Business Spotlight: Reduce, Reuse, Rethink

A lair of technology greets anyone walking into the offices of Paladin Managed Solutions LLC. Owner Donny Mihalevich may even appear via an iPad secured to a robot – talking through a webcam from his office down the hall. But he doesn’t stay there for long. He invites his guest to give the robot a try, to steer the robot down the hall looking only through the lens of a camera.

Yes, that happened. It’s like stepping into the future.

But Mihalevich’s knack for technology translates into printers and copiers – his actual lines of business. Paladin is an office equipment and technology dealer, selling the traditional hardware to 3-D and wide-format production printers as well as installing audio/visual touch panel boards and software for business intelligence and workflow.

Paladin generated $1 million in sales and gained about 12 new clients in its first five months of business. Great Southern Bank, ATMS LLC and Andy’s Frozen Custard are among the company’s early clients.

Mihalevich is a document guru – using software to solve document management problems. Prior to starting Paladin, he worked as a network engineer for Corporate Business Systems of Missouri Inc. for seven years and more recently as head of solutions and a dealer sales manager at Ricoh USA Inc.

He speaks the software language fluently, but to an outsider it can seem daunting.

“Most of the people you’re dealing with don’t understand the software – they just want to know the end result,” Mihalevich says. “I look at that as my job to make the software easy.”

Kuntz is scheduled to purchase copiers and install document management software at the beginning of January.

“He has a passion for it, and he understands it,” Kuntz says. “He has a way of explaining things that brings it down to your level.”

Paladin’s software is intended to ease workflow. For example, if a company is accustomed to having a mix of documents – some filed for years in manila folders and others saved on multiple desktops around the office – Paladin’s software organizes all of these documents onto one user-friendly database. As workflow continues and more documents accumulate, they can easily be added to a database.  

“We deal heavily in automation, that’s where we try to differentiate ourselves from a normal office equipment supplier,” Mihalevich says. “We try to use the copier as a portal for information within the customer’s network. For most customers, the copier is a non-intimidating device. Eliminating all of those steps in the middle is how we make it easier for customers.”

Kuntz is among those customers searching for a simple way to go paperless.

“Instead of taking up file cabinets, it just makes sense to minimize staffing and space,” Kuntz says. “As we grow, we won’t have to add more people. In today’s world, we need to be efficient.”

Kerri Cuff, founder of accounting and tax management firm ATMS, is awaiting her purchased copiers. She aims to shorten the three-step process of adding documents into the system.

“Now, it will all be in one step,” Cuff says. “There are things (Mihalevich) has developed himself that will make my office so much more efficient during tax season.”

Mihalevich developed Paladin’s PowerLink software that integrates Jack Henry & Associates Inc. software in order to create easy workflow for financial institutions. Paladin is working with Cuff to create a secure database of customer tax information that automates workflow. She will no longer have to search through paper files to find tax information. It will all be at the tip of her fingers.

Paladin offers many other software options, developed by various companies, for other businesses and industries.

Paladin currently has eight employees at its East Kearney Street office. Mihalevich is working to break into a well-established market with office product competitors Copy Products Inc., Corporate Business Systems and Pearson-Kelly Office Products LLC.

“There are a lot of people who can sell copiers. What we want to do is to go in and say, ‘How can we improve your business in the way information flows?’” he says.