4 Crucial Steps When Choosing a Printer Cartridge Supplier in South Africa for Your Business

The selection process of suppliers and vendors was traditionally based on price, access, and location. Since then, not much has changed, although we have added some extra selection factors, such as quality and product ranges. Nowadays, there is a lot of legislation involved in picking suppliers – even when it comes to your choice of printer cartridge supplier in South Africa. 

Most companies tend to have procurement policies, and these have to be adhered to at all costs in order to obtain the most suitable suppliers for the products that are needed. The process is now more complex and more complicated, and several organisations have set up their own standards when it comes to choosing the ideal printer cartridge supplier in South Africa to meet their needs.  

While procurement policies do make the process a little burdensome, they are not always hugely complicated. Most of them rely on getting between three and five suppliers to either tender for the contract, or to pitch for the contract of being the printer cartridge supplier in South Africa for specific companies. Ultimately, these procurement policies are put into place to ensure that the current and future needs of the organisation are met. The requirements generally include factors, such as budget, response time, product quality, and customer service.

If you are in charge of choosing the ideal printer cartridge supplier in South Africa for an organisation, you will usually be bound by some rules, but the basics will remain the same. Here we provide you with the most important steps in acquiring the right product, at the right price, and satisfactory customer satisfaction experiences.

1.    Know What You Need: Your specific needs have to be analysed and identified. This means that you need to know how many of which types of toner or printer cartridges (or even other printing consumables) you will need, as well as how often, and how much you are willing to pay. Other factors, such as delivery deadlines, stock control, and technical support may also factor into the equation. Ensure that all your printing needs are well documented and understood before you start looking for a printer cartridge supplier in South Africa. It often helps to list your requirements in order of priority on a checklist and evaluate suppliers against this. It helps you to make a more informed decision. 

2.    Identify a Range of Suppliers: This can be hard work, but it is overall worth it. While you may be inundated with printer cartridge suppliers from all over South Africa, once the word gets out that you are in the market for these products, it is essential to remain focused and to ensure that you make contact with the right people. If you are sure of your needs, you will know what takes priority: price, product, quality, an ability to deliver outside of office hours, or even being able to provide unusual or uncommon products. Take your checklist (as per step one) and gauge to which extent the companies you see can fulfil these obligations.

3.    Choose a Supplier: Once you have waded through a web of paperwork and chosen the most likely printer cartridge suppliers in South Africa as your particular potential suppliers, it is vital to see how they manage their operations and their relationships with their clients. A good idea is actually to visit their premises and to learn more about how they operate with clients of a similar size to your organisation. Ask for informative metrics that indicate response rates and other measurements that may make the choice easier.

4.    Service Level Agreement: One of the cornerstones of any supplier/client relationship is the service level agreement. Ensure that there is one! It is simply staggering how few clients forget to set up a service level agreement, and this means that neither the client nor the supplier is completely sure of what should happen in specific or unusual circumstances. Being able to cope with major stock theft is only one of these scenarios – what happens if you manage a printing company, and overnight, all your cartridges are stolen? Will your printer cartridge supplier in South Africa be able to provide you with the stock you need at the time?

Once you have followed the steps above to choose your printer cartridge supplier in South Africa, we encourage you to build a long a steadfast relationship with this supplier. This means that your supplier will be able to anticipate your needs and order stock for you in advance.

If you would like to learn more about how to choose the best printer cartridge supplier in South Africa for your organisation, give our team at CH Africa a call! 
Return to blog