In the mercurial world of imaging supplies, success is often a product of experience, knowledge and solid core principles.
With over 25 years of industry experience and know-how, Cartridge Warehouse International (CWI) has succeeded by standing strong by the company’s three core principles: Excellent Customer Service, Premium Product Quality, and Equitable Success.
CWI at ITEX
CWI, a wholesale distributor of imaging supplies, was started by CEO Natalie Rubin in 2000. Rubin had worked in the imaging supplies industry since 1992, but felt she had risen as far as she could and decided to venture out on her own. She had her own ideas of how to run a successful business and she knew how to implement them.
“I wanted to give personal one-on-one customer service and I wanted to take better care of clients,” says Rubin.
Since then, CWI has been quietly assisting the OEMs, distributors, dealers, MPS providers, and the independent service technician by providing excellent quality product, delivered seamlessly through them to the end-user.
“We are like the invisible hand,” explains Rubin. “We are unknown to the end-user, but through our exceptional service, our clients are able to provide that same level of impressive service to the end-user. The level of commitment and reliability is felt by our clients across all channel lines at CWI.”
Michael Van Grove VP of Operation & Natalie Rubin CEO
Today CWI is run by Rubin and her business partner, Vice President of Operations, Michael Van Grove. With over 8,000 SKUs available in both west coast and east coast distribution centers, CWI offers a wide variety of OEM and premium alternative products.
In fact, CWI states they will always have what their clients are looking for. From toners, inks and lasers to drums and developers, CWI says they offer them all. They even support ribbons, maintenance kits, fusers, MICRs, and some printer parts.
“We carry everything,” says Rubin. “We are extremely competitive and we carry every single manufacturer.”
“[Including] all the popular product lines and many of the hard-to-find ones,” adds Van Grove.
If you ask CWI what they do best, they will reply, “Excellent customer service.” From big distributors to small independent dealers, CWI is proud to say they deliver the same attention to detail with every single customer.
Their staff stays up-to-date on all the industry trends and news and they communicate that knowledge to their customers, ensuring they remain well informed.
“Our entire team has extensive product knowledge and continues to learn and grow within the industry,” says Rubin.
“We are a great resource to our customer, you can call in, ask a question and get an answer,” adds Van Grove.
Product quality is the golden rule and all of CWI’s premium product lines undergo extensive R&D before being offered to clients. In addition, CWI has over 85 years of combined industry knowledge and their team studiously researches new machines and products as the market demands.
They offer ISO 9001 and 14001 certified cartridges as well as STMC and TAA compliant products. Rubin says that the industry knowledge helps their purchasing operations identify trends and recognize the quality suppliers.
“Our dealers have trusted us with their reputation,” she says. “We take that seriously. We represent them and they represent us.”
With consistent double digit annual growth, it is clear that CWI has found a winning formula. CWI attributes much of their success over their 15 years of operations to their family-oriented business model and their equitable successes mantra.
“We are invested in our dealer’s success,” explains Rubin. “Our prices are competitive and our large buying power allows us to pass those savings to the dealer. If we get a better deal on a shipment of OEMs, our prices reflect that savings and our customers appreciate that.”
In addition, CWI offers private labeling and custom packing sheets. They also do blind drop shipments and double blind drop shipments. Rubin says they even stock private cartons for their larger customers.
“We are their warehouse,” she says.
“Continuing to pass the savings allows our clients to compete head-on with lower quality, price-driven importers,” adds Van Grove.
Rubin recalls that their greatest challenge in the beginning was trying to balance growth while remaining a company that stayed true to its principles. However, they built long lasting relationships based on mutual success and their retention rate reflects that. Today, CWI’s consultative value lies in their customer service, quality product and experience.
“I’ve been here for nearly 25 years,” says Rubin. “I understand the product and my clients’ needs. We strive to be our customer’s one and only phone call.”
Warehouse
That doesn’t mean that there are no challenges for CWI though. Rubin recalls that sales were easier and the margins were greater back in the 90s when her customers were competing mostly against telemarketers and big phone rooms. She states that overseas manufacturers selling direct to consumer on e-commerce sites currently present the biggest threat for her clients.
Van Grove seems to take that in stride though. “A lot of the time the price is very attractive – almost intoxicating,” he says. “But it’s often a classic case of buyer beware because they get what they pay for. They usually end up coming back to our clients.”
CWI is also adapting to the evolving solutions-based model. With its major dealers CWI is now fully incorporated with Electronic Data Interchange (EDI).
“We just started up with EDI,” says Rubin. “EDI has allowed CWI to process upwards of 36 percent more daily shipments, reduced shipment errors, and allowed for faster delivery of product.”
“Our trading partners love EDI and so far it has been a great resource for the business,” adds Van Grove.
They recently revamped their website and Van Grove says that they will be adding 3D supplies and increasing their wide format offerings.
“The demand’s increasing,” he says. “We have a lot more phone calls coming in for those two lines and we plan on adding them to our catalog.”
Moving forward CWI will continue to rely on the underlying strengths that brought them where they are today. This includes product diversity, logistical organization and one-on-one customer attention. Rubin says they want to make sure their customers continue to get the quality products they deserve and when they need them.
Van Grove adds that they will also continue to keep pace as the industry evolves.
“We have a solid foot in our core competencies, and we must continue growing in the right direction as we prepare to share our new products and knowledge with our customers,” he says. “Their success is our success.”
