Category analysis: Marking and stamping
The marking and stamping category can sometimes appear to be a big extended family. Cosco Industries’ recent purchase of certain assets of United Marking and the subsequent formation of the Consolidated Marking subsidiary is a...
Big interview: Aidan McDonough
So far it’s been a year of launches for UK dealer group Integra Office Solutions, which celebrates its 15th anniversary in 2012. Managed print services (MPS), email marketing and the education sector are among projects...
Amazon – the cleverest cat in the jungle?
Many phrases have been used to describe Amazon by members of the office products industry – some more colourful than others – but one word seems to be repeated more than others: intelligent. The e-commerce...
Special report: Boiling the Frog
The Boiling the Frog study had its genesis in a Final Word by Martin Eames published in OPI in December 2011 (see OPI #215), in which, in his call for greater innovation in the OP...
NAOPA 2012 Show Review
Often described as the ‘Oscars of the office products industry’, this year’s North American Office Products Awards (NAOPA) were celebrated in style in Washington DC during SP Richards’ Advantage Business Conference (ABC).Adding to the celebrations,...
ABC 2012 Show Review
The final-night gala dinner at the SP Richards’ 2012 ABC in Washington was an unashamedly American-style celebration that tied in with the ‘Independent’s Day’ theme of the whole event.Delegates rose as the evening’s entertainment began...
Editor’s comment
The subject we can’t dropWhen I was planning this issue’s content, my first thought was that we couldn’t cover Amazon again. But the reality is that Amazon’s onward march into the OP space really...
Final word: Steve Harrop
Growth is a word you don't hear much in the UK nowadays, in either the economy as a whole or within our industry. There are, of course, many positive examples of British OP companies building...
5 minutes with Tim Williams
Describe what you do in less than 20 words.Category Manager for OPD Group New Zealand, responsible for the selection of products and negotiating terms of trade with suppliers.What was your first full-time job? Sales Analyst...
RTC revival on track
Calling 2010 and 2011 tough years for top Romanian OP reseller RTC Proffice is probably an understatement. The company was caught up in the cash flow and debt problems of parent group RTC Holding, culminating...
Ring of fire
German dealer group Büroring has been having a tough time of it in the last few months after the transition to a new warehouse and distribution facility failed to go as smoothly as planned. The Haan-based...
