In Orlando, Florida, there’s a magical place where the unimaginable is possible and dreams can become reality. Its customers always rave about the experience, and more likely than not, a huge smile crosses their face with almost child-like glee in the aftermath. Should they ever return—and most vow they will—they can be assured of complete and utter satisfaction.
We’re talking, of course, about the happiest place in the world of printed circuit boards (PCBs): Hytec Dealer Services. Parking is free, but clients never actually step onto the property or pay $8 for a Coke. There’s nothing goofy about this 35-year-old provider of component-level support and solutions to nationwide dealer field techs.
Hytec’s proficiency is a highly specific and technical one. Ever since its beginning as a spinoff from Delta Business Systems, when it performed circuit board repairs for Canon and Sharp equipment, Hytec has sought to make life easier for its dealer partners and their field techs in the trenches. Today, the company provides repair and replacement board services for virtually every manufacturer serving the office technology universe. In fact, Hytec is authorized by Canon, Sharp, Toshiba, Ricoh and Konica Minolta, but it also supports Kyocera and HP—with an eye toward becoming authorized in the future—notes Emily Rodriguez, sales manager for the company’s dealer division.
The authorized status is no small matter when it comes to circuit board repairs and replacements. This is critical in enabling field techs to improve and maintain their first-call effectiveness.
“We get the manufacturer’s schematics and engineering support, and have access to all of their technical publications, modifications and software that they’re sending out. Not to mention we’re using genuine OEM parts,” Rodriguez noted. “That keeps the dealer UL-compliant and makes for a better product, better repair and a solution that’s going to last longer in the field. We collect the repair diagnostics and share them with the manufacturers on a quarterly basis. So their engineering departments and support groups can look at the data that is critical for determining if they need to make modifications on a specific product.”
Nuts and Bolts of Boards
Hytec is hardly a one-trick pony. Roughly 75% of its business covers circuit boards, staplers, fusers and server repairs. The company also offers replacement hard drives for imaging products, along with data security services—Hytec Drive Secure—for wiping hard drives clean and, if needed, destroying the drives in a large industrial shredder (more on this shortly). In addition to supporting office technology dealers, Hytec has branched out into other verticals with the same servicing needs, including banking (ATM machines), retail and medical, among others.
Making life easier for customers by acting as a one-stop resource in these technical areas, particularly for multi-line dealers, is one of Hytec’s chief objectives. Just last year, the company inked an exclusive distribution agreement with AMETEK Electronic Systems Protection to provide their line of power filters.
“We thought it was a good combination to provide full-circle support to dealers with solutions to protect equipment from outside electrical influence, along with technical support for troubleshooting problems and repair options,” Rodriguez said.
All of Hytec’s “magic” begins with its 130-plus crew of talented professionals housed in the company’s 60,000-square-foot facility. Their task? Providing the service and support that enables dealer partners to reduce costs in their own service divisions. Rodriguez credits company President Eric Auman with the way Hytec has grown and flourished by listening to the needs of customers while educating and training its force to deliver quality service, backed by the latest technology.
Of course, it certainly helps to have tenured team members, and Hytec’s technical department members boast an average of 10 years with the firm. This is critical in a niche industry that calls for a particular technical acumen.
“We have been able to develop specific skill sets that are not really learned elsewhere, because our industry is so different and unique,” she said. “We’re always striving to see how we can improve our game. When we’re on the road at trade shows or visiting dealers, we listen to their pain points and ideas to make their jobs easier. Then we bring those ideas back and work on different ways to serve them more effectively.”
One of the top selling points behind the Hytec value proposition is absolutely free. The company offers technical support, gratis, to client techs in the field. Rodriguez points out that the offering in no way tramples on the feet of manufacturer support; the Hytec support merely speaks to component-level repairs and electrical issues on the board. The managers, supervisors and team leads who answer the phone at Hytec are technically proficient and don’t need a manual to help remediate issues. Since the company has all of the machines of their authorized OEMs in house, they can refer to the specific boards to help walk the tech, by phone, through the troubleshooting process.
“Sometimes, it’s not even a board—it’s a switch or a connector—and that’s something our techs can suggest and fix the problem right over the phone,” Rodriguez said. “Other times, if it is the board, our techs can help them pinpoint what specific board needs to be ordered to fix the issue.”
Tailored Solutions
Hytec has devised a pair of programs that foster smoother interactions with its clients and ensure the necessary repairs and replacements are dispatched correctly and efficiently. Through the Advance Exchange program, dealers can receive a repaired circuit board by the next business day, either shipped to the dealer or the technician in the field, backed by Hytec’s stock of roughly 80,000 repairable parts in its inventory. Dealers receive a prepaid return label for the defective parts to be sent back within a 30-day window, giving the field tech ample time to remediate the issue. Customers can also track their account and returnable commitments through the Hytec website.
Additionally, customers can avail themselves of the Board Bank program, in which Hytec manages the customer’s inventory from its warehouse. Boards sent in for repair are returned to the client on an as-needed basis, reducing the dealer’s overall board inventory and the upfront inventory purchasing costs. Dealers can view their inventory on hand and monitor transactions to and from their Board Bank.
On the strength of its rigorous testing, Hytec is able to provide a one-year warranty on all of its board repairs. That’s where its commitment to quality and customer satisfaction shines through.
“For years, dealers purchased stock and held inventory for if and when PCBs would fail,” Rodriguez related. “They would carry that cost upfront. Over the years, Hytec has built an extensive inventory to have available for dealers to fulfill by the next business day. This drastically reduces the need for them to purchase new inventory.
“We partner with the manufacturers to support their green initiative of the reuse of PCBs with their authorized repair programs. Dealers can now rely on authorized repair opportunities when genuine OEM parts are used and repaired, and are updated to the latest revision, through our coordination with the manufacturers to be able to provide cost saving solutions to the dealer network.”
Hytec Drive Secure is a protected process ensuring that hard drives that are to be either wiped clean or completely destroyed are done so to the DoD standard. Hytec, which is bonded and insured for providing the service, then provides the dealer/end-user with a certification that states the information on the board has been completely eliminated of data. The same holds true for the company’s industrial-sized shredder; a certificate of destruction is provided following the physical demolition of the hard drive.
Rodriguez notes that the company has witnessed something of a decline in this field, as modern devices have the capability to automatically wipe a hard drive clean. However, Hytec has found a more-engaged client base in trucking companies that remove MFPs and printers when the lease expires. This client group is more likely to offer the data-destroying service to end users.
Moving forward, Hytec seeks to forge partnerships with other leading industry manufacturers, as well as complementary part/component providers such as AMETEK. The firm will also be seeking out further technical support tools that furnish dealers with additional ways to reduce costs. Hytec has been working with manufacturers recently on wide-format and production machines to ferret out complementary areas in which to offer field support.
“When we partner with our customers, we can always work to create additional savings,” she said. “They have been instrumental in creating new programs or services, such as online reporting. We’ll continue to build those relationships and look to bring them services and programs to help benefit their organizations.”
