{"id":52979,"date":"2022-12-01T13:07:02","date_gmt":"2022-12-01T21:07:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/?p=52979"},"modified":"2022-12-01T13:07:06","modified_gmt":"2022-12-01T21:07:06","slug":"top-2022-challenges-supply-chain-easily-foremost-concern-for-dealers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/the-week-in-imaging-twii\/editors-blog\/2022\/12\/top-2022-challenges-supply-chain-easily-foremost-concern-for-dealers\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 2022 Challenges: Supply Chain Easily Foremost Concern for Dealers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Each year, we poll our Elite Dealer honorees on the subject of the greatest challenges they faced during the previous 12 months, and ask them to provide insights on how they handled these issues. Virtually all of the challenges are universal, but every now and then, we\u2019ll unearth circumstances that were of consequence to particular companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being able to handle, or reconcile on some level, is what separates the great from the mainstream. We\u2019ve compiled a representative composite of dealer viewpoints and strategies to share as we head down the final stretch of 2022 and look optimistically forward to the coming New Year. We’ll begin with that all-too-familiar subject.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Supply Chain<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Much like Pink Floyd\u2019s epic album, \u201cThe Dark Side of the Moon,\u201d our friend the supply chain backlog seems to have no intention of leaving the top of the charts anytime soon. While anecdotally, there are indications that manufacturer backlogs have begun to lessen, many prognosticators have pointed to mid-2023 as being the tipping point for normalization. Here\u2019s what a sampling of our Elite Dealers had to say about how they\u2019ve dealt with the inability to source MFPs and other hardware.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

For Copiers Plus of Fayetteville, North Carolina, the lack of equipment and supplies availability was only slightly more problematic than the lack of clarity as to when the shipments could be expected. There was an upside to the dilemma, however.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt caused us to rework many processes and figure out ways to tap into resources outside of our normal routines and inherently made our customer service even better than before,\u201d the dealer wrote. \u201cWe were forced to communicate more effectively as an organization, which helped us better adapt to issues and patterns we noticed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The ability to mobilize in the face of supply chain delays truly brought out the best in some dealers. Included in that list was Braden Business Systems of Fishers, Indiana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSupply chain has been our biggest challenge over the last two years. Our teams coming together, communicating and delivering great solutions to our clients has been amazing to watch,\u201d the dealer noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Putting Out Fires<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Some dealers pointed out that Konica Minolta had the added obstacle of enduring plant fires that disrupted the flow of toner to dealer clients. It certainly caused considerable consternation for The Swenson Group (TSG) of Livermore, California, but fortunately, that crisis has passed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe had to find alternative toner suppliers and manually allocate toner to our clients to ensure no one runs out,\u201d TSG wrote. \u201cThis is no longer a big issue, but was painful earlier in the year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Another dealer that struggled with the toner situation was Martin Group of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. The toner challenge was taxing on a day-to-day basis for the dealer\u2019s staff and client base, but between quality customer care and managing expectations, Martin Group was able to formulate a game plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe implemented a tracking system for all orders, and then we communicated with our vendor and internally with our team to come up with plans,\u201d the dealer wrote. \u201cTogether with our dealers, and using the knowledge of our internal staff, we quickly produced solutions to keep our clients up and running. We changed out toner caps, used partials when available, placed loaners when needed, and even worked with competitors for new workarounds or sharing product availability.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCommunicating with our clients and keeping them as up-to-date as possible was the key to gaining their patience. We taught our clients how to manage their in-house printing to conserve toner when delays were inevitable. We relied on our personal relationships built over decades of service and our clients graciously extended us their patience and trust while we worked through delays that were out of our control. Our clients appreciated the transparent and honest communication because we used all of the materials we had in our possession to keep things running to the best of our abilities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Copier Fax Business Technologies of Buffalo, New York, noted that shipping and supply chain far outweighed all other issues. The frustration stemmed from some orders requiring months to process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt times, parts weren’t available for service,\u201d the dealer reported. \u201cWe had to be creative in how we helped our customers and utilize strong communication skills.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Noted imageOne of Oak Park, Michigan, \u201cBy keeping the team well informed of its impact on our financials, staying creative with customers to fulfill their needs with alternative solutions, and continuing to focus on the things we can control, the team has done well to weather the storm.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Internal\/External<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Inventory woes plagued Kelly Office Solutions of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and the inconvenience extended beyond the client. The dealer needed to ensure its sales staff would continue to be compensated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe worked closely with our customers and leasing companies to find ways to cover the customer and fund deals so the reps could survive until the inventory actually became available,\u201d the dealer wrote. \u201cOur manufacturers went above and beyond to help as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Supply chain constraints can be particularly troublesome for small dealers. Having organizational firepower such as that enjoyed by Flex Technology Group (FTG) of Mesa, Arizona, helped to mitigate the issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe’re addressing the issue by leaning on our size\/scale\/purchasing power with our OEM partners, increasing the level of communications, and giving them more of a lead time for deals in our pipeline,\u201d FTG noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Extreme backorder scenarios could easily lead to frustration and lost business. But Advance Business Systems of Cockeysville, Maryland, capitalized on the situation as an opportunity to convey its value proposition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAdvance was able to turn the situation into an opportunity to think outside of the box and over-communicate in order to create positive customer experiences and help organizations that would have otherwise faced disruption to their business,\u201d the dealer wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Just about every dealer relied on a superhero or two to spearhead the supply chain saga, and that was the case for UBEO Business Services of San Antonio, Texas. \u201cWe addressed this by staffing a rock star as our vendor relations leader,\u201d the company noted. \u201cHe directly interfaces will all of our manufacturing partners to ensure we are doing everything possible to fulfill our orders.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Come Clean<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In the final analysis, most dealers hope that once the supply chain backlogs have been reduced to a manageable level, it\u2019s a topic that won\u2019t raise its head anytime soon. Coordinated Business Systems of Burnsville, Minnesota, is one of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCommunication with your manufacturer, honest communication with your customers\u2014including saying \u2018I just don\u2019t know\u2019\u2014and not playing some of the games with masking the placement of used equipment that some vendors stooped to, [is the key],\u201d the dealer wrote.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Each year, we poll our Elite Dealer honorees on the subject of the greatest challenges they faced during the previous 12 months, and ask them to provide insights on how they handled these issues. Virtually all of the challenges are universal, but every now and then, we\u2019ll unearth circumstances that were of consequence to particular companies. Being able to handle, or reconcile on some level, is what separates the great from the mainstream. We\u2019ve compiled a representative composite of dealer viewpoints and strategies to share as we head down the final stretch of 2022 and look optimistically forward to the coming New Year. We’ll begin with that all-too-familiar subject. Supply Chain Much like Pink Floyd\u2019s epic album, \u201cThe Dark Side of the Moon,\u201d our friend the supply chain backlog seems to have no intention of leaving the top of the charts anytime soon. While anecdotally, there are indications that manufacturer backlogs have begun to lessen, many prognosticators have pointed to mid-2023 as being the tipping point for normalization. Here\u2019s what a sampling of our Elite Dealers had to say about how they\u2019ve dealt with the inability to source MFPs and other hardware. For Copiers Plus of Fayetteville, North Carolina, the lack of equipment and supplies availability was only slightly more problematic than the lack of clarity as to when the shipments could be expected. There was an upside to the dilemma, however. \u201cIt caused us to rework many processes and figure out ways to tap into resources outside of our normal routines and inherently made our customer service even better than before,\u201d the dealer wrote. \u201cWe were forced to communicate more effectively as an organization, which helped us better adapt to issues and patterns we noticed.\u201d The ability to mobilize in the face of supply chain delays truly brought out the best in some dealers. Included in that list was Braden Business Systems of Fishers, Indiana. \u201cSupply chain has been our biggest challenge over the last two years. Our teams coming together, communicating and delivering great solutions to our clients has been amazing to watch,\u201d the dealer noted. Putting Out Fires Some dealers pointed out that Konica Minolta had the added obstacle of enduring plant fires that disrupted the flow of toner to dealer clients. It certainly caused considerable consternation for The Swenson Group (TSG) of Livermore, California, but fortunately, that crisis has passed. \u201cWe had to find alternative toner suppliers and manually allocate toner to our clients to ensure no one runs out,\u201d TSG wrote. \u201cThis is no longer a big issue, but was painful earlier in the year.\u201d Another dealer that struggled with the toner situation was Martin Group of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. The toner challenge was taxing on a day-to-day basis for the dealer\u2019s staff and client base, but between quality customer care and managing expectations, Martin Group was able to formulate a game plan. \u201cWe implemented a tracking system for all orders, and then we communicated with our vendor and internally with our team to come up with plans,\u201d the dealer wrote. \u201cTogether with our dealers, and using the knowledge of our internal staff, we quickly produced solutions to keep our clients up and running. We changed out toner caps, used partials when available, placed loaners when needed, and even worked with competitors for new workarounds or sharing product availability.    \u201cCommunicating with our clients and keeping them as up-to-date as possible was the key to gaining their patience. We taught our clients how to manage their in-house printing to conserve toner when delays were inevitable. We relied on our personal relationships built over decades of service and our clients graciously extended us their patience and trust while we worked through delays that were out of our control. Our clients appreciated the transparent and honest communication because we used all of the materials we had in our possession to keep things running to the best of our abilities.\u201d Copier Fax Business Technologies of Buffalo, New York, noted that shipping and supply chain far outweighed all other issues. The frustration stemmed from some orders requiring months to process. \u201cAt times, parts weren’t available for service,\u201d the dealer reported. \u201cWe had to be creative in how we helped our customers and utilize strong communication skills.\u201d Noted imageOne of Oak Park, Michigan, \u201cBy keeping the team well informed of its impact on our financials, staying creative with customers to fulfill their needs with alternative solutions, and continuing to focus on the things we can control, the team has done well to weather the storm.\u201d Internal\/External Inventory woes plagued Kelly Office Solutions of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and the inconvenience extended beyond the client. The dealer needed to ensure its sales staff would continue to be compensated. \u201cWe worked closely with our customers and leasing companies to find ways to cover the customer and fund deals so the reps could survive until the inventory actually became available,\u201d the dealer wrote. \u201cOur manufacturers went above and beyond to help as well.\u201d Supply chain constraints can be particularly troublesome for small dealers. Having organizational firepower such as that enjoyed by Flex Technology Group (FTG) of Mesa, Arizona, helped to mitigate the issue. \u201cWe’re addressing the issue by leaning on our size\/scale\/purchasing power with our OEM partners, increasing the level of communications, and giving them more of a lead time for deals in our pipeline,\u201d FTG noted. Extreme backorder scenarios could easily lead to frustration and lost business. But Advance Business Systems of Cockeysville, Maryland, capitalized on the situation as an opportunity to convey its value proposition. \u201cAdvance was able to turn the situation into an opportunity to think outside of the box and over-communicate in order to create positive customer experiences and help organizations that would have otherwise faced disruption to their business,\u201d the dealer wrote. Just about every dealer relied on a superhero or two to spearhead the supply chain saga, and that was the case for UBEO Business Services of San Antonio, Texas. \u201cWe addressed this by staffing a rock star […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":52980,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[80,1650,82,1638],"tags":[741,1597,239],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52979"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/166"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52979"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52979\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52983,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52979\/revisions\/52983"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}