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Reditron - the company

The name Reditron is familiar to every major player in the electronic security industry. These include system integrators, installers, engineers, consulting engineers and architects.

Reditron was started in 1991 by Teljoy, followed by an almost immediate management buyout. John Loftus, who joined Reditron during its initial growth phase in 1994, was appointed managing director in 1996. From a small start with five people operating out of 95 m² of floor space, the company today has a staff of 47 people and occupies more than 1400 m² of space at its head office in Johannesburg. Besides its head office and main warehouse in Johannesburg, Reditron has branches in Durban and Cape Town, with an official representative in Port Elizabeth.

Early in 1996 Norbain PLC of London acquired Reditron outright. However, no changes were made to either the management or the operating culture. Norbain PLC was at that stage listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and owned some of the most respected manufacturers and distributors in the international CCTV industry: Norbain SD, Baxall, Vista and Norbain Portugal to name but a few. In 1999 Norbain PLC de-listed from the LSE with the assistance of a subsidiary of the Prudential Bank, which took a major stake in the group. The de-listing process required a separate company (Upperpoint Group) to act as the vehicle through which minorities were bought out. Today, Reditron is a wholly owned subsidiary of Upperpoint.

Reditron represents seven of the world's top 10 CCTV manufacturers. They, in addition to the other 45-odd brand names, enable Reditron to offer the widest range of CCTV and access control equipment in Africa. As Reditron's marketing slogan says, "We do not have to adapt a customer's need to suit our product range, we have the products to meet his needs".

The Rediview range of digital video recorders is manufactured locally and is one of Reditron's best-selling lines. The Rediview range's popularity is attributed to its versatility and affordability. With a choice of up to 16 channels and 400 frames per second options, this DVR caters for every application and budget. With Rediview, the customer is assured of unbeatable value for money and with Reditron unbeatable support is guaranteed.

Reditron has a stringent supplier evaluation process, code-named PEARL. Every manufacturer that supplies goods to Reditron is continuously evaluated according to these PEARL criteria ensuring that Reditron supplies goods from manufacturers that meet the very highest standard in the world. This attention to supplier standards ensures that Reditron's customers and the users purchase only the best products in the world.

The easiest way to lose a customer is to help him to design the optimum system and then inform him that it will take six to eight weeks to import the products. Reditron has solved this through the establishment of a large supply of A-line products and by organising the logistics for rapid supply of products in the event that they are not in stock. Reditron receives up to 10 airfreighted shipments every week from Europe, the US and the Far East, and ships to its branches daily if required.

One of the key factors in the ongoing success of Reditron is its unequalled technical support service. The entire technical team is well qualified to provide you with assistance during design and installation phases as well as post-installation commissioning.

Training is another area that Reditron believes is core to its business. A full range of courses, covering sales, technical and installation aspects are offered. Training is specifically aimed at the system installers. However, end-users are often interested in actually seeing equipment demonstrated. Reditron has fully equipped demonstration facilities, which can be used by both installers and end-users.

The CCTV market is far from static in terms of technology and the companies that will still be in business in the future are those that, like Reditron, keep pace with change. This is an ongoing requirement. Reditron is in constant communication with major manufacturers around the globe to ensure that they remain at the forefront of technology. The convergence of voice, video and data over IP is a reality for Reditron and being at the forefront of this technological wave is a necessity to ensure ongoing market domination.

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