A little more than half of the CBM team racing at speeders: From left to right Front row: Neil, Gary and Terry. Middle row: Brenda, Brian, Glenn, Bailey, Tim, Chris and Trevor. Back Row: Zach, Adam, Marcos, Sean and Ash. Missing: Olga, Paulette, Murray, Brenda, Flo and Jim.
Working Together to Bring You the Office of Tomorrow
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By Mark Kandborg
40-year anniversary can come in different shapes and sizes. While there’s always a sense of accomplishment, a celebration of obligations met and challenges overcome, there can also be a sense of the predictable. Same old, same old. But for the CBM Office Automation team, it feels less like a
traditional anniversary and more like a 40th honeymoon. While there’s certainly plenty to celebrate, when they blow out the candles this month, the CBM team won’t be standing still and facing the past. You can bet they’ll be slapping backs, shaking hands and looking to the future – together.
CBM Office Automation | 40 Years | Page 1
Marcos and Zach, part of the CBM IT Dept.
Today, CBM is known for providing strong, costeffective, process-driven office automation services and solutions for all types of businesses, from ambitious startups to venerable Alberta icons such as the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel. “We’ve had wonderful success, growing by about 20 per cent each year,” says company president Glenn Mudryk, a decidedly affable boss with a warm smile. “Now our machines average 15,000,000 pages a month.” That’s a lot of pages, but if you trace 20 per cent annual growth back far enough, say 40 years, you end up at a pretty humble starting point. “My dad started Custom Business Machines in the basement of our house in 1974,” Mudryk says. Keep in mind that back then, Charles Lindberg was still alive but Christian Bale had yet to be, and business machines pretty much took the form of typewriters. These were large metal machines with levers, which when pressed would cause other levers to leap forward and strike a waiting piece of paper, depositing a letter-shaped smear of ink directly onto it. It was a different time. “I didn’t have any illusions about getting involved in the business back then,” Mudryk says. “I just
couldn’t see myself running around carrying a tool kit with my mom being my secretary.” All that changed when he emerged from the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) engineering program and realized he had something to contribute. “I’m not near the tradesman my dad was, so I took a different direction, building the business and introducing new technology.” Keeping up with technology was key, of course, as today the only place you’re likely to see a typewriter is on an episode of Mad Men. Custom Business Machines became CBM Office Automation, typewriters became fax machines, which gave way to photocopiers and printers. “We’ve evolved from an office equipment company to a ‘managed print’ company,” Mudryk says. “The tool has become a whole lot more than a copier. In fact, probably less than 20 per cent of our volume is copying now. People print to a copier, or they’re scanning from it and getting PDF’s into their email for filing purposes, but nobody really makes copies any more. The sharing of information is becoming more and more digital. In fact, we’re working on managing our major accounts to zero print.”
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A company that sells, leases and services copiers and printers wants their clients to go paperless? “It sounds really weird for a print company to say, because currently we make most or our money on print. But I think my responsibility as an owner of this company is to provide for its longevity outside of me. Paper will become less common as more information is shared electronically, so helping businesses manage to zero print will help us to find a way to make money with that through managing tablets or electronic information or off-site storage – things that fall into the IT space. Not only will we be saving trees and saving our clients’ money, but we’ll be providing a revenue source for the longevity of the company.” Mudryk knows that no matter what types of machines a business uses to produce data in a physical form or to collect, transfer and store it, that business will always need experts to manage them. While being experts in the evolution and implementation of business technology is a huge part of CBM’s 40-year success, for Mudryk, it’s not the key ingredient. “We’ve got great technology, that’s what leads the way; but what makes us unique is our people.” Mudryk has managed to build a successful company by focusing on the people and not just the technology. He ensures they feel and work like a team, and he encourages them to take time for their hobbies and their home life. “We work to live, not the other way around. That’s who we are,” says the guitar-playing businessman whose band just recorded their second album of original music. “It’s important to have a balance.” Once our interview is complete, Mudryk is taking •
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Kyocera MFP.
the entire staff go-karting. Team outings like this are common at CBM. “We haven’t had anyone leave this company in five years. All we’ve done is add. Sean, one of our sales guys who’s been here eight years, left and went to London. Followed a girl over there, got married, brought her back and came back to work here. How cool is that?” This sounds personal, because it is personal. That’s CBM. They honestly care about the lives of their people. According to Mudryk, the same accountability the company gives to their people internally transfers to their clients. “We pride ourselves on problem resolution and creative solutions for our customers. We sell very differently than our competition. We don’t typically propose solutions early on in the process. We’re known to really slow down the sale and ask, ‘why do you want this?’ Especially with a new client, we’ll E s t a t e
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First and foremost, we believe in providing timely, reliable service to our clients.
Producing clean, readable documents for corporate reorganizations, shareholder agreements, business purchase and sale, real estate or estate planning is essential. That’s why for the past 18+ years we have entrusted all our print and copy requirements exclusively to
CBM Office Automation. We wouldn’t have it any other way!
www.galbraith.ab.ca • 780.483.61111
CBM Office Automation | 40 Years | Page 3
spend 90 to 180 days to learn their business process and see what we can bring to it. If I can understand your business better, then chances are I’ll keep you as a client.” Of course, if it isn’t obvious by now, when Mudryk says ‘I’, he almost always means ‘we’, because when it comes to CBM Office Automation, they’re practically the same thing. “Gary Reich is a partner in the company, as is Neil Sumaru. He’s brought the process piece to the business. I’m great at having an idea, Gary’s great at seeing it through, making sure it gets done. That’s his role. Neil manages our sales department. He brings a lot of tech savvy to the business, especially with some of these new ideas that we’re chasing.” These new ideas have ushered in a whole new division to the CBM team: the IT services division. “Vince Byblow is leading and building that, and is a partner in the company as well,” says Mudryk. “That’s exciting. IT has been a great success. We’re exceeding our goals and we expect to continue to grow at a rapid rate. It’s a natural fit.” However, the most natural fit of all is that felt by each
and every member of the CBM family. You can feel it too in the air of relaxed camaraderie and well-being you can’t help but notice when you walk into their offices. It’s unmistakeable, as is Mudryk’s pride in his people and appreciation for the loyalty of his clients. I’m off go-karting now. Glenn Mudryk and his team have convinced me of the importance of achieving a balance between work and life. Besides, who could say no to such a great group of people? Happy 40th anniversary, CBM – and here’s to your dream of a paperless tomorrow.
9411 63 Ave NW Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6E 0G2 T 780.486.6006 • cbm.ab.ca
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CBM Office Automation | 40 Years | Page 4
Congratulations CBM Office Automation on 40 years!
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Congratulations to CBM on their 40th anniversary!
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CBM Office Automation | 40 Years | Page 5
Congratulations! Congratulations!
Servus proudly congratulates CBM Office Automation on 40 years in business.
CONGRATULATIONS
40
YEARS!
CBM OFFICE AUTOMATION ON
When it comes to business, lasting relationships lead to greater rewards. Get the Servus Business Banking team working for you. Let’s talk.
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SHOWCASING LOCAL TALENT
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SUPPORTING LOCAL CHARITIES
Congratulations CBM Office Automation... Happy 40th Anniversary to the entire CBM team on this great accomplishment. Thank you for partnering with Samsung. We wish you many years of continued success selling our print solutions.
CBM Office Automation | 40 Years | Page 6