This week, Syntech, a leading IT distributor in South Africa announced partnerships in connection with two important IT names – ASUS and Speedlink. Channel Post MEA interviewed Syntech Sales and Marketing Director – Mr Ryan Martyn and the excerpts follow…
Martyn
Tell us something about Syntech. The profile, number of partners and so on?
Our revolutionary approach to distribution and advanced logistics network of couriers throughout Sub-Saharan Africa enables us to deliver thousands of products daily and provide localised warranty support on all of our brands. This ensures that all clients can expect cost effective solutions, delivered on time. We offer a wide range of technical services which include memory and component upgrades and diagnosing of hardware problems. All of these are performed by members of our highly trained technical department.
EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT
CRAIG NOWITZ
Managing Director
A pioneer in the IT industry, Craig started his own distribution company in 1993 and through acquisitions and mergers was part of the creation of the largest IT distribution company in Africa in the late 90’s. He left the corporate world to continue his passion for finding and growing new brands and revolutionary products by investing into Syntech in 2011 and has not looked back.
SHIRLEY MARTYN
Financial Director
Shirley is one of the founders of Syntech. She has built several businesses over the past 30 years and was previously involved in supplying the clothing industry with raw materials. Shirley is the Financial Director for Syntech.
RUDI THIETZ
Procurement Director
Rudi entered the IT Industry in 1994 as a technician. He spent 12 years with a leading distributor before joining the Syntech team. Rudi has a strong understanding of international markets and has built strong relationships with vendors across the world. Rudi oversees the Procurement and Logistics departments and ensures that Syntech effectively caters for our customer needs with the latest products and ample stock levels.
RYAN MARTYN
Sales and Marketing Director
Ryan studied a BCOMM in Information Systems at UCT and co-founded Syntech with Shirley while he was studying. He went on to build the business focused on delivering value added products and solutions to niche markets. Ryan is regarded as an expert on storage and data workflows for the film and media industry and works closely with resellers to develop and implement solutions into this market. Ryan is responsible for Sales and Marketing in company.
WHAT WE BELIEVE IN
Mission Statement
Syntech is committed to growth and realising our vision, we exist to service our customers, exceed their expectations and provide returns for our shareholders.
We support the success of our brands through Innovation and developing solutions before the market has demand. We listen to our clients, act on their feedback and become more efficient through improved processes. We lead the market by sharing knowledge and empowering our partners. Our success is dependent on trust in our team, supporting the channel and protecting our resellers.
Vision Statement
Focused on our mission, leading through innovation, empowering through sharing, improving through awareness and growing through excellence.
Values
Our company culture is defined by a thirst for learning a drive for growth and appreciation of excellence. We are united in our commitment to innovation, overcoming challenges together and never compromising our integrity.
Which markets does Syntech cover currently? Do plan to expand beyond that?
CCTV and Surveillance
This is a relatively new market that Syntech has targeted. With our experience in IT and Networking, it was a logical market to enter because it has traditionally operated with higher margins than the ICT sector. Our team already possessed many of the required technical understanding to provide adequate sales and technical support to customers in this market. Over the past two years we have grown our range to include Cameras, recording devices, networking equipment and accessories in order to cater for CCTV installers and wholesalers that operate in this space. We expect at least a 50% growth in our turnover of CCTV and Surveillance equipment during 2015 over 2014.
Consumer Electronics
This range of products help our resellers to deliver more value than only supplying traditional ICT products. The success of our consumer electronics range can be attributed to our excellent sourcing and procurement processes and ability to develop and launch new brands quickly.
Syntech has an excellent marketing infrastructure that enables retailers to quickly and easily list products with detailed product descriptions, pictures and price points. This has also helped us to develop strong relationships with all major online stores in South Africa.
The high margins and large volume associated with mass retail make consumer electronics a key focus area for profits and growth in 2015.
Professional Systems and Solutions
This is a niche product range that has traditionally differentiated Syntech as a specialised distributor that provides value added service and a strong technical understanding of customer needs. We have established ourselves in certain vertical markets and work closely with selected value added resellers to deliver innovative solutions for specific markets. Our success in these markets relate to our ability to identify opportunities and introduce solutions which are more competitively priced or more efficient and disrupt the existing market. Examples of these solutions can be found in the digital signage industry along with media rich industries like film, broadcast and post production.
Components and Computers
This is arguably the most established and structured market that Syntech operates in. We compete with large ICT distributors to supply an extensive dealer network made up of support companies, integrators and resellers. The traditional ICT distributor works on low margin, moving huge volumes on entry level product. Syntech’s focus is to provide more value to the market by supplying more upmarket products at higher margin. Although this market cap is not expected to show significant growth in the foreseeable future, we believe that there is a lot of opportunity to grow our market share.
Networking
Syntech has been operating in the high end networking market with good margin but low volume. We have just launched a new networking brand aimed at the entry level consumer. This market is expected to show significant growth because of our ability to meet excellent price points on relatively high margins.
Which products, brands and services do you represent and offer in the markets you are present in?
CCTV and Surveillance
IDIS, Nihon, Raysharp, Folksafe
Consumer Electronics
Kanex, Romoss, J5 Create, JC PAL, Speedlink, DOD
Professional Systems and Solutions
ATTO, Sonnet, Netstor, G-Technology, Tiger Technology, Thecus
Components and Computers
Crucial, ASUS, Patriot, Seasonic, Raidmax, OCZ, Giada
Networking
TOTOLink
What is the workforce strength of your organisation?
Synech Currently employs 35 people in Cape Town and 6 in the Johannesburg branch which opened in 2014. We expect that our Johannesburg team size will be larger than Cape Town within two years. Our philosophy is to operate with a small, focused team and strong systems working smartly to service our clients.
What is Syntech’s annual turnover of the company?
Our turnover is not something that we share publicly but can confirm that our average annual compounded growth for the past four years is about 70%
Do you plan to add any new service, product or brand to your portfolio?
We constantly research, evaluate and introduce new products into our portfolio. This helps us to lead the market with new products and keep on innovating. Expect more exciting brands in 2015.
Do you plan to add new channel partners to your channel community this year?
Absolutely, this is an ongoing process. We currently process an average of 50 new reseller applications per month and expect this to increase significantly with the launch our Johannesburg branch and new web based reseller portal.
How has the technology market grown in South Africa?
We believe that the technology market has evolved in several ways over the past few years.
Firstly, consumers are more informed than ever before and no longer rely on technology experts to make buying decisions. Secondly, the number sales channels have increased. In addition to the traditional Reseller channel and IT retail stores, electronic products are now available from banks, online stores as well as furniture and clothing retailers. Thirdly, products have become simpler, for example the demand for components has been replaced with demand for integrated computers and tablets. Distributors and resellers need to find innovative ways to increase their value offering to the market if they are to adapt to the market changes. Some ideas on how to do this include providing new products, identifying and operating in niche markets and providing solutions as opposed to selling products.
