True Value Added DistributionWritten by Stanley Mekkattu Glancy
Distributors have been talking about value-added service for quite some time now. All agree that it’s only way to survive in emerging highly competitive scenario. But most channel partners 360 Magazine spoke to complained that this was hardly case. Except for a select few, most distributors do not provide any value-addition, they said. But most distributors do have service centers in different cities. And most try and provide quality products and services. However, providing high-quality products and service reliability is no longer enough. Both manufacturers and channel partners demand much more from new age distributor. So what does value-addition mean in current sense of term? The basic definition of value addition says it’s any factor added to a product to increase its value or price. In reality value addition can be split into three sections —presales, support sales and post sales.Presales This is one aspect of value addition, which is ignored by most of channel. But this is as important as either sales or post sales support, and especially so when a new product is launched in channel. Many partners enter market without a clear understanding about pros and cons of business. That is where a distributor can play a lead role by enabling them to understand pitfalls in terms of deliverables or credit. True value-added distributors empower channel by educating them about new products, invest in marketing campaigns, and more importantly, ensure that product is available across country. Says Navinder Chauhan, marketing and communications manager, Rashi Peripherals, “Distributors not only need to educate channel but also train its internal staff about product. Only when internal staff is aware about latest offerings and its technicalities will they be able to pass on this knowledge to channel. In addition, distributors also have to ensure that product available wherever there is demand.” Post Sales The manufacturer promises warranty on product. But onus lies on distributors to provide it. Hence, distributors need to have systems in place to track products under warranty, and take steps to be closer to channel partner as well as end customer. Most distributors 360 Magazine spoke to are either putting in place new systems or upgrading legacy systems. Says Chauhan, “Value addition doesn’t end with sales. It extends to post delivery phase as well. The distributor should put systems in place to provide support at lowest cost, and ensure that entire supply chain function as a single entity.” Beyond this, distributors also need to ensure continuity of a product line by either launching upgrades or replacing it with a new product if existing one is being phased out. “If a product line dies out then providing warranty would prove to be a serious challenge,” says Chauhan. Adds Kulkarni, “The distributors’ role is to reduce risks involved in business and provide channel with an efficient service model.”
| | One of 2004's Best Digital Effects ToolWritten by Nashville
In movies and television shows today, we see how digital effects have penetrated this industry. They add more spice and give more excitement and entertainment to moviegoers and audiences because they make impossible things and events to happen through these media. Digital effects have become so significant in world of graphic and web design, too. Many software applications have been introduced to fulfill continuous and increasing demand for digital effects in these professions. Graphic designers and animators are always on search for updated and more advanced software programs to create their projects.At present, we have so-called Web Euphoria which is considered as best plug-in for 2004. This is actually a collection of plug-ins which originated in various DigiEffects plug-in sets such as Aurorix 2, Berserk, Cinemotion, and Delirium for Adobe After Effects and other hosts. It contains 20 special effects plug-ins for Photoshop that include tools for creating artistic effect as well as naturalistic phenomenon with particle-based fire, smoke and rain. Each plug-in contains an easy-to-use custom user interface. There are also many presets and you can even save your own. It also has a fully interactive preview that allows changes to be made quickly. The effects are enhanced with built-in organic processing to create highly realistic simulations without resorting to complex 3D programs. You can also create light-blasts, text effects, laser beams, posterizations, old-movie effects, noisy video transmissions, and a lot more. Indeed, this is a super product for digital artists because level of creative control over images is so powerful.
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