Top Solutions Nigeria Limited recently relocated to its brand new corporate head quarters with renewed value-driven attitude to surpass customers’ expectations. WHERE To Print caught up with GM/ MARKETING MANAGER – MRS. GETRUDE N. NWAKAMMA-OKPORUA to find out how TOP SOLUTIONS relocation will impact on her customers businesses aside other burning issues affecting inkjet business in Nigeria. Read excerpt below:
- CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR NEW OFFICE. WE CAN SEE ITS BIGGER AND BETTER; WHAT ARE THE OTHER REASONS FOR THE NEW OFFICE?
Thank you. The reason is to expand our business and run it more professionally and give it a befitting cooperate look.
- WHAT WILL THIS PORTENDS FOR YOUR CUSTOMERS?
It rekindles our customers confident in doing business with us and gives a future/hope to print investors that Top Solutions Nigeria Limited is getting better every year and stronger than ever.
- HOW HAS PRINT BUSINESS FAIRED IN THE OUTGOING YEAR?
Despite the up and downs in the year 2015 were print investors were skeptical on way forward regarding the outcome of the election – on what will be its impact on the Nigeria economy – this made most of them to hold back in executing projects, yet print business did not fair badly.
- WHAT CAN YOU SAY WERE YOUR ACHIEVEMENTS IN 2015?
Last year we were able to make sales to new customers which impacted their businesses positively and in turn created jobs for Nigerians who are managing these printers. Last year also the decision to get a new office was concluded and executed till our final relocation this Year 2016.
- WHAT CAN YOU SAY ARE HINDRANCES TO DOING BUSINESS IN NIGERIA, AND WHY?
Nigeria is a wonderful country for doing business because of its large population but there are some bottle-necks in doing business here which are: government policies and bureaucracy. This affects business as we have double taxation (coming from local, state and federal governments). There is also high cost of clearing and associated charges among others. These make cost of doing business high compared to other countries.
- HOW DID YOU OVERCOME THESE?
You know all these challenges will definitely affect the cost of goods there by reducing our profit margins. This has been managed by us in the reduction of our over head-cost and increasing our turn over.
- WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR NIGERIAN CUSTOMERS IN 2016?
Already in this year 2016, we have new cutting edge technology and printers that meets today needs of print investors. The Roland TRUE VIS VG640 is the latest Roland Print and Cut machine with the new TrueVIS VG Series. We didn’t just make a few upgrades to our print/cut technology, we re-imagined everything. New Roland DG FlexFire print heads that deliver beautiful prints more efficiently. New inks that are more vibrant and cost-effective. The new ink reduces the production cost of the investors by fifty percent. New cutting technology that increases accuracy. New tech software to communicate with your existing phones and tablets. And so much more. The future of print/cut has arrived.
- CAN YOU SHARE YOUR SPECIFIC PLANS ON MARKET PENETRATION FOR YOUR INKJET (LARGE FORMAT) BUSINESS?
Aside visits to our customers to listen to their challenges and worries for us to advice on way forward, we also make daily and weekly phone call /follow ups to all our clients. Meanwhile the Management is planning a Customer Forum with Stakeholders to enlighten our customers more on the latest technologies and re-assure them that the prospect in investing in a large format inkjet business is still unlimited. We have print distributors all over the six geopolitical zones of the country. These people have been of upmost importance to our customers by making consumables available at their doorsteps.
- INKJET BUSINESS HAS A LOT OF OPPORTUNITIES IN NIGERIA BUT IT SEEMS THE OPERATORS DO NOT HAVE THE IDEA OR TECHNOLOGY TO HARNESS IT; CAN YOU TELL US SOME OF THE BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES IN INKJET MARKET YOU’RE OFFERINGS IN TERMS OF TECHNOLOGY, SOFTWARE AND CONSUMABLES?
There are a lot of poor inkjet printers in the market that the software that derives them are poorly developed. We at Top Solutions Nigeria Limited – we sell state-of-the-art- printers that are user friendly. The Roland brand is made by a Japanese Company that is technologically advanced in developing softwares and mid-format inkjet printers in the world. The JHF Leopard Printers (Super wide inkjet printer) has been a software company for over 20 years. You can see that – at TSNL customers investments are rest assured in terms of Operators’ Know how – to operate our printer’s software. We have well educated, trained overseas Nigerian Engineers on ground to attend to bottlenecks arising from printing, training and re- training of operators. Meanwhile it has been enshrined in our Maintenance Agreement with our clients to always train and re-train their operators in the cost of doing business with us. 
- WITH YOUR EXPERIENCE, WHAT ADVICE CAN YOU GIVE PRINT BUSINESS OWNERS FOR SUCCESS IN THIS HIGHLY VOLATILE ECONOMY?
My advice to our customers is for them to carve out a niche for themselves. In so doing they will see that there are a lot of virgin opportunity yet untapped. They can do more on the indoor branding – on customized gift items on key rings, nametags, language tags, heat transfers, 3D labeling. They should also diversify their printing business into UV flat bed inkjet printing and also explore the CNC routing solutions on Routers, Lasers, Plasma, Water Jet and engraving machine. In Top Solutions Nigeria Limited we have all these. Roland has done well too by releasing the VersaUV LEF series flatbed printers that produce brilliant colours and superb images directly on a vast array of materials including three-dimensional items up to 100mm thick. Now, with the new LEF-300, higher quantities and larger items can be printed, utilizing a 770mm width, improved print heads and two UV-LED lamps for faster curing, significantly improving your productivity. The results are simply stunning.
- DO YOU HAVE ENTRY LEVEL OR LOW COST LARGE FORMAT MACHINES THAT PRINTERS CAN EASILY ACQUIRE?
We have entry level Large Format inkjet machines. The Roland BN20 is a print and cut machine for heat transfer and customized gift items. The Roland RF640 a print only machine. This Roland Versa EXPRESS RF-640 offers the perfect formula for digital printing success: high production speed, outstanding print quality, ease of use and unsurpassed reliability. The genius behind the RF-640 is reflected in its ability to quickly produce high quality graphics and prints, while keeping cost of operation low. That translates into increased output, satisfied customers and more money in your pocket.
* HOW DO YOU INTEND TO SUPPORT CUSTOMERS ON THIS?
Everybody knows how the country economy is now. Despite the fact that banks are not supporting us with loans, we are making sure that there are availability of these printers and consumables on ground at all the time.
* WHAT DO YOU THINK THE FUTURE OF INKJET (LARGE FORMAT) PRINT BUSINESS WILL BE?
The future of inkjet large format print business is a robust one. There are still huge prospects untapped. The UV flatbed machine has not been explored. The future of inkjet printing has come to stay as long as advertising exists. We are in the digital world were you must tell people what you do. The eye-catching adverts drives home the messages easily than what you hear. It is very much in vogue and has come to stay.
GET TO KNOW TOP SOLUTIONS LIMITED
With business ethic of transparency with her customers at all times, Top Solutions Nigeria Limited was incorporated under the Nigeria CAC law in June 2005 and commenced business same year. The company is the foremost large format digital machines solutions provider in Nigeria, hence the strong competitive advantage presently being enjoyed. She is presently The Sole Agent to the following manufacturing Companies; Roland dg incorporation Japan, Laser Tools Techniques Taiwan, Leopard JHF China, Multicamm USA and Ryonet Silk Screen Printing USA. The head office is in Beirut with branch offices in Ghana and Dubai.
With new head office located at 11B, Oduduwa Crescent, GRA Ikeja, Lagos Top Solutions has no doubt positively changed the face of large format print sector of the Nigeria printing industry with sales, installation and maintenance of cost-effective and time-tested machines. She has gone further to open sales point in Owerri, Imo State to cover the Eastern part of Nigeria, while that of Abuja is ongoing. Top Solutions Nigeria Limited, also provides operators training on the machines as well as print consultancy.
As part of her business philosophy, the company gives one year warranty and free maintenance, on all her machines just in line with her vision to be the foremost large format print supplier in Nigeria and other West African Country.
