From Oil to Ink: Nectron International
By Jamie Hamilton
Engineer Michael Kardoush
went
from drilling oil in Houston in the late ‘70s to tapping into the
ink industry. When he bought
Nectron International in 1979, the
company offered dealers six ribbons and six cartridges. Today,
Nectron offers consumables for printers across the board. From
toners and inkjets to point-of-sale printers, Nectron is a
one-stop-shop for dealers.
Being in business for 25 years has
given Nectron a chance to become one of the most experienced
wholesalers in the industry. From large to small dealers, Nectron
has the knowledge needed to help grow any business.
“If you are small, we have something
to offer you—if you are the biggest dealership around, we also have
something for you,” says Kardoush, Nectron’s owner and president.
What’s more, Nectron can help its
customers gain international business. From Kardoush’s international
experience in the oil industry, it was only natural that his next
venture would be just as globally dispersed. And he can help dealers
and outsourcing manufacturers understand the ins and outs of taking
on the international market.
“In the oil industry, we were highly
trained in the international plain of commerce, international
financing, and banking—this was a very natural thing for us,” he
says. Today, Kardoush passes his knowledge of the international
market on to dealers, along with a high-quality product that offers
substantial savings.
Products and Services
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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