“If we need Quality, we must accept that Quality comes at a price”

JET TEC is a leading supplier of Compatible Toner Cartridges, OPC Drums, Mono & Color Toner, Cartridge spares to remanufacturers and refillers across India. Apart from direct presence in Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Surat, Delhi, Chennai & Kolkata, JET TEC also has their representatives for UP, Punjab & Bihar. JET TEC saw this as perfect business opportunity to start the operations locally to ensure that Customers get competitive price and faster deliveries of the required materials. In an interview with Rohit Shah, President, JET TEC Info Consumables (India) Pvt Ltd about the scenario of imaging industry and company’s new initiatives.

Imaging industry is getting more and more price-sensitive. Most buyers are unaware of quality; they are just looking for cheap products that are flooding the market. How Jet Tec is coping up with this?
  Yes, trend is changing. Market is getting competitive and margins are thinning day by day. So, it is obvious that everyone will look for options that help them bring down their costs and maintain margins. Being the leading supplier of imaging products in India, we have to help our customers meet this challenge. We buy in bulk volumes and that helps us get the best prices from International suppliers. We pass on the price benefit to our Customers to meet the price challenge. At JET TEC, we also educate our customers about benefits of quality products and how it brings down the overall cost per page as well as total cost of ownership. It helps them have a satisfied customer base and also win new customers.

You have an old association with MKI (Future Graphics). What special do you find with MKI?
  Mitsubishi Kagaku Imaging (MKI), a division of Mitsubishi Chemicals, Japan. Mitsubishi is the world leader in manufacturing of OPC, Toner & Chemical Toners known for its High Quality products. MKI has a team of R & D professionals that continuously study on the new technologies being used / offered by OEMs. MKI shares the knowhow with its partners and that help us understand upcoming technologies and prepare for the same. We impart the same with our partners across India.MKI introduces compatible products within first three months from OEM launch of new engines. So there is always an advantage for us when we are the first to offer solutions.

How color printing is doing in LaserJet and inkjet segments and what is your focus?
  Color Laser Printing is growing and will continue to grow at steady pace. With OEMs like Konica Minolta, Sharp, Ricoh growing their install base in SMB & Enterprise segment for Color printing; it offers us new opportunity for growth. JET TEC offers solutions for complete range of Mono & Color Copier MFDs & Digital Printers. For Ink segment; we have been supplying Desktop Inks in Bulk Quantity for quite some time now. Till now, our focus clearly has been Laser Printers & Copiers.

What new brands and products do you plan to add to your portfolio in the immediate future?
  We buy directly from reputed international manufacturers who offer consistent and reliable products. But, we like to sell / promote products in JET TEC brand only. There is no single manufacturer that produces all Imaging Products. So, we select product wise manufacturers and sell their products in JET TEC brand.
There are negative as well as positive opinions about the new government’s initiatives like BIS, GST, Make in India, etc. Please give us your opinions.

We are quite positive about the initiative that new government has taken like BIS, GST & Make in India. Making BIS will ensure that manufacturers in India follow the standards that will help them build quality products and following the guidelines will help them compete internationally.GST is a welcome step again. It removes the multiple taxations and makes the compliance process simpler. We do not have to go through the hassles of various Forms or be the victim of State Tax System. Instead, it helps us focus on our core business strengths. Not only that, it gives all business a level playing field irrespective of their state / market. Any manufacturers / traders can go beyond the boundaries of state and sell to the national market and vice versa.

Today, in the cut-throat competition, service is very important. What kind of service support are you providing to the end customers so it will also place your down-line partners in a comfortable position? Do you provide service through your own network or thru third party? Please elaborate.
We have direct presence in Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Surat, Delhi, Chennai & Kolkata. We also have our representatives for UP, Punjab & Bihar. We provide service & support to our Customers through these locations directly. We also have partners associated with us across India who help us serve our Customers. It is a win-win situation for both of us. We give products, they give services. This month we are opening two more offices, in Rajasthan & M.P.

What new products do you want to add to your line in the near future?
  We plan to add full range of Copier Products to our product line. It is a natural extension to this business for expansion. Apart from that, we plan to focus more on Laser Cartridges and its retailing across India.
Since channel motivation is very important, what are your latest initiatives and incentives on the channel front?
  Channel is our strength. We have grown over the period with support from all our partners and we thank them for the same. Whether it is deal discounts or free silver/gold coins or International Tours, promotions are regular. We also offer additional schemes that help partners earn higher backend incentives if they achieve their targets.

Are you getting the expected quality and consistency from your suppliers or ODMs? How do you manage your relations with your suppliers and ODMs?
  Yes, we do. We are in this industry for more than two decades now. In fact, we are celebrating our Silver Jubilee Year in 2016. We are working with some of the best manufacturers of our Industry so quality is not an issue. We value our associations and do not change suppliers frequently. We are associated with MKI, JADI for more than 12 years and it helps us give consistent quality to our customers. When we talk about getting Quality and Consistency from the supplier, we must understand and keep in mind the fact that “we only get what we pay for”. If we need Quality, we must accept that Quality comes at a price. It is a simple learning that has helped us get the best from our suppliers all these years.

What is your present growth rate and where do you want to be in the coming two years?
  During last couple of years, product prices in our industry have slashed down but overall market volumes have grown. If we talk about us, our volumes have increased by 18% from last year with growth coming mainly from Laser Printer Products. This year we have added range of copier products to our portfolio and we expect the volumes to pickup in this segment as well. In addition to above, we are opening more offices and plan to sell directly to big/small corporate customers. So, overall we expect our volumes to grow by 24% to 26% this financial year.