Contents Issue 21, April 2009 6
Remanufacturing Instructions
HL-2700CN Toner Cartridge
13
Cover Story
New Mould Cartridges and Other Patent Issues
Deepak Jalihal General Manager Wendy McRae Managing Editor Vijay Jamadar Design & Concept 099021 35669 Publisher :
Veerendra Chopra # 63, 1st Floor, 5th Cross, Malleswaram, Bangalore - 560 003. Ph: +91-80-23312014 E-mail: info@rechargeindia.com
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16 Indian Toners & Developers Ltd - Technical Conferences, Cameron Hill Joins UniNet As Chief Operating Officer, Static Control Components' Webinar Sessions Now Online 17 AbbeeFill Cartridge Refill Station in Hubli, R&G Capital Is First Sri Lankan Company To Receive STMC Certification, Future Graphics Imaging Corporation Awarded Patent for Color Sealing Mechanism. 18 Key Aftermarket Event ReIndia Expo Promotes, Educates 20 Faroudja Offers Bulk Toner For The Okidata C 7300, Toner And Chip For Samsung Scx-4200, Faroudja Offers Xante Ilumina Chips, UniNet Smartchips For Hp And Xerox Phaser, 21 Static Control Releases HP Component System Solution, Future Graphics Imaging Corporation Releases Chip for Samsung SCX-4200, Future Graphics Releases Reset Gears for Brother Printers, UniNet X-generation Black Toner For Hp P-1500, 1505, 22 Densigraphix Introduces Konica/minolta New Compatible Cartridge
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Printed at : Lakshmi Mudranalaya # 117/2, 5th Main, Chamarajpet, Bangalore - 560 018. INDIA Ph : +91 80 26613123, 26618752
While every effort is made to ensure authenticity in the preparation of this publication, the publisher and editors can not be held responsible for its contents. The views of contributors to the magazine are not necessarily those of the publishers. All trademark names cited in the magazines are property of their respective owners. Product brand names mentioned are intended to show compatibility only. Press releases, company profiles, articles and opinions are all welcome.
Industry News
Company Profile
No Borders: No Problem at UniNet
28
InformationAnalysis &
28 Survey Finds Color Toner Cartridges More Popular Than Ever.
41
Industry Briefing
41 Memjet Refills: What it Means for the Aftermarket. 44 STMC Certification: A Decade of Providing Proof of Superior Products
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Classified Advertising
51 Advertiser IndexAssociation & Contacts
Owned and Published by M.J. Prasanth Kumar from 733, 1st Floor, 6th Cross, Kempegowda Layout, BSK 3rd Phase, 3rd Stage, Bangalore - 560 085 and printed by Mr. Ashok Kumar B.R. at Luxmi Mudranalaya, 117/2, 5th Main, Chamarajpet, Bangalore - 560 018. INDIA. Ph: +91 80 2661 3123.
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Editor’s Note
On the Road to Quality There are many avenues that remanufacturing companies take to ensure that their products meet or exceed quality demanded by their customers and buyers. The most important way (and also the easiest way) our industry can establish credibility with end users is to not use counterfeit products that undermine the legitimate businesses that strive to be successful. In the Recharge India cover story this month, industry expert Deepak Jalihal examines deeply relevant issues that have an ongoing effect for remanufacturers. He looks at the consequences of counterfeit and new mould cartridges in the market. Jalihal also explores intellectual property and patent issues that affect our industry. Another resource that remanufacturers can use to show end-users that they take quality seriously, is STMC (Standardized Test Methods Committee) certification. The STMC is a global committee formed in 1999 to find and promote standardized test methods for the printer cartridge industry. International Imaging Technology Council Executive Director Tricia Judge goes in depth in a feature article on STMC and how it has improved the quality of products in our industry. Judge writes, “The STMC developed and adopted the standards, and compiled those tests to a guide that is used by monochrome toner cartridge remanufacturers. STMC's secondary mission is to educate end-users or buyers as to what such testing means when purchasing remanufactured cartridges. The committee has created a program that led to the certification of the companies that proved that they were properly and consistently using the test methods.� We applaud the STMC for educating end-users and buyers of remanufactured cartridges on the importance of quality. We also want to congratulate R&G Capital, pioneers in re-engineering computer printer toners. R&G has been qualified with Standardized Test Methods Committee certification, the first time a Sri Lankan company has received STMC certification. R&G is also only the third company in South Asia to receive this certification. Only a small fraction of companies in this industry have earned the right to display the STMC logo on their product, packaging and marketing materials. It's not only important for end-users to understand the value of quality and also the consequences of using (or worse, making) products that lack quality. We hope that you enjoy this issue! Sincerely, Wendy McRae Managing Editor
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Remanufacturing
Remanufacturing the Brother
HL-2700CN Toner Cartridge by Mike Josiah and the Technical Staff at UniNet Imaging — A Distributor of UniNet and Summit Products
T
he Brother HL-2700CN printers are based on a 31-ppm black, 8ppm color 600-dpi engine. The toner cartridges are simple to do, and quite profitable. These machines were designed as workgroup printers, and continued to be very popular. One nice item to note on these cartridges is that they do not use a chip. There is also nothing to reset when installing them. There are four separate color toner cartridges, one separate waste cartridge and a separate OPC belt unit used in these machines. The part numbers and current list pricing are listed below:
All four of the toner cartridges are different in that they each have unique tabs on the side that prevent one color from being inserted into another color’s slot. See Figures A and B. These are extremely fast and easy cartridges to do and should prove to be a nice profit center for you. It actually takes longer to explain how they work than to actually remanufacture them.
A
B As the layout of these cartridges is a bit different, we have included the cartridge printing theory below:
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Remanufacturing
1
Cartridge Printing Theory: Figure 1 is a basic diagram of the color printing process. Different colors are formed through the use of three primary colors (cyan, magenta, yellow). All colors and shades are made through the use of this process. While black can be made by mixing all three colors, it’s not very cost efficient so that is why a separate black cartridge is included. Figure 2 shows an overview of the printer, cartridges, and how they relate to each other. Figure 3 is a close-up of the componentsused in the printing process. Also shown are whichcomponents have voltages supplied by the power supply.
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3
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Remanufacturing
For the actual color toner cartridge printing process, it is best explained as a series of stages or steps.
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The first stage in the printing process is the primary charging stage. The primary charge roller (PCR) places a uniform negative DC voltage on the OPC belt surface. The amount of the negative DC voltage placed on the belt is controlled by the printer’s intensity setting. See Figure 4. In the second stage, the laser beam is fired onto a rotating mirror (called the scanner). As the mirror rotates, the beam is reflected into a set of focusing lenses. The beam then strikes the belt’s surface, reducing the negative charge and leaving a latent electrostatic image on the drum. The areas where the laser did not strike the drum will retain the full-negative charge. Here the number 12 is being printed. See Figure 5. The third or developing stage is where the toner is made ready to transfer by the developing section (or supply chamber) of each color cartridge. The toner stirring blades start the process by turning inside the hopper. As they turn, the toner is moved to the feed roller and then to the developer roller. The developer roller has a charge placed on it, which attracts an even layer of toner. The voltage that is placed on the developer roller is controlled by the printer’s inten-sity setting, and causes either more or less toner to be attracted by the developer roller. This in turn will either increase or decrease the print density. The amount of toner on the developer roller is also controlled by the doctor blade, which uses pressure to keep the amount of toner on the roller constant. See Figures 6 and 7. The fourth stage is the first transfer stage. As the laser exposed areas of the OPC belt approach the developer roller, the toner particles are attracted to the belt’s surface due to the opposite voltage potentials of the toner, and laser exposed areas of the OPC belt. See Figures 8 and 9.
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This is where there are some large differences from monochrome printers. The different color latent images are then transferred from each toner cartridge to the OPC belt in a specific sequence. The full complete image is then transferred to the transfer belt. See Figure 10. At this point, a series of six LED lamps light up and bathe the OPC belt in light that neutralizes any remaining electrical charges and make the physical cleaning of the belt easier. See also Figure 10.
9 5
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ITONE
TM
NOW IN INDIA
R
CANON COPIER TONERS FOR IR 400 SERIES FOR IR 8500 SERIES RICOH RCOPIER TONERS FOR AF 1045 SERIES R
KYOCERA MITA COPIER TONERS FOR KM 1620 SERIES R
HP PRINTER TONERS FOR HP 1010 SERIES
ITONETM INC. www.itone-inc.com USA WEST COAST 2056 Calle Bogota Rowland Heights CA 91748 info@itone-inc.com
DISTRIBUTOR IN INDIA Units 311/312, Jogani Industrial Estate Tulsi Pipe Road, Dadar (West) Mumbai-28 Phone : +91 22 24229166 E-mail : sanghviab@gmail.com
c 2009 Itone, Inc. All rights reserved. ITONE is registered trademark of Itone, Inc. All other brand or product names are registered trademarks of their respective companies.
Remanufacturing
Remanufacturing instructions 10 Tools required 1) Toner-approved vacuum 2) Phillips-head screwdriver 3) Small jewelers Phillips screwdriver Supplies required 1) TN04 toner (310g black, 210g color) 2) Developer roller cover 3) Soft, lint-free wipes
The fifth stage is the final transfer stage where the full image is transferred from the transfer belt to the paper using the difference in voltage potential as applied by the transfer roller. See Figure 11.
Remove the two silver screws from the outer edge of the doctor blade. See Figure 13.
In the sixth stage, the image is then fused onto the paper by the fuser assembly. The final stages are where the transfer belt is cleaned. The transfer belt is cleaned after every complete image has been transferred to the paper. Acleaning brush, which has a positive charge placed on it, removes the waste toner from the belt. The waste toner is transferred to Lift up on the doctor blade side and remove the developer roller assembly. See Figure 14. the waste toner tank. See Figure 12.
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11
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12
Dump out all remaining toner from the chamber. The fill plug in these cartridges is not removable. Blow out any remaining toner from the hopper, paying special attention to the feed roller. It can become clogged (impacted) with toner and over time this will interfere with the amount of toner fed to the developer roller. See Figure 15.
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Remanufacturing
Install the developer roller assembly, small gear to the fill plug side of the cartridge. Install the two outer screws. See Figures 20 and 21.
Make sure the gears on both sides of the cartridge are clean and turn freely. See Figures 16 and 17.
16
20
21 Install the developer roller cover. See Figure 22.
22 17
Repetitive defect chart: It is best not to take the doctor blade assembly apart, but if you do, use a gapping gauge to measure the gap by each of the five screws before removing any of them. Set the gap back to the proper distance when reassembling the blade assy. See Figure 18.
18 Fill the hopper with the appropriate color toner. While the cartridges all look the same, they are not interchangeable. Each color has a different set of plastic tabs. See Figure 19.
OPC drum OPC belt Transfer drum Paper pick up roller Fuser roller Back up roller Drum cleaning roller 2 Transfer roller Cleaning roller Developer roller Paper exit roller Registration roller
75.5mm 380mm 379.94mm 125.6mm 125.6mm 100.48mm 78.50mm 62.80mm 56.52mm 56.52mm 50.24mm 42.39mm
Mike Josiah is technical director at Summit Technologies, a division of UniNet Imaging Inc., a global distributor of toner, OPC drums, wiper blades and other supplies. Josiah has been
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with the company since 1987. He and his technical support team regularly contribute articles and teach seminars at association meetings and trade shows. Contact him at 631-2188376 or mjosiah@uninetimaging.com.
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Cover Story
New Mould Cartridges and Other Patent Issues and instead exploring other regions with less rigid IP laws. At present, the main export markets for China's color ink cartridges are Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Makers also plan to increase shipments to Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia and South America, which do not impose strict regulations regarding patents.
By Deepak M Jalihal
After China's Ninestar lost patent appeal in Washington, it is time to take a hard look at the way various segments and particularly the Judiciary looks at patent laws. Epson has established a Web site at http://itc.epson.com to provide importers and resellers with timely information about the ITC decisions and their consequences.
Before we move any further let's look at some of the definitions:
On the other side Ninestar released a press release stating “Ninestar is disappointed in the decision and order issued by United States International Commission (ITC), The General Exclusion Order will bring very adverse influence to the whole compatible manufacturers throughout the world.
What is a counterfeit? A counterfeit is something that is intentionally made to look like an original item. Counterfeits are designed and branded using someone else's registered designs, marks and logos and are intended to deceive the buyer into believing the product is an original, also referred to as an "OEM". The word "counterfeit" is often played down by using softer less intimidating terms such as "Copies" and "Knock Offs. In some parts of Asia, the term "No 2" is commonly used to describe and order counterfeit products.
At the same time, we are extraordinarily pleased that Ninestar's newly developed products do not fall into the scope of Exclusion Order, and Ninestar will continue to provide related products and services for customers in the United States.� China suppliers have begun obtaining patents for their ink cartridges and introducing more new models to increase global competitiveness. In 2008, many companies, including leading printer consumables makers such as Print-Rite Unicorn Image Products Co. Ltd and Ninestar Image Co. Ltd, released color ink cartridge models that carry their own patents. Zhuhai Gree Magneto-Electric Co. Ltd, in fact, applied for five patents for its color ink cartridges. The company has also set up a team responsible for dealing with issues concerning patents to avoid legal complications such as Section 337 investigations conducted by the US International Trade Commission (ITC). It has 15 engineers assigned to develop its color ink cartridge product.
What is an OEM? OEM means Original Equipment Manufacture and is usually assigned to the entity which legally owns, makes or authorizes to make a product. In legal terms, the OEM owns what is called Intellectual Property in the product they make. They are protected by law from unauthorized copying and or distribution of counterfeit products.
What is Intellectual Property?
Intellectual Property Rights or "IPR's" as it is commonly known, is a term used to include issues of Patents, Copyright & Trademarks and other Since these models have yet to breach mainstream supply, China makers are planning to launch more products that bear their own patents to gain legal methods of protection for products of creativity, discovery and invention. All countries have their own Intellectual Property Laws (IP recognition. Some suppliers are focused on releasing new models of color ink cartridges, such as Zhuhai Mingjia Electronics Co. Ltd, whose law) however for the purpose of this article IP Law can be best described as a set of rules & regulations protecting the legal rights (IP rights) of new color ink cartridge model can be packaged in such a way that the people who create or invent something. These rights relate to a Patent, chipset can be sold separately. Copyright or Trademark, depending on how the product is made, how it Through the Zhuhai Printer Consumables Industry Association works or how it is identified. If any of these rights are violated (IP (ZPCIA), suppliers have also petitioned to invalidate some frivolous infringement), the person(s) or organization responsible is guilty of an patent claims to defend the rights of China makers to compete globally. offence. This plan is used by companies as they realign their export and product It is important to know that in the case of some inkjet & toner cartridges, development strategies in the aftermath of the ink cartridge IP rights can be violated at various levels and may involve one or more infringement case filed by Epson against manufacturers and resellers in legal actions involving a Patent, Copyright & or Trademark. Asia, including China, Germany and the United States. After the ITC's decision barring the importation of infringing products into the US and a cease and desist order prohibiting named respondents from selling and What is a Patent? distributing the infringing cartridges in the US, more China color ink A Patent is granted for any original product being a device, substance, cartridge manufacturers have been avoiding the US market altogether method or process. The owner of a Patent is legally entitled to
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Cover Story
commercially exploit the product for the life of the Patent. In the case of some inkjet and toner cartridges with inbuilt print head functions & or specialized design, Patents may apply.
? "New Compatible"
cartridges are newly manufactured cartridges that use all new plastic molds and parts.
? "Remanufactured"
cartridges use the original plastic mold "core" from the manufacturer (HP for example) but the core is remanufactured back to OEM specs using new parts like the drum, MAG roller, PCR roller, doctor blades, etc.
What is Copyright? Copyright is often thought of as protection against copying written works, computer programs and artistic works such as music CD's and movies. However, copyright can also apply in the case of print & toner cartridges if they are programmed to deliver or receive instructions to or from a printer, copier or fax machine.
? Some
manufacturers like HP and Epson have patents on the design of their plastic molds and it is illegal for manufacturers to create a "new compatible" for these products.
? Other
manufacturers like Brother and Canon do not have these patents so it is ok to develop a new compatible product.
What is a Trademark?
? So it is important to procure cartridges manufactured by a Also known as a brand or brand name, a trademark is a word, name, reputable ISO 9002 certified factory that adheres to all SMTC symbol, logo, device, or any combination, used to identify goods of one standards as well as respects all patents by respective manufacturers. manufacturer or seller from goods manufactured or sold by others. HP, Canon, Epson, Lexmark, Xerox and so on are all Trademarks as are their A very interesting judgment was offered by the Supreme Court in Case respective symbols and other well known marks that we identify with No. 96 Ma. 365 - Samsung Electronics, Inc. v. Sung-Kyu Cho, The them. Supreme Court says:
What is an Infringement?
“Repair and Component Replacement by the Purchaser”
The World Trade Organization (WTO) and World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) have developed what is called the "TRIPS" agreement to which many countries are signatories (India being one of them). Therefore, whilst IP laws may differ in various countries around the world, the TRIPS and related agreements govern the way IP laws are designed, including IP infringements.
“A lawful purchaser of a patented product can repair or replace damaged or worn-out components of the product without infringing upon the patent. In principle, the patentee has the exclusive right to any exploitation of the patented product, such as its production, use, or transfer, but the “exhaustion of rights” doctrine prohibits the patentee from exercising patent rights over subsequent transfers of a patented product transferred originally by the patentee. Therefore, while the commercial assembly or production of a patented invention by a purchaser of a patented product can be a patent infringement, replacing or repairing damaged components during the life-span of the patented product does not come within the scope of patent rights. From this viewpoint, the purchasers of a patented invention possess a “right to repair.”
An infringement occurs when a Patent, Copyright or Trademark is copied or used without authorization from the Intellectual Property Owner. An infringement is a criminal offence, is punishable by law and almost always allows for a jail sentence or heavy fines. This applies to individuals and companies. Depending on the offence, infringements can be investigated by various statutory bodies including Police, Customs, Trade & Standards Departments and other bodies specifically setup to take action against counterfeiting operations. In additional to criminal actions, Intellectual Property owners can also instigate civil proceedings against the offender(s) for any damages and related costs.
The difficulty is in setting a standard to distinguish component replacement coming within the right to repair and component replacement constituting an infringing reconstruction of the patented product or production of a new patented product. The purpose of the Patent Act is to foster the development of science and technology by giving substantial incentives to inventors, which is achieved by What is the difference in a compatible ink cartridge and guaranteeing market demand for patented inventions and protecting the remanufactured cartridges? economic interests of patentees against infringement. Thus, if the Compatibles are new ink cartridges manufactured to exactly match the purchaser of a patented product, the useful life of which has come to an cartridge sold by your printer manufacturer. end or the economic value of which depleted, effectively reconstructs the product or produces another by replacing all important components, Remanufactured ink cartridges are previously used ink cartridges (one this must be considered a patent infringement. In contrast, excessive time use only, referred as "virgin") that have been collected from protection or expansion of patent rights beyond the scope of the patent consumers and businesses and brought back to OEM specifications. This claims actually hinders the development of science and technology by is done by disassembling, cleaning, and replacing any parts showing even unjustly limiting competition, and component replacement not coming minimal wear-and-tear. Once these ink cartridges have been restored to within such reconstruction must be permitted. The distinction between the original OEM specifications, they are then filled with high-quality legal repair or replacement and reconstruction or production with regard ink, tested prior to shipment to the customer to ensure print quality and to patent infringement must be upon a comparison of the life-span of the ink cartridge performance. patented invention, the life-span of the replaceable component, and the
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Cover Story
economic value of the patented invention at the time of component replacement.” So there seems a general agreement that a printer cartridge refilling including change of parts is permitted (under the right to repair act), sale of a remanufactured cartridge is a gray area. Companies like GTTMC in Zhuhai, work within the purview of Patent Laws to manufacture items which do not violate the patent laws. The company's Hop-On technology allows factories to leverage on three key areas: patent freedom, easy sourcing and warehouse easing. Since Hop-On is a product that connects to existing OEM cartridges, it is legally viewed as a repair. At a recent industry conference in Zhuhai, legal advisors pointed out that repairs do not infringe patent rights. Moreover, the fact that one cartridge can be converted into a variety of different other models not only makes sourcing for empties a lot easier but also eases the risk of storing the wrong types of cartridges. Now recyclers only need to store one type of cartridge, which then can be used in a variety of printers. “Considering the industry's recent concerns about patent issues, we are confident that our Hop-On technology will be greatly received by recyclers,” said Gregor Hans Schoener, CEO of GTTMC. “We will continue to develop our products with respect to international patents in order to support our customer's needs.” There is a general lack of awareness in the Indian market about the infringement of patent laws. Most traders and resellers hunt China sources and bring in low cost products (most of the time they get it branded in their own name). The new mould cartridges are definitely cheaper but one needs to check on the patent infringements. Some traders are offering new mould empties which are coming cheaper than the once used empties. So this is a definite temptation for the remanufacturers, in a already a very cost sensitive market. The Indian Remanufacturer's Associations need to work on this area to clearly define what Indian patents are registered by the OEM's and guide the remanufacturers so that they are not caught unawares. Some company's like Afex in China and Softree in India choose the safe path of declaring themselves as a “no-new mould company” "New moulds are not remanufactured or recycling. We've taken a strong position not to make or sell any new moulds. We feel it's not good for the industry. We're into recycling. Our main objective is to recycle and not sell any new moulds,” Mark Duva, vice president, sales and marketing, AFEX International. As the aftermarket share grows, the OEMs are hurting and will definitely use all their might to protect their share. The Indian remanufacturing industry is still at an infant stage and has a long way to go. Unlike China, it has a huge domestic market and of course the export potential is very large. We are just beginning to see the starting of remanufacturing units and we will see many more in years to come. It is therefore very important that these units start off on a right footing, so that more and more people will be inspired to invest and have manufacturing plants in India.
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Industry News
Indian Toners & Developers ltd - Technical Conferences NEW DELHI - has recently started organizing technical conferences all over India. Targeting 1-2 states a month, ITDL has already held successful conferences in Mysore, Delhi and Kanpur. In April, conferences will be held in Chandigarh and Jaipur for a select audience. The main reason of holding these region wise technical meets is to increase awareness among engineers about the various scientific and technical aspects of toner, and its use. An in depth presentation on various toner related topics, such as the basic definition of toners, the kinds of toner, manufacturing process, process and quality control, quality assurance etc are covered. Along with this the presentation also speaks about common challenges faced by engineers on all types of machines (laser printers, analogue copiers, mfp's etc), and how to tackle such issues. Conference at Delhi
Message from the board: "we hope to further create awareness of quality among our users and enlarge our family at ITDL by including newer members into it. Quality is our mantra and is the long term trick for success. Supremo, TONER KA SHAHENSHA, assures long term success."
Cameron Hill Joins Uninet As Chief Operating Officer LOS ANGELES – UniNet welcomes Cameron Hill as Chief Operating Officer. In this role, Mr. Hill will be in charge of leading and supporting Sales Operations, Logistics and Distribution, Purchasing, R&D, and Finance as well as managing the U.S. offices. Mr. Hill brings with him more than 20 years of significant experience in restructuring all aspects of organizations including sales and operations. His previous employment has included top tier companies such as Makita, W.W. Grainger, IBM and Boeing among others. Mr. Hill holds a Masters degree in Public Administration and a BA degree in Business Management. “ We are thrilled to have Cameron join the UniNet family; he brings a great wealth of experience and expertise to our team. His background comprises a unique fit for the needs of UniNet at this point in its growth,” added UniNet President Nestor Saporiti. Mr. Hill is part of UniNet's worldwide commitment to provide new and existing clients with Best-in-Class customer care support ensuring that UniNet is meeting and exceeding the business needs of each and every client. Contact: UniNet Web: www.uninetimaging.com.
Static Control Components' Webinar Sessions Now Online SANFORD, N.C. — Static Control is offering a webinar training series. Each webinar session is an interactive online training event that requires Internet access only. This direct training, without the cost of attending road shows and without all the usual traveling expenses, is convenient and keeps customers up-to-date with the latest remanufacturing information. Webinars are free and another value add from Static Control. The first series covers the very successful HP printer family P1005/P1006, 1505 (CB 435A/CB436A). Webinar session topics include: how to overcome technical challenges, business opportunities, Static Control product range and remanufacturing by using live handson techniques.
Conference at Kanpur
Static Control's webinar sessions are filled with valuable technical detail, industry marketing knowledge and new product releases.
Conference at Mysore.
Contact: Indian Toners & Developers Limited E-mail: plant@indiantoners.com Web: www. indiantoners.com
During the webinar, a live question-and-answer session gives attendees the ability to ask questions and receive an immediate answer. The webinars are presented by Static Control's different experts from technical support, sales and marketing departments.
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Industry News
Visit Static Control's Web site to find a webinar guide with all the details for the training session and how to log in. It is simple; just follow the prompts as directed.
R&G Capital is First Sri Lankan Company to Receive STMC Certification WATTAL, SRI LANKA - R&G Capital, pioneers in re-engineering computer printer toners has been qualified with Standardized Test Methods Committee (STMC) certification, the first time a Sri Lankan company has received such certification. John Marshall, chief technical officer and general manager technical services, Static Control formally presented the STMC certificate to S.M.Godwin, chairman/managing director, R&G Capital.
Easy-user instructions are available to walk attendees through the entire session; previous webinar experience is not necessary. Contact: Static Control Web: www.scceurope.co.uk, www.scc-inc.com
AbbeeFill Cartridge Refill Station in Hubli
R&G is also the third company in all of South Asia to receive this certification. Only a small fraction of companies in this industry have earned the right to display the STMC logo on their product, packaging and marketing materials.
HUBLI, AbbeeFill Cartridge Refill Station, India's only retail chain for imaging industry is on a constant up word growth. The company is inaugurating its 2 nd retail store in Karnataka at Mooresh Math area of Hubli on 23.03.2009.
STMC was established to encourage and train companies to use standardized test methods in the production of remanufactured cartridges. The certification of the companies proves that those companies were properly and consistently using the test methods and thereby produce products of a higher standard.
Mr. Rajesh Pauskar, Proprietor of M/s. Uma Shiv Infotech, who is appointed as Franchisee for Hubli, told reporters that, “AbbeeFill”, would market imaging products like remanufactured Laser & Inkjet Cartridges, refilling the same along with Dot Matrix Ribbons & its refill packs. It will also sale OEM Cartridges & other allied products required Godwin, an entrepreneur and pioneer has been in the imaging solutions industry since 1988. In 1992, he revolutionized Sri Lankan printing for the IT industry. solutions industry by forming the first company in Sri Lanka to offer Talking to reporters on the eve of inauguration of store, Mr. B. B. alternate printing solutions to the original printing consumables. Somani, CEO of AbbeeFill told that apart from Hubli, AbbeeFill is Through the years the company grew and 16 years on R&G Capital now already operational in Bangalore at Marathalli, & is on the verge of stands with more than 70 employees, a high tech factory, fully equipped opening 6 more stores in Karnataka. Company is at an advance stage of workshop, a substantial portfolio of customers internationally negotiations with 3 other stores in Karnataka. By the end of March 2009 certifications for the locally re-engineered printing solution. this will take our total number of stores in Karnataka to 11. Out of these Godwin said, “There are only 158 companies in the world that are 6 are in Bangalore & one each in Hubli, Hospet, Bellary, Davangere & STMC approved. Sri Lanka imports 50 to 60 thousand cartridges every Mysore. month spending a huge amount of money.” Apart from Karnataka, Mr. Somani said that, we have a plan of opening 1500 retail stores across India in the next 5 years. Presently 85 stores are already in various phase of completion, out of these 21 in Maharashtra, 11 in Karnataka, 8 in Uttar Pradesh, 7 in Gujarat, 6 in Chattisgarh, 5 each in Rajasthan & Madhya Pradesh, 3 in Zharkhand, 2 each in Goa, Tamilnadu, Orisa, Uttarakhand, Delhi & Punjab, and 1 each in Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Shilong, Tripura, Hariyana, Himachal Pradesh & Jammu.
Contact : R&G International E-mail: godwin@rng.lk Web: www.rng.lk
Future Graphics Imaging Corporation Awarded Patent for Color Sealing Mechanism
LOS ANGELES, CA – Future Graphics Imaging Corporation (FGIC), the world's leading value-add distributor of aftermarket imaging supplies, has been awarded a patent (US 7,509,090 B2) for a seal-spooling In the present recessionary scenario when all the corporate & computer mechanism that greatly facilitates the remanufacture of cartridges for the users are cutting the cost, refilling of the Cartridges is the most important HP 4700/4730/4005 color printers. cost cutting tool. The new Inkjet black cartridge which is sold by OEM at The FGIC design enables remanufacturers to easily utilize OEM-type Rs. 1200/- is refilled by AbbeeFill , without compromising the quality technology, particularly the internal winding of the seal once the user and page yield, at Rs. 150/-. The same way OEM laser cartridge which is presses the 'print' button. sold at around Rs. 3000/- is refilled by AbbeeFill as Rs. 400/-. This Developing innovative remanufacturing solutions is a key part of FGIC's exorbitant difference between the OEM and refilled cartridge are commitment to 'Comprehensive System Solutions,' a tempting the users to refill their Cartridges. customer-oriented strategy that provides remanufacturers the tools and market information Contact: AbbeeFill Cartridge Refill Station necessary to remain prepared and profitable. FGIC has Mr. B. B. Somani: Cell No. 09764447141 many easy-to-use, cost-effective tools and fixtures currently awaiting patents and even more in development. Contact : Future Graphics Imaging Corporation Web: www.futuregraphicsllc.com, www.delacamp.com
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Industry News
UniNet Imaging, exhibiting for the second time at the show, was one of the companies that had a productive time in Mumbai. Marcela Gasanz, MUMBAI - Recharger Magazine's second annual ReIndia Expo was held public relations manager for UniNet, said, “ReIndia 2009 was a very March 5-7 in Mumbai. Mumbai is an international hub for IT and the good show for UniNet. We really enjoyed it and attendees were glad to see business capital of India. ReIndia Expo serves the trade show us there. Our booth received a steady stream of traffic that kept us component of the growing Indian market within the remanufacturing continuously busy; in addition, attendees were very receptive to our industry, a much-needed area where products, people and promotion are booth classes and they also enjoyed our networking reception offered key. With this influential city as the backdrop, ReIndia's sophomore during the second day of the show.” effort brought together international attendees and a host of noted Local media and industry analysts were also present at the show, industry speakers for the Expo's informative classroom sessions. including Gartner India Principal Research Analyst Vishal Tripathi. Tripathi, a repeat visitor to Recharger ReIndia, said, “[ReIndia] was a well-organized show and provided good insights about the Indian and world markets. The classroom presentations were very helpful.”
Key Aftermarket Event ReIndia Expo Promotes, Educates
With expert speakers, an international audience and outstanding networking opportunities, ReIndia proved to be an incredible opportunity for those who attended.
UniNet's Javier Gonzalez leads a hands-on remanufacturing lab at ReIndia Expo 2009.
Education is a hallmark of every Recharger event and ReIndia Expo 2009 was no exception. ReIndia's schedule of heavy-hitting industry speakers included Future Graphics Imaging Corporation's Senior VP Luke Goldberg. Goldberg spoke to a packed room on global-market trends. The industry veteran wrapped up his presentation with a Q&A session with an eager crowd. Crowds also flocked to UniNet Imaging's sessions, headed by Javier Gonzalez. Gonzalez provided two days of sought-after Attendees network at Bhakti Enterprises booth. technical expertise with his hands-on remanufacturing labs, featuring HP and Brother products. Prasanto K. Roy of Cybermedia provided relevant analysis and insights surrounding how businesses view green business practices, especially in tough economic times. Indian legal expert Poorvi Chothani offered valuable insights and relevant case studies that businesses need to know about patents and IP issues. Imaging Resources executive Vinay Chhabra compared the U.S. and Indian markets and speculated to where the Indian aftermarket is headed, based on the market patterns in the United States. Dhruv Mahajan of Purnima Enterprises presented on color in the Indian market. “Education is key, especially in a burgeoning market like India,” said Recharger Publisher Patricia Ames. “With speakers from top global companies like UniNet and Future Graphics as well as important Indian Luke Goldberg of Future Graphics answers questions following his class on experts, the classroom seminars are a solid foundation to meet the needs global market trends. of the Indian aftermarket.”
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Industry News
ReIndia Expo is recognized as one of the most important imaging supplies aftermarket industry and business-to-business technology events in the region. The show, which is free to attendees, also represents an enormous learning platform in the area of technical, sales and marketing at no additional cost. Exhibitors, attendees and instructional offerings range from the roots of the industry in cartridge remanufacturing to cutting-edge strategic offerings, such as content management software and managed print. Even in the face of change, key industry companies and business leaders remain unified in their commitment to meeting the challenges by creating opportunity. Recharger Magazine, an 1105 Media publication, is the leading monthly trade journal for the document printing industry aftermarket. Recharger Magazine's complement of global events includes ReciclaMais, South America's longest running and most successful industry event; ReChina Asia Expo, the largest industry event showcasing the Asia Pacific regions; and Recharger World Expo, the most important gathering for the aftermarket document printing industry.
UniNet experts lead one of several informational in-booth seminars during ReIndia Expo 2009.
Contact: Recharger Magazine E-mail: info@rechargermag.com Web: www.rechargermag.com
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Industry News
Faroudja Offers Bulk Toner for the Okidata C 7300
Faroudja Offers Xante Ilumina Chips
SAN CARLOS, Calif - Faroudja Toner now carries toner in 10 kilogram SAN CARLOS, Calif - Faroudja Toner now carries smartchips for the bags for the Okidata C 7300, it was announced. "The bulk bags are a Xante Ilumina, it was announced. "Many customers have been inquiring good option in these economically difficult times" explained marketing about this for months, as none existed anywhere." explained marketing director Tim Farrell. "With 10 kg bags, it is about 40% cheaper than the director Timothy Farrell. "Again, we are first-to-market, and Faroudja bottles." The C 7300 is a glossy toner, and works across the whole line of has become an industry leader in chip development." The chips are the Oki 7000 printers, including the C 7000, C available for all four colors, and are sold individually or in multiple 7400 & C 7500. "This cartridge is easy to recycle quantities. They are dedicated to work specifically, and only, for the and there are no smartchips" explained Farrell. Xante Ilumina. "We sell Xante Faroudja also sells a drum and drum fuse. Ilumina toner in 10 kilogram bags and these chips are a nice complement to Faroudja Toner, in San Carlos, California, that" added Farrell. additionally stocks color toner for HewlettPackard, Tektronix, Minolta QMS and supplies a Faroudja Toner, a major wide range of parts and recharging tools. manufacturer of toner and recycling parts, also carries a complete range of Contact : Faroudja Toner smartchips from HP to Okidata to Phone: 650-593-3862, Xerox. Fax: 650-593-3817, or Contact : Faroudja Toner Web: www.faroudjatoner.com. Phone: 650-593-3862, Fax: 650-593-3817, or Web: www.faroudjatoner.com.
Toner and Chip for Samsung SCX-4200 Future Graphics
Samsung is the World’s # 2 Engine Manufacture! LOS ANGELES - FGIC’s toner and chip for the Samsung SCX 4200 represent fantastic profit opportunities for the remanufacturer! The sub-s200 SCX - 4200 replaces the extremely popular SCX - 4200. It has higher print and copying speeds (19ppm) than its predecessor and its color scanner allows enhanced resolution. Please contact Future Graphics Imaging Corporation for detailed product information and comparisons to OEM products. Contact : Future Graphics Imaging Corporation Web: www.futuregraphicsllc.com, www.delacamp.com
UniNet Smartchips For Hp And Xerox Phaser LOS ANGELES – UniNet is proud to announce the release of Unichip Smartchips for some of the newest, in-demand printers in the market. Product releases include the HP CP1215/1518 and P2035/2055 series, as well as the Xerox Phaser 3250, 3300, 3600, 3635 and 7400. The latest UniNet Smartchip releases cover well over 100 different printer models. UniNet is a leading key supplier to the remanufacturing industry, offering the widest selection of laser printer Smartchips available. UniNet conducts Intellectual Property due diligence on all replacement chips, and it is committed to Smartchip design, development and procurement activities. UniNet also offers custom chip development upon request. All UniNet Smartchips are RoHs-compliant.
Contact : UniNet Web: www.uninetimaging.com.
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Industry News
Static Control Releases HP Component System Solution Future Graphics Releases Reset Gears for Brother Printers SANFORD, N.C. — Static Control has released the new HP CP2025/CM2320MFP component system for remanufacturing the CC530A–CC533A.
LOS ANGELES — Future Graphics Imaging Corporation has released compatible reset gears for the Brother HL-2140/HL-2170 monochrome printers. Starter cartridges for this engine do not come with a reset gear and cannot be remanufactured without one. The HL-2140/HL-2170 replaced the HL-2040, a best-selling, low-end monochrome printer available in big box retail stores. The FGIC reset gears come in packs of 10.
Static Control has researched, developed and manufactured all the components that are needed for these cartridges: OPC, toner, wiper blade, chip, seal, component parts, shipping protector and tools. Static Control engineers co-developed this system with our toner and OPC suppliers to create a system with the best print quality available.
Contact : Future Graphics Imaging Corporation Web:www.futuregraphicsllc.com, www.delacamp.com
Included are OEM-like page yield and quality print performance. Contact : Static Control Web: www.scceurope.co.uk, www.scc-inc.com
UniNet X-generation Black Toner For Hp P-1500, 1505 LOS ANGELES – UniNet announces the release of its new XGeneration black toner for the use in HP P1500, 1505 series Los Angeles, CA – Future Graphics Imaging Corporation (FGIC) has printers. The new released a compatible replacement chip for remanufactured Samsung toner, combined with SCX-4200 cartridges. UniNet's OPC drum, has been developed to Samsung, the world's second largest engine manufacturer, released the provide high yield, sub-$200 SCX-4200 to replace the extremely popular SCX-4100. grayscales and best The SCX-4200 is representative of a product introduced to a new area of fusing properties over the market that shows great growth potential: entry-level laser-based conventional products MFPs which are ideally suited for the SOHO market. offered in the market. The P-1505 engine, known for being one of the best selling small printers in HP history, is a must-have product for Along with OEM-like remanufacturers. compatible toner UniNet's X-Generation Black toner is offered in 100-gram bottles and it from FGIC (test is rated at 2,000 pages. The toner is also available for use in the HP results reveal virtually P1005, P1006 series, using an 80-gram fill, rated at 1,500 pages. In identical results in addition, UniNet offers a complete line of replacement Smartchips, density and drums, blades and other components for both of these engines. background with slightly greater FGIC yield), the FGIC compatible replacement chip for Samsung SCX-4200 can result in a quality aftermarket cartridge and Contact : UniNet great profits for the remanufacturer. Web: www.uninetimaging.com.
Future Graphics Imaging Corporation Releases Chip for Samsung SCX-4200
The FGIC compatible chip and toner for Samsung SCX-4200 is in stock now and ready to ship from convenient locations all over the globe. Static Control has researched, developed and manufactured all the components that are needed for these cartridges: OPC, toner, wiper blade, chip, seal, component parts, shipping protector and tools. Static Control engineers co-developed this system with our toner and OPC suppliers to create a system with the best print quality available. Included are OEM-like page yield and quality print performance. Contact : Static Control Web:www.scceurope.co.uk, www.scc-inc.com
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The Deadline for receiving Advertisements & Press releases is 20th of preceding month.
Industry News
Densigraphix Introduces Konica/Minolta New Compatible Cartridge Montreal, Quebec (Canada) – Densigraphix, announced the release of new compatible C, M, Y, K cartridges for use in the Konica/Minolta BizHub C250/C252 series copiers. “These new compatible toner cartridges are very significant product releases for Densigraphix because of the high population of these devices in North America. The Konica/Minolta BizHub C250 series equipment has been out for several years”, says Dana J. Valley, VicePresident of Sales. “More importantly, demand for these toners will continue to remain strong because they are also compatible in the C252 models.” The Konica Minolta BizHub C250, a Segment 2, full multi function machine when all options are installed, entered production September, 2005. The Konica Minolta BizHub C252, which is also a Segment 2 copier, full multi function when all options are installed, entered production January, 2007. Mitch Schwartz, Director R&D and Quality Assurance states, “All our cartridges are 100% new-build, non-patent infringing products that carry the Densigraphix Product Warranty. Our tests results indicated great color reproduction, print yield in excess of OEM and Image Density equal to or better than OEM with Zero background density.” As with all Densigraphix products, the Konica/Minolta BizHub C250/C252 new compatible cartridges are backed with a 100 percent customer satisfaction guarantee. Each cartridge is meticulously analyzed and tested, ensuring that every Densigraphix product meets or exceeds OEM equivalent density, yield and consistency from batch to batch. For more information on our products, contact your l o c a l s a l e s representative or order through the Densigraphix on-line catalog atwww.densi.com. About Densigraphix Founded in 1979, Densigraphix is a privately-held distribution company serving the copier dealer and the laser cartridge remanufacturer markets. The Company has five international facilities in Canada and the United States and conducts business in over 35 countries. Its 30-year success is driven by its mission to deliver customer satisfaction and a total commitment to offering high quality products at competitive prices. With a large inventory of replacement parts and supplies for the remanufacturing, service and supply sectors, Densigraphix is truly "Dedicated to Your Image." Contact: Densigraphix E-mail: joanneb@densi.com Web: www.densi.com
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Company Profile
No Borders; No Problem at
UniNet
With an international infrastructure of customer support and custom solutions, the supplies-side leader is a true global partner. By Recharger Magazine Staff
Nestor Saporiti has one overriding message for remanufacturers worldwide: his company is listening.
totaling some 12,000 products. Of UniNet’s 400 employees, approximately 100 serve in a sales capacity. With its growth (Saporiti says sales grew around 30 percent the last several years), keeping business on a The affable president of UniNet Imaging Inc. has molded every aspect of personal level remains a high priority. the company — from the individual sales representative to the technical support team to a global web of branch offices — with clients in mind. “The close relationship is the key point,” said Randall Lane, U.S. West Coast sales manager. “That relationship allows for prompt and UniNet does business in 120 countries, so listening to clients can immediate answers to questions and issues clients may have. It might be sometimes resemble a United Nations conference. Saporiti guesses quote requests, special product information, pricing, order tracking and UniNet’s employees speak about 20 languages. Regardless of location or back orders.. Special packaging comes into play with drop ships as we dialect, he sees more similarities than differences with clients around the have resellers that resell toner on a Web site, for example, so they need world. generic labeling and special invoicing. These are all services that help us understand a client’s needs; and understanding the specific needs of the “We listen to our clients. What all clients have in common is that they client is really important.” want you to listen to them,” said Saporiti, who speaks Spanish, Portuguese and a little Italian and French. Of course listening is one thing. Having the capability to provide the appropriate solution — oftentimes a custom or niche solution — is “If you listen to them they will explain what they want and if you can speak their language it makes it a lot easier. We have salespeople that will another. It is this combination of client service and technological knowspeak their language whether they are in Japan or Brazil or Hungary. In how that has built UniNet into a multi-million dollar company. UniNet’s combined 110, 000 Square foot complex is comprised of UniNet Head the end, we all want the same things: good product, good quality, good quarters operations, west coast and international sales departments, service at a competitive price.” R&D department and laboratories; along with storage capacity for more The company’s flagship products are its Absolute Black and Absolute than 500 printers, copiers and MFPs; a well- equipped customer training Color, X-Generation, Blended toners and chips. The catalog is thick, center to provide seminars, training and education, an area suited for an environmental chamber and more.
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Company Profile
Above: UniNet corporate staff: (clockwise from top left) Advertising Manager Erick Jones, Purchasing Agent Ximena Kelleyian, Sales Manager Randall Lane, Technical Director Neil Robinson, Controller Ingrid Johnson, Purchasing Manager Pam Santiago, Logistics Manager Mark Miyatani, VP Accounting Claudia Saporiti, President Nestor Saporiti, Sales Director Diego Gesualdi and PR Manager Marcela Gasanz. Left: UniNet maintains a worldwide presence, with its sales teams in several countries including (from left) Europe, Brazil, Venezuela and Mexico.
“We are ready for growth,” Saporiti said. “We consider ourselves a worldwide quality manufacturer and solutions provider to OEMs and remanufacturers. UniNet became the fastest growing company in the industry because we guide our clients to grow their business and market share. We constantly receive clients’ inquiries on how to become a UniNet business partner; we are recognized as their leading source to increase their profits and market share.” One of the strengths at UniNet, says Saporiti, is innovative product development, whether at its chip development facility in Las Vegas or toner blending location in New York. Products developed in-house include wiper blades, PCRs, mag rollers and doctor blades. The company also prides itself on its ability to develop specialty solutions, which might include special color chips, darker toner, matching components, MICR toner, and pigmented and dye-based inks. In the past four months alone UniNet has released its branded Unichip Smartchips for the Samsung SCX 4725 and ML3050, Dell 1815, and Okidata C5700/5600 and C5800/5500. Chip production is projected to reach 1 million units a month in the near future. “We think of ourselves more like HP. We are very good at developing products and subcontracting to manufacturers,” said Saporiti, who said OEMs or OEM subcontractors do the majority of UniNet’s contract manufacturing. “At the same time, where the aftermarket couldn’t get up to speed, we decided to take the flag and develop it ourselves, like with chips. There are so many OPC makers, that we decided to partner and invest in a production line with one of them.” UniNet’s capacity to develop new product was greatly enhanced with the acquisition of Summit Technologies in March 2007. Saporiti calls the merger the “perfect match.” Although based in the United States, UniNet has
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Company Profile
historically concentrated sales growth outside the U.S. The acquisition provided a stronger presence in the U.S. backed by the proven brand of Summit Technologies, which specializes in the development of chips and components for remanufacturing. The partnership also added East Coast distribution (from Summit’s location in New York), and seasoned sales and technical support teams. In fact, Summit’s reputation as a quality leader is so strong in the U.S. market the company decided to retain the brand and last month introduced Summit Technologies OPC drums for several HP models specially designed to work with Summit and UniNet toners. “We have found that the Summit brand is very well respected. Now we are giving a second option to our clients,” Saporiti said. Much of UniNet’s product development efforts over the years have focused on OEMs other than Hewlett-Packard and Lexmark machines or non-mainline products, as Technical Director Neil Robinson says, like Kyocera, Minolta, Xerox and Dell. Robinson and his 30 years of industry experience joined the company this year with the immediate task of organizing quality control for all distributors.
UniNet’s 2007 acquisition of New York-based Summit Technologies was the “perfect merger” according to Saporiti, bringing with it the expertise of Technical Director Mike Josiah and VP Chip Manufacturing Joe Cachia (above left) and the East Coast distribution center and sales staff.
“We want to be known for delivering these solutions and that means working with our clients on these non-mainline products. We specialize in these hard-to-find products. Our clients might have a specific application where nobody else is doing that and they can go in and grab some key business if they had a certain part, so we want to work with these guys and help them develop these products going forward,” said Robinson, who gives the example of specially developed high-yield toner for cost-per-page applications.
UniNet has greatly expanded its quality control with the addition of Technical Director Neil Robinson, who is charged with organizing quality control for all distributors. Pictured: Robinson (left) with UniNet R&D Manager Javier Gonzalez.
“What happens is that clients (who enter niche market sectors) enjoy a better profit margin than HP monochrome clients,” Saporiti said. “Unfortunately, they are all focusing on the HP market and we try to open their minds and say, ‘Hey, get a bigger mix of cartridges and you will profit from it.’ ”
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Company Profile
Joe Dovi, East Coast sales director, added, “The smart remanufacturers have figured out that it’s all about color these days. We realized this years ago and planned for the exponential growth we have experienced in the color market through extensive R&D. Clients who choose to evolve with us know we are here to help them every step of the way.” The challenge of product development for a supplier of imaging solutions such as UniNet is complicated further when dealing with an international client base. Technical Director Mike Josiah is charged with assuring product compatibility worldwide. “There are regionalized versions of the same cartridge,” Josiah said. “Sometimes it’s strictly that the coding on the chip is different, sometimes it’s the chip and a piece of plastic that changes things, in rare cases even the toner is slightly different, and there are different power UniNet’s West Coast sales team is part of a global network that requirements in different machines in different areas of the world that includes 12 owned subsidiaries and 10 distributors on five continents. affect it, so there’s a lot you need to keep in mind.” and West Coast offices in the U.S., three European locations in Spain, Another of Josiah’s responsibilities is ensuring a company-wide Hungary and the United Kingdom and offices in South Africa, China, awareness of the technical advancements of the industry. The company Japan, Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela and Argentina. uses online technology to support all staff members who may come in A local presence is advantageous on several fronts. First, it gives the contact with clients, including an internal Web site with technical info company creditability and insight into local markets. and tips, bulletin board postings and commonly asked questions. “After many years of working internationally, I can say that all the “Especially with the worldwide presence that we have and everybody in markets are almost the same,” Gesualdi said. “But to enter into certain dramatically different time zones, it equalizes everything for us and we markets you need to understand their culture, but the markets can get answers to everybody worldwide very quickly,” Josiah said. themselves are very similar.” One unique training initiative at the company is that all UniNet sales From the perspective of a value proposition, local offices allow for more reps get their hands dirty and participate in the remanufacture of competitive prices due to lower delivery costs while allowing clients to cartridges. carry less inventory. UniNet’s distribution goal is to provide the delivery “Every salesperson spends a week building cartridges,” said Josiah, who is of product to the major cities of the world within three days using ground well known for teaching remanufacturing classes at industry events as rates at less than 3 percent freight cost. well as authoring technical articles in trade publications. “They also “When price is an issue we came up with a freight solution that allows spend some time helping pick orders in the warehouse and watching the clients to not have to carry a lot of inventory because they can get it from bottle-filling operations. That way they all start off with a decent us locally. In the end it saves time and money,” Saporiti said. knowledge of all the operations in the company and have a good idea of what our clients do every day.” As with most every initiative at the company, UniNet provides educational tools and resources to anyone in the spirit of promoting The end result is a sales staff that has answers and solutions that can product quality industry-wide. The company’s Web site, which Saporiti generate business for UniNet’s clients. In many cases UniNet reps are emphasizes is not password protected, includes written and video uncovering markets that may otherwise go underdeveloped or altogether remanufacturing instructions and other technical articles, many in neglected. English and Spanish, for hundreds of models. UniNet staff member are “We train our salespeople to develop diverse markets,” said International some of the most active speakers at industry events around the world. Sales Director Diego Gesualdi. “Back in 1998 when I started developing These types of commitments highlight the UniNet culture and the South American market, I used to tell my clients to get into the color philosophy that the president has tried to ingrain into every aspect of the market, and took a lot of effort to encourage them but now they can see company. positive results. At UniNet we deeply believe in increasing “We see a very, very bright future. Something that we do here at UniNet is internationally diverse markets. reinvest our money because we believe in the industry,” Saporiti said. ” UniNet’s 12 owned subsidiaries and 10 distributors on five continents “Our mission is to develop our clients’ businesses through profits, surely aid in assisting clients with developing local markets. While the marketing plan, product development and instructions. At UniNet our imaging supplies industry has become a global marketplace for many, it’s vendors, clients, and employees are all considered as partners.” hard to imagine any company that has been more ambitious than UniNet in establishing a worldwide presence. The company currently has East Contact UniNet at www.uninetimaging.com.
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Information & Analysis
Survey Finds
Color Toner Cartridges More Popular Than Ever by Megan Hubble • Recharger Magazine
Color toner production is up again this year, with a record 48 percent of respondents to the 2009 Color Survey saying that they remanufacture color toner cartridges in-house. Respondents have also been producing color toner cartridges for longer, with 60 percent producing cartridges for three or more years, also a new record. Color production runs also set a record, with those respondents whose companies produce color toner cartridges in-house reporting an average of 5,417 per month, up from only 804 per month in the last survey.
The most popular business model for respondents is remanufacturer, selected by 56 percent of survey takers (52 percent last time). But we have far fewer cartridge resellers this year (39 percent this year versus 52 percent last time). Printer repair is the next most popular model, picked
The inkjet side is down slightly this year, with 34 percent of respondents saying they produce color inkjets in-house (down from 36 percent last time). But for the first time, we have 8 percent of respondents who report they have been producing color inkjets for more than 10 years. We also have 5 percent of respondents who are producing 100 percent color inkjets, also a record. Finding quality aftermarket components is the biggest challenge for color producers, along with finding quality aftermarket ink/toner. For those who don’t actually produce color cartridges, technical knowledge and profits are their biggest reasons to not do color. This survey was offered at World Expo in August 2008 in Las Vegas. But since the results are being printed in early 2009, we will refer to this as the 2009 survey. The previous survey was taken one year earlier, at World Expo 2007. But those results were printed in late 2007, and so are officially the 2007 data. But for ease of comparison, we will refer to that set as the results from “last time” to keep things clear. Other comparisons may be made to the 2006 survey (offered online) and the 2005 survey (the by 27 percent this year and last time, while ink/toner suppliers make up first year of the color survey, when it was offered online and through 25 percent of respondents (30 percent last time). Another 15 percent mail/fax). each picked printer parts supplier (also 15 percent last time) and empties collection (20 percent last time). The “other” category got a big jump this We had 252 people take the survey this year, as compared to 173 people year, to 12 percent from the 3 percent seen last time. The “other” results last time. Respondents report that their businesses have been around for include mostly suppliers, distributors or producers of industry supplies. an average of 13 years, up from 12 years last time, and that they have an Respondents could pick more than one business model, so results do not average of 177 employees, down from 206 employees last time. The add up to 100 percent. companies are 55 percent from the United States, and 45 percent from outside the U.S. (the split was 61 percent U.S. and 39 percent non- U.S. last time).
1) Does your company remanufacture color toner cartridges in-house? How many years has your company produced color toner cartridges?
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Information & Analysis
year, we find that almost half of respondents, 48 percent, say they produce color toner cartridges inhouse. (See Figue 1.) This is up from 38 percent last time (also 38 percent in 2006, and 33 percent in 2005). Color has been growing pretty steadily, so we can likely assume that this represents an actual increase in color production. The increasing popularity of cheaper color toner printers, from a variety of OEMs, has lead to an increase in color placement for many businesses. In fact a Lyra Research article last May indicated that the total color toner cartridge market was “expected to more than double (from 2006) to 2011.” In 2006, 66 million color toner cartridges were shipped (this includes cyan, magenta, yellow and black for color machines), the article said. Another Lyra Research article (March 2008) indicated that “Shipments of color toner cartridges worldwide surged by more than 27 percent in 2007, growing from 86.8 million in 2006 to 110.5 million last year (2007).” In the May article, Lyra predicted that more than 160 million color toner cartridges will ship in 2011. Even if current economic conditions put a slight crimp in those expansion plans, there is still high demand for color toner cartridges. In the March article, Lyra predicted that “worldwide revenue from the sales of color toner cartridges will surpass monochrome for the first time by the end of the decade.” The May Lyra Research article said that this expansion included a “rapidly growing installed base” of personal color laser printers and “printer-based color laser MFPs.” Lyra predicted that these machines would “continue gaining ground, replacing monochrome machines.”
Perhaps the increase in color toner cartridge production indicates that some of this year’s survey respondents seem to be taking advantage of this opportunity. (For more information, see “Color Toner Cartridge Market to Double in Five Years” by Cortney Kasuba of Lyra Research in the May 2008 issue and “Lyra Research’s Year in Review” by Charles Brewer of Lyra Research in the March 2008 issue of Recharger Magazine.) So while it is very likely that the increase we see this year is due to increased color production, it would be nice to rule out having more toner-heavy survey groups (perhaps all of the inkjet producers sat this one out). But this year’s survey did not ask respondents about their cartridge production habits, so we don’t know what percentage of respondents produce any toner cartridges — monochrome or color — or indeed, if they produce cartridges in-house at all. But considering the growth in the color market recently and the increases in this area seen in other surveys (including the Cartridge Production Survey in the January 2009 issue), this is likely to reflect a real trend of increased color toner cartridge production. In fact, respondents to the Cartridge Production Survey indicated that color toner cartridges make up 30 percent of the average production run, up from 16 percent last year. In fact, 85 percent of that survey’s toner cartridge producers said they produced at least some color toner cartridges in-house.
Back to looking at the Color Survey, we see that — not surprisingly — those respondents who identify their business model as Many of these machines are ripe for aftermarket cartridges, but according “remanufacturer” are much more likely to produce color toner cartridges in-house than their “reseller” brethren. In fact, 74 percent of to Lyra’s March 2008 article, in 2007, “shipments of OEM color toner remanufacturers produce color toner cartridges in-house (60 percent last cartridges outpaced third-party cartridge shipments by about 10 to 1.” time), as compared to 40 percent of resellers (not calculated last time). That means no more than 10 percent of the market (other articles Note that some respondents identified themselves as falling into both estimate 7 to 9 percent), as compared to the 32 percent enjoyed in the groups. Since the percent of respondents who said they were monochrome toner market. remanufacturers held fairly steady between the two surveys (56 percent this year versus 52 percent last time), we may assume that the numbers reflect real increases in color toner cartridge production. Not surprisingly, it appears that remanufacturers have been producing color cartridges for longer amounts of time than we have seen in previous surveys. More than half of respondents (60 percent) have produced color toner cartridges for three or more years. (See Figure 2.) Last time, only 40 percent of respondents had three or more years under their belts. The breakdown shows that there were definitely fewer newbies joining the color scene, with only 15 percent of respondents saying they had produced color cartridges for less than one year, down from 29 percent last time. The next category, one to two years, drew 25 percent this year, as compared to 31 percent last time. The category of three to four years held fairly steady, though, with 28 percent this year versus 29 percent last time. The real growth was in the upper groups: The “five to nine year” category drew 26 percent this year as opposed to 11 percent last time, and the “more than 10 years” category grabbed 6 percent, which is not a lot, but no one fell into that category last time. So clearly, most of our respondents joined in the color scene a few years ago, while a few have been involved for more than a decade.
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Information & Analysis
3) How has your in-house color toner cartridge production changed in the last two years? Most respondents say that their color production runs have increased in the last two years. In fact, 74 percent of respondents — the same as last time — indicated that production had increased, with an average increase of 39 percent (down from an average of 57 percent last time). So while respondents are still seeing increases in production, those increases are more modest, but still quite healthy. Color production stayed the same for 24 percent of respondents, as compared to 26 percent last time, and only 2 percent said they had seen a decline (up from 0 percent last time).
2) What percentage of the total toner cartridges you produce is color? Approximately how many color toner cartridges does your company produce in-house each month? For those respondents who do produce color toner cartridges inhouse, we asked them to tell us what percentage of their production run is color. This year, 43 percent of respondents say that color makes up 21 percent or more of their production run, as compared to 30 percent who fell in the same category last time. This represents a fairly steady increase over past years, since only 10 percent said it was 21 percent or more of production in 2006. Looking at the breakdown more fully, we see that 57 percent of respondents this year say color makes up 1 to 20 percent of their production runs, as compared to 70 percent last time. (See Figure 3.) The next category is 21 to 40 percent, which draws 17 percent of respondents this year, down from 24 percent last time. Color falls into the middle category (41 to 60 percent) of production for 12 percent of respondents this year, as compared to only 3 percent last time. Strangely, the 61 to 80 percent grouping stayed steady at 3 percent, but the 81 to 99 percent category jumped to 5 percent this year from zero last time. The top category — those whose production runs are 100 percent color — also got some takers this year: 6 percent chose this, up from 0 percent last time. The average number of color toner cartridges produced in-house per month is definitely up this year — to 5,417 from only 804 cartridges last time. This includes some respondents with pretty high production volumes, including one with 100,000 cartridges and several with 50,000 or more. The lowest production number is two color cartridges per month, and the median is 100 (last time the median was 50). So while color production may be growing, many are still small producers. Half of respondents are producing 100 or fewer color toner cartridges per month, and approximately 85 percent of respondents produce 1,000 or fewer color toner cartridges per month.
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Information & Analysis
The average decline reported this year was 63 percent.
Overall, 10 percent of respondents have been producing color inkjets for less than a year (29 percent last time), 19 percent have produced color It should be noted that the percentage of respondents who have seen inkjets for one to two years (26 percent last time) and 22 percent have increased production has been on the rise since the survey’s inception -— done color inkjets for three to four years (21 percent last time). Splitting in 2005, it was 59 percent, up to 70 percent in 2006, then 74 percent the the top two categories, we see that 41 percent have produced color inkjets last two surveys. Also, remember that this survey was taken in August for five to nine years (24 percent last time), while 8 percent have done so 2008 (and the previous one in August 2007), so the current economic for more than 10 years (0 percent last time). decline might not have affected production numbers as much at that point. We will have to keep an eye on this in future surveys to see if respondents continue to turn to color cartridges in a tight market, or if they reduce color production to fall back on their old standby — monochrome. 4) Does your company remanufacture color inkjet cartridges in-house? How many years has your company produced color inkjet cartridges? Color inkjet production has never been as popular as color toner cartridge production, usually because fewer people produce inkjets overall. Although we didn’t specifically ask this year about production habits (toner versus inkjet), other surveys have shown an ongoing preference for toner. The Cartridge Production Survey (January 2009 issue) found that of in-house producers (that is, those who gave production percentages), 57 percent do inkjet cartridges, versus 90 percent who produce toner cartridges (and 46 percent of the respondents do both). So, as seen in Figure 4, we are not surprised that the Color Survey finds only 34 percent of respondents produce color inkjets in-house, down from last time’s record of 36 percent (still up from 2006’s 25 percent, though). As compared to the 48 percent of respondents who produce color toner cartridges, color inkjets definitely are less popular. According to Lyra Research’s March 2008 article, worldwide inkjet shipments are still growing by a rate of approximately four percent, with more than 1.5 billion inkjet cartridges shipped worldwide in 2007 (they don’t separate out color and monochrome inkjet cartridges). This may be a slightly lower growth rate than what is forecast for color toner cartridges, but still represents a lot of cartridges out there, and the aftermarket grabs a healthy percentage of that market. The report continued, “In 2007, Lyra estimates that the aftermarket received about $6.5 billion of the total revenue from inkjet cartridges sold worldwide last year, or about 20.5 percent.” (For more information, see “Lyra Research’s Year in Review” by Charles Brewer of Lyra Research in the March 2008 issue of Recharger Magazine.) While color toner cartridges are more popular, companies are more likely to have been producing color inkjets for longer periods of time. (See Figure 5.) In fact, almost half (49 percent) of respondents say they have produced color inkjet cartridges for five or more years, up from 24 percent for the same categories last time. This isn’t too surprising, as color inkjet printers have been available at moderate or even low prices for much longer than color laser printers have been commonly available.
5) What percentage of the total inkjet cartridges you produce is color? Approximately how many color inkjet cartridges does your company produce in-house each month? Most companies (72 percent) find that their color inkjet production is between 21 and 60 percent of total production, the same percentage as last time. But more producers report higher color productions, including some with 100 percent color for the first time. (See Figure 6.) Looking more closely, we have 6 percent of respondents who say color inkjets are 1 to 20 percent of their total inkjet production (14 percent last time), while 37 percent chose the 21 to 40 percent category (down from 40 percent last time). We had 35 percent choose the 41 to 60 percent category (32 percent last time) and 12 percent picked 61 to 80 percent (14 percent last time). But 5 percent each picked 81 to 99 percent and 100 percent, both of which drew 0 percent last time. So we see that production is shifting slightly to the higher end of the scale with more companies reporting that color inkjets make up the majority of their inkjet production. As for actual numbers, the average this year is 18,535 color inkjets produced in-house per month. This is down significantly from last time’s average of 57,298 color inkjets per month, although the average in 2006 was only 406 and it was 15,528 in 2005.
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Information & Analysis
This year’s production covers a wide range — from two companies that are Once again, the most-cited challenge with color production is finding producing only four color inkjets per month to three large producers quality aftermarket components, selected by 39 percent of respondents with 300,000, 350,000 and 500,000 respectively. The median for this to the question, up from 34 percent last time. (See Figure 7.) There is a tie year is 1,000 color inkjets, based on the 76 color inkjet producers in the for second place again this year, with 31 percent each choosing survey. expenses/profit margins and technical knowledge (also 31 percent each last time). The challenge of finding quality aftermarket ink/toner affects Last time (when we had fewer survey takers, so only 43 color inkjet 29 percent (same as last time), while 28 percent say they have a tough time producers), the smallest producer did 50 color inkjets per month, the sourcing empties (22 percent last time). largest producer reported 1.5 million, and the median was actually only 250 color inkjets per month. Without that top producer, the average was There is often a fairly wide divide between the challenges cited by those 22,948, much closer to this year’s average. who actually produce color cartridges and those who do not. This year is no exception. For color producers, 54 percent say finding quality So while the average seems to have declined, the median is higher this aftermarket components is a challenge, followed by finding quality year, meaning that the majority of respondents are producing more aftermarket ink/toner (40 percent). Sourcing empties is next (37 cartridges this year. Last time, 72 percent of color inkjets producers did percent), followed by expenses/profit margins (35 percent), technical fewer than 1,000 color inkjet cartridges a month. This year, only 49 knowledge (34 percent) and other (3 percent). The “other” responses percent fall into that category. include “economy,” “finding new customers” and “convincing (customers) that my remanufactured (cartridges) are better than compatibles.” For those who don’t produce color cartridges, the most popular reason not to do so is technical knowledge, cited by 32 percent. We find that 31 percent say that expenses/profit margins would be a problem, while 27 percent said quality aftermarket components would be an issue. A quarter (25 percent) say they have some “other” issue, while 23 percent think sourcing empties is a challenge and 18 percent think finding quality aftermarket ink and toner would be tough. It should be noted that the “other” responses in this category indicated that many respondents think color production is outside their company’s role. Responses include several “not interested” answers, as well as multiple replies that the company is a “supplier” or “manufacturer,” plus more specific responses of “toner manufacturer,” “only supplies,” “not our business,” etc. One respondent says he “prefers to outsource,” another says
6) How has your in-house color inkjet cartridge production changed in the last two years? So if there are more companies with higher production runs this year, we would expect the majority of respondents to say their production has increased in the last two years. This is, in fact, the case, with 65 percent saying production is up in the past two years ago, with an average increase of 33 percent. Last time, 73 percent of respondents picked this category, with an average increase of 47 percent. In 2006, 64 percent had seen an average increase of 39 percent. This year, 22 percent said production stayed the same (27 percent last time), while 13 percent experienced a decline (0 percent last time). The average decrease in color inkjet production this year was 22 percent. 7) What are the challenges with producing (or reasons you don’t produce) color cartridges in-house?
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Information & Analysis
Now we look at the same question on the inkjet side. Selling outsourced aftermarket color inkjet cartridges is done by 54 percent, down from 57 percent last time. Similar to what we saw on the toner side, fewer than half of those who said “No” are remanufacturers. Most identify with other business models, including “cartridge reseller” (a business model that we might expect to be involved in reselling aftermarket inkjets), as well as “other,” “ink/toner supplier,” and “empties collection,” all of which might not sell cartridges at all. Selling OEM color inkjet cartridges is also less popular this year, with 58 percent saying they do this, down from 62 percent last time. So now we have asked respondents a little more about their cartridge selling habits, we can try to identify those who don’t appear to sell any color cartridges at all. This group includes those who said they do not produce color toner or inkjet cartridges in-house, and they do not
he just “doesn’t produce,” while “volume” is a challenge for someone else. It appears that many of the respondents don’t produce color cartridges because they don’t produce any cartridges at all, due to being a supplier or outsourcer. But still, there does seem to be a disconnect between the actual challenges faced by color producers and by the perceived difficulties that nonproducers expect. Non-producers seem to be hung up on technical knowledge and profits, while finding aftermarket components or ink/toner is really the toughest thing for color producers. 8) Do you resell aftermarket or OEM color toner cartridges? We find that 56 percent of respondents sell outsourced aftermarket color toner cartridges, down slightly from 58 percent last time, but down more from the 72 percent seen in 2006. (See Figure 8.) We have fewer respondents who say they are primarily resellers this year, which may account for some of the difference. But many of these respondents produce their own color cartridges inhouse, while others are not cartridge sellers at all. In fact, fewer than half of the people who said “No” to this question indicate that they are remanufacturers, with “other,” “ink/toner supplier” and “printer repair” as the other business models cited. The “other” category includes responses of “copier sales/service/supplies,” “processing,” “containers,” “office products reseller,” “toner manufacturer,” “raw materials,” “trade show,” “consulting/ research,” “compatible printer ribbons,” “parts/consumables database,” “distributor” and “factory.” More popular this year is reselling OEM color toner cartridges, done by 62 percent of respondents (the same as last time, but down from 67 percent in 2006). (See Figure 9.) 9) Do you resell aftermarket or OEM color inkjet cartridges?
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sell aftermarket or OEM color inkjet or toner cartridges. This year, this group is made up of 31 respondents (12 percent out of 252 total survey takers) who answered all the relevant questions (there are probably others who don’t sell cartridges but left some of the six questions blank). Of these, three say they are remanufacturers, so it is likely that they do monochrome cartridges only. No one in this group is primarily a cartridge reseller. This leaves 11 percent who are not cartridge sellers, but must be involved in some other area of the industry. Last time, the similar group was 19 percent of respondents, including 2 percent who were likely monochrome remanufacturers, leaving 17 percent who were probably not cartridge sellers or producers. In 2006, when the survey was offered online instead of at World Expo, the survey only drew 1 percent of respondents who did not produce or sell cartridges. Clearly World Expo attendees represent a diverse crosssection of the industry.
Information & Analysis
10) Which best describes the color market for your company?
“Tiny.”
Respondents say that the most popular description of the color market “Business use, local corporations, must use monochrome.” for their company is that color is a small part of their business, but “The main (part) is the OEM.” growing. (See Figure 10.) This was selected by 30 percent of respondents. “Good.” The second most popular statement (picked by 28 percent) was that color is an important part of their business, but not their main offering. Next “It’s growing, but there are a lot of printers. It’s a great investment.” was the response that color is a small part of their business and it will “Increasing.” probably stay that way, picked by 17 percent of survey takers. “Up 70 percent in two years.” Another 13 percent say that color is a small part of their business, but that it will be their biggest in the future. To this point, the results are ranked in“We don’t sell it.” the same order as last time, although the numbers can’t be directly “Is increasing.” compared because the method for calculating the results was slightly “Want to grow bigger and sell more.” modified. But this year, also tied at 13 percent we find the statement that color is the“Health care/education,” “government and commercial,” “end-user” — biggest sector of their business, which makes it more popular than it was likely the markets where color sales are higher. last time. This isn’t that surprising since, for the first time this year, we “Inks big, toner small.” have a number of respondents who say they produce 100 percent color “Business to business — mixed monochrome and color.” cartridges. Least popular are the “we don’t sell or remanufacture color cartridges” category with 3 percent and the “other” category with 0 percent. In general, we see that most respondents see color continuing to grow, and many see it becoming a major offering (or it is their biggest sector already). Only 17 percent predict color will stay a small part of their business. Note that for this question, respondents could choose more than one answer, so percentages do not add up to 100.
“Room for growth.” “Not pushing.” “Getting big.” “It’s growing fast — Toners.” “Key item.” “We sell OEM.”
“Challenging.” In addition, more than 100 respondents also wrote in an answer to describe how the color market is going for their company. These will help “Necessary.” you get an idea what your fellow industry members think about the color “Growing.” market and its outlook. “Large-format inkjet.” The results include the following responses about color: “Our customers prefer the OEM color toner.” “50 to 60 percent of business and growing.” “We manufacture pigment inkjet. It’s growing in this field significantly.” “Slowly moving.” “Sell raw materials into the color market.” “Growing.” “Stable and growing.” “Epson,” “HP,” “Epson, HP,” “HP and Canon” — likely describing which “Good.” color cartridges they sell. “Growing every year.”
“(Color is) our strategy mainly.”
“It’s a big challenge. We need more information (technical) and better components.”
“Important.”
“We sell OEM color toners and ink.” “Growing.”
“1X increase in color cartridges each year.” “Volume is growing monthly.” “Still exploring.” “Rechargers need to crack it.” “We sell and refill all ink cartridges.”
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Industry Briefing
“Memjet's technology is indeed revolutionary in its design and potential impact on the market,” Palmer said. “For some time, InfoTrends has predicted a much broader expansion of ink-based technology into general office applications. Our premise is based on some basic principles: ink costs less than toner, the print quality that can bedelivered is excellent, and the inkjet imaging requires fewer moving parts compared with laser. We believe that ink-based technology offers many variables to address the number-one barrier to increased color penetration in the office: high-operating costs for color.”
Memjet Refills: What it Means for the Aftermarket By Recharger Staff
When Memjet wasfirst displayed in March of 2007, it was accepted that the super-fast color printing technology would eventually gain a sizable share of the market. As the technology is still waiting to be brought to market in 2009, what portion the aftermarket might eventually gain was still very much unclear.
The page-wide Memjet print head doesn’t move, unlike typical scanning inkjet print heads, cutting down on noise. “One of its most significant One question concerned the refilling of the Memjet cartridges and what and underestimated aspects is that printers using it are extremely quiet, which is likely to be especially attractive in small office and home impact that would have on the aftermarket. environments,” Hoffenberg said. Memjet has posted on its Web site that, “Ink cartridges sold by Memjet’s OEM customers will be able to be refilled via an authorized refill process. With its low-cost and high-speed capabilities, could Memjet technology reshape the printing world landscape? While we have not disclosed the details of this process, our intent is to allow third parties to refill our home and office customer’s ink cartridges Bob Bloom, co-founder and vice president of INK & TONER USA, said, through a common authorized process and business model that assures “While Memjet may provide a powerful technology, OEMs offering great print quality and performance from our customers printer Memjet-based solutions should be aware of the increasing frustration devices.” among users, both businesses and consumers, with the rapidly increasing cost per page of printing — with decreasing cartridge ink levels coupled with big price increases. Spurred by a strong desire to find cost-savings along with a renewed environmental awareness, users willbe reluctant to embrace yet another new technology that forces them to buy only ‘OEMapproved’ supplies, unless they find the value proposition — from their perspective, not the OEMs — to be extremely compelling.”
“This could be very significant,” said Robert Palmer, director of printer research for InfoTrends’ office document technologies group. “Vendors in the inkjet market today fight a continuous battle with aftermarket cartridge suppliers and cartridge refillers. By designing its products so that authorized refilling is possible, Memjet could effectively eliminate Steve Hoffenberg, director, consumer imaging research for Lyra Research Inc. said, “Memjet’s refilling process will likely have a significant impact on the aftermarket, roughly in proportion to Memjet's market share. That is given Memjet’s plan for readily available lowcost authorized refills, there will be little or no aftermarket for these printers.” At press time, Memjet's host brands — Memjet Labels, Memjet Home and Office, Memjet Photo Retail and Memjet Wide Format — were expecting to make announcements separately this year about release dates with a number of brand customers on the launch of products. Memjet technology has promised to deliver letter-sized pages at 60 pages per minute, way above the inkjet industry standard. Kim Beswick, vice president of marketing for Memjet Home and Office, has said that printers that could deliver 60 ppm would likely sell for $300 to $500. Memjet will sell its components (including print heads, driver chips and ink) to OEMs to install in their own printers.
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Industry Briefing
Marking a Milestone
led to the certification of the companies that proved that they were properly and consistently using the test methods.
STMC Certification: A Decade of Providing Proof of Superior Products
STMC certification indicates that the company’s products — and the company that produces them — are elite. The certification also generates income, because premium products command premium prices; it says its producers put quality first. Cheap products can’t compete.
by Tricia Judge • International Imaging Technology Council
Standardized Test Methods Committee (STMC) certification quietly passed its 10th birthday recently, but was celebrated nonetheless as remanufacturers in Argentina, the U.S., Japan, Mexico and even the Ukraine achieved the distinction of becoming STMC certified in the month of January alone.
It is fairly inexpensive to secure the certification. An investment of less than $3,500, comprised of $2,500 in equipment and the traveling expenses of a trainer, get a company started. After the company is trained and its tests have been approved, the company pays an additional $1,000 to receive its certification and license to use the STMC logo on its products for four years. Securing the certification is a relatively easy process. There are four steps each company must take to become an STMC Compliant Company: Get trained. Contact a certified trainer to set up the training. (The list of trainers, equipment and standards are available at www.i-itc.org).
Worldwide Manufacturing E.D. celebrates achieving certification with its STMC instructor Matthias Henze (left) at its Ukraine headquarters in January.
And also in January, in Atlanta, the ASTM International F05 Committee on Business Imaging Products met to establish more of the standardized test methods in use by the STMC, the aftermarket and OEMs alike. For more than two decades, this committee has done the heavy lifting when it comes to drafting, reviewing and passing test methods. ASTM International is an objective test method development organization, and ASTM’s F05 Committee is chiefly responsible for developing the test methods that are employed in the STMC guides.
Be equipped. Before the trainer arrives, acquire the test methods and read them, and make sure that the necessary training documents and equipment are already on site. The required documents and equipment, as well as sources for purchasing them, can be found at www.iitc. org/stmequipment.htm. Get certified. The trainer will demonstrate and instruct the company’s technicians on the proper use of the equipment and test methods. This can take as little as a few hours to complete, depending on the preparedness of those being trained. The company gets trained and demonstrates it owns the correct test equipment.
Although just about every major remanufacturer on the planet is STMC The trainee submits a report to the trainer. If the trainer approves it, it is certified, new industry members are unfamiliar with STMC and the sent on to the reviewers, Lester Cornelius and Dr. John Wyhof. If the ASTM and other test methods that make up the certification program. trainer or reviewer does not approve the report, additional explanation is STMC was established in 1999 to encourage and train companies to use given to the company to correct the mistakes. The company remedies the standardized test methods in the production of remanufactured errors and the corrected report is approved by the reviewers. They send an e-mail to the International Imaging Technology Council, notifying it cartridges. The STMC developed and adopted the standards, and that the company has successfully achieved STMC compliance and compiled those tests to a guide that is used by monochrome toner should receive its certification. cartridge remanufacturers. STMC’s secondary mission is to educate endusers or buyers as to what such testing means when purchasing remanufactured cartridges. The committee has created a program that
Receive the STMC logo.The company will also receive instructions on
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Industry Briefing
how to use its logo and unique registration number. It must agree that it swiftly and unanimously endorsed it for use by the industry. The STMC will use the test methods routinely and to use the logo appropriately. Guide is available on the Int’l ITC Web site at www.i-itc.org. The company must also pay the $1,000 certification and license fee.
In the beginning, only Dr. Wyhof and Cornelius trained companies. But the demand for training quickly overwhelmed the two men. There are now about a dozen authorized trainers, in addition to Dr. Wyhof and Cornelius, who can train and certify companies. These trainers have to prove their proficiency by regular training sessions.
Certification is good for a four-year period, after which the company must again submit a test and prove it has retained proficiency in STMC testing and renew its certification and license. The Genesis of Standardized Testing: It started with the law
In 2003, the members of the STMC voted to become affiliated with the Int’l ITC. The move paved the way for the joint certification program for standardized testing.
Between 1997 and 1999, industry advocates pushed through new legislation in several states that gave a preference to remanufactured printer cartridges.
STMC in Color Although this was a great victory, it carried with it an unforeseen consequence. Generally, government purchasing processes rely on a “lowest bid” requirement. So the cheapest cartridge would be purchased, and the buyers could be dissatisfied. All of the purchasing agencies in the affected states had previous bad experiences with remanufactured cartridges. The legislators understood why remanufacturing was good, but the purchasers’ experiences were all bad. Like the test methods it employs, the STMC was developed carefully and thoughtfully. The idea for STMC started on a pier in Seattle at an ASTM meeting in 1998, when the participants asked that age old question, “what if…” What if the industry had a battery of ASTM or other tests that allowed remanufacturers of all sizes to compare their cartridges to those of any other producer, including those of the OEMs. Industry participants convened at the Rochester Institute of Technology’s National Center for Remanufacturing and Resource Recovery (RIT). It was fitting for the printer cartridge remanufacturing industry to have its first effort at establishing quality assurance standards at RIT. The Center’s director Dr. Nabil Nasr lent the facility’s resources and expertise in helping form the STMC and the testing criteria it sought to define. STMC testing occurs daily Representatives from more than 40 companies attended that meeting. The companies represented a balanced cross-section of the industry that faced the challenge of what to do to elevate the industry’s quality and image. At the culmination of the day’s events, a vote was taken to establish a committee to find technically legitimate test methods for all to use. The newly established Standardized Test Methods Committee was formed, with Cornelius elected to chair the committee. Joining Cornelius in test method leadership was Dr. Wyhof, who was the chairman of the ASTM International F05 Committee on Business Imaging Products. Dr. Wyhof and Cornelius created the draft that subsequently became the STMC guide that is the blueprint for achieving certification. These methods measure image density, background, cartridge yield and package integrity. The members of the STMC debated the guide and its test methods, but
at recognized industry companies like InkCycle in Lenexa, Kan.
At the Int’l ITC meeting in 2003, it was clear that the STMC was meeting its mandate in monochrome laser products, but inkjet business was exploding, and there was no committee in place to meet that demand. When confronted with the problem, Recharge Technologies International’s Marcel Kunz quickly rose to the occasion and volunteered to serve as the committee chairman. Within six months, the STMC committee for inkjet had been formed and its 20- plus members were busy trying to determine which tests were needed to implement an inkjet version of the STMC guide.
Color imaging products — both ink and toner-based — offer a host of problems that are not present with monochrome products, so the testing protocol will be far more complicated to develop. ASTM Chairman Ray Kifer of Ink Technology continues to labor to produce the needed inkjet standardized tests. Dr. Wyhof and Cornelius remain the only STMC program auditors. They receive tests from recentlytrained companies to determine if they understand how to properly implement STMC tests without the trainer present. They also audit tests from companies whose certification has expired. As of today more than 120 companies have been STMC certified in dozens of countries around the globe.
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Industry Briefing
More than 10 more have been trained in the process of becoming certified.
ASTM International for remanufactured toner cartridges,” and that each “vendor shall employ a minimum of one individual who has completed the current STMC certification training.”
STMC testing was the first initiative to be accepted by the general public, particularly by educated buyers from large institutions and the TxDOT may be a pioneer, but it has lots of company now. Purchasing government. agencies in many federal agencies, states, cities and municipalities have incorporated STMC certification into their bid requirements. It would be five years before the OEMs started catching up with ISO test methods that they endorsed. The Int’l ITC averages 10 calls per week by customers, institutional and government buyers regarding STMC certification. Most of these are The ISO test methods have largely been criticized for their complexity from first-time buyers looking to buy STMC certified cartridges. and expense. The OEMs have also released a number of so-called independent reports assailing the quality of remanufactured cartridges. But STMC testing and reports are being used to contradict those findings.
For more information, call the Int'l ITC at 702-8384279 or visit www.i-itc.org. Tricia Judge is the executive director of the International Imaging Technology Council. She may be reached at exec@i-itc.org.
The STMC inkjet committee is grappling with the special problems inkjet testing presents.
The Outcome: States start buying cartridges based on quality Texas became the first state to require any remanufacturing company that wanted to enter a bid for government business to prove it was STMC certified. The Texas Department of Transportation’s Recycling Services Coordinator Sam Reyes wanted to get his state to use remanufactured cartridges, but was aware of the negative reputation the products had acquired. Reyes started working with certified remanufacturers in the state of. Texas to slowly reintroduce the cartridges to his offices. In 2000, TxDOT awarded its first remanufactured cartridge contract (10 products) for Austin area offices. City by city and agency by agency, Texas started buying an increasing number of STMC certified remanufactured cartridges. And as the program — and purchases — grew, so did the popularity of the program. Reyes and his associates annually review the specifications for technology updates and departmental needs. TxDOT’s specifications now require “cartridge quality criteria to meet or exceed the cartridge industry standards adopted by the Standardized Test Methods Committee (STMC), or the latest guidelines adopted by the
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Advertiser Index Company Name Atta
Association Contacts
Page 33
Ph: +86 27 87876887 E-mail: atta@atta.com.cn Web: www.atta.com.cn
Future Graphics
1,38,39
Tel: 0 22-28245629 Fax:0 22-28244590 E-Mail:cantronics@vsnl.net
Indian Toners & Developers Ltd.
12
Ph: +91 5960 228148 Fax: +91 5960 228175 E-mail: plant@indiantoners.com Web: www. indiantoners.com
ITONE Inc.
9
Phone : +91 22 24229166 E-mail : sanghviab@gmail.com
Indrayani Sales Pvt. Ltd.
29,30
Tel : +91-22 4040 4040 Fax : +91- 22 4040 4242 E-mail: sales@printindia.com Web: www.printindia.com
OPC Technology Japan Pvt. Ltd.
26
Ph: +91 120 2341892 Fax: +91 120 2341887 E-mail:sales@opcdrumsindia.com Web: www.opcdrumsindia.com
Static Control Components
42,43
Tel: +44 118 923 8800 Fax: +44 118 923 8811 Email: info@scceurope.co.uk Web: scceurope.co.uk
UniNet Imaging Inc.
3,5,46,47
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15,19,23,36
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