The increasing cost and complexity of solutions in the print and auto ID industries are placing ever more emphasis on aftersales service as a value-add, with customers looking to extract maximum returns, in terms of performance, efficiency and longevity, from their technology investments.
This is a world in which Gnesen Naidoo feels completely at home thanks to his background in electronic engineering and his decades of relevant experience. A 28-year veteran working at leading OEMs including HP, Epson and Canon, Naidoo has, since February 2025, been putting his skillset to good use as Kemtek’s national service executive.
Kemtek has long had an excellent reputation for the quality and diligence of its aftersales support, with a nationwide network of branch offices and an excellent rapport with its technology partners. Naidoo is determined to build on this solid foundation and make the service department a key driver of business growth.
He has already championed the introduction of several exciting innovations, including onboarding Business Central – utilising a series of dashboards and tools that use business intelligence to derive actionable insights from customers’ enquiries, complaints and purchase patterns.
Kemtek is also exploring the use of AI tools to uncover efficiencies that can then be passed onto customers in the form of cost and time savings. For example, AI can be used to identify which technician to send to respond to a customer situation in terms of current location, travel time and specialty.
A further advantage of being able to compare the skillsets of different Kemtek technicians has been the identification of training gaps, which can then be addressed with highly targeted upskilling.
The benefits of innovation
Naidoo is a big believer in the use of dashboards and tools for remote problem solving, and he has revealed that some 40% of all technical issues reported to Kemtek by customers can be resolved by a remote engineer. That means less downtime and also helps the Kemtek service department to lower costs and even their carbon footprint.
Liaising with onsite engineers in this way also helps to strengthen bonds between Kemtek and its customers, and can slash lead times for printing press components and consumables.
End-to-end excellence
Naidoo’s goal – one which he articulates with passion and clarity – is for Kemtek to become a true one-stop shop, where each sale is only the start of a shared journey of profitability and success.
By looking at customers’ requirements across the board, the “beyond technology” firm can achieve a vision that has been described as “one Kemtek”. That is, an organisation within which silos have been broken down, and where departments have a fully symbiotic relationship with each other.
This in turn will translate into a seamless customer journey, with end-to-end support provided across all aspects of sales, supply chain and service delivery. For example, service engineers can leverage their rapport (and more frequent in-person contact) with customers to generate leads that can then be converted by the sales team.
Listening as a superpower
The success of this approach depends on listening intently to what customers are saying – Naidoo believes that even (or especially) when they are complaining, they are in fact providing valuable information to anyone that will listen and act upon it.
Listening to his team and to customers is a core pillar of Naidoo’s leadership style and has helped him succeed in each role in his career. As a member of Kemtek’s exco, he is ideally positioned to see his vision of service supporting and driving business growth come to fruition.
When everyone communicates at both the regional and national levels, potential roadblocks can be dealt with much more easily. Naidoo identifies strongly with the concept of “servant leadership” and is already instilling a culture based on frequent touchpoints with all team members.
Global challenges, local solutions
As well as zooming in on the needs of individual team members and customers, Naidoo is increasingly finding that he has to take a much broader view of supply chain management. Recent events suggest that at a minimum, some level of disruption to established patterns of global trade can be expected. This, in turn, throws up new challenges with customers’ profit margins depending on “always on” availability of core devices.
This has necessitated being constantly aware of turnaround times and logistics workflows, demand factors and stocking levels. The challenge now is to take potential delays and cost increases into account while still delivering the kind of just-in-time efficiencies that customers have come to expect.
Naidoo reports that he has already negotiated several innovative solutions with OEMs, including shipping pre-alerts and live tracking of shipments. At a local level, he has persuaded some original equipment manufacturers to assist with cannibalisation as a source of urgently needed but not immediately available spares.
Being prepared to innovate to this degree exemplifies Naidoo’s management approach, which is ultimately based on a “greater than the sum of the parts” reckoning. Taking something apart to build something better is a strategy that has served him well to date, and he looks set to benefit Kemtek’s diverse stakeholder base going forward.
To learn more about Kemtek’s aftersales service and support solutions, visit kemtek.co.za/after-sales-support. To connect with Kemtek and benefit from its exceptional aftersales service offering, join the conversation on Facebook, LinkedIn or YouTube.
About Kemtek
Kemtek has achieved over 35 years of successful evolution thanks to an ongoing drive to deliver the best possible outcomes to our customers. The successful evolution of the company is thanks to an ongoing drive to deliver the best possible solutions to its customers. The company has grown from being an equipment supplier into a trusted solutions partner. Working with global partners, including world-class, innovative OEMs, Kemtek has pivoted its business to focus on several key areas, namely digital print, industrial print, large-format printing, auto ID technology, creative solutions, office solutions and additive manufacturing.
Kemtek is deeply committed to achieving ambitious transformation targets through providing an inclusive environment for all team members. The company continually strives to improve its B-BBEE contributor level – and on an individual level, provides ongoing upskilling and educational opportunities for all Kemtek employees.
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