Eddy Mikulenka, president and CEO, Uni-Copy Technologies
During a lunch break at the KYOCERA Innovate 2018 conference held in Orlando, FL, last month, ENX Magazine had the opportunity to chat with Eddy Mikulenka, president and CEO of Metairie, LA-based Uni-Copy Technologies. Founded in 1984, Mikulenka’s dealership recently became a Copystar dealer to bolster its offerings, which now also include Lexmark’s automatic mailing system and wide-format printing systems from KIP in addition to copier solutions.
The dealer takes a consultative approach that allows its local clients to focus on their core business, offering a Partnership Program that enables them to have a fixed cost-per-impression, regardless of whether their devices are copier-based MFPs or printers. Using this strategy enables Uni-Copy Technology’s customers to reduce costs and eliminate the need for acquiring hardware and software on an ongoing basis.
We also touched base with Mikulenka following Innovate 2018 to learn about his overall perspective.
What was the motivation behind joining Copystar and what led you to them?
Mikulenka: We’re primarily a Konica Minolta dealer, and Toshiba is our secondary line. They’re mainly used for the State of Louisiana contract. We do a good bit of business off of this contract and in recent years the other A3 manufacturers that we represent have not performed well in getting products listed. Copystar reached out to us, we returned the call and started a relationship with them. It’s early, but I’m impressed by what I’ve seen so far.
Tell us about the geographic region you cover and your customers.
Mikulenka: We’re based in Metairie, LA, and cover the New Orleans market, Baton Rouge and the Mississippi Gulf Coast. While we do a good bit of business off of the state contract, we do not concentrate on any specific vertical market. All our sales reps are engaged in an array of markets and products.
What were your expectations coming into this show?
Mikulenka: We really wanted to learn about what KYOCERA/Copystar has to offer. We’re very new to it, don’t know much about them, so wanted to see what they could bring to us not only hardware-wise but solution-wise as well.
Is enterprise content management something Uni-Copy is looking at now or potentially in the future?
Mikulenka: We really haven’t done much of it in the past, but it is something we need to get into. Not sure what route we’re going to take yet, but it’s certainly worth investigating.
What was your overall view of the KYOCERA conference?
Mikulenka: I found the conference very beneficial. We are looking for more and more product and solutions knowledge to take back to my sales team, to support them. I was able to not only learn from the educational programs KYOCERA hosted, but I was able to meet other Copystar and KYOCERA dealers and get their opinions on their products and business procedures. This is invaluable when taking on a new product line.
