Rob Makinson, co-founder and managing director of South Africa-based Midcomp, has been in the large format print business for over 20 years. In this spotlight feature, he focuses on the rise in print demand prior to the 2010 Football World Cup event and highlights the key differences between the South African and UK digital print businesses.
Headquartered in Johannesburg, Midcomp employs 32 people and has a turnover of approximately £8million. Rob started the company with Andrew Pine in 1991 and it initially supplied HP drafting plotters to the South African marketplace. Midcomp also sold the very first ink jet plotter in South Africa.
Since this time, the company has grown as a distribution business. Its primary supplier remains HP and Midcomp distributes HP’s entire digital printer range from small format through to 5m-wide Scitex machines.
Selling to the South Africa market differs to sales made in the UK and Western Europe. According to Rob Makinson, “At present, the South African wide format digital print marketplace typically lags behind the UK market by about 9 to 12 months. However, this gap is beginning to close and we are seeing new technologies introduced to the South African market more rapidly.”
There is also a smaller target audience to address. Rob says, “The challenge in South Africa is one of economies of scale. Print businesses end up paying more for the same equipment and then this kit is underused as the demand volume is just not there. The challenge for manufacturers and distributors alike is to increase volume demand – thereby driving demand for faster and wider printing equipment.”
The Football World Cup held in South Africa in 2010 helped to drive demand for digitally printed output. However, rather than buying new printers, print shops were using their existing printers to their fullest possible extent. Rob comments, “In fact we only sold one printer specifically to handle increased print demand related to the World Cup. As labour is perceived to be relatively more cost-effective in South Africa, most print shops would run a second or third shift on existing equipment to meet the increased demand for output.”
“Our busiest department at this time was our technical support unit! Printers were being utilised to a far greater extent – 24/7 in some cases – and were being run into the ground,” continues Rob.
As a result of this high usage prior to and during the World Cup period, Midcomp now runs a 24/7 support service for its customers. Rob concludes, “We have to offer round-the-clock support as – at times – our customers are running 24/7 shifts. It gives us a unique selling point in the marketplace as no other company in our business offers the same deal at present.”
As for the future, Midcomp will be focusing on working with manufacturers to help drive demand for printed output. If volumes can be increased, the demand for new printing equipment will also increase.
For more information on Midcomp, please visit www.midcomp.co.za
[photo shows some of Midcomp's staff outside the Johannesburg office]
