OVERVIEW
Founded in 1947, GBC is the recognized market leader in all of its core product lines,
delivering high value to our many customers and end-consumers in over 100 countries. We continue
to enjoy leading positions in binding and laminating equipment and supplies, visual communication
products (writing boards, bulletin/planning boards and easels), and document shredders.
Our strong, widely-recognized brand names of GBC, Quartet and Ibico are well-known for quality
and reliability, creating high levels of customer loyalty and driving repeat sales to a
widely-diversified customer base across the home, office, education, and commercial markets:
- Home users (individuals and home and small offices),
- Office
users (corporations and professional organizations in manufacturing,
consulting, financial service, accounting, legal, architectural,
engineering and advertising firms),
- Education users (schools and training centers), and
- Commercial users (reprographic centers, quick printers/copy shops and commercial printers).
The wide breadth of our offerings across these product lines and our strong brand names give us a
distinctive and competitive sales advantage. We further enhance this advantage by reaching our
customers through a highly-focused, multi-channel selling strategy - both direct and indirect:
- Direct Channel -- In this channel, which comprises about
43% of our total sales, we sell directly to a large base of over 50,000
customers. GBC's direct channels include direct sales, telemarketing,
e-commerce and service activities. Our direct sales organization
consists of highly-trained sales people who are focused on selling mid-
to high-end equipment and related recurring supplies and on marketing
visual communication equipment. They have the ability to provide
product demonstrations and ensure that customers obtain the right
solutions and value-added customized products. Our telemarketing team
handles inbound sales calls from new and repeat customers, as well as
outbound sales efforts, which are focused on generating sales of
supplies and maintenance contracts from our existing base of equipment
customers. Our e-commerce activities are designed to capture internet
sales with a low-cost structure and also to provide our larger
customers with their own customized sites for streamlined purchasing
and pricing.
- Indirect Channel -- In this channel, which is about 57% of
our sales, we sell our products through the entire spectrum of
resellers (wholesalers, dealers, superstore retailers, contract
stationers, mass marketers and buying groups) to over 15 million more
end-consumers.
Leveraging our 50-plus years of selling equipment to our large base of customers, we also generate
a significant amount of recurring and high-margin revenues from consumable supplies and maintenance
service contracts from these equipment placements. This "razor/razor blade" strategy is employed in
each of our major product groupings, giving us a valuable balance of equipment and recurring
supplies sales. In addition, we have a technical service and repair organization specifically
focused on providing timely, on-site maintenance for our more-sophisticated equipment, as well as
sales leads to our direct sales force for equipment upgrading opportunities on our customers with
GBC's mid-range and high-end equipment.
- In 2003, approximately 44% of GBC sales related to
office equipment, and 56% related to consumable supplies and service
activities.
These sales efforts are all designed to continue building brand awareness and loyalty and to
continue enhancing long-term partnerships with our customers.
Binding
GBC binding systems straddle the globe, in a variety of applications. Many corporations, small
businesses, educational centers, and homes worldwide use GBC binding systems to bind reports,
manuals and presentations. More than three-quarters of a billion business documents were bound
with GBC systems and supplies last year.
Lamination
GBC laminating film and equipment are most frequently chosen for protecting and enhancing company
i.d. cards, restaurant menus, corporate brochures, teaching aids, book covers and banners.
GBC laminating films enhanced and protected the covers of over 2 million hard- and soft- cover
books, including many current bestsellers, during the past year. Schools purchased enough GBC
laminating film in a single year to preserve more than 350 million documents, including teaching
aids, student artwork and special projects.
Visual Communication
There are a broad variety of visual communication products that help you communicate your ideas
and make your workplace more productive. From bulletin boards with a variety of frame styles and
sizes, to dry erase boards with different surfaces, to different types of trimmers, our products
combine function with style and deliver quality deserving of the Quartet brand.
The launch of several new whiteboard (including electronic) and easel products, plus our expansion
into the European market, enhances GBC's leadership position in the visual communications category.
Shredders
GBC markets office shredders for department and company needs, and production shredders that
provide the ultimate in productivity. GBC's shredders are attractively designed, have a reputation
for quality, and are built for years of reliable service. And you won't find a better value for
your money anywhere!
