OPI TALK

The 135-year-old start-up

Writing instruments vendor uniball recently announced a rebrand of its operations in North America to uni.

As the company’s President Mike Parker says in this episode of OPI Talk, it’s more than just a name change. It’s symbolic of an ambitious strategy by uni to essentially double its sales in North America over the next five years as it looks to expand its product portfolio and grow its presence in the art and creativity categories.

Uni’s roots may go back 135 years, but it has very much a start-up mentality following the ending of a distribution agreement with Newell Brands, effective January 2020. That meant Parker – a former Fellowes exec – had to build the business out from scratch.

 

Episode recorded and produced by Andy Braithwaite
Music by:
Extreme Energy by MusicToday80: https://soundcloud.com/musictoday80/r...
Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Music provided by Free Vibes: https://goo.gl/NkGhTg

 

Brushing off a “dusty” industry

Lyreco Germany’s Falko Köhler is making something of a name for himself in the business products industry.

Following an impressive appearance at last year’s OPI European Forum Online and a place in OPI’s 30 Under 30 feature, the now-31-year-old was presented with the 2022 Young Professional of the Year prize at March’s European Office Products Awards (EOPA).

In his EOPA acceptance speech, Köhler said: “We need to push a dusty industry into the digital era.”

In this episode of OPI Talk, Andy Braithwaite asks Köhler to elaborate on this statement, and for his views on the industry from a younger person’s perspective.

 

Episode recorded and edited by Andy Braithwaite
Music by:
Extreme Energy by MusicToday80: https://soundcloud.com/musictoday80/r...
Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Music provided by Free Vibes: https://goo.gl/NkGhTg

Tackling dealer challenges in Italy

The guest on this episode of OPI Talk is Adriano Alessio, Managing Director of the country’s last remaining B2B independent dealer group, In Ufficio.

Adriano Alessio has been a key figure in the Italian office products market for the past 25 years, both as Managing Director of In Ufficio and as President of the now-defunct trade association AIFU.

In this OPI Talk interview, Alessio discusses the impact of COVID on the Italian business products sector, talks about his efforts to help In Ufficio members evolve to changing market conditions and looks at whether AIFU could be revived.

 

Episode recorded and edited by Andy Braithwaite
Music by:
Extreme Energy by MusicToday80: https://soundcloud.com/musictoday80/r...
Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Music provided by Free Vibes: https://goo.gl/NkGhTg

 

Reinvigorating South Africa’s office products trade association

OPI Talk speaks with South African industry veteran Hans Servas as he prepares to retire as Chairman of the country’s shop-sa stationery and office products trade association.

As reported recently on the OPI website, South African trade association shop-sa has appointed a COO ahead of the retirement of its current Chairman Hans Servas at the end of this month.

Servas enjoyed a long and successful career in the country’s stationery and office products sector before taking on the Chairmanship of shop-sa in 2012. As he prepares to step down, the association will now be led by Hanlie Delport, who was brought in as its COO in April of this year.

In this podcast, Andy Braithwaite speaks to Servas about his career, some of the challenges that shop-sa has faced in the past few years and what he hopes the association will be able to achieve going forward.

 

Episode recorded and edited by Andy Braithwaite
Music by:
Extreme Energy by MusicToday80: https://soundcloud.com/musictoday80/r...
Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Music provided by Free Vibes: https://goo.gl/NkGhTg

Update on the European aftermarket imaging supplies channel

There have been a couple of big stories in the European aftermarket print supplies channel in the past few weeks.

First, it was announced that the European Commission had rejected a Voluntary Agreement for the imaging equipment sector, saying the proposals didn’t go far enough in terms of sustainability targets. That means the EU will now draft its own legislation for the sector.

And then, shortly after that, Clover Imaging announced it was pulling out of the European market, with almost immediate effect.

What does all this mean for the remanufacturing industry in Europe? Well, that is something that OPI News Editor Andy Braithwaite recently discussed with Gerwald van de Gijp and Bob Reynolds of Armor Print Solutions.

 

Episode recorded and edited by Andy Braithwaite
Music by:
Extreme Energy by MusicToday80: https://soundcloud.com/musictoday80/r...
Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Music provided by Free Vibes: https://goo.gl/NkGhTg

Broadening horizons

Our guest in this episode of OPI Talk is Jeanette Bresitz, Managing Director of UK dealer group Office Friendly. 

OPI’s Heike Dieckmann spoke to Bresitz for the Big Interview in the June issue of OPI. About a year into the job at Office Friendly but with plenty of experience in our industry, she quickly addressed some simple necessities for the group’s dealer members. Throwing off the shackles of a restricted core office products offering was just one of them, an endeavour that also involves some serious conversations with the wholesale community. 

This is an excerpt from the interview. For more in-depth information and to read the full feature in the magazine, make sure you are subscribed to OPI.

 

Music by:
Extreme Energy by MusicToday80: https://soundcloud.com/musictoday80/r...
Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Music provided by Free Vibes: https://goo.gl/NkGhTg

Update from RAJA Office

OPI Talk speaks with Alain Josse, Managing Director of RAJA Office.

On 19 May 2022, European packaging, industrial equipment and business products reseller RAJA held a press conference in the French capital, Paris.

After the conference, OPI News Editor Andy Braithwaite caught up with Alain Josse, recently named as Managing Director of the RAJA Office Division, which largely consists of former assets of Staples Solutions and Office Depot Europe.

Alain provides details of the new executive board setup at RAJA, the 2021 performance of RAJA Office, the strategy for Viking – acquired in the final quarter of 2021 – and how RAJA plans to grow in the contract space.

 

Episode recorded and edited by Andy Braithwaite
Music by:
Extreme Energy by MusicToday80: https://soundcloud.com/musictoday80/r...
Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Music provided by Free Vibes: https://goo.gl/NkGhTg

OPI’s increasing coverage of sustainability and CSR

OPI Deputy Editor Michelle Sturman reveals more about OPI’s CSR mission and why this is a crucial topic for the business products industry.

The environment has been an important part of OPI’s editorial coverage for many years. Now, as OPI Deputy Editor Michelle Sturman explains, it is something that will be featured in even more depth in the future in line with our new CSR mission statement.

Discussing remanufacturing on Global Reman Day

OPI Talk speaks with Tricia Judge, a leading authority on remanufacturing in the imaging supplies industry.

14 April 2022 is Global Reman Day, a worldwide initiative to promote and raise awareness of the remanufacturing industry across many sectors – including imaging equipment and consumables.

To mark this occasion, the guest on this episode of OPI Talk is Tricia Judge, Executive Director of the International Imaging Technology Council. Tricia is a globally recognised authority in the imaging supplies channel and a strong advocate of remanufacturing.

Topics covered include the state of the remanufacturing industry, pressures from OEMs and newbuild cartridge producers, and environmental issues.

 

Episode recorded and edited by Andy Braithwaite
Music by:
Extreme Energy by MusicToday80: https://soundcloud.com/musictoday80/r...
Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Music provided by Free Vibes: https://goo.gl/NkGhTg

The importance of keeping it local

Alan Calder, Marketing Manager at Nemo Office Club, talks about his group’s Keep It Local campaign.

The COVID-19 pandemic put a renewed focus on buying from local businesses and supporting local communities. Even before that, UK dealer group Nemo Office Club had been fighting the buy local corner. Now, it has taken things further by establishing a longer-term campaign called Keep It Local and will shortly be running the very first Keep It Local week.

OPI’s Andy Braithwaite caught up with Nemo Office Club Market Manager Alan Calder to find out more about the campaign and look at some of the issues impacting the buy local movement.

 

Episode recorded and edited by Andy Braithwaite
Music by:
Extreme Energy by MusicToday80: https://soundcloud.com/musictoday80/r...
Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Music provided by Free Vibes: https://goo.gl/NkGhTg