enx magazine

As West Coast Platen enters their eighth decade of providing quality service, information and parts to the office equipment industry, they maintain a history of knowledge and integrity that sets them apart. “We are an 83 year old company selling state of the art printer parts and supplies. If you haven’t seen us for a while, you haven’t seen us. We especially encourage you to take a look at our new web site,” sates Bob Diltz, president of West Coast Platen. “We know office machines inside and out. We specialize in OEM parts for Hewlett Packard, Lexmark, Brother and Canon.”

Providing quality OEM parts is just the tip of the iceberg. WCP is known for being the independent dealer’s business partner. The foundation of WCP’s 80+ year history of selling quality OEM parts and supplies to the office equipment industry is based on old fashion values. “We have built our company on providing our customers with the superior quality OEM parts and service they need,” states Diltz, “We are attentive to their needs. We make it easy for them to do business with us. Our goal is to make the dealers who buy from us more successful.”

As president and owner Bob Diltz began working for Seattle Platen Company in 1971. During the same year West Coast Platen was purchased. Bob Diltz, a University of Washington graduate, began working for Seattle Platen after serving in the Vietnamese War as a navy supply officer. He later moved to Southern California in 1976, working for West Coast Platen. In 1990, owner Vance Gribble retired and sold his company, to his now son-in-law, Bob Diltz. In 1998 WCP moved to their current corporate headquarters in Baldwin Park, California. Today, West Coast Platen is the technician’s and retailer’s source for computer accessories, laser printer supplies and parts and much more. They still sell platens . . . but that is just the beginning of their product inventory. From AB Dick to Xerox, from allen screws to Phaser Assemblies, no part is too small or too large to be provided. If you need it, their sourcing specialist will find it. With the launch of West Coast Platen’s newly remodeled web site, www.platen.com, you now have online access to a complete list of available products. New parts, new cross references, new tools and supplies and very aggressive pricing are continually being added.

The new, user-friendly WCP web site, is now up and running. Over 13,000 easy to access parts are available on line. This makes it easy to establish availability, locate a part number and the wholesale cost. Techs can access this information from the end user’s office computer or their own laptop. The easy-to-use parts listing can be accessed by product line, manufacturer, and category or part number. Included is a link to the HP Parts Surfer that allows techs to access the HP search engine to identify printer parts by name or schematic drawing. The new WCP web site is very easy to navigate allowing you to quickly find the needed information.

WCP is your HP, Brother, Lexmark and Canon printer sourcing specialist. “We always encourage our clients to tell us what they need,” reiterates Bob Diltz. “We probably have the needed part in stock or know how to source it for next day delivery. We encourage you to call us with your needs. We will help you get the equipment fixed by providing the correct OEM part you need to complete the repair. We need to make sure our past customers know we are continually updating the products and services we offer. The number one marketing tool we have is through word of mouth. Most new customers hear about us from our current client base.”

WCP can also be your industry eyes and ears. Are you looking for specialized training or an industry contact? Call WCP. Their knowledgeable employees can recommend a training class, access a needed manual or recommend an industry expert that can help fill your needs.

Over 15,000 SKU’s are ready to ship from WCP’s warehouses. Their staff not only can pick, pull and ship these parts, they will also guide you toward which parts you need to get the job done right the first time. Let WCP be your warehouse for all your HP, Lexmark, Brother and Canon printer part needs. They also provide blind drop shipping.

In addition to the more traditional printer parts and supplies, WCP is your Hewlett Packard Designjet Wide Format Plotter specialists. They have the technical expertise, part numbers, parts accessibility and repair knowledge to help dealers be able to profitably service and repair this specialty equipment. Using WCP as your business partner, dealers can realistically include HP wide format in their product mix of equipment they can service and provide supplies. Your dealership can take advantage of WCP’s authorization as a HP distributor to supply Designjet Wide Format Plotters parts and supplies.

West Coast Platen also carries a wide variety of MICR parts and toner.

After you fix the printer, you can extend your servicing capabilities to include your customer’s computers including HP/Compaq and IBM ThinkPad. WCP has extended their product lines to provide hard drives, CD/DVD drives, memory, system boards and laptop replacement LCDs. Tools, vacuums, cleaning supplies, specialty oils and greases, and custom designed tools add to the WCP one-stop shopping experience.

Currently, the WCP staff has over 200 years of printer servicing knowledge. They are attentive to your needs. The more knowledge they share, the more parts you will be able to buy. It is the classic win-win working relationship. Technical and sales support is offered by calling 800-221-2388 Monday – Friday 8:30- 4:30. Your staff can immediately identify, confirm current wholesale cost and same day shipping availability of the parts you need.

WCP is staffed by some of the industry’s best known experts. Dale Hubbard, WCP’s Seattle office manager, has worked with WCP since 1971. Dale gained his knowledge one printer at a time. With almost 40 years of hands on printer repair and parts identification experience, Dale is available to help pinpoint needed parts to complete the fix. If Dale can’t help you fix it, it’s not really broken.

George Iona, starting with Ames Supply Co. in 1971, moved to West Coast Platen in 1988. Today George manages the Southern California location. George continually shares his life time of hands on knowledge of parts and supplies for office equipment with WCP’s customers. “Each new part we stock is our investments in our dealer’s ability to profitably fix their customer’s office equipment.” George is also bilingual which is greatly appreciated by our many Spanish speaking customers.

Through the years West Coast Platen has been very responsive to the changing needs of their dealers. Today WCP provides a full array of products that are needed to successfully repair the most popular office equipment. WCP has the answers to your parts servicing needs and is your servicing partner. They make it easy to do business with them via phone, fax, email or web.

West Coast Platen continues to keep the platen in their name to help honor and preserve their 80+ year heritage of providing OEM and other quality parts, technical expertise and personalized service to their customers. And yes, they still sell platens, plus a whole lot more. u by Ronelle Ingram

West Coast Platen Co.

4751-B Littlejohn St.

Baldwin Park, CA 91706

800-322-2431 FAX 800-232-9927

E-mail: george@platen.com

www.platen.com www.laserprinterparts.com

Seattle Platen

5506 First Avenue South

Seattle, WA 98108

Phone: 800-221-2388

Fax 800-682-7782

E-mail: dale@platen.com