Toshiba Business Solutions Establishes New Market Presence with Its 55th Dealer Acquisition in Indianapolis HPS Office Systems

IRVINE, Calif., Nov 03, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Further growing its nationwide network of wholly owned subsidiary operations, Toshiba Business Solutions (TBS) today announced that it secured its 55th organization through the acquisition of substantially all the assets of Indianapolis-based HPS Office Systems (HPS), a key market player in the upper Midwest.

HPS will transition to join TBS-KY/IL, under the leadership of subsidiary president, John Applegate. The acquisition of HPS is a strategic market entrance into Indiana that will enable TBS-KY/IL to provide continuous service coverage from Lexington to Chicago. Prior to this acquisition, HPS was an authorized independent Toshiba and Savin dealer with a successful 35 year history selling and servicing Toshiba products.

"HPS has had a long-standing reputation for outstanding customer service in Indiana that extends back to the late 1930s, so it is with great pride that we announce this tactical move to make HPS an official member of the Toshiba family," said Wayne Wilkinson, senior vice president/general manager, TBS. "This acquisition is a strategic move for Toshiba that will allow us to apply greater focus on this previously untapped market in Indiana, while further strengthening Toshiba's national market presence through its TBS channel."

With nearly 70 years of experience in servicing the Indiana market, HPS has a large clientele between its offices in the "Hoosier state," which includes locations in Indianapolis, Muncie, Bloomington, Terre Haute and Columbus. Previous owner, Leon Mordoh, began his career with HPS in 1965 and will continue to provide leadership at HPS headquarters as vice president and general manager.

"TBS-KY/IL is thrilled for the opportunity to integrate HPS into our organization, extending Toshiba's ability to reach Midwest businesses and provide them with world-class products and services," said Applegate. "HPS is well-known for its commitment to its customers, which perfectly aligns with Toshiba's culture and standards of excellence in innovation, service and support to its customers."

Recently, TBS also completed the acquisition of the assets of Rocky Mountain Copiers Inc. (RMC). RMC now is a fully integrated component of TBS-CO's existing operation in Colorado Springs, Colo. RMC was the 54th acquisition by TBS since its inception.

Canon Officially "Nixes" IKON

The letter -

"October 31, 2008

TO:

Canon Office Imaging Dealers and Office Product Dealers

SUBJECT: Acquisition of IKON Office Solutions, Inc. by Ricoh Co. Ltd.

On October 31, 2008, Ricoh Co. Ltd. ("Ricoh") announced completion of its acquisition of IKON Office Solutions, Inc. ("IKON").

Canon USA and IKON have entered into a confidential agreement regarding the terms of their relationship following the acquisition of IKON by Ricoh. Effective upon the closing of the acquisition, the retail dealer agreements between Canon USA and IKON terminated, and IKON is no longer an authorized retail dealer of or authorized service provider for Canon-brand business equipment. IKON will no longer be able to place new orders for Canon-brand business equipment with Canon USA.

However, IKON is not precluded from selling and may continue to sell its inventory of Canon-brand business equipment, spare parts and supplies, and is not precluded from providing and may provide maintenance and repair services for Canon-brand business equipment. In addition, Canon USA will continue to sell spare parts and supplies to IKON for three years, and will provide certain technical support to IKON for Canon brand business equipment for at least one year.

Sincerely yours,

CANON U.S.A., INC."

So, what does this mean?

It means that RiKON will be able to service existing Canon clients for a max of three years, unless RiKON decides to purchase "years" of service part stock.

RiKON can not sell any new Canon devices.

For any Canon service issues that may require escalation, RiKON is as high as it will go.

I do not know what this does to the Re-Man plant down in Mexico - last I knew, it was all Canon re

Copiers - It's Not Rocket Science, it's Nuclear Science

I ran across this post from a sub-mariner, deep under the ocean, somewhere...

It's funny -

The nuclear maintenance process, in layman's terms

• Oct. 18th, 2008 at 9:56 PM

Imagine you have a copier, or a few copiers, at work. They are ordinary copiers, capable of doing all the expected things of any such machine in any ordinary office. But in order to operate them, you have to pull out the instruction manual and follow its procedures, every time. You must do this even for the simplest jobs, like making single sided black and white copies. As you step through the procedure, there are several important caveats. Prior to performing each step, you must place a circle around its number, so you can't possibly lose your place. In order to take the specified action, you must point at the label and intended position of each switch, and read it carefully before operating. And once the switch is pressed or the button is moved, you must place an X over the circle in the book. Only then can you move on to the next step.

If there's something wrong with the copier that you didn't expect, or any other exception that keeps you from performing the procedure as written, you must track down your immediate boss, who has to determine the course of action to take. If it ends up being something that won't be fixed, the office manager has to sign off on a written alteration to the procedure to allow for continued operation.

If you're caught trying to forge ahead without concurrence, you'll be stopped, and all your bosses will be notified. If your bosses think it serious enough, they'll stop work on that copier, and perhaps even all copiers in the office. Then they'll all sit down with you in the conference room and painstakingly try to determine the "root causes" of you having faltered. Once this "critique" is done, you will likely have to complete a formal written upgrade before you can resume using any copier in the office. They need to be sure you understand procedural compliance.

To ensure that the procedures are being followed, there will be periodic monitoring of copier operations. For the most part, it'll be any combination of your bosses, from your immediate supervisor all the way on up to your department head and the office manager. A few times a year, the regional headquarters will send people over to check on your operations. And once a year, a team comes all the way from the national office to make sure everything is up to par. And if you tank it in front of them - it's all over. Then they'll take the keys to the office, and the regional HQ has to buy off on everything your office tries to do - from opening in the morning, to restock, to new product testing. And yes, this most definitely includes the copiers.

-----

Well, I think it's funny...
Click to email me.