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Katun Corporation, the world’s
leading alternate supplier of imaging supplies, photoreceptors
and parts to the imaging industry, announced that it has been
acquired by Monomoy Capital Partners, an equity partnership
focused on the middle market in early September this year.
 With more than 600 employees operating out of four geographic business units, seven distribution centers, and nearly two dozen sales offices worldwide, Katun is a global leader in compatible consumables. With nearly three decades of expertise, Katun now serves more than 18,000 customers in 150 countries. Juan Jose Sanday, one of the most well-known and successful senior executives in the imaging industry in Latin America, has been working in this industry over 40 years and has been with Katun Latin America since 1997. During that time, he has grown Katun Latin America into one of the most successful US businesses in Latin America by transforming a two-man sales team into a team of 150 employees working in five different Latin American markets. Juan Jose Sanday can speak four different languages – English, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian. He says knowing many languages helps him understand different people from different regions. Tell me about yourself and your background and how you have started your career in this market in Latin America. I was born in Argentina in 1945. I then went on to study law at the University of Buenos Aires and completed a business certification at the Universidad del Pacifico in Lima, Peru. My career in this industry began in 1967 when I started working with Gestetner Corp., which was later acquired by Ricoh Corp. Within three years of having started, I was promoted to General Manager of Gestetner Peru. A few years later, I was named the Area Manager for Latin America. By the end of my 30-year career with Gestetner/Ricoh, I had worked in all of the Latin American markets as well as the markets of the Far East, such as Singapore, Phillipines and Hong Kong, at a VP Level. In 1997, I joined Katun Corp. with the task of transforming a Minneapolis based sales team of two into a structure with direct presence throughout Latin America. My team now consists of approximately 150 employees working from Katun offices in 5 different Latin American markets. What are the keys to your success in this market? Team building – I want to reinforce that. That is the real difference. We have excellent products and that is important; however, you can have the best products in the world, but if you do not have the people who feel the products and know how to express the value of the products, it’s very difficult to succeed. We also have local people working in each country. To succeed, it’s crucial to have an excellent team with local knowledge. What are the main differences between the US market and the Latin American market? There are two main differences between the U.S. market and the Latin American market. First, the U.S. market is based on commercialization of new machines. In Latin America however, the market is comprised of a mix of both new and  refurbished
machines. The majority of the upper segments are made up of
refurbished machines. Katun Brazil Facilities Second, it is possible in the U.S. market to target large dealers with increased economic capabilities and large MIF (Machines in Field), while the Latin American market depends on a larger number of small-scale dealers functioning in economically unstable countries. How is the business these days? Overall, business is going well in Latin America. As is the case with any sector, it is a matter of managing one’s strengths and weaknesses. In our case, we need to manage the evolving strengths and weaknesses presented by each country. The important thing is to maintain a positive portfolio. What I mean by a positive portfolio is that I have to see the mega picture from all the countries. In Latin America, many times we may have one country having internal economic or political problems. So if one of these countries is not performing as expected, we need to have someone else to replace that revenue or profit for the company. The overall picture has to be positive. That’s important. Because in Latin America, it’s not uncommon to see a certain country that has been extremely successful, then suddenly for one political or economic reason, its performance comes close to nothing. If that happens, you need to know that it may take some time, but it will come back too. Our strategy is to maintain a positive portfolio that offsets the unknown variables. What can we expect to see from Katun Latin America during the next six to 12 months? What do you expect Katun Latin America to look like three to five years from now? In the short term, Katun Latin America will maintain focus on its commitment to providing the market with high quality products and its ongoing quest for excellence in service. In the long term, we will work towards becoming the undisputed leader of alternative printer products as we are today for copier products. Where do you see the majority of your growth coming from now and in the next three to five years? The largest opportunity for growing our business currently is in the realm of digital machines. Color is also advancing quickly and we are therefore following that trend. Within the next three to five years, growth in the Latin American market will come in the way of a massive introduction of color machines and laser printers. How do you develop and serve your market in Latin America? Is your market growing? Our division has established a handful of subsidiaries throughout the region in order to effectively cover our markets. Our subsidiaries are located in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, and Uruguay. Markets not serviced from those subsidiaries such as Central America, the Caribbean, and some South American countries are managed through our office in Miami or through sales representatives in Argentina. Each of the four subsidiaries has its own technical center and customer service department, which as a whole provide service to all of the Latin American markets. Our business is growing with the booming printer market. This growth will only be emphasized with the development of the new color technology. What do you view as Katun’s strengths in your market area? We recently completed a market study and found that our customers view the quality of our products and excellent service as our strengths. A strength that we have identified for ourselves is the fact that we have been able to develop our customers into business partners rather than simply customers. They are our partners – we work together. They’re working with us because of the convenience of working with Katun – for the products, for the price, for the service, and for the logistics that we have in Latin America. We have outside representatives visiting distributors every month. It would be nearly impossible that we did not visit our customers within two months. Every single one of them! We believe in personal contact and that our customers know best about the market, and we need to be close to them and listen to them. We all visit at least 3 distributors per day regardless of the level of position. We need to pay respect to them and visit them, so they know we’ll be there. It’s a costly way of doing the business, yet it’s the best one for Latin America. What are some of the accomplishments you’re most proud of at Katun Latin America? One very important accomplishment of this division has been the establishment of a highly professional team with complete dedication to achieving that which we all consider to be of utmost importance: customer satisfaction. A second accomplishment, undoubtedly a result of the first, is our constant improvement over the last 10 years. What would you say are some of the biggest highlights for Katun Latin America?  One of the biggest highlights for Katun Latin America is to be the “undisputed leader of alternative products in the region”. Another is to have a significant portfolio of customers that are loyal to Katun products. A third highlight is to be considered among “the best companies in the market and distribution in the region”. Katun Mexico Facilities Every business has its challenges and frustrations. What are the biggest frustrations you’ve encountered over the years? How do you deal with them? One of the biggest frustrations is when we must compete in markets based solely on price. As usual however, the frustration becomes a source of opportunity leading us into conversations with customers in order to explain that our value added rests in the quality of our products. Latin America is composed of vastly different countries. How do you manage the logistics of dealing with so many different borders and regulations and unexpected changes? This is a very interesting question. Since my first days at Katun, the company understood that not all countries in Latin America are similar and each one presents its own challenges. We make it a priority to stay informed of all legal and economic changes that may impact our business. Who are your biggest competitors and what is the advantage that you have over your competitors? Our main competitors are the OEMs. We strive to capitalize on any opportunities presented to us by the OEM. One of the advantages we can count on is the ability of our company to react quickly to changes in the market. Without this, our distributors/dealers (business partners) would not demonstrate the loyalty that they demonstrate today. What changes in the industry have had the most profound effect on your company? The most important change after the analog to digital world has been transitioning into the world of printers. In the future, you won’t have the division of printers and copiers. Today you’re talking about page per minute (PPM), rather than copies per minute (CPM). This is one of the biggest changes that’s happening that we need to be prepared for. We used to change the technology and a model of one copier every 5-6 years. Today the printers are changing their models 2-3 times a year. It’s an unbelievable change and we need to be prepared for that. What are some of the things you’ve heard from your customers over the past year that you’re acting on? We try to act on all concerns voiced by our customers. If something is of concern to them, it’s of concern to us as our #1 goal is customer satisfaction. The two most prevalent topics mentioned by customers are: (1) Need for a suite of products on specific lines and (2) Accelerating launches of printer products. What are you hearing from your customers these days from a product perspective? Our customers constantly ask us to maintain our level of quality on Katun products because of the influx of low quality products of lesser-known brands into the market. What do you like best about working for Katun and working in this market? What I most appreciate is the enjoyment and satisfaction I gain from working at Katun. As we increasingly devote more time to work, it is important that we enjoy what we do. I have always told my team that the day one’s job becomes a burden, is the day that one should consider changing course. The Latin American market is very interesting to me because it is ever changing and most definitely, always presenting a challenge. |
Katun
Corporation, la compañía líder en el mundo para repuestos
alternativos, fotorreceptores y partes para la industria del
copiado, anuncia que ha sido adquirida en Septiembre por Monomoy
Capital Partners, una sociedad de fondos de inversión enfocada en
el mercado medio. Cuáles son las claves para su éxito en este mercado?
La construcción de un “team” – es en lo
que hago mayor énfasis. Eso es lo que hace la real diferencia.
Tenemos excelentes productos y eso es importante; de todos modos,
puedes tener los mejores productos del mundo, pero si no tienes a
la gente que sienta a esos productos y conozca la manera de
expresar el valor agregado de los mismos, es muy difícil tener
éxito. También tenemos gente local trabajando en cada país. Es
crucial para triunfar tener un excelente team con conocimiento
local.
Katun Argentina Facilities |
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