OPI TALK

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Episodes

Hear the latest news, interviews and analysis from the business supplies industry hosted by OPI, the leading media organisation for the international office products sector.

Episodes

Monday Jan 24, 2022

The Supply Room’s Source acquisition

Monday Jan 24, 2022

Recently on the opi.net news service, we reported on the acquisition of leading US dealer Source Office & Technology by The Supply Room.

OPI News Editor Andy Braithwaite caught up with Source founder John Givens and The Supply Room COO Yancey Jones Jr to learn more about the transaction and discuss The Supply Room’s growth strategy.

Episode 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

Friday Jan 07, 2022

Selling business furniture during a pandemic

Friday Jan 07, 2022

In the first OPI Talk podcast of 2022, we speak with Marcelo Podesta, President of US-based National Business Furniture.

Prior to the recent news that Marcelo Podesta is to lead two of the three new business units at international reseller Takkt following a restructuring, we had already arranged to speak with the former Officenet and Staples exec in his capacity as President of Takkt subsidiary National Business Furniture (NBF) – a role he will continue in, incidentally.

In this episode of OPI Talk, Marcelo speaks about some of the challenges he has faced since taking over at NBF in August 2020 and current trends he sees in the workplace furniture market.

Friday Dec 17, 2021

OPI Talk end of year podcast

Friday Dec 17, 2021

In this final OPI Talk of 2021, OPI CEO Steve Hilleard and News Editor Andy Braithwaite discuss some of the main events and stories of the past year and look ahead to what we might expect in the business products industry in 2022.

Friday Dec 03, 2021

Opportunities in the videoconferencing category

Friday Dec 03, 2021

When you look at what products and services businesses will need to function efficiently in a hybrid working environment, then a fit-for-purpose audio and video communications system surely makes the list.

Demand in the videoconferencing market has surged in the past couple of years and looks set for a period of sustained growth. For resellers that describe themselves as ‘solutions providers’ and want to go beyond the transactional selling of headsets and webcams, videoconferencing could be an interesting area to look at, particularly as it ties in with adjacencies such as furniture, ergonomics, acoustics, viscom and collaboration tools.

Sweden-based Konftel has specialised in B2B audio solutions for more than three decades, but is something of a ‘new kid on the block’ in videoconferencing. In this episode of OPI Talk, Andy Braithwaite speaks with Stefan Eriksson, Konftel’s Chief Marketing Officer, to find out more about the potential in this growing category.

Friday Nov 26, 2021

AF International’s green story

Friday Nov 26, 2021

Desktop and surfaces cleaning specialist AF International believes that its longstanding commitment to the environment is its ‘best-kept secret’.

In this episode of OPI Talk, Andy Braithwaite speaks to the manufacturer’s Paul Hardy to find out more. Paul also looks at some key trends in the cleaning market and the opportunities in the category for resellers.

Monday Nov 22, 2021

From the show floor at Industry Week (part 3)

Monday Nov 22, 2021

The third and final podcast from the recent Industry Week ’21 in Orlando focuses on two key figures from the event’s organiser, Independent Suppliers Group.

Chairman Jordan Kudler and CEO Mike Gentile give their reaction to the first-ever Industry Week and discuss some of the key issues in the independent dealer channel with OPI CEO Steve Hilleard.

Friday Nov 19, 2021

From the show floor at Industry Week (part 2)

Friday Nov 19, 2021

There were several awards presentations at Industry Week '21 in Orlando. In addition to the North American Office Products Awards (NAOPA), Independent Suppliers Group (ISG) recognised its top suppliers, while the Business Solutions Association (BSA) held its annual awards.

OPI CEO Steve Hilleard spoke to several of the awards winners: Christoph Skopek from COLOP, Yancey Jones Sr and Hunter Jordan, all of whom took home NAOPA trophies; Avery was named ISG Supplier of the Year; while S.P. Richards (SPR) CEO Mike Maggio was presented with the BSA Leadership Award.

They give their views on Industry Week and also some of the key issues in the independent dealer channel.

We also hear from SPR’s Nick Lomax on some of the latest trends and opportunities in the jan/san category.

Thursday Nov 18, 2021

From the show floor at Industry Week (part 1)

Thursday Nov 18, 2021

Welcome to the first of three episodes of OPI Talk featuring interviews conducted by OPI CEO Steve Hilleard at Industry Week ’21, powered by ISG.

Steve managed to get on the first flight from London to Orlando following the easing of travel restrictions into the US on 8 November, meaning he was able to attend this highly anticipated event.

During the vendor expo, he worked the show floor and recorded interviews with a wide range of attendees.

In this episode, you’ll hear from ECI’s Brian Bowerfind, Clem Restaino from Zebra Pen, Rosemary Czopek of California dealer Gorilla Stationers, industry veteran Paul Ventimiglia and the City of Hope’s Matt Dodd.

Steve asked them for their takeaways from Industry Week and then discussed a number of key topics, such as e-commerce, sustainability, attracting young talent and the City of Hope.

Monday Nov 15, 2021

Getting to know Sylvamo

Monday Nov 15, 2021

Effective 1 October 2021, the Printing Papers division of International Paper became a standalone publicly traded company called Sylvamo. With a manufacturing presence on three continents, Sylvamo’s annual sales are more than $3 billion.

OPI Talk spoke to Gerald Demets (Sales and Marketing Director) and Wim Dootselaere (Head of Marketing, Product Management and Development) from Sylvamo’s European operations. As well as introducing Sylvamo, they provided insight into some of the key trends and opportunities in the office paper market.

Friday Nov 05, 2021

OPI Talk’s 50th episode with Robert Baldrey

Friday Nov 05, 2021

Robert Baldrey featured in the pilot episode of OPI Talk that was recorded in July 2020. Now, 16 months later, he’s back for what is the 50^th episode having recently completed his stint at Office Depot Europe following the sale of its remaining assets to RAJA – a deal that officially closed on 1 November.

In this episode, Robert talks about the impact that Staples and Office Depot have had on the European business products channel, changes brought about by COVID, and the rise of Amazon. He also looks ahead to the OPI European Forum Online on 1-2 December, at which he will be moderating a panel on dealing with the current inflationary pressures.