In an era marked by economic instability and unprecedented business challenges, companies worldwide are redefining their strategies to navigate through uncertainty and seize new opportunities. Exact Solutions, a prominent player in Nigeria’s print industry, stands out amidst these challenges with its innovative sales strategy tagged ‘FIT FOR PURPOSE’ to solve a client’s specific need in the Nigerian printing industry.
In a candid one-on-one interview with Juliet Nnajiofor-Uyi, the Managing Director of Exact Solutions, Mr. Ifeanyi Ugwu, delved into the company’s business in the last two years and its innovative strategies for the second quarter of the year 2024 business outlook. Despite the adversities faced by businesses in recent years, Exact Solutions celebrates its significant achievements in the last two years, demonstrating a steadfast commitment to strengthen its core business area of support services and navigate market complexities.
As we embark on this insightful dialogue, Mr. Ugwu shares the company’s plans, challenges, and aspirations for the second quarter of the year, offering valuable insights into their approach towards sustaining growth and innovation in an ever-evolving print business landscape in Nigeria.
Excerpts from the one-on-one interview session:
Q: What are your business plans for the second quarter of 2024 as an organization?
A: Thank you for being with us today and compliments on the significant achievement of Printers Digest Magazine and the DCS group. Business is indeed challenging, not just for our industry but for all sectors. For us, it has been a remarkable year. So, as we approach the second quarter of 2024, we do so with a great deal of optimism. What are our plans? The core responsibility that we are carrying forward is the aftercare of the installed equipment to support our customers. While we have always provided good support services, we are now enhancing them to ensure increased availability of machines. Given the economic challenges, there may not be quick fixes for the country. We are not anticipating a high level of sales of brand new equipment, which is evident due to the challenges faced by the Naira. Therefore, our customers rely on us to support them in getting the best out of their existing machines. This is where we will focus much of our attention. We have improved versions of our maintenance contracts, and that will help our customers increase the availability of their machines for production. This forms the core of our responsibilities carried over into 2024. Nevertheless, we remain optimistic that there will still be new projects, despite some having been delayed for our customers for quite some time.
Q: Can you tell us about this project?
A: New equipment installations, negotiations have been ongoing but because of the challenge with the economy of the country, they have been delayed. However, we are anticipating that one or two of them, which have been delayed for so long, will hopefully proceed with the purchase in this year 2024. We are also looking to expand our product offerings. We are exploring the digital printing space and are likely to partner with a leading global brand. Additionally, as you may know, 2024 marks the return of Drupa after eight years. Despite the global economy not looking promising, the market is excited about this major conference of the world printing industry. As usual, we will be there and eagerly look forward to bringing many of our customers along to the show.
Q: Earlier, you talked about your company’s primary service. For the benefit of those who don’t have a clear understanding of what your company represents, kindly provide brief information about your primary service as an organization.
A: We are an engineering, sales, and service company for the printing industry. The heart of Exact Solutions lies in our engineering services. I emphasized this because anyone can sell printing equipment. We specialize in high-value equipment. A significant part of the buying decision revolves around whether the seller will provide support after installation, two or three years down the line. We represent brands through contracts, serving as partners in Nigeria. We manage local sales, installations, and provide after-installation care for the machines. Our achievement as a company is being available for our customers across the spectrum of pre-press, press, and post-press. We provide a comprehensive set of equipment to start from the beginning and produce a finished product. We have strong partnerships in each workstation. In prepress, we collaborate with SCREEN, a Japanese company and the world’s largest manufacturer of prepress equipment for the graphics industry. They specialize in building engines for major graphic companies like AGFA. Our flagship press partner is KOENIG & BAUER (KBA). KBA, now known as KOENIG & BAUER, was the first company to manufacture an engine-driven press 200 years ago. They are widely accepted in Nigeria as a formidable product in the industry. For post-press, we work with brands like Baumannperfecta for paper cutting. Kolbus, a leader in the industry, focuses on luxury packaging and corrugated boxes. We also collaborate with MBO for folding machines, and Meccanotechica for home manufacturer’s casters stitching machines. These brands are our core partners.
Q: What do you see as a challenge currently in your business space?
A: Aside from the economy, another challenge is the growth of skilled workers for the industry. In our capacity as an engineering company, we have the responsibility to ensure our staff constantly develop their capacity. Additionally, we need to recruit new staff and cultivate their interest in our industry.
Q: Does it mean most young people don’t like this industry?
A: You have to make it exciting. The excitement for young people now lies in the social media space. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is here, and what we need to help them understand is that AI is an evolving mix every day. So, choosing a career within the printing industry doesn’t mean moving away from civilization. In fact, you will see operators controlling their press with their mobile phones.
Q: Can you give us an overview of how business has been for your company for the past two years?
A: As an organization, the past two years have been active for us. The year 2023 started off busy as we had equipment we wanted to install in 2022, and the process spilled into 2023. Getting state-of-the-art machines installed, commissioned, and running was a significant business deal for us. We had two installations in Lagos, one in Abuja, and one in Ogun State. In Lagos, the installation was done at Vista International, where they purchased RAVIDA 106, the fastest printing press in the world for the packaging sector. This equipment has been running successfully. Additionally, in Mainland Lagos, we installed PIRA 75, and they are also satisfied customers. In Abuja, we had a second installation for Marvelous Mike Press, where we installed a specially configured machine for commercial and security printing purposes. Furthermore, in Ogun State, we were privileged to be part of a new factory built by Quantum Packaging. It was a busy and productive year for us. While the industry may be tough, innovation allows us to find a market. Our installed machines are specific in their target; configurations were built to solve problems. They are not generic; configurations were built with specifications to address specific issues. No two of our installations are the same; they are all different. We discuss with customers to understand their needs, then we arrive at what we believe they should have and why they should have it. By the time we finish configuration, the customer is getting value for their money. We call it “FIT FOR PURPOSE.” For us, Sales is technical.
Q: Is there anything you want to share with us?
A: I urge all industry practitioners to remain optimistic and become creative; as there are lots of opportunities in the industry to harness.
