Static: Ken Lalley talks about the operational changes
November 18, 2019
Over the last year, Static Control has been in a transitional phase and The Recycler sat down with company CEO Ken Lalley recently to talk about the changes and the rumours, market trends and more.
The Recycler: We’ve recently heard of some operational changes in the business. Can you address those?
Ken Lalley: As you know, the industry is in a transitional period with a very tough market dynamic and considerable consolidation taking place. Remanufacturers are getting squeezed on the top from the OEMs and from the bottom, they are losing share to cheaply priced compatibles that invariably do not deliver on quality. Just like many of our customers, we also had to make operational changes to keep ourselves competitive.
The most recent news is that we are in the process of streamlining our operations in South Africa. It had to be done in order to remain competitive in the marketplace in one of the world’s toughest and most competitive markets.
We will continue to service customers from our warehouses until the end of the year. Static Control is evaluating our options in the region to best serve customers throughout the continent. We are currently meeting and vetting distributors that can meet our needs of delivering both local support and our products to customers. We do not anticipate customers having any disruption in service and will keep them notified of any upcoming announcements regarding where to purchase Static Control products.
The Recycler: What other operational changes have been made over the last year?
Ken Lalley: During the summer, both our Turkey and Middle East office were consolidated. These customers are now serviced from experienced sales associates. Customers in these regions still receive dedicated customer service and products in a timely fashion. We will achieve a great, competitive solution in South Africa.
The Recycler: What sparked these changes?
Ken Lalley: Last year, we switched our approach in Mexico to a distributor model for our cartridges – similar to what we’ve done throughout most of South America for many years – and have reaped the benefits. Our distributors are all industry veterans who are familiar with the remanufacturing industry and know the best way to support our customers in these areas in a local language. We saw this as an opportunity to recreate this same model in other parts of the world where it made business sense.
The Recycler: You frequently speak of the commitment the company has to remanufacturers. What actions are the company taking to help?
Ken Lalley: We also speak of our continual investment in research and development. For example, our chips have helped and still help customers provide an OEM-like experience that is necessary for remanufacturers to be successful. Our chip R&D group is the best in the industry – and honestly, I would say leading and world-class! We are also continually updating our component line to offer the best imaging solutions to our customers with over 400 products launched this year to date.
The Recycler: You were announced as CEO just over a year ago. What’s been the biggest challenge since you’ve been CEO?
Ken Lalley: I wanted to review all of our operations to see what could be improved. For a company that’s been around for more than 30 years, sometimes the reason why certain things were done in a particular way was only because that’s the way it had always been done. By overhauling the business, we’ve been able to improve many of our procedures to best benefit our customers and release new products in a faster, more efficient method. We also recently restructured our UK office to help improve efficiency and to help continue to provide the best in customer service to all our clients located throughout Europe.
The Recycler: Since we are nearing the end of 2019, what do you foresee for 2020?
Ken Lalley: I think the trend of remanufacturers getting squeezed will continue for now, so we are dedicated to providing them solutions that will help them remain competitive. Our product catalogue of components is unmatched and growing every month, in addition – we offer cartridges for when empties are not available and you can’t afford to lose the business to cheap compatibles. We are the only supplier that offers a full-range product catalogue of everything a remanufacturer needs to succeed.
Categories : World Focus
