18 minute read
Feature
The STAGE is YOURS
After 30 years of reporting on developments in our sector, OPI is raising the curtain to those who make it what it is – our readers. What is your take on these past three decades? Read on…
MICHEL VAN BEEK, PRESIDENT EMEA & ASIA PACIFIC, FELLOWES BRANDS The OPI team would
For over three decades, OPI has developed into the centrepiece of the industry for insight, perspective, communication and relationships.
As we reflect back on your early days in 1991, it seems like worlds away. Both Staples and Viking had announced expansion plans into Europe and Fellowes Brands had just launched the world’s first personal shredder to expand and evolve our own business and brand. Since that time, trends, companies and people have come and gone – but OPI has remained as a relevant and value-building contributor to our industry
Over the past 30 years, there has been a constant discussion around the fact that office technology would eliminate the need for paper documents. Remarkable then how paper and paper-related products still play a significant role today.
Nevertheless, things are changing faster than ever before. Both new technologies and hybrid working are bringing significant challenges but also major opportunities to our industry. Focusing on growth and higher-margin products is hugely important.
Congratulations and thank you for your partnership, support and friendship over the years, and for being the glue that holds our industry together.
like to sincerely thank all the contributors for their recollections, anecdotes and insights. We were overwhelmed and humbled by your generosity, kindness and, quite simply, love for our industry as well as OPI.
We could have filled many more pages with your memories, but sadly ran out of space. So please visit the Magazine section on opi.net to find out what the likes of Casey Avent, Bruno Peyroles, Stewart Barton-Taylor, Eric Smith, Paul Ventimiglia, Sean Starkey, Stuart Seymour, Clem Restaino, Peter Achterberg and many more have to say about the highlights, challenges and moments of joy of the past 30 years.
HORST BRINKMANN, MANAGING DIRECTOR, STABILO STEVE ROBINSON, GENERAL MANAGER UK & IRELAND, SAFESCAN
JOHN DONAGHY, MANAGING DIRECTOR, DISCOUNT OFFICE NATIONAL
I started to work in this industry in 1986 as the new Head of International Marketing at Stabilo. There wasn’t an email system in the company and sales meetings were supported by plenty of handwritten overhead projector slides.
Having previously worked in disruptive markets such as consumer electronics and mobile communications, I was sure the dynamics caused by technical innovations would hit the office products space too. That certainly was the case for some categories, but for writing instruments I was wrong.
Market change in our category has not been caused by technical revolutions, but by sociocultural change. How people work, live, communicate, spend their free time or solve challenges with collaboration are the driving forces for our segment. Of course, technical innovations are needed, but they have to be strongly connected to consumer insights.
Consumer centricity has become a growing feature in company strategies, innovation processes, data collection and organisation charts. Global breeding grounds like female empowerment, social media influencers, education and sustainability are powerful drivers of market and category development.
OPI, in my view, has always been at the forefront of this evolution. I went to my first OPI conference in Scottsdale, Arizona, in 1997. It was one of many events that took inspiration, networking and know-how to the next level. I remember Irwin Helford and Jirka Rysavy speaking about the same key success factor, but from different angles. It was ‘consumer centricity’.
Irwin, for example, was talking about the customised catalogue instead of mass mailings – an early version of today’s must-haves in the e-commerce world. In a coffee break, I heard a gentleman saying: “Our strategy is based on good products, fair prices and reliable service.” I’m not sure if his company is still in business.
Over the years, OPI has been the global source of information about the international office products market for me. If topics came up to certain level of interest, OPI had them covered. Many thanks for 30 years of reliable, informative and up-to-date reporting. We’ve probably all ridden on the crest of one wave only to find that, at a pivotal moment, we jump onto another one. For me, an example of this happened in the 1990s when 3M was selling huge volumes of overhead projectors. Practically overnight, it started selling huge volumes of multimedia projectors.
Paper clocking in cards used to be the de facto standard. Now Netherlands-based, family-owned Safescan is at the leading edge of fingerprint and facial recognition clocking in systems that use cloud-based technology – the realm of Tomorrow’s World (Editor’s note: a UK science and technology TV programme) 30 years ago!
Much has changed over the decades, but what hasn’t altered is the need for and the benefit of the personal touch. A highlight for me from the 1990s was when I worked with a 3M salesman called Eric Magee. He took a huge new product order from a hardened purchasing director because she loved the fact that Eric arrived with a sample box labelled as ‘VIPs Only’. He had written the message on the box in the car park before we went in – he was a class act!
One of the happiest and most special memories I have is an ‘OPI moment’. It was at the European Conference in Cannes, France, in 2000. I can still vividly remember, after an excellent event, having an absolute blast in the evening singing along to the piano magic created by Geoff Betts, another great industry character with a very personal touch.
Managing change has been a huge challenge for everybody in the past 18 months. Technology has undoubtedly been a massive enabler. However, keeping that personal touch has never been more important. I’m looking forward to another 30 years of great memories – Steve Hilleard and all our friends at OPI are central to keeping those connections alive and strong.
I can still remember reading OPI for the first time in 1991. It was a black-and-white newsletter which gave us Australians a real insight into the global office products industry. It was enlightening to find out what was happening in and to our sector on a regular basis.
The timing of the publication was a masterstroke as our space was changing so quickly.
No doubt, a highlight for me was the inaugural OPI conference in Palm Springs, California, in 1995, and meeting all these industry leaders that normally we just read about down under. I must have behaved badly, as I never got invited back!
Congratulations to all the team at OPI for surviving 30 years in this industry – no easy feat.
As I reflect on 30+ years in our industry, I think of all the ‘P’s: products, pricing, programmes, promotions, procedures. But the two ‘P’s that are most important to me are the PEOPLE and the PASSION!
There are so many people with so much passion I learnt from: Jess Beim, Irwin Helford, Jamie Fellowes, Leo Meehan, Nate Gold, Jay Baitler, Bob Parker, Jim Hebert, Joe Templet, Steve Schwarz and Mike Rowsey are just some who had the most profound effect on my life. They taught me that it’s all about the customer and about being respectful, consistent, kind, collaborative and honest.
I have had a great career working for leaders such as Jeff Howard, David Williamson, Steve Schultz, Matt Roberts and Dave Garber, who mentored, coached and worked side by side with me in my sales roles over the past few decades.
There are many more names I could add – people who do the same job I do, but for other vendors, or reseller customers that bought from us. They all have an amazing passion for and commitment to what they do and impacted my professional life immensely. Hopefully, in this new world of Zoom calls, millennials in the workforce will continue to value the relationships – I certainly know that I will cherish them for the rest of my life.
For Bill Cardone’s thoughts on the current state of our industry, see our Feature on page 34. Or listen to OPI Talk – visit opi.net/podcast
ARNOLD THEUWS, MANAGING DIRECTOR, QUANTORE
30 years ago, there were three cooperatives in the Benelux serving independent office supplies dealers –– Veneka, CIB and Consorpa. 20 years ago, these organisations merged and Quantore was born.
The group has evolved hugely over the past two decades and became a market leader in the Benelux with the widest assortment of office products, a highly mechanised warehouse and a state-of-the-art IT infrastructure. The big boxes like Office Depot and Staples have been and gone, and the independent channel is still going strong in our market. We are in a good position for the future, but are now facing competition from online operators.
One of the topics rising up the agenda are environmental issues – they are becoming more and more important. To conquer this particular challenge, close cooperation is needed between vendors and resellers in Europe or even globally.
OPI has proven over the past 30 years that it has an important part to play in terms of connecting these worlds. This role could become even more important in the next 30 years.
COLIN CAMPBELL, MANAGING DIRECTOR, LANGSTANE PRESS
When OPI launched in 1991, it was not long after Langstane had become a founding member of the UK’s first marketing group, Basicnet, which was based on the strategies of the successful US group that had originated in Boston. Prior to this, all dealer groups had been focused on buying whereas Basicnet concentrated on marketing. The premise was that, if you sold more, then the buying would take care of itself.
Basicnet is long gone now, but at the time and as a leading family-owned, regional office products dealer based in Aberdeen in the north-east of Scotland, we were starting to tune into what was happening across the Atlantic. OPI, with its global coverage, enhanced our ability to glean best practice from around the world and to make sure we were at the forefront of any opportunities that would undoubtedly unfold in a fast-changing industry.
Then began the great networking events. I was a guest speaker at the 2002 European Conference in Montreux, Switzerland. This created so many opportunities because of the contacts I made there. I was invited to speak at the NOPA Show in Atlanta, US, later that year and the same initial contact led to me being a VIP guest at the 2011 Paperworld China event in Shanghai. Not bad for a shy boy from Aberdeen in Scotland! If it weren’t for OPI, I wouldn’t have had these great experiences and made so many new contacts and friends who I am still in touch with to this day.
Many congratulations to Steve and the OPI team for all they have achieved over the past 30 years!
JIMMY CHEN, DEPUTY EXECUTIVE MANAGER, SHINY STAMP
Congratulations on your 30th anniversary – it’s a truly remarkable achievement and Shiny Stamp is proud to have taken part in some of the journey.
Despite a seemingly mature industry, marking devices are still constantly evolving, with new products being developed to keep up with customer requirements. Shiny Stamp is no exception and consistently strives to improve and launch the best innovations – just as OPI is bringing the best information to its readers.
OPI is 30 years of timely and impactful reporting. It delivers absolutely essential information for and about resellers in our community, with substantive material independents as well as dealer groups need for strategic positioning as the industry continually morphs into something new.
I can’t think of a single year when OPI insights and research were not a part of our strategic planning. Much more than merely reporting, the magazine serves resellers as an important resource. Congratulations to the entire team behind this excellent publication for these past 30 years. What a wonderful service you’ve provided with timely, relevant and accurate reporting that both highlight and impact on the independent dealer community.
Beyond the magazine, I would also highlight the events held by OPI, one example being the Global Forum – always outstanding in substance and unparalleled in terms of networking opportunities.
GREG WELCHANS, PRESIDENT, DISTRIBUTION MANAGEMENT
In 1991, I was working for the best dealership ever created – Miller Business Systems. Remember Jim Miller’s The Corporate Coach? I got a call from Jim that he was selling his business to BT Office Products. Time stood still for a moment because I just couldn’t believe the company was being sold. And who could have possibly imagined the transformation of the industry from that point onwards.
Our sector has many special people and influencers that have been so important in my career: Jim Miller, Bud Mundt, Jay Mutschler, Paula Jagemann and, of course, Tom Fleming, the founder of Distribution Management. All gave me a chance to work and provide for my family and believed I could do a job for them.
Those of us who have witnessed the past 30 years and are still around have a multitude of people they can call friends forever. Thank you OPI for giving our industry a voice and a platform to communicate each company’s value to our community! I vividly remember 1991 as it was the year I joined Avery Myers, which sat alongside Avery Guidex and Avery Labels. At the time, the office products space was still very localised – yes, we already had the first footprints of Staples, Office Depot, Viking and Corporate Express in Europe (mainly the UK), but it was only Lyreco that had started to operate in a coordinated pan-European way.
It was a very steady, quite predictable industry showing decent growth year on year and nothing obvious which would disturb that. Nobody had heard of the word ‘digitisation’ – if you were lucky enough to have a car phone, the size of a brick, you were at the cutting edge of technology. What happened in the next ten years at Avery encapsulated what was happening around the OP world everywhere – we consolidated three companies into one in the UK, and we started acting first more European, then global in response to market and customer trends. This was followed by acquisitions around the world to grow our core categories. The OP trade media reflected those earlier times – traditional monthly publications primarily comprising advertising and PR releases. Then along came the punk upstart OPI which dared to offer controversial opinions, gossip, rumour, speculation…exactly what people wanted to read about. The world had changed – there was no going back!
ALAIN JOSSE, GROUP MANAGING DIRECTOR, RAJA GROUP
Being asked to recall some defining moments of the past 30 years made me dive into my archives where I found a battered copy of the first issue of OPI that I duly read again.
After all these years, there certainly was a sense of time travel, but it also helped me remember how I felt when I discovered this then brand new magazine. It was when I joined Viking at the very beginning of 1992, as part of the team that would soon launch the French branch of Viking Direct. Exciting times! What struck me when I first read this new publication was:
• The scope: the first time I gained valuable information about what was happening in our industry around the world • The accuracy: no complacent reviews and interviews, but real, opinionated insights – precise and digging deep • The tempo: OPI was launched at a great time, when huge movements were taking place in the market. Business models were redefined, massive investments made, new players appeared, old one were tested, then adapted or disappeared.
Having joined RAJA Group some 15 years ago, I saw the scope of OPI gradually getting wider to encompass trends and businesses that go beyond the traditionally accepted definition of the office supplies industry. Once again, the publication proved to be at the cutting edge of the market – more so, in fact, than any other media outlet I can think of. Here’s to a very successful 30 years and to many more to come!
30 years of OPI and I am lucky to have been around to follow them all. The first few years were the most entertaining. The fancy conferences at the Phoenician in Scottsdale, Arizona, for example, with the outsized egos of men – yes, it was only men back then – trying to win the race to consolidate the OP industry.
From a Highlands perspective, the most interesting period has been from around 2010 through today. And while the various events have been fun and useful, it has been the quiet, uncompensated introductions to people facilitated by OPI which have brought the most value to us. Thank you.
BRUCE HAYNES, RETIRED, FORMERLY PELIKAN ARTLINE
It was 1995 and for a company specialising in impact printer ribbons, our future was looking a little shaky. An invitation to the first-ever OPI conference provided the lifeline Columbia Pelikan needed. Meeting industry legend Ueli Wolfensberger and his wife Ingrid at the event led to us securing the distribution rights to the Ibico range of binding and laminating machines as well as associated supplies.
This deal vaulted us back into mainline office products while the subsequent purchase of Ibico by GBC resulted in a long-term JV between our company and GBC. It saw us become the largest distributor of office products in Australia due to a number of acquisitions, with the company name changing to Pelikan Artline following the purchase of Geoff Penney in 2005.
When GBC was bought by ACCO Brands, it ultimately meant that Pelikan Artline sold out to ACCO too. Perhaps the past 25 years can all be traced back to that one meeting in 1996.
Congratulations to everybody at OPI on the contribution you have made to this industry.
FRANZ RATZENBERGER, HEAD OF INTERNATIONAL SALES & MARKETING, COLOP
Congratulations to the whole OPI team on your 30th anniversary. COLOP is exactly ten years older, but we too still feel young.
OPI and COLOP have a lot in common: we are both driven by globalisation, creativity and innovation – and we remain hungry for more. Sometimes it’s been easy, other times quite difficult, but I think we’ve grown alongside each other very successfully.
Thank you OPI for being our main communications partner for so many years. OPI magazine has been a true game-changer for our industry. Throughout my career, it’s been my go-to place for honest and real industry information, on a global basis. OPI was the first trade publication of its kind to offer opinions on trends and seek insights from key industry executives, which is exactly why it continues to be a must-read 30 years later.
As I look back, I remember when I worked at BT Office Products and tried to persuade our senior leadership in Amsterdam to make OPI a priority. I was told: “Do not comment, it will not be around long!”
Another time when OPI played a part in my career was back when Mike Maggio and I were first working together at ActionEmco and the company was featured in the ‘Big Interview’ – we both felt as if the wholesaler had finally arrived. Fast forward to July 2020 when S.P. Richards announced its independence – OPI was the first trade publication we called to feature the story, with interviews detailing our future vision.
On a personal note, thank you to the entire OPI team for creating the industry’s must-read publication. Your professionalism and integrity are what I have always appreciated as well as the fun you bring to our industry. Cheers to 30 more!
RAFAEL BENAVIDES GONZALEZ, CO-MANAGING DIRECTOR, COMERCIAL DEL SUR
The history and evolution of Comercial del Sur is a true reflection of the changes that have happened in our industry over the past 30 years. We’ve adapted many times in order not to lose the direction of our business and the success of these adaptations illustrates the position we have in the market today.
When OPI launched, Comercial was just over 30 years old itself. My brother Carlos and I had joined the company on a permanent basis, following university, in the mid-1980s. Consolidation and globalisation have been massive factors in these past few decades, for the industry at large and certainly for our company.
We joined the Interaction alliance in 1999, entered Portugal in 2002 and then, most recently, France, first in 2015 through the Rouge Papier network and then again in 2019 with the acquisition of the Hyperburo franchise.
The progressive addition of services we offer our customers stems from our desire to provide them with all the tools needed to compete in an increasingly demanding market. It’s not enough anymore to offer a good price, a catalogue and fast service. Being technologically savvy and committing to large investments in terms of enhancing products and services is key to constantly being in the front line and maintaining our leadership position.
Here’s to another 30 years with OPI and our beloved stationery and office products family. Just one wish as we’re all exiting such a difficult period: may we recover the personal, face-to-face relationships and the human contact with our peers as soon as possible.
