"Many people first call CHA for a hard to find printer part, but once they experience our superior service, quality and support, they become long-term business partners."

Chris Hoelzle, President
C. Hoelzle Associates, Inc.

C. Hoelzle Associates is an advanced, technical organization specializing in the complete support of high speed printers and scanners. Since 1978, CHA has continued to strengthen it’s dominant position in the multi billion dollar “fourth party maintenance” segment of the IT support industry. CHA supplies component level depot repair services, technical support, accelerated delivery of spare parts as well as complete printers and scanners. Our primary customer base is made up of field service organizations, sophisticated self maintainers, brokers and end users.  

History

Like many early high tech companies, CHA started off small.  Chris Hoelzle, began his career with electronics and service in his fathers TV repair shop. He went on to study electrical engineering at UC Santa Barbara, and served with the US Army Reserves as a communications-electronics repair specialist. He worked for several hardware manufacturers and gained experience as a field service engineer, service manager, logistics control, and quality engineering manager. In 1978 he founded C. Hoelzle Associates and the focus of the business was the component level repair of complex mini computer systems. As the demand for his services grew, so did his need for additional space. He moved operations from his garage into a small facility in Costa Mesa, Ca. and began repairing the disk, tape drives, terminals, and PRINTERS that his customers were using with their mini computers. As the rapid evolution of computer systems took place, Chris realized that mini computers, and their associated storage peripherals were becoming extinct, but the future of printer technology seemed stable. In 1985 the decision was made to focus exclusively on printer support. In 1992 that focus was expanded to include midrange document scanners.

Strategy

CHA’s business has been built upon a foundation of superior customer service, technical expertise, and integrity. Our primary mission is to assist you in keeping your equipment performing reliably.

During our evolution we have developed a system for the successful support of a given product line. We have chosen to concentrate on specific manufacturer’s products, invest extensive resources, and provide support with excellence. When our customers express a need for our brand of support for a different manufacturer, we do the research, and methodically install the processes and resources required for the new range of products.

We strive to support every model and printer technology that a given manufacturer has ever made. In many cases we offer our “no excuses” range of services for hardware manufactured up to 20 years ago. By focusing first upon the needs of our customers rather than the latest round of new technology, we have grown steadily while many of our competitors have disappeared.

While there are many companies out there who are primarily “box movers”, selling new whole units and a few spare parts and consumables on the side, there are none who take long term product support as seriously as CHA does. We are an inventory and knowledge driven organization. We understand that the vast majority of customers who contact us do so when their printer or scanner is down. We treat each contact like an emergency situation and we know that we must satisfy your parts or service requirements accurately, immediately, and do it every time.

Methods

We maintain direct relationships with most of the manufacturers we support. These relationships include Factory Authorized Service Provider, Authorized Warranty Repair Center, Authorized Spare Parts Distributor, Authorized  Distributor, Authorized Reseller, and VAR. These alliances allow us to take advantage of continued flow of new products, information, and factory sponsored training.

Used printers and scanners are acquired throughout the world to support those products that have long been obsolete. The useful sub-assemblies are harvested and inventoried as the raw materials for our refurbished product offerings. The unused remains are separated by material type and recycled responsibly.

Culture

We have created a “culture of service” where the guiding rule for every staff member is to keep the commitments made to their customers and co-workers. The company provides the resources to ensure that everyone has what they need to make that goal a reality. Our entire company is constantly fine tuning itself and refining the processes that allow it to perform to our customer’s expectations. This philosophy is reflected in our Mission Statement.

Quality

We monitor and take corrective action on problems far beyond just “hard failures”. Our warranty return rate is about .3 percent (that's a third of 1 percent) We feel that any lapse in the perfect execution of a transaction must be evaluated and improved. This commitment to the highest level of quality is reflected in our Quality Policy.

Information Systems

From the beginning we have placed high value on good information management systems. Our current system consists of a suite of applications that have been written and maintained entirely by our own programming staff. We feel that keeping close control over such a crucial element of our operation gives us and our customers a strategic advantage. It also allows us to make software changes instantly in rapid response to changes in processes and customer demands. Our CEO has taken personal responsibility for this resource with the goal of putting the right information in front of the right person at the right time so that they can make informed decisions based on absolutely accurate data. Our extension of secure services onto the Internet is based upon those same objectives. We maintain full hardware redundancy, daily backup, and UPS systems to ensure the reliability of these systems.

The Future

Our industry is changing at an astonishing rate. The definition of on site maintenance and who will provide it is in a constant state of chaos. The commodity market has finally caught up with printer technology. The performance of a machine that cost $2,000 today matches that of a $30,000 system from just 5 years ago. We know that the only way we can remain in business and continue to grow is to respond always to the changing needs of our customers. You, the customer,  will tell us how to be successful, never letting up on your demands for new and improved ways to serve you, and giving us the chance to rise to your expectations.