributor in Poland and other CEE countries, we are looking for opportunities to expand our portfolio based on exclusive business relationships with global producers and manufacturers. Unfortunately, Frankfurt cannot guarantee that anymore, so we cannot be fully satisfied,” he added. Adnan Selmanagic, Executive Manager at R&S, a distributor/reseller from Bosnia-Herzegovina, said that the trip to Frankfurt was “worth it”. “For us, it is good that in three days we can meet many different suppliers and negotiate prices and conditions and some new improvements,” he told OPI. “Also, we have been able to open talks with some new suppliers that we did not work with before.” Reaction from some of the global resellers OPI spoke to was less positive, ranging from comments that are simply not printable here to an admission that more time was spent meeting suppliers in nearby hotels that in the Messe Frankfurt halls. In addition, it is worth noting that many reseller delegations were reduced in size this year and there were some notable absentees, particularly from the European wholesale channel. There was also a mixed response from exhibitors and other members of the vendor community – the ones that pay Messe Frankfurt’s bills, after all. Julia Vorley, Marketing Manager at AF International, returned from Paperworld in a positive mood. “We enjoyed a busy exhibition with some good leads, and for our account

“Maybe it would help to focus on Frankfurt instead of organising a Paperworld in other places”

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Event Review | Paperworld 2016 “We have noticed more medium and small vendors presenting their products to medium and small customers”

managers the show certainly met their expectations,” she told OPI. “We received some really top quality enquiries from buyers located in Taiwan, the Middle East and Europe, to name but a few,” she continued. “I think that there were reduced amounts of German buyers, but those that did attend were of top quality and very interesting to AF.”

Mixed feedback Stamp manufacturer Colop also reported a successful Paperworld. Franz Ratzenberger, Head of International Sales and Marketing, told OPI: “For us, the fair is not only a presentation platform for new products, but has also been a perfect ‘meeting place’ for years. It is an ideal platform to meet international partners and customers, to inform them, exchange ideas, discuss business plans, start sales and advertising promotions and thus to initiate a successful year in 2016. So we were satisfied with the result.” However, Ratzenberger also admitted that the event had lost of bit of its gloss due to the absence of some of the bigger OP industry brands. “Messe Frankfurt should try to get both attractive exhibitors and international visitors back to Frankfurt,” he said. “Maybe it would help to focus on Frankfurt instead of organising a Paperworld in other places such as Shanghai or Dubai – this might help to avoid a ‘cannibalism’ effect.” Matthias Schumacher, Director of International Sales and Key Account Management, tesa Consumer and Craftsmen, was generally happy with this year’s show despite the drop in attendance. Tesa is one of the PBS-Markenindustrie vendors that supports the biennial Plaza concept and, as such, viewed the 2016 event as an “in between” year, but with a clear focus on export customers. “There were fewer people this year, but all the important ones attended and there was a high rate of international visitors,” Schumacher commented. David Nelsey, who works as a consultant with Danish manufacturer NAGA, said he was “pleased” with the company’s location in Hall 3.0 and with the quality of international visitors. “As an international, export-oriented company, NAGA will continue to exhibit at Paperworld in 2017,” he confirmed.

OPI Magazine | March 2016

One company that didn’t mind the lower number of visitors was ink and components supplier Multichem, which targets other exhibitors. “When visitor numbers are down, we tend to be busier as people are free to leave their own stands,” said Managing Director Michael Nelson. There were also some interesting comments from vendor representatives who were not actually exhibiting at Paperworld, but were there in a visitor capacity. Jonathan Smith, VP Sales – Europe at Avery, noted that the halls seemed “relatively quiet” on Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning, normally the busiest times. “The vendors I spoke to were reporting traffic down on previous years and a significant drop in Western/Central European visitors, and hardly any from the UK,” he said. Avery no longer exhibits in Frankfurt, and Smith said the show is of “no relevance” to the company as it prefers to communicate with its customers on a one-to-one basis throughout the year. Peter Achterberg, the experienced Sales and Business Development Manager at Europe-based vendor group T3L, said he enjoys the opportunity to catch up with industry acquaintances and exchange ideas, but he is not convinced that Paperworld is still the right platform for T3L. “Appointments with customers and networking in general are the main reasons to visit Paperworld, along with looking for new products and opportunities, if you are not exhibiting like we did as T3L this year. “T3L will analyse if we should exhibit next year and beyond, but it is not as obvious as it was in the ‘old’ days that we will do so.”

Struggling for relevance So where does this somewhat mixed bag leave the future of Paperworld? As an exhibition for stationery products, there really isn’t an issue: the hobby and craft and social stationery areas of the trade fair, along with the co-located Creativeworld event, provide a strong platform for stationery retailers. However, as attendance this year once again demonstrated, in terms of an international meeting place for the evolving business supplies market, Paperworld is struggling for relevance. And until it is able to open up to a wider range of product categories and put on a value-added programme that attracts international business supplies vendors and resellers, that struggle will continue. The next Paperworld in Frankfurt will be held from 28-31 January 2017.

Event Review | Green Light 2016

Dealers give

Green Light Themed ‘Stepping up a Gear’, this is exactly what wholesaler VOW did at its second Green Light event for dealers

MEETING

and exceeding expectations after a successful inaugural event is no mean feat. But Green Light 2016 was once again given the thumbs up by those who visited the event, organised by UK wholesaler VOW and held at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole (NEC) in late January for the second time. About 400 delegates attended from around 200 unique dealer customers – the latter a substantial increase of 20% compared to 2015 – while approximately 100 of VOW’s vendor partners showed their latest products during the expo that complemented the wide and varied education, networking and entertainment programme. VOW Managing Director Adrian Butler opened the event with a round-up of VOW’s and parent EVO Group’s performances – financial and otherwise – over the past 12 months. Most of what he said in this business update was encouraging, but he – and after him National Sales Director Martin Weedall – also gave an honest assessment of some of the shortcomings of the wholesaler and the group as a whole, referring to the need to broaden its range, improve its relevance to resellers, and become less inward-focused and more consistent in its communication.

The way forward As the theme of the event – Stepping up a Gear – suggested, both Butler and Weedall talked about new initiatives to take the wholesaler and its customers forward: the brand new, three-tiered VOW Venture partner programme, a reinvigorated Bokz

OPI Magazine | March 2016

programme and a priority focus on both the facilities supplies category and last-mile delivery service Truline. As the day unfolded, there was plenty more opportunity to delve into the topics that concern dealers today. A number of guest speakers, including Irongate’s Managing Director Adam Noble and Richard Reed, co-founder of smoothie brand innocent, provided entertaining as well as inspiring accounts of how to – and how not to – step up a gear, create momentum and grow your business. A variety of breakout workshops, meanwhile, covered the importance of Google Analytics in assessing dealers’ web offerings, a ‘how to’ guide to social media as well as the much-needed attention that should be given to the facilities segment. Indeed, on that last point, plenty of exhibitors from that category – and many others – were on hand in the expo hall to show their offerings. As Weedall said: “In categories such as jan/san, resellers are especially keen to find out what marketing tools and support vendors can offer and how they can lead in to target existing and potential customers.” Overall, he added, resellers attend Green Light to benefit from valuable face-to-face vendor interaction.

“They want to better understand all the available sales opportunities and discover new, innovative products so they can successfully expand their purchasing basket to existing clients.”

Networking and entertainment After the day’s proceedings, the evening began with more networking opportunities before and during the Gala Dinner, and concluded with the very funny comedian ventriloquist Nina Conti and the inimitable VOW Partner awards ceremony. On that note, many congratulations to the winners which included: ACS, Commercial, Paper Round, Reflex, DP Supplies, nectere, Cowans Direct, Sarratt Office Supplies, Bridgewater, Codex and CCS Media. BIC UK won the Supplier Stand of the Show.