An established business which has been operating in the South African market for more than 30 years, LFR shines a Spotlight on Midcomp to find out how long-term partnerships with leading manufacturers and suppliers have helped drive growth and success.
Much has been said and written about the importance of print businesses diversifying their offering if they are to remain competitive in the market and continue to enjoy success. While a lot of this is targeted at print service providers (PSPs) to encourage them to look at other markets outside their traditional remit, the same advice can be applied to suppliers and distributors.
By looking at other areas and considering the opportunities to support PSPs and other businesses across new sectors, this could lead to a substantial amount of new work and customers. An excellent example of this theory in action is Midcomp, a diversified distributor of print, finishing and related technologies to the South African market.
Headquartered in Johannesburg, Midcomp comprises four segments, each with a focus on a specific area or offering. Midcomp Azero serves as the front-end of the operation, distributing solutions from a range of major partners, while the Midcomp Innovation Hub acts as a demonstration facility where customers can view technology in action.
Midcomp’s services stretch further still with Midcomp Consumables, offering customers access to a wide range of high-quality consumables products. And on top of this is Midcomp Colorflo, a specialist segment focused on colour management and quality queries.
Such a diversified offering has led to Midcomp forming partnerships with a number of leading brands and manufacturers from across the industry. To name just a few of these, Midcomp is partnered with HP, Zünd, Summa, Canon, Fotaba, Caldera and Onyx, with the aim of supporting its customers in a host of areas.
Sustainability focus key for Midcomp
By partnering with such a large range of manufacturers and suppliers, Midcomp is in a strong position to help customers address major trends in the market. One core consideration for Midcomp and its customers in recent years has been the environment, with sustainability very much at the top of the agenda.
This is reflected in its solutions offering. Taking the partnership with HP as an example, Midcomp currently has on offer several machines from within the HP Latex range of print and cut devices, including both the HP Latex 300 series. These affordable entry-level machines run water-based HP Latex Inks, which have much less impact on the environment than other ink types such as solvent, eco-solvent and UV.
The HP Latex range also extends through to higher volume superwide roll-to-roll printers as well as the HP R-series flatbeds for printing direct on to rigid media, ensuring there is an HP Latex printing solution for printing onto just about any substrate. Combined, the HP Latex printer range provides scratch-resistant, outdoor durable prints for any application and for a wide range of production volumes.
Angelique Greer, Group Marketing Director and Assistant Sales Manager, said this sort of offering is a win-win for customers. Not only does it allow them to provide more sustainable print to clients, but it also helps them save money on their own production costs.
“In South Africa, we face myriad challenges that we need to overcome through awareness campaigns,” Angelique said. “The general population and large corporations have not yet fully embraced the importance of sustainability. We need to drive the message not only to PSPs but also through ad agencies that big corporations use to go to market with their own campaigns to increase corporate awareness and impact decision making.”
Angelique also said the benefit of working with HP Latex technology will help customers in South Africa deal with scheduled power disruptions, which limit energy use and mean up to 11 hours of downtime in a day.
“These abrupt disruptions can cause loss of productivity that results in loss of income and revenue, which drives buying decisions that mitigate the importance of sustainability in relation to affordability,” Angelique said. “There are many advantages within this specific problem that benefits the arguments for Latex and gives customers a competitive advantage which we need to reinforce.”
Clamping down on greenwashing claims
Angelique said Midcomp’s commitment to the environment also forms part of its efforts to address greenwashing in the print industry. With competitors boasting many of the same sustainability certifications – yet not offering planet friendly technology such as HP Latex – there is confusion within the market as to what sustainable print actually means.
To combat this, Midcomp has been working with HP to showcase to PSPs and consumers in South Africa true sustainability in print and the benefits of this way of working. As part of this, Midcomp is committed to the HP Amplify program and has completed the initiative for the second year running. This has led to Midcomp securing HP Amplify Impact 3-Star Catalyst Partner status for driving sustainability.
“From training our employees through this programme to leading our sales with sustainability, we are helping customers by making an impact through more sustainable choices, knowledge and technology,” Angelique said.
“The bottom line is, having an electricity crisis is more reason to drive and support sustainability. When South Africa catches up to the rest of the world, PSPs need to be ahead of the curve to ensure they have a competitive edge and ‘win big’ with HP Latex.”
For more information on HP Latex solutions and/or to speak with an expert, please click here.
