Last week, a pair of OEMs and an industry analyst provided an overview of the benefits of using original equipment manufactured-supplied consumables. This week, we’re providing equal response time for third-party consumable manufacturers to make their case for taking the aftermarket route to procuring toner products.
Luke Goldberg,
Clover Imaging Group (CIG)
Luke Goldberg, EVP, Global Sales and Marketing for Clover Imaging Group, believes one of the areas in which the aftermarket has traditionally excelled over its OEM counterparts lies in the world of MPS, where third-party providers offer more higher-yielding cartridges. This, obviously, nets a lesser cost per page.
“Extended yield cartridges have always been a great opportunity,” Goldberg said. “For the first time ever, Canon/HP has come out with a limited line of extended-yield cartridges for their MPS dealers at prices that are very competitive. Still, they don’t have the same breadth of line that we would have for an extended yield offering or the page yield. Our ability to add more value comes down to higher yielding and a more diverse line. We’re always looking to expand that line of extended-yield cartridges. It’s attractive for our dealers in MPS to be able to place those extended-yield cartridges in any cost-per-page environment.”
Raising the Bar
The distinct advantage for aftermarket as opposed to OEM, Goldberg adds, has always been the price factor. Still, as the quality level on the top-tiered remanufactured product improves, the quality lines between the two begin to fade and the 30 to 40 percent savings netted with reman as opposed to OEM begins to dominate the conversation.
“That’s been the fundamental value proposition in the industry for 30 years,” Goldberg added.
Doug Johnson,
LMI Solutions
Doug Johnson, chief strategy officer for LMI Solutions, believes one of the biggest trends in third-party consumables is the increased acceptance of third-party color toner as a viable alternative to OEM. “Monochrome third-party toner has been seen as a viable option for some brands and models for years, but color has lagged in acceptance,” he said. “For those involved with managed print services, extra high capacity consumables (both mono and color) are seen as key growth areas, as these consumables can greatly lower the dealer’s cost to serve their customers in a contracted services solution.”
On the ink side of the equation, Johnson feels it is too early to tell what impact the growth of ink in the office will have on potential opportunities for third-party consumables suppliers.
Dealer Freedom
Christian Pepper, president of LD Products’ Channel Partner Division, believes one often overlooked benefit resellers gain from working with an aftermarket supplies vendor is the freedom to run their businesses the way they want.
Christian Pepper,
LD Products
“In the past few years, we’ve seen OEMs forced to try new strategies to preserve their revenues,” he said. “We have seen HP split in half, Samsung’s printer division acquired, Sharp and Lexmark sold in the last few years and there are the current profitability issues at Ricoh, Konica Minolta and major changes afoot at Xerox. There are several examples of how OEMs are reacting to this turmoil that has had detrimental effects on a huge number of resellers. For example, the cuts that HP made to their Authorized partners beginning in 2013 took away access to OEM supplies for over 7,000 resellers. Many remaining HP partners have expressed frustration about the reporting, advertising and quota requirements they now must adhere to.”
In addition, Pepper has witnessed OEMs trying to get closer to the end customer with attractive pricing programs in return for signing contracts that include sharing customer information. Many resellers expressed concerns about how they might be squeezed in the future once the OEMs have direct access to these end users.
“Already we see the major OEMs going direct in the enterprise space and some wonder how far down the vertical markets in terms of customer size the OEMs will seek to reach directly in the future,” he added.
With an aftermarket partner, the reseller can negotiate pricing and other terms of business without the need to hit unrealistic quotas or the worry of intrusion into their customer base, Pepper notes. He believes the best aftermarket companies will work “incredibly hard for a reseller’s business, not only providing high quality, high-profit consumables, but by wrapping in value-added services like the latest sales training and digital marketing that can help busy dealers drive their businesses forward.”
