After 9 years of distributing printer consumables, A.C.T. has extended its offering, giving customers a complete solution that includes printer hardware, consumables, finance and support. This will position A.C.T. as the only value added printing focused distributor in the Southern African I.T. channel. “ACT always focused on the printer consumables supply chain but recent economic [...]

The MB Technologies Group, Africa’s leading value-add distribution group, which includes, A.C.T, Channel Capital and Channel Risk Management, Platinum Micro, Printacom and Tarsus Technologies among its operating companies, has announced a change of distribution strategy for the Samsung printer brand within the group. This change sees the repositioning and transfer of the Samsung Printer Distribution agreement from Tarsus to A.C.T. This is in [...]

By: Anton Herbst While it seems like the recession is over, the impact of last year’s economic instability will be felt for some time to come. And it’s no secret that the pressure stems from the massive disparity between the Rand/Dollar exchange rate during the first six months of last year and its level today. [...]

With the Rand about 20% stronger than what it’s been in previous months and the price of stock the cheapest it’s been in a long time, many stationers and resellers are predicting a natural upswing in the market as customers rush out to benefit from better pricing on hardware, consumables and other business essentials. Unfortunately, [...]

By: Anton Herbst Despite the positive news drifting in fromUS and European shores about the end of the recession and returning confidence in the market, on local shores things haven’t looked as uncertain as this in quite some time. On one hand, 2010 has seemed far more positive than the past two years, with good [...]

By: Anton Herbst With the World Cup over and as the harsh realities of the recovering market begin to set in, things are returning to somewhat of a state of normality. But is it really ‘business as usual’? And should we let the same challenges we were facing prior to the World Cup madness continue [...]

By: Anton Herbst, managing director of A.C.T I’ve discussed strategy in this column a number of times before and in all likelihood, this won’t be the last time it comes up again. That’s because a sound strategy is imperative to all companies’ success and often, companies that are in trouble as a result of any [...]

By: Anton Herbst, managing director of A.C.T. Body copy: While it goes without saying that the single most important habit in running a successful business is evaluating its value proposition, every now and then it’s healthy to take some time, sit back and also evaluate the markets’ performance over the past while. And what we [...]

By: Anton Herbst, managing director of A.C.T. Body copy: While the triple bottom line is proving to be a great tool for companies and individuals aiming to be more responsible to the environment and their communities, it even has something to offer companies and individuals that are stuck in an archaic mindset that correlates success [...]

For the longest time, shareholder value has been the primary driver for big business. But an article I read recently in the Harvard Business Review, entitled “The Age of Customer Capitalism” disagrees with this concept completely, stating that it’s a fruitless pursuit, since stock prices (the key measure of shareholder value) are driven by shareholders’ [...]