There is more to digital printing than simply selling boxes. There is also the supply of essential consumables. Fuji Xerox Supplies is focused on delivering a complete service to ensure printers get the best outcome in terms of quality, reliability and returns.
Craig Flavell is on a mission to change the supply-chain equation away from concentrating on the cheapest possible price to a question of value. His determination to grow market share in cut-sheet paper from the present market-leading position is not simply because he wants to make more money selling to his customers –although he does. It is more that he wants to develop the division’s role as part of a dedicated end-to-end document solution.
- “The right media going through prevents wear and tear and increases the life of the machine,” says Craig Flavell, executive GM, Fuji Xerox Supplies.
Commercial printers are a major focus for Fuji Xerox Supplies (FXS), although it is salutary to remember they make up only one-third of the total business. The other two thirds are directed towards the SME home and small office market, and then there’s the B2B market where large companies operate their fleets of printers. While paper is the major component of the offer, it also embraces toner, inks and innovative product designs.
This balance sets the FXS business apart and has given it double-digit growth ever since Flavell joined as executive general manager four years ago. Growth at this level is no small feat in a market in overall decline. It can only come from an increase in market share. While Flavell describes it as “a nice mix of business”, he admits to meeting some “fairly aggressive targets” in his time, a practice he intends to continue.
Fuji Xerox Supplies shifts 54,000 tonnes of paper in Australia, the vast majority of it, 80 per cent, in A4 cut sheets. That makes it one of the largest, if not the largest, supplier in the overall cut sheet market of 230,000 tonnes.
At a time when Xerox companies in the USA and Europe are shedding their paper supply business, the local business is seen as a key part of Fuji Xerox’s overall offer. “The motivation here is different from the US and Europe. Supply was not as hard-coded there as in Asia Pacific,” says Flavell.
He makes the point that there is a different concept of value attached to the supply of paper when it is integrated in Fuji Xerox’s overall positioning.
“For Fuji Xerox the substantial value of our operations in Australia is from machines and service. To meet the expectations of quality, it’s all about ensuring the right product is going though our machines, having the uptime at the maximum, the wear and tear at a minimum. If we control the product going through it gives a far superior output, increases the life of our machines and decreases the downtime,” he said.
Complete supply chain
Fuji Xerox Supplies is the only printing manufacturer that has control over its entire paper distribution supply chain. According to Flavell, the Asia Pacific procurement committee sources over a quarter of a million tonnes of paper per year for ‘opcos’ in the region. The 13-member organisation not only carries out a yearly physical audit of the 17 mills that are part of the supply chain but also conducts extensive tests in the company’s laboratory in Japan.
“We’re looking for performance. Papers must pass all the tests in our extensive laboratories in Japan. Then we perform runnability tests here in Australia to make sure they’re suitable for local conditions. At any stage Fuji Xerox will have 30 models of printers ‘in life’ over five years. We make sure all papers work on all models at our Epicentre,” he said.
Flavell is also able to deliver paper at a very competitive price, even allowing for a 5-7 per cent price rise that went through in June. “We’re not buying for a single market, we’re leveraging a quarter of a million tonnes of procurement, highly specified, highly environmentally certified.”
This allows him to meet all price points in the market as well as deliver a wide range of specialities. There are between 35 to 40 different wraps, mainly speciality products, in the Fuji Xerox Supplies’ brands. A very nice mix indeed.