Information Alternatives Warns of Y2K Shortage
Crystal Lake,IL — Even if the Y2K crisis is largely imagined, it is likely there will be
interruptions in the supply of mission-critical imaging materials such as toner cartridges, printer ribbons, drums, bottled toner, etc.
According to Roger Karvel, president of Information Alternatives, Inc., some form of the
following scenario will materialize in late 1999 or early 2000. "Many foreign toner cartridge
component suppliers are located in Asian countries with Y2K preparedness not necessarily up to our standards. It is conceivable that these component suppliers and/or OEMs will announce shortages to justify slower deliveries and subsequently higher pricing."
Karvel does not recommend a doomsday hoarding posture, but rather common sense prevention.
His suggestion is that by September 1999, companies determine their mission-critical supply needs
and then issue six-month blanket purchase order numbers to their various suppliers. By requesting
automatic delivery dates well in advance, he suggests that there should be little interruption of timely order delivery.
Further, critical machinery should be scheduled for service com-pletion no later than October
1, 1999. "In anticipation of some degree of panic-buying in November and December, we have started to stockpile both new OEM and our own brand of high yield toner cartridges and ink." concludes Karvel. " Many of our large Fortune 1000 customers have adopted a "multi-vendor environment as insurance against unforeseen supply interruptions. Some of these unforeseen circumstances include, lage deliveries, lack of capital to accommodate sudden substantial component cost increases and shipping problems." Karvel explained.
Information Alternatives is a full service supplier of all brands of imaging supplies for laser
printers, fax machines, copiers and ink jet printers.
For more information, contact Roger Karvel at (888) 798-4636, fax (888) 821-4630 or
e-mail rogerk@info-alternatives.com.
This article originally appeared in the July 1999 issue of Recharger.