Precision Camera: A Service Giant Many Don't Know

By Steve Smith -- TWICE, 6/15/2009

Lake Las Vegas, Nev. — When a camera or camcorder needs to be repaired, you probably don't know who is doing the repairing.

In all likelihood it is Precision Camera, based in Enfield, Conn., which for more than 60 years has repaired cameras and later on added camcorders to the mix.

John Malinosky, CEO/president of Precision Camera, was brought to the PRO Group's annual spring meeting, held here last month, by the buying organization's former executive director Roger Heuberger, who serves as Precision's sales and marketing corporate advisor.

Both men said Precision Camera, with more than 300 technicians in facilities in Connecticut, Texas and Mexico, is the largest service company of its type in the world.

“We handle service for Canon, JVC, Nikon, Casio, Olympus, Panasonic, Sony, Fujifilm and others. We handle products that have anything to do with imaging, scanning or related products,” said Heuberger.

To get a handle on the size of the privately-held company, on a weekly basis Precision refurbishes from 10,000 to 15,000 cameras out of its El Paso, Texas, facility, Heuberger said.

The executives were at PRO to attract more retail business. Huppin's/OneCall, a PRO member, is one of its retail customers, along with Best Buy, Staples, Sears and many others.

It also has relationships with warranty companies, Heuberger said, such as Warrantech, NEW, Aon, Assurant, AMT Warranty, Bankers Group, ServiceNet and others. “In two-thirds of our business [Precision] is not directly facing the customer.”

And there is a “green” environmental angle to Precision's business: “You can save a million cubic feet of waste if you service 750,000 cameras and keep them from being thrown away,” Heuberger said.

For more on the company visit www.precisioncamera.com.