Lexmark International has recently appointed ICR and Perfect Deals to distribute its entire range of consumables in Northern India. This move  comes as a part of its overall strategy to strengthen presence in the market. 

Both ICR and Perfect Deals are already registered supplies resellers for  companies like HP, Epson and Canon and bring to the table an extensive  reseller network. Said Naresh Kohli, Director, ICR, "The channel development  will be aggressively undertaken by us." 

Lexmark is streamlining it supplies business, which is a critical success  factor for success in the printer business. Lexmark has therefore appointed  15 regional distributors throughout the country to help it bridge the  supply - demand gap. Says PG Kamath , GM, Lexmark (India), "The mandate for  the distributors is to carry both numbers and an ideal mix of the SKUs."  

 While first on the agenda for Lexmark and its distributors is to push the  sales of its supplies, next it plans to educate the customers about the basic difference between a cartridge and an ink-tank. "We will drive this through our distributors," adds Kamath. The company is looking at a complete  partnership with its distributors. 

Naresh is optimistic in his view of the Lexmark move and feels that ICR  would do nearly a crore worth of business from Lexmark consumables alone in  the next three months. "It will strengthen our product portfolio and will  help us connect with customers better," says he. ICR has already dedicated resources to build this new line of business for itself. 

MOHIT CHHABRA 
NEW DELHI

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