Attending the F1 Motor Racing Grand Prix in Monaco - that was the prize with which Encad enticed its European graphic arts products (GAP) dealers for reaching a sales target for the first quarter of this year. And, South Africa's sole local supplier of Encad products, First Graphics, not only reached that goal, but also exceeded it by about 30%. Other countries that participated were Greece, France, Germany and Italy.

A proud Eric Morgan, National Sales Manager Digital Imaging Division at First Graphics, says, "We are ecstatic with our achievement. When we were initially told what the objective was, we were somewhat sceptical because it was much higher than our average target. Fortunately, everybody at First Graphics' Imaging Division rose to the challenge and it paid off - we were rewarded as one of Encad's top performers."

However, Morgan singles out First Graphics' Purchasing/Shipping Manager Rob Gammon. "Rob does a splendid job. He always goes the extra mile ensuring that our end-users receive their Encad products on time. That often means sacrificing weekends clearing goods at customs as quickly as possible. Therefore, we thought it appropriate to send Rob to attend the motor racing in Monaco."

Morgan says another contributing factor to First Graphics' success was the simultaneous announcement of the incentive and the worldwide launch of Encad's state-of-the-art wide-format printer, the NovaJet 850 at the beginning of this year.

However, he is quick to give credit where it is due. "Without our end-users First Graphics would never have emerged as one of the nine best Encad dealers in Europe." Morgan explains, "Contrary to the belief of many Americans and Europeans that South Africa is a Third World country, we are part of the First World when it comes to technology. This was again evident at the local launching of the Encad 850 in February. The attendance was excellent. That proved again that the printing industry keeps up to date with the best and latest technology in order to satisfy customers' increasingly sophisticated needs and requirements. Since the launch First Graphics has installed nearly 20 Encad 850 printers, which enabled us to surpass the set target."

Morgan concludes, "We are very proud of our end-users' insistence on investing in only the latest printing technology."