Discovery Office Systems GM Dave McReynolds is no stranger to industry collapse and tough economic times. “I’ve been through this before, in Roseburg, Oregon,” he says, referring to the 1990 “Spotted Owl” judicial ruling that shut down federal forests on which Roseburg’s timber mill industry depended. “In 11 months, 13 mills became three mills—and I’d started a business right in the thick of it.” Although the parallels between logging and office tech support may seem miniscule, McReynolds’ survival skills have undoubtedly followed him to his newest post—this is Discovery Office Systems’ second consecutive award for Best Office Technology Supplier.
“Wow! Two years in a row,” McReynolds says with pride. “It’s a testament to the direction we’ve taken the company. Our customers are letting us know they’re happy with our progress.” And progress they’ve made—the company’s “complete solutions” philosophy has translated to a complete shift in operations. “We’re taking the idea of complete solutions even further,” affirms McReynolds. “We’re not just a copier support service anymore. Our PageLogic program, for example, has absolutely skyrocketed.”
PageLogic—a proactive computer-based printer/MFP monitoring system that tracks and alerts us to customer needs (low supplies, technical difficulties and so forth) in real time—has become Discovery Office Systems’ ace, so much so that parent company Kyocera Mita America has requested a national operations launch to replicate the PageLogic Managed Print Service program to all the direct operations in the United States. “We’ve been ramping our IT department up for a while,” says McReynolds, “and with the type of staff we have now, it’s becoming a reality. We’re at a point where we can target customers who have unreliable IT and bring them up to speed.”
Last year’s interview introduced McReynolds as a newcomer to Discovery Office Systems who was able to make a smooth transition due to an enthusiastic and capable staff. With another year under his belt, have those attitudes persisted? “Absolutely,” says McReynolds. “The progress just keeps getting better. By necessity, our staff, which was departmentalized into three branches, has now transformed into a single operational unit. In the past, the departments didn’t know what the others were doing, simply because of logistics. Now, we’ve adopted a common goal of community and transparency—everyone knows where everyone is. We’re truly functioning as a team.”
So, with everyone on the same page, how are the company’s plans in line with, as assistant GM Dan DuCharme referenced last year, the digital revolution of the industry? “Our objective is to stay ahead of technology,” states McReynolds. “This summer, I’ll be gone for five weeks, attending seminars to try and stay ahead of the game.” Since the global economic crisis hit, the game seems to have changed—customers in every industry are demanding the most for the least amount of money, and this shift in customer loyalty isn’t lost on McReynolds. “Now, more than ever, customers demand we stay ahead. Our goal is to diversify so we can meet those demands and, at the same time, provide exceptional customer experiences.”
It’s been a long journey from the Oregon woods to the California office technology business, and the road still has some precarious obstacles in the way. But McReynolds is confident about the future. “There’s no doubt about it, we’re in trying times,” he admits. “Sales are lagging and our customer base has dwindled, but that’s not going to stop us. We’re constantly expanding and diversifying our business—providing after-market supplies for all print devices, expanding our Sacramento market, implementing Docstar (an electronic document management program). You can’t survive in this industry only dealing with copiers.”
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