Imagine for a moment you’re a connoisseur of original artwork from 20th-century painters such as Pablo Picasso, Jackson Pollock and Frida Kahlo. You’re drawn to Picasso’s unique interpretations of subjects, Pollock’s “action painting” and the raw, powerful imagery depicted by Kahlo. You’ve transformed your home into a gallery that embodies the best traits of each master.
Now, imagine driving to your local big-box retailer to buy frames for these masterpieces. If you listen closely, you can hear monocles shattering on the ground. Perish the thought.
OK, so maybe 20th-century art isn’t your thing. But there’s something to be said for having an appropriate solution to care for your investment. The same can be said for copiers. Sure, end users don’t have recessed lighting casting a solemn hue on their office copier, nor would it be considered a crown jewel in an office setting. But if you want to maximize the life cycle of a copier and ensure its durability, you wouldn’t want it sitting loose on a table with squeaky caster wheels, right?
“When an end user invests in a new copier machine, our question is, ‘Why would you cheapen the longevity of the investment with a subpar cabinet?’” poses Tim Haley, director of operations for Quick Quality Cabinets of Louisville, Kentucky. “If you’re going to invest in a quality copier, don’t stick a cheap cabinet underneath it.”
History of Success
Quick Quality Cabinets (QQC) is celebrating 40 years of supplying office dealers and distributors with cabinets to fit the wide-ranging needs of the copier market. In the last year alone, it has served more than 800 clients with tailor-made, durable metal cabinets to serve as a home for many of the most-popular manufacturer brand copiers on the market. It has a second division, Salesmaker Carts, which provides a variety of folding and gurney-style transport carts for a range of vertical markets.
QQC uses its Louisville home—conveniently located near a UPS super hub close to the airport—as well as a warehouse just outside of Los Angeles to provide same-day drop shipping on orders placed by 3 p.m. Eastern Time. National Sales Manager Matias Aramburu is the company’s “cabinet guru” who knows the copier landscape as well as anyone. He also acts as QQC’s customer-service quarterback, directing customers to the precise solution for their copier requirements.
Backing QQC’s quality commitment is a cast of highly loyal employees, many of whom have been with the firm 20-plus years. QQC actively solicits feedback to ensure clients are enjoying that top-notch experience while seeking out ways to elevate its own performance.
“This isn’t a business where people dread coming to work,” Haley added. “They take pride in their performance. When you have that type of workforce, you know that you’re putting your best foot forward every day.”
In response to the “a cabinet is just a cabinet” naysayers, Aramburu and Haley can attest to the countless inquiries from clients who bemoan the cheap metal and pressed-wood alternatives, along with their lack of durability, which resulted in failure. Paying twice for a solution is akin to paying a tax for not researching or giving regard to the home base of a copier.
Name Says it All
The name itself carries all of the talking points of QQC’s product line. Quick speaks to the company’s ability to timely deliver properly fitted and colored specific cabinets, with more than 60 different SKUs that address the majority of copier needs. The before-3 p.m. guarantee enables dealers or distributors to place their orders and have them fulfilled in a manner consistent with the machine’s installation schedule.
Quality is the guarantee that QQC can meet or exceed client expectations with a product that is on par with the manufacturer’s equivalent offering. The cabinets are all metal in composition and feature a U-bar technology that provides stability to withstand the heaviest copiers on the market. Locator pins add stabilization and prevent copiers from sliding or moving atop the cabinet. The units are shipped in a flat-pack box that’s 8-10” deep, and tool-less assembly can be completed in as little as three minutes, according to Haley.
The key to QQC’s success is providing an alternative to cabinets from some of the manufacturers. That entails producing the same color, type, strength and quality of cabinet as the OEM, but at a lower price point and delivered in short order. The price savings is not insignificant; QQC typically comes in under 25-30% of the manufacturer’s cabinet price.
That customer service provided by Aramburu and his team adds a viable degree of differentiation. “We have a very knowledgeable and friendly customer-service team, and they will research any option that you have that is available for a copier,” Haley noted. “If you have the model number of your copier and you’re not sure what you need, how tall you want it…maybe you want a little more width. While you can get a lot of that information through our website, our customer-service team can handle just about any question or request thrown at them.”
Customer feedback plays a large role in helping QQC with the development and expansion of its product line, Haley adds. The company relies on conversations with dealers and distributors to stay abreast of product developments, which QQC converts into the engineering and manufacturing of its cabinets. QQC also fields customization requests for large purchase orders, and is always willing to work with clients to satisfy their specific needs.
Transportation Solutions
Its Salesmaker Carts division was spun off from QQC in 1981 as an answer to the growing need of a solution for copier dealers who struggled with carts that could easily slide in and out of a vehicle for transporting machines. The division quickly grew legs and began to serve the food, medical and beverage industries with a diverse line of carts. A number of different styles can be found on its website, foldingcarts.com.
QQC’s carts can help prevent costly injuries while transporting equipment. In the early 1980s, there were far too many discussions about service technicians and delivery personnel not being properly equipped, resulting in accidents. Whether sliding a machine out of a van or transporting up a flight of stairs, these solutions avoid costly injuries and damage.
“Using our cart to transport a copier down the sidewalk or through a parking lot is the proper way to deliver a copier,” Haley said. “Some people will put the copier on a cabinet with these little casters and ride it across a rough surface, which will tear the wheels to pieces.”
Educating the public through marketing channels has been a priority for QQC. The company recently revamped its website with educational resources to help arm dealers and distributors with information and specifications prior to contacting QQC. Along with print advertising, QQC is a booth holder at numerous industry events, including those specific to manufacturers.
Despite the national decline in copier sales during recent years, QQC is constantly looking to expand its line. Here, again, developing close ties with its dealer and distributor clients will be critical to continued growth. Also, QQC does not undercut its clients by selling directly to end users.
“We see consolidations and streamlining in the copier industry,” Haley said. “Everybody’s trying to maximize profits. Margins have gotten slimmer and everyone’s trying to find ways to reduce costs through consolidation. Getting into the proper distribution channels is key for us to grow. We want to continue to expand our business, our website, and make it as easy for not just the dealers, but distributors, to have access to our products.”
Like its manufacturing brethren, QQC is measuring the impact that Chinese tariffs will have on its bottom line. A number of OEMs have already reached out to their dealer bases to communicate price increases due to the parts and components manufactured there. According to Haley, QQC has been able to absorb the increases without passing them on to the customer, but it is a fluid situation that is subject to change for all industry players.
Future Mission
Going forward, QQC seeks to expand its product line to encompass all the major copier brands. What fuels QQC’s quest to proliferate is the tendency of some manufacturers to offer a one-size-fits-all cabinet that is adjustable. Dealers find them bulky and expensive, and they prefer a cabinet size specific to the model.
“Customer satisfaction is a goal we have every day,” Haley said. “Regardless of the request, we want customers to call our business. Building those relationships will be dependent upon communication with the client. We’d like to sell a cabinet for every copier that’s on the market, but there is competition. Hopefully, through our staff and products, we can continue to win people over and expand our company through those efforts.
“QQC is becoming a household name in the copier industry, and we see that popularity growing every day.”
