enx magazine

Nectron offers dealers high quality compatible inkjets, computer printer ribbons, POS ribbons, refurbished inkjets, thermal ribbons, and toner/laser cartridges at a competitive price.

HP, Canon, Epson, Okidata, Brother, Lexmark, Panasonic, Star, Citizen, Apple, IBM, and Printronix are just a few of the compatible brands available. For a complete listing, see the website at www.nectron.com.

Nectron has a $60 minimum order requirement, and orders made before 3 p.m. Central Time will ship the same day, if in stock—and there’s more than a million cartridges in inventory at all times to ensure prompt delivery. Blind-drop-ship orders are welcome, and online purchasing is accessible. Nectron uses standard pricing, but special pricing can be arranged to fit your needs.

While pricing and product delivery are important, quality product is essential. At Nectron, Kardoush says quality standards are not only monitored in a laboratory, they are monitored in the field, at your customers’ office.

Nectron monitors quality by watching the number of returns per item. If the number of returns goes over 1 in 1,000 cartridges that are in the field, the company contacts dealers that have ordered the cartridge and makes an intensive inquiry about what is happening. No cartridge model will be shipped that has gone into inquiry—so getting a cartridge from Nectron means customers can rest assured that the product is of the highest quality.

Packaging Solutions

Having a high-quality cartridge is what will keep customers coming back, but it takes a high quality box to make them trust you to begin with. Nectron offers dealers a high quality, four-color box that can be imprinted with their name. The box lists the cartridge information, a photo of the cartridge, and a compatibility listing. This is blind-drop shipping at its best.

Also, dealers can create their own packaging at Nectron. Seven varieties of packaging are available to choose from to suit any market need. For businesses that would like to start their own brand, this is a smart solution; a large quantity order is needed to fulfill this packaging option.

Nectron also offers dealers the ability to sell Nectron name-brand cartridges. Nectron cartridges also come in a four-color quality box that includes specs, compatibility, and a cartridge photo. Many companies overseas and in Europe are selling the brand, so name recognition is growing.

Customer Service with Industry Insight

Nectron’s customer service philosophy is to support the dealer. The first and most obvious sign of this is through technological advances. From the Nectron website you can access complete account information/history, purchase online, find out about new products, and see how long shipping will take to your facility.

Another perk is that dealers are assigned to an experienced customer service representative that will help service all their customers’ needs. In addition, the customer service department can attend to any general product questions with a quick answer.

Although Nectron is focused on customer service, its service is more diverse than that of most wholesale distributors. Nectron likes to offer market advice to dealers as well. What market to advertise in and how to advertise to those markets are common questions for Nectron. Also, since they are so familiar with the international market, they can provide with advice on that as well.

“We are not simply shipping a product out and asking for money—we support the dealer,” Kardoush says. We understand that we and the dealers have the same goal. We want to work with them hand in hand, in a relationship of togetherness and sharing.

25 Years in the Industry

Some 25 years ago, Nectron International began selling six ribbons and six cartridges to a beginning network of dealers. Today the company stocks a million products in its 40,000-sq-ft. facility in Sugarland, Texas.

After leaving the dwindling oil industry, Kardoush was looking for field that would lead him into financial stability. As an engineer, he thought imaging consumables would help him achieve his goals

“I had acquisitions in a few different industries,” he recalls. “But as an engineer, I thought if you had a consumable that was technologically dynamic, meaning that it changed with technology, you could be very successful.”

He was right—and, as he terms it, lucky. His work ethic molded his business into the success it is today: then, he was selling $10,000 in business a month. Today that’s $10,000 in sales every 15 minutes.

“We took advantage of our opportunities,” Kardoush says. “If we got the chance to improve our sourcing, we improved our sourcing. If we got the chance to grow our customer base we did it. We worked hard and were responsible. My competitors tell me that it is impossible to take a customer away from Nectron.”

After venturing into international sales, Kardoush was the first distributor to partner with a manufacturing facility in China. He also developed relationships with manufacturers in Singapore, Taiwan, Korea, Thailand, and Malaysia.

“I was the first to import these products and I was absolutely the first in this industry to produce in China,” he says. “The Chinese workers are highly skillful, obedient, fast learners, loyal and faithful employees.”

Future

Nectron’s biggest future goal is to offer cartridges for every printer made, and to keep growing with the market.

“People have realized that they can just do things online and not have to deal with the traffic and people,” he notes. “If you want to buy a car, you get online and print out every picture of the car you want. When you’re finished, you’ve printed a book—and your cartridge is empty. And everything from airline tickets to your passport is done online. They ask you to print from home, moving the cost of printing to end-user printers. If they can buy a generic cartridge that does not cost an arm and a leg, they will.”

“There was a bad public perception about generic products until the government made generic pharmaceuticals mandatory,” he adds. “Now the public recognizes that generic products can do the same thing as an OEM, but for much cheaper.

“Superstores have extinguished the small business, and it is not profitable for dealers to sell an OEM when an end-user can get the same product at Home Depot for two cents less. But if the end-user can save considerably on a dealer’s cartridge and they can recognize the brand, they will develop a relationship with that dealer to save money.

“We offer cartridges at a price that gives the dealer a niche market to sell to. Nectron has recognized the advantage of selling compatibles with equal quality to the OEM, but at a cost resulting in substantial savings. So, Nectron is highly specialized and targeted to provide dealers with exceptionally high quality and at such a competitive price that dealers won’t get elbowed out of the market by the superstores.”

Contact:

CBEO

1-800-422-3632

by Jamie Hamilton— in addition to writing business profiles in ENX, Jamie writes and designs ads, brochures, catalogs, newsletters, and technical manuals for companies in the imaging industry. She can be contacted at: Tel/ Fax 502-896-1051 or e-mail her at: jamiewriter@hotmail.com.

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