Dischromatics Gets Tough with One of its Debtors and Advises Others on How to Avoid Bad Debts.

Under the current credit crisis we are still seeing many companies, large and small going into receivership. On some occasions this is due to their inability to recover money owed to them by their clients.

It is a sad situation we find ourselves in when we see customers treating their suppliers like a credit facility passing on their own debt problems without the slightest tinge of guilt, many of whom eventually fail anyway causing untold misery and suffering to their loyal suppliers, dragging their viable businesses down with them. Worse perhaps, in terms of integrity, are the business owners who hold out paying until the very last minute or not at all, even though they may be cash rich themselves, some even hide behind the fact that they are based in a different country and simply rely on the supplier not being prepared to take the matter further due to logistics and the extra costs involved which may be difficult to recover.

Dischromatics found themselves in this situation with a well-known company based in New York called MBM Records run by an individual called Yan Saquet, who also, according to LinkedIn, claims to be President at Universal Music Brand Management Group. So if such large and well-known companies are prepared to treat a relatively small CD and DVD Duplication company like Dischromatics in this way, who knows where we are headed! It is therefore essential to follow a few simple steps to avoid this scenario but first some background on how this debt occurred and how easy it is to be lulled into a false sense of security.

In April 2012 the company received a rush order for Music CD Duplication for the Lotus F1 team for the Australian Grand Prix from MBM Records, the order was paid for in advance and the job was delivered on time and to the great satisfaction of MBM who even supplied a great testimonial. Dischromatics then received a follow up order in May 2012 for a much larger volume for the same disc. They requested credit saying they would pay once the delivery had been affected and therefore this company agreed bearing in mind the organisations involved. Terms were set and agreed at seven days from receipt of samples in New York.

On receipt of these samples by MBM Records and the rest of the discs to the requested destinations, MBM once again expressed their gratitude and satisfaction on the quality of the product and the service and said payment would be made as agreed. Since that time Dischromatics has dealt with several representatives of MBM including Yan Saquet and Loren Berrier, this has been done via email and directly by telephone and even text messages, none have resulted in settlement of the debt even though MBM Records received their payment from the Lotus F1 team several months prior to the order being placed. Over the following months Dischromatics encountered numerous stalling tactics and empty promises including some of the following comments:

 “My name is Yan Saquet; I am the CEO of MBM Records.  It is my understanding you have been in touch with Loren regarding the outstanding payment of the Manufacturing of the Lotus GP CD project we did with you.  We were very happy with the product, and it has always been our full intention to comply with the agreement we initially made, but unfortunately the situation is that the company has been going through an extended period of cash flow issues.  We would obviously like to avoid any litigation, so can you please let me know an appropriate course of action to resolve this issue”. Yan Saquet 07/08/2012. Dischromatics offered a payment plan but further prevarications prevailed and at the same time MBM were tweeting about acquiring new business deals.

 Here are just a small amount of messages received: “I have just been informed by Yan that the payment will be made on November 1st.  Can you please send the latest amount due”. Loren Berrier 17/10/2012. Statement was sent by Dischromatics immediately.

“Yes, Carl informed me he had spoken to you.  I am working with Yan to come up with a realistic payment schedule that we can adhere to, and will get back to you shortly”.  Loren Berrier 03/12/2012

“As our last conversation, email us a payment plan agreement:  $1,000.00 per month. Then we'll process the first payment Yan Saquet 19/12/2012

“First $1,000 payment will be paid immediately the day we'll sign it”. Yan Saquet 30/01/2013

As a goodwill gesture a payment plan agreement was drawn up with the first instalment due in February 2013 and sent to MBM on 31/01/2013 and received back duly signed by Yan Saquet on the same day. Unfortunately, no money has been received by Dischromatics and all correspondence has been ignored. Naturally no company finds it easy to turn to litigation but there is no choice in order to maintain credibility. Bizarrely, MBM have been tweeting and releasing press releases over the past months on new deals they have concluded bringing further revenue into their company, they are still operating freely using funds from their suppliers with no intention of paying. All correspondence and agreement documentation is available for inspection.

Any small company who has the opportunity to export must sensibly do their homework on the prospective client in the first place to ensure they are viable and able to pay for the goods or services. Furthermore if credit is requested as being the only way they will do business, a letter of credit or other financial safeguard has to be implemented, if this is also found to be unacceptable, the advice has to be to walk away! For trading within the UK always do a credit check before accepting an order and a good tactic is a Director’s Guarantee, never offer credit to a company with a poor credit rating regardless of how much you need the business.

Dischromatics Releases Documentary on the Future of Physical Media

With the recent bad news of more store chains like HMV closing on the high street, Dischromatics has commissioned a short documentary film produced by Dischro Creative to investigate this important aspect of our lives.

With the increasing popularity of digital downloading of music and games along with illegal copying, surely the end is in sight for CD’s? We have certainly seen the continual year on year decrease in sales of DVD with advent of Blu-ray discs with the ability to hold HD and 3D films as well as some fantastic games with their subsequent special effects and features so that DVD now has no place in future for movies and high quality games. DVD’s will almost certainly be used solely for specialist markets where low numbers are required and DVD Duplication using recordable media will prevail albeit on a relatively small scale.

The documentary film includes interviews with people in the various industries related to these products including Spillers Records in Cardiff, HMV and Music Wales, as well actual artists and members of the public and gives a most interesting insight into people’s thoughts. Furthermore, their opinions are mixed with a certain feeling of loss if music CD’s ceased to be available. There is a feeling that by having the CD with its packaging in physical form there is an added value and that the playback quality is far better than the quality of the same music downloaded digitally over the internet. Equally, for some the convenience and the ability to store great volumes of music on portable devices like IPods have a better value for them.

Is there a parallel here with vinyl and in fact we are experiencing a similar small revolution when CD’s came onto the market almost obliterating the demand for vinyl. Only for the resurgence in demand for vinyl to re-emerge when not only the purists who remained loyal to the product continued seeking out the vinyl alternatives but new demand was generated from a small but growing group of enthusiasts and once again there are various brands of new decks available to play your records on. 

There has been an undoubted drop in the sales and demand for compact discs but unlike DVD where there is an alternative physical media like Blu-ray, CD’s do not have a physical rival. The decrease in demand is purely down to piracy and digital downloads but there can be little doubt that CD’s will see life continue for a good number of years yet. Cost of downloading music from the internet is of course much cheaper than the physical product but as some of our interviewees have expressed they like to read about the artists, have the lyrics at their disposal as well as having the feel of a CD. Bizarrely, many games downloads are more expensive than the actual physical product.

We see the future of CD changing, where similar to DVD in the short term, orders for lower volume Music CD will be the norm, leaving the only alternative to full manufacture to be CD Duplication, we are seeing many groups and bands looking towards this recordable medium as a way of promoting their music and this is set to continue and increase. Smaller volumes also allow them to produce new albums at less cost with much more flexibility. Dischromatics is well placed to work with all these groups and bands as they have the ability to produce the whole package and help to promote through their creative arm Dischro Creative. Consequently we believe CD’s will be with us for many years yet.

Go to:  http://youtu.be/V5daimJ1rqE to see the Documentary

 

Dischromatics Passes New Barrier

 

News Release

July  2012

Abercarn manufacturer Dischromatics hits four million disc milestone

An Abercarn manufacturer which specialises in CD, DVD and Blu-ray duplication has produced its four millionth Compact Disc.

Family-owned firm Dischromatics, based on Abercarn Industrial Estate, recently passed the landmark figure with an order from a company in Malta

If stacked vertically, the tower of four million CDs would stretch three miles into the sky and be almost six times as high as the Burj Khalifa in Dubai - the world's tallest building.

Gareth Spencer, managing director of Dischromatics, said: “It's amazing to think that we have produced four million pre-recorded CDs since 2003.

“The total number of discs produced – if you include blank ones – is closer to five million.

“The types of CDs we produce can be computer data discs or music CDs for local bands  and record labels.”

The company's work has even strayed into the glamorous world of Formula 1 Grand Prix racing with an order for the Lotus GP team earlier this year.

New York-based record company MBM, part of Universal Music, was commissioned by the F1 team to produce a CD of rock tracks for the Australian Grand Prix.

Knowing the tight turnaround time of the order, the American company turned to Dischromatics to get the CD – complete with F1 artwork – manufactured and printed.

Gareth and his team worked around the clock to successfully meet the strict ?? hour deadline.

And it was from F1 to Grand Slam as company staff had to pull another all-nighter to complete an order for a WRU charity record.

'The Voice of the Nation' – produced by Music Wales – was on the shelves of Tesco the day after Wales secured the 2012 Grand Slam. The CD included the chorus of Cwm Rhondda sung by Paul Childs accompanied by the fans during half-time at Wales' final Six Nations match against France.

The fast-moving worlds of Formula 1 and international rugby union are all a far cry from when Dischromatics was first established in 1989 by Gareth's father Stewart Spencer.

Head-hunted to South Wales to work at the now defunct Parrot Corporation in Cwmbran, Stewart moved the family from Cambridgeshire. Disaster almost ensued when Parrot folded and Stewart was made redundant, but salvation came when he founded Dischromatics with a business partner.

The company was set up in 1989 and specialised in old floppy computer discs. At the time, Dischromatics was the only company in the world with the ability to print and perfect the UV drying process using on 5.25in floppy discs – which meant discs could be printed up to photographic quality without smudging.

From there the company moved onto the smaller 3.5in floppy computer discs – today a rare sight – and eventually on to CDs, DVDs and Blu-Ray discs. In 2003, Sony DADC, the largest manufacturer of CD, DVD and Blu-ray Replication in Europe approached the company to form a UK partner agreement. Since that time the partnership has blossomed and Dischromatics is now the only Welsh based company working with Sony DADC.

The company also specialises in graphic design and digital printing, producing leaflets, flyers and brochures for a diverse range of public and private sector organisations. An exciting new development is the production of company Showreels for its customers. Dischromatics has recently concluded the filming, editing and final production of its own Showreel which is on display on the website.

Gareth who is fluent in French having lived in France for two years following graduation from Cardiff University in French and Economics joined the company in 2004 and moved into the managing director's position in 2006 with Stewart moving on as chairman.

The process and decision of handing over the company to his son was a simple one, according to Stewart.

He said: “If you're going to make fundamental changes, you have to be committed. It was therefore important that Gareth took that role on with me no longer on the scene – otherwise staff would continue to report to me.

“We still work together of course, that's the main thing. We converse every day and I still go to various meetings. I like to be involved and if Gareth and his young management team can convince me a change has a business case, which most often is the case, then there's no problem.”

With Gareth's younger brother Alex working in sales for the company, it's certainly a family affair, but what's it like working with close relatives?

Gareth answered: “It's usually fun, but there are flash points as there are with any business and we do have our moments, but we always conclude with a consensus view to the benefit of ourselves and the company. We are a close family and we get on very well which allows us to have open discussions without any fear of protracted problems sometimes in evidence in other environments”.

“We are lucky with the amount of time we get to spend together and we trust each other with the decisions we make.

 

CD and DVD Duplication

Dischromatics provides CD Duplication and DVD Duplication from its in-house suite of modern duplication and printing equipment. Duplicated discs are available in small runs and there are various printing options that are on offer.

We have found from some customers who have purchased product elsewhere previously, that many suppliers are using substandard quality discs and even using an ink jet printing method on standard discs. In order to avoid smudging and scratches to the print result, it is necessary to either lacquer the discs and dry them in a specially built apparatus to exclude fumes or use watershield discs which are coated and react with the ink to achieve perfect results.

Dischromatics uses Taiyo Yuden Watershield disks when ink jet printing; in fact all variations of discs used by this company are grade A quality from Sony DADC or Taiyo Yuden.

There is further advantage in using Dischromatics for copying CD and DVD as they also provide in-house digital printing and can offer even special CD and DVD packaging products like Digipaks in small runs. Because they have control of every aspect of production, the final costs are cheaper than their competitors and the turnaround time is quicker.

Also available are USB Flash Memory drives and Pen drives which can also be copied with customer data and printed to customer artwork.

For more information or a specific quote, please call 01495 24322, email: sales@dischromatics.co.uk or visit Dischromatics website.

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