Issue4--1-48.indd 1
2010-6-23 17:11:25
Recycling Times Magazine
RecyclingTimes The magazine by the industry, for the industry.
Publisher & Managing Director Tony Lee tony@therecycler.com.cn
Director
Sabrina Lo sabrina@therecycler.com.cn
Editorial Editors Jessica Yin magazine@therecycler.com.cn Sophia Jiang editor@therecycler.com.cn Cherry Xu translator@therecycler.com.cn
Designer Adam Lin design@therecycler.com.cn
Web Designer Gonn Zeng web@therecycler.com.cn
Sales Sales Manager Anna Leung anna@therecycler.com.cn
Account Manager Kevin Zhu kevin@therecycler.com.cn
Sales Executives Joy He mktas@therecycler.com.cn Sally He sales@therecycler.com.cn Susi Guo Sales02@therecycler.com.cn
Operation and Marketing Operation Manager Charles Lee charles@therecycler.com.cn
Operation Assistant
William Feng operation@therecycler.com.cn
Marketing Manager Morrow Miao morrow@therecycler.com.cn
Accounting Feng Li account@therecycler.com.cn
Published by
editorial editorial www.recyclingtimes.com.cn
A
ccording to IDC, the worldwide hardcopy peripherals market grew 9.1% year over year with 28.7 million units shipped in Q1 of 2010. Regionally, Asia Pacific had the highest year-overyear growth rate in terms of both units and shipment value, while Western Europe is the only region where the hardcopy peripherals market did not return to growth. Recycling Times did a survey of Chinese third-party supplies manufacturers about their first quarter performance. 66.7% of the surveyed companies reported growth. However, Chinese manufacturers face more challenges with the rise of production costs: higher labor cost, raw materials soaring in price, the appreciating Chinese currency, and lower export tariff rebates. Last month, we reported the birth of the first commercially available Memjet label printers. This issue we turn our attention to the Memjet letter/ A4 printers. When are we going to see the first home and office printer from Memjet? Our exclusive interview with Kim Beswick, Vice President of Marketing for Memjet Home & Office, will unveil the development of the printer. Art Diamond will bring his 55 years of industry experience to the role of Chairman of the first Global Remanufacturing Industry General Assembly. I really appreciate that Art, the trade associations and industry media are giving their support to GRIGA. GRIGA will play an important role in bringing the industry together by openly discussing important issues facing the industry as whole. The hall we had planned for RemaxAsia Expo 2010 can no longer contain all the companies who want to exhibit at the show. To satisfy the demand from our customers, we decided to open Hall 2 at the Zhuhai Airshow Center. This will add 68 more booths to the show. As the organizer, we will do our very best to pull together the resources for the GRIGA and the trade show. There is a lot to read in this issue. Don’t forget to take a break and read Recycling Times while enjoying the FIFA World Cup in South Africa!
Recycler Publishing & Events (Zhuhai) Ltd.
Address
RecyclingTimes
5F Pacific Insurance Building, Jiuzhou Ave, Zhuhai, China ISSN 1991-9859 Tel：+86 (0)756 3220716 Fax：+86 (0)756 3220717 Email：info@therecycler.com.cn Website：www.recyclingtimes.com.cn
2
Tony Lee Publisher & Managing Director All rights reserved. © 2010 by Recycler Publishing & Events (Zhuhai) Ltd. The contents are not be to copied or republished without official written consent. The editorial content does not represent official positions of Recycler Publishing & Events (Zhuhai) Ltd.
July 2010 | www.recyclingtimes.com.cn
Issue4--1-48.indd 2
2010-6-23 17:11:38
Recycling Times Magazine
contents contents
Diamond to chair first General Assembly of Remanufacturing Industry
www.recyclingtimes.com.cn
Art Diamond will bring his 55 years of industry experience to the role of Chairman of the first Global Remanufacturing Industry General Assembly (GRIGA). GRIGA’S charter meeting takes place on 25 September 2010 in Zhuhai, China, a city known as “the world capital of printer consumables”.
Industry Updates
4
Diamond to chair first General Assembly of Remanufacturing Industry
6
HP sued, allegedly stole printer cartridge secrets
7
RemaxAsia Expo listed among Top 500 Modern Industry Projects in Guangdong Province
Long-awaited Memjet printer comes The first printer with Memjet technology finally came on April 20, though the technology has thus far only been commercially applied to a label printer. We, again, interviewed Kim Beswick, Vice President of Marketing for Memjet Home & Office to find out the latest development of the first Memjet letter/A4 printers.
Nanjing Yunsu granted with patent on automatic inkjet refilling machine
Patent right ownership disputes between employee and employer
Coates Toners to install new color toner lines
8
Print-Rite won government procurement in more cities
9
Wuhan Pointrole approved innovation results
In fact, the two important factors that determine whether a patent is a service intention-creation are whether the employee uses the material and technical means of a company he belongs to in order to invent the patented product or solution and whether the invention is made in the execution of tasks for the company.
RemaxAsia Expo 2010 opens one more exhibition hall
China Printer Industry Summit 2010 concluded Eco Service enjoys record-high quarter
10
Recycler Zhuhai promotes RemaxAsia Expo 2010
Product Release
12
eLabs India releases Rainbow cartridges
New from Static Control
30
Asia Pacific growing for HP
34 36
Canon India launches 15 new products
A bright outlook with some challenges ——The Chinese printer supplies industry in 2010
Information is power ——Using a customer survey questionnaire
Fuji Xerox establishes sales company in Vietnam
Long-awaited Memjet printer comes
Six questions on Static Control’s View on Demand Webinar Encounters with ink and toner ——Interviewing Shenzhen Prinker Printing Technology Co., Ltd.
Legal Issues
39
Patent right ownership disputes between employee and employer
Tech Zone
Features
16
Worldwide hardcopy peripherals market grows 9.1% in the first quarter
Showcase
Epson to sell inkjet printer that lowers ink costs
15
Laser cartridges OEM vs. aftermarket trends in imaging supplies
Profiles OEM news
14
20 24 26
Pelikan announces monochrome toner for Lexmark T650 Faroudja offers MICR toner for HP 4100
13
Market Data
Print-Rite Innovation Award 2010 Competition begins
44
Remanufacturing the HP LaserJet P3015 toner cartridges
www.recyclingtimes.com.cn | July 2010
Issue4--1-48.indd 3
3
2010-6-23 17:11:39
Recycling Times Magazine
Industry updates
Diamond to chair first General Assembly of Remanufacturing Industry
A
rt Diamond, who is regarded as “a forefather” of the remanufacturing industry, will bring his 55 years of industry experience to the role of Chairman of the first Global Remanufacturing Industry General Assembly (GRIGA). GRIGA’S charter meeting will take place on 25 September 2010 in Zhuhai, China, a major hub for the world’s consumables business. The aim of the conference is to enhance the worldwide understanding of trends, directions and standards in the development of the copier and printer consumables aftermarket. Another purpose will be to share the experience of promoting ecofriendly, remanufactured products and the remanufacturing philosophy to the public, thereby promoting the healthy and steady development of the remanufacturing industry around the globe. GRIGA was initiated by Recycler Publishing & Events (Zhuhai) Ltd, organizer of this charter event. Art Diamond is a 55-year veteran of the imaging industry, having worked in this field continuously since 1955. He is currently President of Diamond Research Corporation (DRC), a high technology consulting and chemical engineering firm he formed in April 1968 specializing in toner, inkjet ink and media R&D, production and marketing. Diamond is also Chairman of The Tiara Group, LLC a trade show management firm he spun off of DRC on July 1, 2001 to perpetuate a series of seminars and trade shows held in Australia, Belgium, China, Mexico, Switzerland and the USA since 1984. Upon accepting the invitation to chair the GRIGA forum, Diamond said, “It is an honor to have been selected to serve in this capacity. The mission of this esteemed group of world leaders in the imaging consumables aftermarket is to promote the establishment and support of quality standards and
4
to educate consumers on the virtues of remanufacturing. Among those merits are the three Es: Economic savings, Employment creation and Ecological benefits.” He added, “I further believe that suppliers have taken an important lead by offering new biotoners to the imaging materials aftermarket. With further development, the biocontent of these cutting edge products will continue to increase, adding to the greening
▲ Art Diamond
of office imaging operations. They will help reduce our dependence on petroleumbased resins in toner powders. They will also enhance the world’s view of aftermarket suppliers as leaders rather than followers.” Tony Lee, Managing Director of Recycler Publishing & Events (Zhuhai) Ltd, showed his excitement about the forthcoming event as he commented, “GRIGA will play an important role in bringing the industry together by openly discussing important issues facing the industr y as a whole. Diamond has extensive knowledge and experience in imaging technology, the market, and event organizing. His engagement in the Global Assembly is another guarantee for the
success of this groundbreaking industr y event. As the organizer of the first GRIGA and RemaxAsia Expo, we will do our very best to pull together the resources needed to make both the Assembly and the trade show an outstanding success.” Regional and international associations in the industry from China, Europe, India, and the UK have already confirmed that they will present when the Assembly sits for the first time in September. The supporting media for this event include Recycling Times from China, ISG from France, Rechargeast Magazine from Russia, Consumables Magazine from Spain, and ENX Magazines from the USA. The Municipal government of Zhuhai, the host city of the event, strongly supports the Global Remanufacturing Industry General Assembly, and expressed a warm welcome to the trade associations, media, and delegates across the world. Static Control will broadcast the Assembly live around the world with its Webinar Program. Future Graphics will sponsor the luncheon for the first Global Remanufacturing Industry General Assembly held on September 25, 2010. The day after GRIGA, RemaxAsia Expo will take place, running from September 2628. Delegates to the Assembly can join with over 8,000 visitors to meet more than 350 exhibitors at the trade show. Zhuhai, and cities nearby, are home to a large number of printer supplies manufacturers. You are welcome to visit many of these manufacturing facilities after the trade show and experience the rapid development and expansion of our industry in this part of the world. For more information about the Global Remanufacturing Industry General Assembly, please visit www.visitremax.com.cn, or contact Sabrina Lo at sabrina@therecycler. com.cn.
July 2010 | www.recyclingtimes.com.cn
Issue4--1-48.indd 4
2010-6-23 17:11:40
Issue4--1-48.indd 5
2010-6-23 17:11:42
Recycling Times Magazine
Industry updates
HP sued, allegedly stole printer cartridge secrets
H
ewlett-Packard was sued on June 9, by a New Jersey company that accused HP of stealing and using its trade secrets to make replacement laser printer cartridges, and threatening
its survival. In its complaint, filed in Manhattan federal court, Turbon International Inc alleged that Hewlett-Packard had promised in December 2008 to give it lucrative contracts to manufacture replacement cartridges, and later awarded it some contracts. But the world's largest maker of personal computers and printers shelved these plans in January 2010, after Turbon had "methodically disclosed every intricate detail of its business" the complaint said. Turbon said Hewlett-Packard gained a "unique understanding" of the importance of the availability of empty printer cartridges to its business and further damaged it by pushing customers to instead recycle their cartridges. "Hewlett-Packard has sought to effectively crush Turbon," the complaint said. "Turbon's business is in peril and any further actions by Hewlett-Packard to use or disclose Turbon's confidential trade secret information would be fatal for Turbon and the remanufacturing industry as a whole." Turbon is based in Cinnaminson, New Jersey, a suburb of Philadelphia. According to its website, it is a unit of Germany's Turbon AG, whose sales totaled 85.9 million euros ($102.9 million) in 2009. The lawsuit seeks damages for fraudulent inducement, misappropriation of trade secrets and unfair competition, a ban on the use of improperly obtained secrets, and other remedies. Hewlett-Packard is based in Palo Alto, California, and did not immediately return requests for comment. A lawyer for Turbon declined to elaborate on the complaint, including on the potential damages sought.
6
Nanjing Yunsu granted patent on automatic inkjet refilling machine
T
he Chinese State Intellectual Property Office has issued a certificate and awarded Nanjing Yunsu Technology Co., Ltd a patent for its intellectualized automatic inkjet cartridge refilling machine and its assocaited refilling methods. The intellectualized automatic inkjet cartridge refilling machine and the refilling method, is based on the vacuum inkjet cartridge refilling machine which has been awarded a patent previously. It reserves these original advantages of no puncture, no label uncover and drawing off residual ink and sediment first, then refilling the new ink. There are six innovation points: • Electronic control of amount of ink added. The machine will automatically carry out the instruction without artificial control after pressing the key and setting the demanded ink refilling amount. • Large amount” settings. Press the “Large amount” button, the machine can refill ink quickly for large capacity cartridge whose volume is above 50ml. • Memory of ink refill amounts. After setting the ink refilling amount and finishing the ink refilling for one ink cartridge, there is no need to reset it if the ink refill amounts for subsequent ink cartridges are the same. All you need to do is to press the return key to return the ink refill amount set originally. Therefore, this machine is very suitable for the successive ink refilling of a number of ink cartridges of the same type, such as the production of new ink cartridges or efficient mass regeneration of ink cartridges. • Searching for ink refilling times and quantities. By connecting a computer to the serial port of the machine, the times for refilling of inks of any brand and any color as well as the amount and specific time needed for each ink refilling can be retrieved from the machine. • Fast automatic clamp. If you pull the clamp, and put the cartridge in the automatic clamp it is easy to operate. • Maintenance-free vacuum pump. The vacuum pump, which is installed in the machine body, is a kind of oil-free and maintenance-free pump. In is way, it avoids the requirement for making up and changing oil on an ordinary vacuum pump and is easily deposited and transported. For more information, please visit Nanjing Yunsu website at www.njyskj.com/cn/index.html or e-mail to njyskj@sina.com or call +86 25 85553922.
July 2010 | www.recyclingtimes.com.cn
Issue4--1-48.indd 6
2010-6-23 17:11:44
Recycling Times Magazine
Industry updates
RemaxAsia Expo listed among Top 500 Modern Industry Projects in Guangdong Province
R
emaxAsia Expo is one of the five professional trade shows to be listed in the ‘Top 500 Modern Industry Projects of Guangdong Province’. Zhuhai, dubbed the World Capital of Printer Consumables, has more than 300 companies engaging in the manufacture of printer supplies with a combined export volume of more than 13 billion Yuan (about US$1.9 billion). RemaxAsia Expo brings together the collective knowledge and technologies with a “booth in front, factory at back” model for show visitors. This strategy sets up a robust platform for the printer consumables industry around the globe, while supporting the development of a healthy printer supplies industry in Zhuhai and the Pearl River Delta. Since the first show in 2007, RemaxAsia Expo has professionally grown into the largest
and most effective industry trade show in the world. RemaxAsia Expo 2010 will be held on September 26 to 28. It is estimated that there will be 350 exhibitors and more than 8,000 visitors from more than 80 countries and regions worldwide. “I am very pleased that we are listed in the ‘Top 500 Moder n Industr y Projects of Guangdong Province’,” said Tony Lee,
Managing Director of Recycler Publishing & Events (Zhuhai) Ltd. “We will continue our efforts to deliver the most effective and valuable trade shows for both exhibitors and visitors. With support from the government, we will expand the influence and raise the competitiveness of the RemaxAsia Expo show.” The ‘Top 500 Modern Industr y Projects of Guangdong Province’ is a new initiative taken by Guangdong Province, one of China’s most developed provinces, to construct a modern industr y structure with features of creativeness, openness, integration, concentration and sustainability. The other four professional trade events listed in the top 500 projects, were Energy Forum for Asia, China (Guzhen), International Lighting Fair (GILF), Guangdong Seed Industry Expo, and Guangzhou International Textile Expo.
Coates Toners to install new color toner lines
C
oates Toners has announced plans for the installation of new color toner lines at its Dallas, Pennsylvania manufacturing site. Paul Clothier, CEO of Coates Toners, said “The installation of the color mills illustrates our commitment to invest in the future of coloring manufacturing at our Dallas, Pennsylvania site. This installation will further expand our color toner manufacturing capability, which will position Coates toners with the capacity to meet future demands adequately.” Larry Berti, CMO of Coates Toners, said “The installation of the color mills will advance Coates Toners another step closer to achieving our marketing plans set forth in 2009, namely ensuring our position as a global supplier of both color and monochrome toner.” Jim Collins, CFO of Coates Toners, said “We are please with the progress we have made toward achieving our financial goals throughout 2009. The installation of the new color mills will continue to keep Coates Toners on track in meeting its goals set for 2010 /2011.” www.recyclingtimes.com.cn | July 2010
Issue4--1-48.indd 7
7
2010-6-23 17:11:54
Recycling Times Magazine
Industry updates
Print-Rite wins government procurement contracts in more cities
P
rint-Rite printer supplies have won the bidding for Heilongjiang Province, north east of China. In addition, Fan Ling Trading Company Limited of Zhuhai, the domestic sales arm of PrintRite has won the right to gover nment procurement of Heilongjiang Province. Later this month, Print-Rite also announced that they won the bidding in Xi’an City of Shaanxi Province as well. Recycling Times has learned that this year, Xi’an City, the capital of Shaaxi Province has for the first time adopted the “bid package model” for the purchasing of printer supplies. In the old days, government procurement bought office equipment ( printers, fax machines and so on) and printer supplies in the same package – called “office equipment”. They made no distinction between printers
and the supplies a printer used. When they purchased office equipment, they would ask printer manufacturers to bid. The OEMs who got the procurement package also supplied the printer consumables for the equipment. The “Bid package model” means government departments can separate office equipment from the other supplies they need, thus they can buy printers and other office equipment from one manufacturer and supplies from another. To date, Print-Rite has gained government purchasing orders from nearly 20 cities and provinces in China. According to Print-Rite, these victories show the competitiveness and
quality of its printer supplies. Heilongjiang Province has also initiated an effort. They entr usted a third party association to evaluate the credit of the bidders before the bid invitation began. Heilongjiang Province Credit Rating Service rated Print-Rite as AA grade. The highest grade is AAA.
RemaxAsia Expo 2010 opens one more exhibition hall
R
ecycler Zhuhai has announced that it will open one more exhibition hall for RemaxAsia Expo 2010, thus adding an exhibition space of 2,600 m2 to accomodate 68 more booths. With such hot sales of booths, there were a
8
number of potential exhibitors on a waiting list for RemaxAsia Expo 2010 and there was no room to accommodate them. After listening to both exhibitors’ and visitors’ valuable opinions, Recycler Zhuhai has added Hall two to the trade show. In the last two weeks, 47 more companies
have reserved booths at RemaxAsia Expo 2010! Recycler Zhuhai welcomes CBC from Japan, DPI Solutions from South Korea, Jadi from Malaysia, Mipo, AEBO Science Technology, Shanghai Cartridgemate, Shanghai Gioro Digital Technology and Tianxiang Modern Office Appliance among others. More and more exhibitors say RemaxAsia Expo 2010 will be the printer supplies industry show of the year and many companies from Shanghai have also decided to exhibit at RemaxAsia Expo 2010. Recycler Zhuhai sought customers’ opinions through e-mails, text messages and phone calls in earlier June. Judging from the feedback, most exhibitors supported its decision to open one more exhibition hall for RemaxAsia Expo 2010. This move has pleased lots of companies who want to be part of this important event. When the floor plan for Hall was is released, Jiaxing Tianma Consumables Co., Ltd. jumped to confirm the first booth in Hall two.
July 2010 | www.recyclingtimes.com.cn
Issue4--1-48.indd 8
2010-6-23 17:12:06
Recycling Times Magazine
Industry updates
Wuhan Pointrole approved innovation results
R
ecently Wuhan Pointrole Information Te c h n o l o g y C o. , L t d . ( Wu h a n Pointrole) has harvested two more technology innovations – PT-CLP315 color toner for laser printer and PT-1635 color toner for digital copiers. These two technological outcomes have been tested and accepted by the Wuhan Science and Technology Bureau. An appraisal panel was formed to evaluate the innovations. Seven senior experts from many fields of the digital imaging industry joined the panel, headed by Jiang Tao, Secretary ▲
General of the National Quality Supervising Test Center for Consumables of Printing and Office Automation (NTCCOA). The panel listened to the report from Wuhan
Apprasial meeting of Wuhan Printrole’s innovations
China Printer Industry Summit 2010 concluded
T
he China Printer Industry Summit 2010 was successfully concluded on May 30. The meeting was held by the Professional Printer Committee of China’s Computer Industry Association (CCIA). Hot issues including how to apply for government projects and intellectual property issues were discussed at the meeting. Government procurement of printer and printer supplies was also discussed by delegates. Member companies of the Professional Printer Committee made several speeches on the market trends for micro printers and thermal printers. Yu Xuan, Secretary General of CCIA, reported to the Ministry of Finance with Suggestions for Policy Support on Government Procurement of Printer and Supplies. In this speech, the innovative efforts in the field of government procurement in Zhuhai city made by Recycler Publishing & Events (Zhuhai) Ltd. were also introduced to delegates and officials from the Ministry of Finance. Tony Lee, Imaging Director of Recycler Publishing & Events (Zhuhai) Ltd. also addressed the meeting and commented on the plans for the Professional Printer Committee. Some 30 representatives from associations, media and companies in the industry presented at the meeting. The associations and media included CCIA, CCID Consulting Company Ltd and Recycler Publishing & Events (Zhuhai) Ltd.
Printrole’s R & D department. They interrogated the report and discussed the achievements, the panel concluded that “PT-CLP 315 color toner for color laser printer is the first toner to use solubilizer and combine with premixing technology, therefore, it overcomes the . Printing quality is high.” “PT-1635 color toner for digital copier is the first to solve the problem of uneven electric charge and instability of toners.” The panel further commented: “the two achievements are advanced and they are green.” The panel also said they were looking forward to the commercialization of the two products.
Eco Service enjoys record-high quarter
E
co Service - a global empty cartridge broker hailing from Poland - has enjoyed a very successful beginning of the year. The 2010 first quarter results report speak volumes. Over that time the company has seen a record 45% growth in income from sales compared to the analogous period of 2009. “Such a good performance for Eco Service has resulted to a great degree from our taking advantage of the favorable economic situation in the global aftermarket, but also from our market development actions,” said Marcin Adamski, CEO at Eco Service, “by co-operating with us, our partners are guaranteed that they are doing business with a very well established and financially stable company.” The Eco Service company has been operating on the global aftermarket for seven years. It is currently ranked one of the top empty cartridge brokers in Europe, with the German based TBG company acting as its representative for purchase and sales support. For over three years Eco Service has also been actively operating on the American market as well as strengthening its position in Asia. It is continually widening the network of its suppliers on global markets, offering them favorable payment terms, a wide range of models and competitive prices. Eco Service collects approximately 3.5 million empty cartridges from the market annually. The company is planning to increase its turnover and bearing this in mind, it is considering investing more in its development.
www.recyclingtimes.com.cn | July 2010
Issue4--1-48.indd 9
9
2010-6-23 17:12:08
Recycling Times Magazine
Industry updates
Print-Rite Innovation Award 2010 Competition begins
T
he Print-Rite Innovation Award has been recognized as one of the key highlights of the RemaxAsia Expo Show since 2007. With the Government direction on the continuous development of the consumables industr y, Print-Rite’s Innovation Award Competition has been given tremendous support from different levels of the society. The idea of the competition is "respecting intellectual property rights, promoting innovation and achieving all-round wins in the green industry". The number of patent applications has doubled compared with before the Print-Rite Innovation Award. The fourth Print-Rite Innovation Award
Competition is, once again, scheduled to be one of the core events in RemaxAsia Expo 2010 (Sep 26-28, 2010) and the winners will be announced on Sept 26, 2010. In line with the concept of "Creativity and Innovative Technology" you are cordially invited to participate. In addition to the competition, the organizer has set up an interaction platform for sharing the creative and valuable patents. Conditions of entries • Patent: the design has to be granted a Patent by the Patent Office • Creativity: Any creative ideas related to the industry or pending patent application are acceptable.
For any details, please email to Ms. Zhang (info@zh-pcia.com.cn). The application form can be downloaded from www.zh-pcia.com.cn and www.visitremax.com.cn.
• Application material submission: Zhuhai Printing Consumables Industry Association 1st Floor, Science and Technology Building, 518, Renming East Road, Xiangzhou District, Zhuhai, Guangdong, CHINA Postcode: 519000 Contact Person: Mr. Qi Tel: 86-756-8925185 Fax: 86-756-2533678 Email : info@zh-pcia.com.cn Application deadline: August 31, 2010
Recycler Zhuhai promotes RemaxAsia Expo 2010
I
n order to keep up the promotion momentum of RemaxAsia Expo 2010, the organizer Recycler Zhuhai attended the Toners Conference 2010 in May and the Reciclamais South American Expo in June. Toners Conference 2010 From May 17 to May 19, the Toners Conference 2010 was held in Marina del Ray Marriott Marina del Rey, California. As one ▲ of the leading sponsors of the conference, Recycler Zhuhai presented at the event. The Toners Conference 2010 was co-hosted by The Tiara Group, LLC and IntertechPira. The three-day conference focused on toner and the toner cartridge industry. The latest technology, the emerging markets and the developments and trends for the industry as a whole were the key topics of the conference. Chemical toner, though, was the topic which caught the most eyes. How to apply nanotechnology in making chemically produced toners was also covered. During talks with delegates present at the conference, Recycler Zhuhai learnt that some
10
China, Korea, India and South America exhibiting at the show. The visitors mainly came from Brazil and neighbouring countries. During the show, some one thousand visitors came to Recycler Zhuhai’s booth for updated information regarding RemaxAsia Expo 2010. The 1,000 flyers prepared by Recycler Zhuhai, in both Portuguese and Spanish, were all given out. Visitors also expressed warm welcome Recycler Zhuhai at Reciclamais South American Expo 2010 for the China Imaging Industry Map 2009 companies would like to visit RemaxAsia Expo and Passport to RemaxAsia Expo 2010, both of 2010 to explore the Chinese market. Some of which are published by Recycler Zhuhai. Many them were interested in finding toner and toner of them expressed an intention to come and cartridges suppliers based in China. visit RemaxAsia Expo 2010. The 1,000 free room nights for visitors were especially welcomed. Reciclamais South American Expo Recycler Zhuhai has always been committed 2010 to delivering the best service to you with high From June 8 to June 10, Recycler Zhuhai quality trade shows and publications. traveled to São Paulo, Brazil for the Reciclamais Recycler Zhuhai will also go to Russia and South American Expo 2010, the biggest printer America, for RechargRussia 2010 and Recharger consumables exhibition in South America, which World Expo 2010 respectively. Recycler Zhuhai was hosted by ReciclaMais Magazine. will promote RemaxAsia Expo 2010 during There were more than 80 companies from upcoming trade shows in the industry.
July 2010 | www.recyclingtimes.com.cn
Issue4--1-48.indd 10
2010-6-23 17:12:14
Recycler Publishing & Events (Zhuhai) Ltd
Global Remanufacturing Industry General Assembly， organized by Recycler Publishing & Events (Zhuhai) Ltd．， will be held on 25 September 2010， one day before the RemaxAsia Expo 2010 trade show． The aim of the conference is to enhance the understanding of the development of different countries’ printer consumables industry， share the experience of promoting the eco-friendly remanufactured products and the remanufacturing philosophy to the public， therefore to promote the healthy and steady development of the world’s remanufactured printer consumables industry． This unprecedented event is a chance to unite the industry at a global level. Trade associations， media for the industry and companies from the industry are invited．
Issue4--1-48.indd 11
2010-6-23 17:12:15
Recycling Times Magazine
Product Release
eLabs India releases Rainbow cartridges
T
o keep the environment clean and green Mr. Raghavendran, CMD of eLabs India has recently launched Rainbow remanufactured printer cartridges. Mr. R aghavendran said: “gover nment departments, big corporates and other companies can now get their empty printer cartridges remanufactured instead of throwing away the empty cartridge every time and buying a new cartridge from the OEMs paying double the cost. Customers can now save up to 50% of their printing costs”. According to Raghavendran, it’s really surprising that we do not care for our surroundings and everybody is worried only about themselves. He requests that people
refrain from being selfish and become aware of how their behavior is spoiling the environment, and the effects of this will reduce their life too. Raghavendran is also confident of increasing employment opportunities for Indians in India if Indian companies and government departments start using remanufactured cartridges, “while saving
Contact eLab India Mr. Raghavendra Rao Tel: +(91)-(11)-47506374 +(91)-9910066334 +(91)-9310066334 Visit: www.elabsindia.com www.rainbowcartridge.in.
50% of the cost which runs into Crores of rupees which can be used in other areas for development of our country, as anyway the multinational companies from abroad are also selling their remanufactured cartridges as new by charging the cost of new”. About eLabs India eL abs has over 20 years of experience in the IT industr y including two years’ specialized experience in the cartridge remanufacturing industry. It has established good contacts with customers and the IT companies and thus decided to branch out into its own business in this field, hence the establishment of the Rainbow Cartridge company.
Pelikan announces monochrome toner for Lexmark T-650 / 652 / 654
P
elikan, the worldwide leader in manufacturing toner, has expanded its range of Lexmark products and is pleased to announce the monochrome toner for use in Lexmark T-650. This polyester based toner is compatible with Lexmark T-650 / 652 / 654. Like most Pelikan products, this bulk toner was developed and produced in the company’s production plant in Switzerland. Pelikan’s German logistics warehouse is ready to ship this toner to all customers around the world.
The toner consumption is 23g per 1000 pages and is available in 360g bottles, 10kg bags and 30kg barrels. According to Pelikan, the following are some facts about this brand new toner: • Optimal density • Perfect grey scales • High yield • Excellent fusing properties For further information, or for free samples, please contact the Pelikan customer service department at +41 44 986 1490 / 1361.
Faroudja offers MICR toner for HP 4100
F
aroudja Toner has released MICR toner for the HP 4100. Both bottles and 10-kilogram (22-pound) bags are now available for sale. “We’ve been selling MICR toner, used for printing on checks, for many cartridges” said marketing director Tim Farrell. “Even though the demand
12
is relatively small, we feel a responsibility to our customers and have extended our MICR line. We feel the HP 4100 will broaden our selection, and the bulk bags provide even better savings.” Faroudja also offers HP 4100 smartchips and OPC drums. Faroudja Toner, in San Carlos, Calif., additionally stocks MICR toner for Canon, Dell,
IBM, and Lexmark and supplies a wide range of parts and recharging tools.
• Contact Faroudja Toner Phone: 650-593-3862 Fax: 650-593-3817 Visit: www.faroudjatoner.com
July 2010 | www.recyclingtimes.com.cn
Issue4--1-48.indd 12
2010-6-23 17:12:16
Recycling Times Magazine
Product Release
New from Static Control
C
hips engineered, designed and manufactured by Static Control for remanufactured Canon printer cartridges have been qualified for use in Canon Pixma MX870/MX876 and Pixus MX870 printers. Static Control’s PGI-220 and CLI221 are qualified for use in the Canon Pixma MX870 in North America. The BCI320 and BCI-321 chips are qualified for use in the Canon Pixus MX870 in Japan. And Static Control’s PGI-820 and CLI-821 chips are qualified for use in the Canon Pixma MX876 ink jet cartridges for China and Asia/Pacific. “China and Southeast Asia represent important emerging markets in our industry, and our chips, which are engineered to the highest level of performance and IP reviewed,
will be vital to our ability to help this market continue to grow and to develop,” said Ed Swartz, President and CEO of Static Control. Static Control has introduced the first high quality replacement doctor blade for HP 2600 color cartridges, giving remanufacturers a high quality alternative to cleaning and reusing the defect-prone one cycle, used OEM doctor blade. Damaged and/or defective doctor blades
have been one of the most significant causes of defective remanufactured HP 2600 cartridges. These blades are easily bent, resulting in streaking, light print, or back grounding. The coating can be easily damaged during cleaning, and if not cleaned enough, may have buildup or embedded particles that will result in print defects. Not all these defects can be detected through visual inspection, meaning there is a high risk of building cartridges with visually "good" doctor blades only to have them fail at post test or, worse, mid-cycle in a customer's printer. Static Control will release more color replacement components in the very near future.
www.recyclingtimes.com.cn | July 2010
Issue4--1-48.indd 13
13
2010-6-23 17:12:21
Recycling Times Magazine
OEM news
Asia Pacific growing for HP
H
P’s revenue for the second quarter of 2010 was up 13% from 2009 to $30.8 billion with the company’s Asia Pacific operations showing the largest growth. HP outlined that revenue was up 19% in Asia Pacific while revenue in BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) increased 25%. Meanwhile, HP’s Imaging and Printing Group (IPG) revenue increased 8% to $6.4 billion. Supplies revenue was up 6%, while commercial hardware revenue and consumer hardware revenue increased 13%and 16% respectively. Printer unit shipments increased 9%, with shipments of commercial printer hardware units down 8% and consumer printer hardware units
up 15%. Operating profit was $1.1 billion, or 17.2 % of revenue, versus $1.1 billion or 18.2% of revenue, in the same period last year. Mark Hurd, chairman of HP said, “HP had an exceptional quarter with strong performance across every region. We're investing for the future and confident in the enormous opportunity that lies ahead.” Also commenting, Cathie L esjak, chief financial officer at HP said, “HP drove double-digit revenue growth and improving profits, contributing to our
twentieth consecutive quarter of year-over-year operating margin expansion,” Lesjak continued, “ With the improving demand environment, we are accelerating investments for growth while raising our fullyear outlook."
Canon India launches 15 new products
C
anon India Pvt. Limited announced the launch of 15 new products to further strengthen its status as the market leader in India for printers. With this launch, Canon expands its range to 82 IT peripheral products from its printing division with a current market share of 34.5% in the laser printer market across single function and multi function printers. With the launch of these new products, Canon expects the new products to contribute over 50% to the printer division’s revenues in 2010.
The range unveiled includes two single format inkjet printers, three All-in-one printers, two laser printers, six projectors, a scanner and a laser Multi-function device. At the launch, Canon also showcased the Allin-one printer PIXMA MX876 which offers a complete office solution. According to Canon, each of the newly launched printers has Wi-Fi. This is in response to the increasing demand for WiFi platforms and devices in the country. With laptops growing at a high rate and WiFi now becoming the default feature, the
overall Indian Wi-Fi market is predicted to grow at over 60% and Wi-Fi printers will form a major share of the market for Wi-Fi products. According to Canon, the market for Canon’s Wi-Fi printers has grown over 100% quarter on quarter since their launch in Q3 2009. Canon aims to capture a 50% market share of the Wi-Fi printing market in India by end of 2010. In addition, each of these printers has ChromaLife100+ System, Security features, ISO standard speed and is environment friendly.
Epson to sell inkjet printer that lowers ink costs
S
eiko Epson Corp. will launch an inkjet printer that lets users save money on ink. The company has been test marketing the printer in China and other regions, and is now ready to kick off sales in Japan, Europe and other parts of Asia this fiscal year. The new printer costs around three times more than a regular inkjet printer
14
of comparable performance, but it comes equipped with large ink packs instead of the
usual ink cartridges. When the ink runs out, users send the packs back to the company for refilling. According to Seiko Epson, the overall result is 20% to 40% savings on the cost of ink for per page printing. The goal is to sell around 10,000 units a year. In addition to consumers, the company will also target the small home and office market.
July 2010 | www.recyclingtimes.com.cn
Issue4--1-48.indd 14
2010-6-23 17:12:27
Recycling Times Magazine
OEM news
Fuji Xerox establishes sales company in Vietnam
F
uji Xerox Co. Ltd. announced on June 10 that it had established Fuji Xerox Vietnam Company Limited, a sales company wholly-owned by Fuji Xerox Asia Pacific Pte Ltd. that controls Fuji Xerox's overall overseas operations. This month, the new company has started operations in Vietnam, one of the emerging countries where high economic growth is expected. Sales in the country are currently handled by local authorized dealers, and managed by Fuji Xerox Asia Pacific's representative offices with stationed staff members. The establishment of a local subsidiary not only reinforces the activities of the dealers, but also enables direct sales and maintenance services operations, which will promote further business expansion in Vietnam. Fuji Xerox Vietnam plans to realize three times the sales volume of fiscal year 2009 by fiscal year 2014.
To date, import and sales operations undertaken by authorized dealers in Vietnam have been mediated by Fuji Xerox Asia Pacific, located in Singapore, through its representative offices in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. However, Article 18 of the Vietnamese Commercial Law prohibits these representative offices from directly conducting commercial activities, thus limiting their role to promoting the sales activities of the dealers. According to Fuji Xerox, V ietnamese economic growth is steadily rising and the country is expected to retain this high growth trend as one of the emerging countries grouped as VISTA ( Vietnam, Indonesia, South Africa, Turkey, and Argentina). These countries were named by the BRIC Research Institute in 2006 as possessing the right conditions for high economic growth and are seen as the
â–˛ Fuji Xerox's showroom in Ho Chi Minh City
next big areas for growth post-BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China). As its economy expands, the Vietnamese copier market is expected to mark a doubledigit average annual growth rate for at least the next five years from 2009. Fuji Xerox aims at further business expansion by securing a direct sales route through the establishment of a sales company in Vietnam.
www.recyclingtimes.com.cn | July 2010
Issue4--1-48.indd 15
15
2010-6-23 17:12:30
Recycling Times Magazine
Features
Long-awaited Memjet printer comes The commercialization of Memjet has been long awaited since the announcement of the technolog y in 2007. Memjet projected the first photo printer powered by Memjet technolog y in late 2007 or early 2008. Then it was postponed to 2009. Yet last year it still failed to materialise. The first printer with Memjet technolog y finally came on April 20, 2010, though the technolog y has thus far only been commercially applied to a label printer. We, again, interviewed Kim Beswick, Vice President of Marketing of Memjet Home & Office to find out the latest development of the first Memjet letter/A4 printers. Memjet first made news in 2007 with the announcement of its Memjet inkjet technology, which can be used to produce black A4 images at up to 60 ppm and 4"x6" color images at up to 30 ppm. Memjet, of San Diego, California, has developed the technology for use in office, home, photo-kiosk and label printers. It won't be marketing such products itself, but is seeking to sell the technology to OEMs. The company says not only does its ink imaging technology provide much faster printing than traditional smaller, mobile print heads used today, but at a significantly lower cost than color-laser imaging printers. For instance, it expects Memjet color printers rated at up to 60 ppm (black) to retail for about $300. Demonstration videos of prototype A4 Memjet printers for the office show much faster speeds than current office color printers on the market In recent months, several companies have demonstrated
â–˛ Kim Beswick, Vice President of Marketing, Memjet Home & Office
Model
M1
SpeedStar
Rapid X1 & X2
Target market
Trans-promotional and Mailing & Addressing Markets
Label and tag printing
Label printing
Date of first debut
April 20th
May 18th
May 18th
Location of first debut Showcase company
ON DEMAND Expo, Philadelphia
NA
Ipex show, Birmingham
RENA Systems
OWN-X Industrial
Impression Technology Europe
Manufacturing company
Astro Machine Corporation
OWN-X Industrial
Rapid Machinery Company
Distribution partner
RENA Systems, Addressing &Mailing Solutions Ltd
Impression Technology Europe
NA
Resolution (Max)
1600x1600 dpi
1600x1600 dpi
1600x1600 dpi
Speed (Max)
12 inches (304 mm) per second
12 inches (304 mm) per second
12 inches (304 mm) per second
Print width (Max)
8.77 inch (222.7 mm)/A4
8.77 inch (222.7 mm)/A4
8.5 inch (220 mm)
Number of print heads
5
5
5
â–˛ Table 1 Recently announced printer powered by Memjet
16
July 2010 | www.recyclingtimes.com.cn
Issue4--1-48.indd 16
2010-6-23 17:12:31
Recycling Times Magazine
Features
three Memjet label printers. See table 1 to find out more details about the three printers. Beyond the launch of Memjet label printers, Recycling Times is looking forward to learning more information about Memjet Home and Office products. Kim Beswick, Vice President of Marketing for Memjet Home & Office had the following comments to make.
1
The first commercially available systems to incorporate Memjet's inkjet technology were launched recently. But all are special-purpose printers. Can you forecast when the first Memjet home and office printer will be launched? Our partners will ultimately determine the launch timing for their products. Memjet is not at liberty to comment on the exact timing of their introductions. That said, all of Memjet businesses have strong initial OEM relationships in place and are working in earnest with OEMs on related product finalization. Memjet Wide Format, Memjet Photo Retail and Memjet Home and Office have slightly different product development/ partnership models and product complexities. Their respective partner-driven market launches will vary with regards to timing and are coming soon.
2
When we interviewed you back in August 2008, you said that Memjet would focus on A4/Letter size and expected to launch the printer in 2009. It’s now 2010, why haven’t we seen a Memjet home and office printer yet? Initially our delays stemmed from the transition in priorities from small format photo printing to A4/Letter size markets. It took us longer than we thought to make this transition and mature our components to a production ready state. Then of course the global financial crises hit. The Memjet development effort is truly a collaborative effort between our technical teams, business partners and OEM brands all working together to develop complete printing solutions for our respective markets. We all tightened our belts in 2009 and early 2010 and as a result the pace of Memjet development slowed a bit. That said, we are excited that the Memjet labels partners are launching the first commercially available Memjet based products. We are now on a path to commercialization across the business and the delays are hopefully behind us.
3
As shown on your website, Memjet inks are uniquely designed to work effectively and reliably with Memjet printheads. What is the uniqueness about Memjet inks? The Memjet inks are fundamentally water-based dyes,
▲ M1 label printer
but the formulation is unique in order to preserve the health and functionality of the printhead, create an optimal printed image and work effectively with uniquely designed maintenance and ink delivery systems. The Memjet print heads and inks work together as a system and thousands of hours of testing goes into making sure that the 70,000-plus nozzles across our A4/Letter printhead are all healthy and capable of firing the smallest drops of ink in the industry, on command. While the optimization effort is not necessarily unique, the Memjet printhead has a unique design from silicon nozzles to heaters to back channel fluidics to liquid crystal polymer plastics and other components and requires a unique ink formulation to work effectively.
4
Will Memjet’s licensed printer manufacturers produce the supplies at the same time or Memjet is going to find partners to produce the supplies separately? Memjet works with manufacturing partners to produce the Memjet inks in volume and subsequently sells the ink to OEM partners for use in their branded products.
5
The Razor-Blade strategy is commonly used in selling printers and supplies, that is set the price for the printer at a relatively low price, while the price for the supplies is very high. Can you tell us at what price a Memjet A4/Letter size printer set in the future? How about the price for the cartridges? All pricing of printers and cartridges is determined by our OEMs. However Memjet Home and Office is trying to enable a more balanced model for OEMs where they avoid large losses on hardware and are able to provide attractive aftermarket cartridge value to their customers. While aggressive hardware pricing has made traditional www.recyclingtimes.com.cn | July 2010
Issue4--1-48.indd 17
17
2010-6-23 17:12:32
Recycling Times Magazine
Features
color inkjet technology the default for home printing the majority of office pages still come from monochrome laser devices. In order to shift pages in the office to color we have to lower the barriers to color with improved color performance at a reasonable price and lower running costs.
6
Some printer OEMs adopted methods to prevent refilling of their cartridges, will Memjet adopt similar measures and if so why? Rather than prevent refilling, Memjet Home and Office is specifically encouraging our OEMs to adopt refilling as an OEM driven strategy.
▲ X1 label printer
7
Your website shows that your business partners include ink, paper, and cartridge developers and manufacturers. Have you found these partners? It’s important to note that “business partners” are a broader group than our OEM brand partners who will be bringing the Memjet technology to market under their own brands. We have partners that are helping us manufacture components, develop elements of our Memjet platforms, provide and qualify media, provide parts and components. In general, we have a good selection of OEM partners across the Memjet businesses but certainly are not finished in achieving the reach we need to maximize our global opportunities.
8
Many of our customers are third-party manufacturers of printer supplies. There are a large number of ink and toner cartridges manufacturers in China. Will you be interested in coming to China and look for business partners? Can you tell our readers what criteria you have for the ink, paper and cartridge developers and manufacturers? Of course we know that China has an exciting array of capable businesses, brands and individuals who we are interested in engaging with regarding Memjet opportunities. We’re a global company with global aspirations and delighted to work with Chinese companies as Memjet partners or channel partners who our OEM brands work with. We don’t have one set of criteria across the Memjet businesses. In general we are looking for companies who share in our vision of bringing new value and capabilities to the printing industry with Memjet technology. Partners preferably need to have access to channels/customers and need to be capitalized well enough to invest with us in quickly growing the Memjet opportunity. We also hope that partners bring their own creative layer to Memjet product
18
▲ X2 label printer
development and business development in order to create something truly unique for themselves and the market at large. Memjet Background Memjet adopts the Micro-Electro Mechanical Systems, which have very small ink nozzles. Memjet printhead incorporates 17 times more ink nozzles than conventional ink-jet printheads’ 32,000 nozzles in total for a 100mm wide printhead. In a letter/ A4 wide printhead, there will be 70,400 nozzles, delivering 1,600x800 dpi resolution. The Memjet printhead is stationary and scalable. Therefore, it can be used in printers ranging from label printers to large format printers. A customized driver chip controls each printhead and can calculate 900 million dots per second. Memjet technology is invented by Kia Silverbrook, who holds over 2,500 patents. Kia Sillverbrook is a co-founder of Silverbrook Research Pty, located in Sydney, Australia. Silverbrook Research Pty solely licensed its Memjet technology to four U.S. based Memjet companies: Memjet Home and Office, Memjet Labels, Memjet Photo Retail, and Memjet Wide Format. Recycling Times was infor med that two Chinese manufacturers have successfully licensed the Memjet technology. However, it is not suitable to reveal further details at the moment.
July 2010 | www.recyclingtimes.com.cn
Issue4--1-48.indd 18
2010-6-23 17:12:32
Issue4--1-48.indd 19
2010-6-23 17:12:34
Recycling Times Magazine
Market Data
Laser cartridges OEM vs. aftermarket trends in imaging supplies By Cathy Martin, InfoTrends Inc. Introduction Fo r y e a r s , t h e c o m p e t i t i o n b e t w e e n O E M a n d aftermarket laser supplies has been relatively stable. For example, the aftermarket has had rough 33% of the market for cartridges used in monochrome HP LaserJet printers for about 10 years. Lately, the OEM printer supplies market has felt some challenges as the aftermarket has gained share from several different causes including the recession, MPS and growing competition from products made in China. Customers looking for ways to cut costs and save money have looked to aftermarket alternatives in the supplies market of which there can be a number of options, at least for black and white printers. This article will consider the current dynamics in the supplies market and how the aftermarket in the United States and Western Europe can pursue and maintain customer opportunities.
20
Key findings • Aftermarket is gaining share and growth in the supplies market due to the recession as customers seek ways to cut costs and save money. As the fleet of printing devices ages in the installed base, users are delaying the purchase of new machines until the economy improves. The recession has also changed usage behaviors such that black and white printing is more popular than it would have been and color printing, where aftermarket still struggles to provide quality, is penetrating the market more slowly. • Aftermarket is gaining share as Managed Print Services gain control over fleets of products in an office environment • Chinese producers have aggressively introduced a variety of new build products for use primarily, but not entirely, in machines that use separate toner and drum cartridges.
July 2010 | www.recyclingtimes.com.cn
Issue4--1-48.indd 20
2010-6-23 17:12:37
Recycling Times Magazine
Market Data
• Some of these gains will be permanent if the customer has a positive experience. • After the recession, the aftermarket share will drop some but the share will be higher than it was before the recession. • The aftermarket has made massive inroads into the monochrome laser market but significant color penetration is still elusive. ▲ Chart 1 US B/W laser cartridge aftermarket share of units Monochrome printer aftermarket trends InfoTrends estimates that the af ter market has gained share especially in monochrome laser of at least several share points against HP and other OEMs. This is driven in part by the recession and MPS (Managed Print Services). As a result, many of the big remanufacturers keep getting bigger, through consolidation and acquisition while other companies ▲ Chart 2 Western Europe B/W laser cartridge aftermarket share of units struggle for many reasons which can include an inability to access quality products or there are actually widespread shortages of empty cartridges embrace new products or programs. There are some particularly for “legacy” machines that mayhave been mixed signals on the health of the aftermarket as margin originally sold 10 years ago. With the recession and MPS, pressures and competition within the aftermarket takes its machines lives are getting longer, the base is aging and toll on the industry. While OEMs have raised their prices aftermarket always has a higher share of supplies for older over the last several years, aftermarket producers largely machines than newer machines. In the United States and Europe,chart 1 shows that have not. It appears that the aftermarket often myres itself in competition with itself instead of competition with the HP has been losing over 30% of it’s cartridge market to aftermarket and that with the beginning of the recession OEMs. In addition, aftermarket margins are being squeezed due that loss has jumped. The chart may actually conservatively to raw material prices rising including toner costs, as well estimate aftermarket share gains in this recession and HP as the collection costs for empties. The good news for the may be losing on average as much as 40% of it’s market. aftermarket is that several toner producers have reported HP is certainly losing 50% for some of the older and larger a recent uptick in shipments which can represent a variety selling cartridge models. In some ways the aftermarket has of things: growth in market share, new aftermarket growth a difficult time gaining more share against HP and so it has taken away from the OEM, or a sign of an inventory build- shifted some emphasis away form HP and focused on other back period. The combination of recession and MPS actually up-and-coming OEMs like Brother and Samsung. Those two appears to have bought new life to old machines that were vendors have recently done well selling machines in to the in decline and the aftermarket is now doing a booming US market and have become a target for the aftermarket business in cartridges for old model printers that have been which in the case of Brother and Samsung, of ten brought back into service. That boom is so significant that approaches with a new build cartridge rather than with
www.recyclingtimes.com.cn | July 2010
Issue4--1-48.indd 21
21
2010-6-23 17:12:37
Recycling Times Magazine
Market Data
remanufactured cartridges. Lexmark has also now become more of a target given that the US courts have, in the view of the aftermarket, removed the legal barriers established by the “Prebate” program. The situation in Western Europe is similar to the situation in the US with the exception that overall aftermarket has had lower penetration into the B/W market than has been seen in the US and that HP has been less dominant in W. Europe than in the US. Other vendors share a larger share of the market and have been seen as relatively larger targets. But the main trends in the W. European market are the same as in the US. The recession, MPS and competition from Chinese made new build cartridges are growing aftermarket share in W. Europe as well. Chart 2 shows the situation in Europe.
for aftermarket in a few years. As the overall market shifts to color, and as black and white continues to decline. The aftermarket revenue is expected to decline in US by 2013 due to the slow rate of color penetration. The biggest barrier for aftermarket color in the US is reliable acceptable quality. Resellers are aware of these problems and are protecting their customers to protect themselves. The aftermarket will need to solve their quality and reliability problems with color if it can hope to avoid a market decline in several years as color takes a larger share of the overall market. In Europe, color penetration slightly higher so there is a larger opportunity for the aftermarket due to higher proportional use of color devices. OEMs protect supplies residual? It is just a matter of time before the OEMs start pursuing its patent position for their supplies if they have not already done so. Both OEM and aftermarket suppliers believe that there are many aftermarket products available for purchase that infringe a patent, copyright or trademark in some way and they continue to be sold. InfoTrends expects that we will see more OEMs aggressively taking legal actions to protect their patents and their markets from what they see as illegal, infringing product. The OEMs also recognize that some of the aftermarket companies have benefited from the opportunities as a result of the recession and the price discounts that the aftermarket promotes to their customers. To protect their supplies residual business, the OEMs have employed strategies to protect themselves including starter cartridges, highly encrypted smart chips, multiple generations of supplies, and active take-back supplies programs for empties. These are just a few examples of current activities in place.
Color aftermarket issues Color aftermarket penetration is only about 7% in the US. Generally, it is higher for separates and for non-chemically produced toner and lower for all-in-one cartridges. All-inone color cartridges are considered to be very difficult to replicate due to matching the toner, matching the toner to the drum, processing problems, and reliability issues. In addition, resellers have concerns about offering color cartridges because they do not want their customers to have a bad experience and then stop buying from them. It is clear that users are very interested in trying aftermarket color cartridges because the pricing is very attractive compared to the OEM. While pricing is attractive, users may not be satisfied with the quality of the output. Furthermore, unlike B/W, some color aftermarket products are so bad that users actually risk damaging the machine by using aftermarket toners. Roughly speaking, between black vs color, the overall market in terms of supplies dollars in the US and W. Europe is about 52% b/w and 48% color. But that ratio is not reflected in terms of aftermarket revenue. Chart 3 highlights t h e a f t e r m a r ke t ’ s r e l i a n c e o n monochrome supplies for much of its revenue. Aftermarket penetration is vastly larger in B/W than in color and the revenue estimates below reflect that fact. And while aftermarket is gaining share today, the megatrend shift to ▲ Chart 3 Total aftermarket supplies revenue at final POS $M electrophotography color does not paint a rosy picture
22
July 2010 | www.recyclingtimes.com.cn
Issue4--1-48.indd 22
2010-6-23 17:12:37
Recycling Times Magazine
Market Data
As the aftermarket continues to gain share especially in monochrome supplies, the OEM will be forced to pursue a more active position on its patents, albeit an expensive route with legal fees and time needed to r un cases through the legal system. To prevent potential patent enforcement, the aftermarket’s response should be to maintain quality and avoid patent issues, two major concerns of some compatible products available in the market. ▲ Chart 4 OEM and aftermarket revenue $M at final POS Otherwise, the legal and monetary capabilities of the OEM will quickly dwarf and suppress legally questionable. • The aftermarket should continue to improve and anything the aftermarket can assemble as a counter threat. expand their color laser offerings as the market has made Overall, the big picture for the aftermarket has a fairly small share in terms of revenue. While they are successful a definite turn in that direction. At the moment, the OEM in penetrating HP monochrome office devices, in overall captures primarily all of this business. • OEMs are expected to increase their attention on revenue terms they are much less significant, and are protecting their supplies business while also looking for likely to become less so if they are unable to penetrate color moving forward. See Chart 4 for revenue of OEM and aftermarket options for competitive devices covered under their MPS programs. This may seem contradictory on the aftermarket products. surface but it is a message to the aftermarket to abide by patent laws to avoid OEM prosecution while at the same time Recommendations for aftermarket • Aftermarket suppliers can benefit from the economic offer opportunities to the OEM for fully compatible supplies situation as long as customers have a positive experience for other devices covered under OEM MPS programs. in purchasing their products and do not experience poor quality or reliability problems. • Vigilance on quality will be key to maintain a positive aftermarket position and continued purchases from customers. • Those suppliers who are currently providing product which violate patents must take actions to avoid patent infringement in the future or they will face far more pressure than they have to date. OEMs will take action and the market will resist product. We already see that some reseller channels are reluctant to accept new build aftermarket alternatives due to their belief, in many cases justified, that much off the new build product available is
InfoTrends opinion The imaging supplies market remains fiercely competitive as both sides, the OEM and aftermarket, look to find that advantage over each other. The OEM will continue to pursue its position of dominance through its technical capability and intellectual property position, while the aftermarket will continue to push its price position. In order for the aftermarket to keep its advantage after the positive recession bump, companies will need to adhere to satisfactory quality levels, expand color offerings, and avoid any patent pitfalls by making sure products have an acceptable and legal patent workarounds.
InfoTrends InfoTrends, a Questex Company, is the leading worldwide market research and strategic consulting firm for the digital imaging and document solutions industry. We provide research, analysis, forecasts, and advice to help clients understand market trends, identify opportunities, and develop strategies to grow their businesses. Additional information about InfoTrends is available on the Web at www.infotrends.com. www.recyclingtimes.com.cn | July 2010
Issue4--1-48.indd 23
23
2010-6-23 17:12:37
Recycling Times Magazine
Market Data
Worldwide hardcopy peripherals market grows 9.1% in the first quarter The worldwide hardcopy peripherals market grew 9.1% year over year with 28.7 million units shipped in the first quarter of 2010 (1Q10), according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Hardcopy Peripherals Tracker. This is the second consecutive quarter of year-over-year unit growth and the first quarter since early 2008 where the hardcopy peripherals shipment value ($13.8 billion) has also experienced year-over-year growth (7%). "It is encouraging to now see both units and shipment value growth in all the major segments of the hardcopy peripherals market and we believe this trend will continue into 2010," said Ruth Flynn, research analyst, Worldwide Quarterly Hardcopy Peripherals Tracker. Once again the color laser MFP market has shown the greatest year-over-year growth with 25% in 1Q10, followed closely by monochrome laser MFPs, which grew by 18%. But color inkjet MFPs continue to make up the majority of the hardcopy peripherals market with a 51% share. Samsung is the number one ranked vendor for both color and monochrome laser MFP shipments and posted 35% and 76% year-over-year growth respectively. HP continues to dominate the color inkjet MFP market with a number one ranking and 21% year-over-year growth. Technology highlights • The inkjet market, and more specifically the color inkjet MFP market, is still the technology that holds the majority share of the hardcopy peripherals market, with over 19 million units shipped worldwide, 14.8 million of which were color inkjet MFP units. The inkjet market continues to be dominated by a small group of vendors, with over 85% of inkjet market share taken up by the top three vendors. • In 1Q10 monochrome laser devices continue to rank second in units shipped (7 million units) and first in shipment value ($5.8 billion). Monochrome laser units have a 24% share of the hardcopy peripherals market in terms of unit shipments, but a 42% share in terms of shipment value. • Color laser devices retain a 37% share of the hardcopy
24
market shipment value in 1Q10, while only taking up a 6% share of unit shipments. The MFP penetration at 47% and year-over-year growth of 17% for the color laser market beats these same metrics for the monochrome laser market which are 37% and 10% respectively. Regional highlights • United States – In 1Q10 the U.S. returned to positive year-over-year growth for both units and shipment value at 5.9% and 0.8% respectively. And while the U.S. ranks third for units shipped (6.4 million) they continued to lead the worldwide hardcopy peripherals market for shipment value ($3.9 billion). • Western Europe – Western Europe is the only region where the hardcopy peripherals market did not return to growth in 1Q10. Both units and shipment value declined by about 2% year-over-year, but Western Europe still ranks second for both of these metrics with 6.4 million units and $3.2 billion shipment value. • CEMA (Central Europe, Middle East and Africa) – With 10% year-over-year unit shipment growth, CEMA has seen the hardcopy peripherals market expand as compared to the previous year for the second quarter in a row. In addition the shipment value in CEMA grew by 21% year-over-year. • Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) – This region improved to become number one for unit shipments with 6.9 million units in 1Q10, and maintained a fourth place rank in terms of shipment value with $1.96 billion. Additionally APeJ had the highest year-over-year growth rate out of all regions for both units shipped with 23% and shipment value with 28%. • Japan – Japan continues to be the third largest market in terms of shipment value ($2.6 billion), behind only the U.S. and Western Europe. Both units shipped and shipment value returned to positive year-over-year growth in 1Q10 at 4% and 6% respectively. Vendor highlights • HP – HP continues to be the number one ranked vendor
July 2010 | www.recyclingtimes.com.cn
Issue4--1-48.indd 24
2010-6-23 17:12:37
Recycling Times Magazine
Market Data
in 1Q10 with worldwide market share of 41.1% and 10.5% year-over-year growth. The Americas region was strongest for HP in terms of unit growth in 1Q10, with 16% year-over-year growth, followed by the APeJ and EMEA regions with 12% and 3% growth respectively. In the worldwide MFP market HP grew 19% year over year, driven by record-high first quarter inkjet MFP shipments. While HP has lost market share in the overall printer segment compared to 1Q09, they have gained 5 % of market share in the inkjet printer segment. • Canon – Canon maintained its position as the second ranked vendor, with worldwide year-over-year growth of 6.2%. This performance was driven by 19% year-over-year growth in the APeJ region where Canon is the only vendor in the top five to experience year-over-year growth for the last four consecutive quarters. Canon achieved growth in both the MFP and printer markets, with the strongest showing from laser printers, where they experienced 28% year-over-year growth. • Epson – Holding onto the number three position worldwide, Epson posted 10.8% year-over-year shipment growth in 1Q10, while its market share remained flat from the previous year. The vendor experience double digit yearover-year growth in both the APeJ and Americas regions at 23% and 16% respectively, while in the EMEA region it saw a 3% year-over-year decline. Printer shipments grew by 14% and MFP shipments grew by 9%, while Epson moved up one spot to become the number two inkjet MFP vendor.
• Samsung – Moving ahead one spot to the number four ranking this quarter, Samsung experienced 49.9% growth worldwide and gained just under two points in market share. For units shipped in the laser MFP space, Samsung continues to be ranked first, and experienced an impressive 67% yearover-year growth. The vendor is also excelling in the laser printer space with 50% year-over-year growth and a 5% gain in market share from 1Q09. • Brother – While Brother fell to the fifth position in 1Q10, they were able to gain almost 1% in market share over the previous quarter. The vendor experienced positive shipment growth year-over-year in both the Americas and APeJ regions at 10% and 3% respectively, but slow economic recovery in Western Europe has hurt Brother and its shipments continued on a downward trend, declining 19% year over year for the EMEA region. Notes: • IDC tracks A2-A4 devices in the Quarterly Hardcopy Peripherals • Hardcopy Peripherals include single-function printers, printer-based multifunctional systems (MFPs), and singlefunction digital copiers (SF DC). Data for all vendors are reported for calendar periods. For more information about IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Hardcopy Peripherals Tracker, please visit IDC website.
Vendors
1Q10 Unit Shipments
1Q10 Market Share
1Q09 Unit Shipments
1Q09 Market Share
1Q10/1Q09 Growth
1. HP
11,806,338
41.10%
10,686,337
40.60%
10.50%
2. Canon
4,804,362
16.70%
4,552,930
17.20%
6.20%
3. Epson
4,342,813
15.10%
3,920,574
14.90%
10.80%
4. Samsung
1,812,617
6.30%
1,209,180
4.60%
49.90%
5. Brother
1,701,269
5.90%
1,831,935
7.00%
-7.10%
Others
4,234,234
14.80%
4,133,064
15.70%
2.50%
Total
28,701,633
100.00%
26,304,020
100.00%
9.10%
▲ Worldwide Hardcopy Peripherals Market Share and Year-Over-Year Growth, First Quarter 2010 Source: IDC Worldwide Quarterly Hardcopy Peripherals Tracker, May 2010
Vendors
1Q10 Unit Shipments
1Q10 Market Share
1Q09 Unit Shipments
1Q09 Market Share
1Q10/1Q09 Growth
1. HP
3,325,213
52.30%
2,951,006
49.10%
12.70%
2. Canon
785,121
12.30%
781,313
13.00%
0.50%
3. Epson
565,720
8.90%
563,352
9.40%
0.40%
4. Lexmark
470,695
7.40%
529,634
8.80%
-11.10%
5. Brother
361,097
5.70%
337,339
5.60%
7.00%
Others
852,372
13.40%
843,325
14.00%
1.10%
6,360,218
100.00%
6,005,969
100.00%
5.90%
Total
▲ U.S. Hardcopy Peripherals Market Share and Year-Over-Year Growth, First Quarter 2010 Source: IDC Worldwide Quarterly Hardcopy Peripherals Tracker, May 2010
www.recyclingtimes.com.cn | July 2010
Issue4--1-48.indd 25
25
2010-6-23 17:12:38
Recycling Times Magazine
Market Data
A bright outlook with some challenges ——The Chinese printer supplies industry in 2010 The spring of 2010 witnessed signs of recovery in the economy for China, an encouraging sign for the industry. Better market conditions boost business confidence. As for the remanufacturing industry in China, factors such as national policy, appreciation of the RMB, insufficient supply of labor, increasing cost of labor and an increasing cost of materials, all blur the forecast for the remanufacturing industry of China. To find out more about the current situation of the industry in China and where the market is going, Recycling Times conducted a small-scale research into 100 representative companies in the industry. The survey was sent out at the North China Consumables Industry Forum and Expo (CIFEX) and through e-mail to our customer database. We received 53 returned surveys out of 100, of which 42 were valid. Of these 42 companies, 18 produce toner and toner cartridge related products, 23 produce toner and toner cartridge related products as well as ink and inkjet cartridge related products (including CISS and components) and one company produce just ink and inkjet cartridge related products. Before we discuss the survey result, let’s first review the general economy environment. 1. Economy recovery The recovery of the economy, no doubt, gives the businessmen a shot in the arm. Though due to different market conditions, the speed of the economy’s revival is different. According to statistics from the World Economic Outlook Report released by IMF in April, the economy is recovering at a stronger rate than expected “but speed varies”. It is projected that the growth rate for the whole world in 2010 and 2011 will be 4.2% and 4.3% respectively. It is estimated that as the inventory cycle driving force turns weaker, the growth of the first quarter of 2010 dropped from the level of the fourth quarter of 2009 - 4.0% to 3.0%. The GDP of Europe has been around 0.5% growth quarter on quarter, which is the weakest recovery around the globe. The increase of GDP of the USA dropped from 5.6% (the level of the quarter before last quarter) to 2.5% last quarter. Japan’s GDP growth also fell, from 3.8% to 1.5%. However, although these countries and regions saw
26
slowing growth, BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) showed strong growth and this is especially true of the emerging economies in Asia which are leading the world recovery. According to a report by State Council Development Research Center, the economy has maintained a consecutive growth since the second quarter of 2009. As the world economy picks up, the worldwide hardcopy peripherals market grew 9.1% year over year with 28.7 million units shipped in the first quarter of 2010 (1Q10), according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Hardcopy Peripherals Tracker. This is the second consecutive quarter of year-over-year unit growth and the first quarter since early 2008 where the shipment value of hardcopy peripherals ($13.8 billion) has also experienced year-over-year growth (7%). 2. The current outlook of the industry from Jan. to Apr. Sales boost The economic recovery and the increasing shipment of worldwide hardcopy peripherals suggest a flourishing printer supplies market. From January to April, the printer consumables market in China thrived, especially for toner and toner related products. Of the 42 companies, 66.7% of them answered that their sales volume has grown. And the average growth is 26.9% over the same period of last year. 30.7% had a flat result and only 2.6% of them sold less products than last year (See figure 1). Ink and ink related products have experienced an absolute growth, though with a less pronounced rate than
July 2010 | www.recyclingtimes.com.cn
Issue4--1-48.indd 26
2010-6-23 17:12:38
Recycling Times Magazine
Market Data
toner and toner related products. 60.9% of companies surveyed sold more inkjet printer supplies than the same period of last year, with an average growth of 14.4%. 39.1% of them saw no year on year growth. Most companies running well As for the average price of the products, 14.5% of the companies said they thought the price rose. 46.5% of them thought the price stayed the same as last year. 39% experienced a falling price and reported an average drop of 8.6%. Profit is what your business seeks. In terms of profit margin, the companies which experienced rising profits and those that saw profits fall were the same in number – with both accounting for 31.7% of those surveyed. Profits for the group that saw the increase were substantial – on average a 20% rise over the previous year. However, those that experienced declining profit saw more a modest change of 7.6% on profit margin. Almost one third of the companies interviewed saw their profit margins remain constant (See Figure 3). We can tell from the figures above that most companies were running very well from January to April, 2010. 97.4% of the toner and toner products remanufacturers had no decrease in terms of sales volume. All the companies in ink and ink related products maintained constant sales. 68.3% of the companies enjoyed at least the same profit as last year. 3. Outlook on market for the remaining year Rosy picture ahead The better economic climate and the rising momentum from January to April form a rosy picture for the remainder of 2010. When asked to predict the market for 2010, 80.5% of the companies looking up at the market at an upward movement of 13.4%. This figure is the arithmetical mean of all the numbers the companies predicted. (The highest number and the lowest number were excluded for precision reason). 17% estimated that the market will remain the same with the first few months of 2010. Only 2.5% of them had a negative outlook for remaining year (See figure 4). In terms of price trends, companies do not agree with each other. When asked about the directions of the prices of printer supplies, they showed very different insights. According to 34.2% of the companies the price of printer consumables will go up, the average of their prediction was 8%. 31.6% of them believe there will be an unchanged price while 34.2% predicted a lower price; the common forecast was about 8.5% less.
▲ Figure 1 Sales volume of toner and toner related products (Jan. to Apr.)
▲ Figure 2 Sales volume of ink and ink related products (Jan. to Apr.)
▲ Figure 3 Profit margin of remanufacturing industry (Jan. to Apr.)
▲ Figure 4 Marketplace outlook of remaining year
Major challenges As we mentioned at the beginning, the cost of labor is up; the price of raw material is soaring; the RMB is appreciating; exporters are getting export tariff rebates. All of these factors indicate an uncertain market and are www.recyclingtimes.com.cn | July 2010
Issue4--1-48.indd 27
27
2010-6-23 17:12:39
Recycling Times Magazine
Market Data
directly putting pressure on the companies in the industry. pressure on the cost (see figure 5). In this survey, companies were asked to rank all the factors So what is the biggest challenge facing ahead for the mentioned in text above. industry? When asked to rank technology, capital, policies, The rising cost of labor was targeted as the first and most personnel and patent issues, 32% of companies pointed important factor that influences the market 31.7% of the to technology as the biggest challenge while 22% of them companies agreed that this is the main reason for higher faced a serious challenge in capital. 22% complained about cost. On average, labor cost was up by 9.85% for them. Last unfavorable government policies and 14.63% thought year, due to the financial meltdown, many factories were personnel was the biggest headache for remaining year. shut down and job opportunities were fewer. Therefore, Only 12.2% of them identified patent issues as the biggest many migrant workers went back to the countryside for challenge (see figure 6). From these figures, we can see that survival. Although the economy of 2010 is looking up, a breakthrough in technology remains the most urgent task many companies around Yangtze River Delta are having for companies in China. difficulty employing enough workers for the jobs created by With regard to patent cases in toner and toner related incoming orders. products, 82.9% of the companies foresaw patent As well as this shortage of workers, the increased infringements in the market while 4.9% of respondents said minimum wage is also contributing to the rising cost they were “not sure” about this issue. A proportion of 12.2% of labor. Since the 2010 sit in, Provinces and provincial companies didn’t expect patent disputes in 2010. As for cities including Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Shanghai, which market would have the most frequent occurrence of Tianjin, Shanxi, and Shandong have raised the minimum patent lawsuits, 65.9% thought it would be the USA. 41.7% wage level. The growth rate is more than 10%, sometimes chose west Europe and 14.6% chose Japan while 14.6% even above 20%. According to the release of Ministry of chose China. 9.8% companies expected patent infringement Human Resources and social security, 20 more provinces issues in east Europe. plan to readjust the minimum wage. A report by the In general, the companies in the industry are optimistic ministry released on February 25 shows that although about the remaining year, especially in toner and toner jobs are increasing on the previous year, the people who expressed intention of going to the city and looking for jobs is at a lower than usual level. The companies surveyed projected an increase on of 9% in the cost of labor. The second most important factor is the growing price ▲ Figure 5 Factors influencing cost in 2010 of raw material. 24.4% of the companies surveyed were looking at a leap, 8.3% was their average estimation. The third factor is the appreciation of RMB. 12.2% of the companies thought this would bring up costs by about 5%. 4.9% of companies felt the national policy of canceling export tariff rebates would put ▲ Figure 6 Biggest challenge for growth in remaining year
28
July 2010 | www.recyclingtimes.com.cn
Issue4--1-48.indd 28
2010-6-23 17:12:40
Recycling Times Magazine
Market Data
related products. However, the industry is also faced with lots of obstacles, such as rising costs, technological barriers, lack of capital and patent disputes. Every company wishes to surmount numerous difficulties and gain a larger market share with new possibilities ahead. How are they going to achieve this? 92.31% companies surveyed indicated that they will take actions to explore the market for new opportunities. 5.14% of them are going to defend what they have right now while 2.56% of them plan to cut expenses.
is a very good number for current market. The fact that more than 80% of the companies were optimistic about the marketplace for remaining year proves my estimation. However, cost is up and many factors become the barrier for development, there are still some challenges for the industry. Companies have an uphill battle ahead of them, although the future is promising.
Summary With some 66.7% toner and toner related products makers having rising sales volume, above half of ink and ink related products makers enjoying higher sales, we can see bright prospects for the industry. One third of the companies claimed they had higher profit margin. I think this
www.recyclingtimes.com.cn | July 2010
Issue4--1-48.indd 29
29
2010-6-23 17:12:48
Recycling Times Magazine
Showcase
Information is power ——Using a customer survey questionnaire Chapter 13 of the Use of Spies in the Art of War (a famous Chinese military treatise written by Sun Tzu in the 6th Century BC, during the Spring and Autumn period) reads: “Thus, what enables the wise sovereign and the good general to strike and conquer, and achieve things beyond the reach of ordinary men, is foreknowledge.” This sentence shows that the key to wining a war is “foreknowledge”. Timely and precise information means everything in a war. We can also see this during a trade show. A trade show is more than a platform for showcasing products; it is also an information center. Apart from collecting purchase orders, a customer survey, as an important media of collecting information from customers on trade shows, can be another substantial outcome of attending a show. A customer survey questionnaire is an effective customer information collection system. You can talk to customers directly when you hand out the questionnaire. Your conversation can also take place inside or outside the booth and by focusing only on each other, the customer may enjoy human communication without a computer as a media. However, many companies still stay in the “stone age” when it comes to collecting information about customers. For most companies, a customer survey questionnaire is just a container of business cards. In fact, used well, questionnaires are far more. The trade show in itself is a media of information exchange. Exhibitors and visitors have conversations covering lots of topics – products, solutions, competitors, problems, samples, product releases, marketing strategy, booth decoration and so on. This information is vital to the survival and development of a company. If we
30
don’t collect it whilst at the trade show, it is gone almost as soon as the show concludes. If we get this information and keep it in files, we gain the control over it and can analyze the state of the marketplace and what feedback customers are giving. The power of this information is immeasurable. Questionnaires used in a customer survey can record almost everything from the customer feedback to the effectiveness of the show. Badly written questions limit the usefulness of questionnaires, so here we discuss how to make an effective questionnaire for your customer survey on a trade show. Sales department First of all, let’s take a look at how the sales department can benefit from a customer survey questionnaire. The most basic value of a questionnaire is to record the contact information of a customer and the products they are interested in. Many exhibitors just make a simple form with one or two columns and hand it out to visitors. We suggest here that we prepare two different questionnaires – one for regular customers and one for potential customers. Before we hand out questionnaires, we can check if the customer has bought our products. If they have, we hand out the one for regular customers. We all know that customer loyalty is valuable asset. Firstly, they bought your product before, which means you have trust built
July 2010 | www.recyclingtimes.com.cn
Issue4--1-48.indd 30
2010-6-23 17:12:52
Recycling Times Magazine
Showcase
up between you. The chances of selling them new products are greater than with brand new customers and the cost is much lower. Secondly, an old customer may tell you their true feelings towards your products or services without any hesitation. They will tell you what they want to buy or even what other companies think of those products. Therefore, questions concerned with your competitors, feedback on products, purchasing intentions and market trends can be included in the questionnaire for these customers. With potential customers, you can ask questions about the products they are interested in, their target price, payment terms and delivery. To maximize the questionnaire’s effectiveness, you can add questions like “Is there anybody else in your company interested in our products? If yes, please give their names and contact information”. Simple questions like this may also save time when you analyze the results. To avoid confusion, you can make the two questionnaires in different colors.
product, you may leave out that product for another trade show. You can simply do a little math and see how many visitors are interested in your products. This number can tell you whether you have reached out to potential customers. You can also evaluate the show and see how many target customers the show brings you. This can be used as an indicator of whether to come back to this show again. Stand Staff need to make a detailed record of the number of the visitors and registration time By doing this, the staff can get a conclusion of which day they collect the most materials, what question is the most valuable one and which period of the day they enjoy the most visitor traffic. From these numbers, you can evaluate whether the staff are properly distributed at the booth. The staff should also pay attention to feedback from visitors about booth decoration, the promotion plan and the products. While keeping an eye on visitor traffic, the staff can also collect information about the feedback from a product release conference (if you have any). Actually, the questionnaire acts as a hint for the staff that is at the booth. The questions help the staff collect valuable information and the staff can pick up on the conversation with screened information. The reception time can be less. You may leave some space on the questionnaire so that your staff can write any other information they think important about the customer. Product R & D department The R & D department needs feedback from customers. A trade show offers exhibitors with a window where they can talk face-to-face with customers, both existing and potential. Exhibitors can get started by questions such as “Have you used our products? Why do you choose our products above of similar products on the market?” Then you can get to know further information about factors such as
Staff on the stand Questionnaires can provide staff on the booth with useful information. Staff should pay attention to all the contact information of the visitors who come to the booth and see how they react to the products. If visitors show little interest in one www.recyclingtimes.com.cn | July 2010
Issue4--1-48.indd 31
31
2010-6-23 17:13:00
Recycling Times Magazine
Showcase
price, performance and quality. You can also ask customers what they want improvements they’d like to see in the product and what other brand products will they buy and why. At the end of every day, it is necessary for exhibitors to make use of the contact information they have on hand and keep track of the customers. If the customers are interested in your products, make sure you have a sample ready for them by the time they go back to their office. Marketing department The Marketing department strategically promotes the brand, image, website and products. How does a questionnaire help them? You can include more questions in the questionnaire, such as reactions to competitors’ ads and their corporate image and positioning. You can add some questions about the marketing strategies used by your competitors and see how customers respond to those marketing activities. Decision makers Management lays emphasis on almost every question on the questionnaire, especially the overall image of the company. You can ask questions such as “where do you think our company stands in the industry? How do you think about the future development of our country? How do you like our newly-released products?” To regular customers, you can talk
Subscribe to Recycling Times Today
To subscribe, email to charles@therecycler.com.cn. 32
about who the customers have dealt with recently or whether they have any suggestions to make your company better. This not only shows that you care about your customers, but it also raise customers’ recognition. This may result to stronger customer loyalty. Customer relationship management Customer relationship management is crucial. For larger companies, we suggest giving out business cards according to the area of interest of the customers so that customers can reach whoever they need to contact. This makes it easy for different departments to keep track of the customers and maintain a close relationships with them. Summary If you are asking questions that customers will be eager to answer because it shows that you are listening to them and want to make things better for them. However, a questionnaire that is too long will drive visitors away. If it is too short, you may not get enough information you need. If you do want a lot of information you could decide to ask particular things at different trade shows. Generally, the premium time that takes about five to ten minutes to answer all the questions. You can offer a free gift in return for a completed questionnaire or arrange a prize draw for those who took part in your survey. A trade show is an ideal spot for trade as it is an ideal site for customer survey. Some visitors may even give much useful and professional advice referring to many aspects of your business. If you can take some time to conduct this kind of research during a trade show and make full use of the information you obtain, the information will provide you with direct reference to you strategic move. This help you walk further and go ahead of your competitors.
July 2010 | www.recyclingtimes.com.cn
Issue4--1-48.indd 32
2010-6-23 17:13:13
Issue4--1-48.indd 33
2010-6-23 17:13:15
Recycling Times Magazine
Profiles
Six questions on Static Control’s View on Demand Webinar Interviewing Static Control Components, Inc Static Control launches View on Demand Webinars to its customers in 2010. At CIFEX show, the webinar program was demonstrated and drew a lot of attention. What exactly is the webinar program? What does it mean to the industry? Recycling Times magazine interviewed Static Control to find out more about the program. Q1: Why does Static Control want to provide the View on Demand Webinar to its customers? What kind of information will be included in the View on Demand series webinar? Static Control: Technology in this industry has become very sophisticated and continues to grow in complexity. And just as important is the rapid pace of innovation. This makes learning increasingly challenging. For us to succeed, we need to ensure that our customers have the knowledge they need to succeed, in a form that is fast, flexible and highly responsive. View on Demand does that. We provide detailed, step-by-step cartridge remanufacturing instructions, individual component technologies, 3D animation, electro photographic imaging processes, market analysis in which we identify opportunities, and forwardlooking executive briefings about the direction of the industry.
34
Q2: If a customer wants to watch a View on Demand Webinar, how can they access it? How can a customer of Static Control’s make use of the webinar? In what way can customers benefit from the Webinar? How does the webinar generate higher profits? Static Control: View on Demand Webinars is a very secure program. Customers who register for View on Demand will receive instructions and a security code by email. Once they have received this information, they can begin by selecting from our menu of viewing options. We’ve made it very easy to access and to navigate. View on Demand is convenient and simple to use, as simple as watching TV. Customers may choose any webinar topic and view it anytime. He may stop the presentation, back up, view again. If someone has a question, he may contact our technical support or sales representatives for more information, in a language they understand. No one else offers this kind of access to information designed to fit the individual scheduling needs of the viewer. This is free to Static Control customers and available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For remanufacturers to be successful in the future, and in particular in the color cartridge, they must understand 100 percent of the cartridge technology. There is no room for error. Using Static Control’s View on Demand Webinar program, they have 24-hour support from the global leader in this industry.
July 2010 | www.recyclingtimes.com.cn
Issue4--1-48.indd 34
2010-6-23 17:13:16
Recycling Times Magazine
Profiles
remanufacturers, anywhere in the world, anytime of day or night, can access this information. No one else offers this level of training to their customers. Static Control is totally committed to supporting its customers worldwide.
Q3: According to Static Control’s introduction to the webinar you mention that this View on Demand Webinar program is a landmark. Why is it a landmark? Some other companies in the industry also provide training programs to help their customers, including technical remanufacturing instructions or other information as well. How does the View on Demand Webinar program differ from something the industry has seen? Static Control: In many cases our competitors simply copy what Static Control has already made available to our customers, but we differ from our competitors in many ways. Foremost is our technical expertise. We have invested many millions of dollars and years of research and development to provide a standard of quality in our components and systems no one can match. We have more than 200 worldclass engineers, 14,000 products and more than 60 patents. We serve more than 165 countries, including China. The information we provide through View on Demand is not just the most convenient training resource the industry has ever seen. The information in our webinars represents state-of-the-art knowledge from the leading technology and manufacturing company in our industry.
Q5: How many customers have used View on Demand Webinar? What kind of feedback have they offered? What influence does the Webinar bring to Static Control? What is the significance of Webinar for the remanufacturing industry as a whole? Judging from the current development of the program, does the effectiveness reach Static Control's expectations? Is the investment worthwhile? Static Control: Worldwide we have approximately 40,000 laser cartridge remanufacturers located in 165 countries. We want to reach and support everyone. Static Control believes that View on Demand Webinars is imperative tor this industry to prosper and survive long term. Remanufacturers must have access to all the technology and remanufacturing methodology to survive, because OEMs use new and more challenging innovations in their cartridges. The investment is worthwhile. Q6: What is the development plan for View on Demand Webinar program? Static Control: We will offer View on Demand Webinars in about 20 languages. In 2010, we expect to offer 1,250 webinars. In 2011, we will add 1,750 new webinars.
Q4: What role does the Webinar play in the day-to-day operation of a remanufacturer? Static Control: Our industry becomes ever more technologically complex. Where else can our customers go to get detailed training and information to keep up with all the cartridges? Our program is ambitious. By next year, we expect to provide nearly 3,000 webinars, in more than 20 languages. And the list will keep growing. This means that www.recyclingtimes.com.cn | July 2010
Issue4--1-48.indd 35
35
2010-6-23 17:13:17
Recycling Times Magazine
Profiles
Encounters with ink and toner Interviewing Shenzhen Prinker Printing Technology Co., Ltd. Sir Ka-shing Li, the owner of the world's largest operator of container terminals and the world's largest health and beauty retailer, once said of business “No matter when you get started, it is important that you persist in doing it. No matter when you stop it, it is important that you don’t regret after you stop it.” In the business world, you many encounter an industry by accident. However, if you seize the opportunity and stand in the tide of history and turn the encounter into a long career, you are a true success. Shenzhen Prinker Printing Technolog y Co., Ltd. (Prinker) is exactly such a success. Recycling Times interview with Mr. Mark Xu, vice general manager of Prinker, trying to unveil the secret of its encounters with ink and toner. Beautiful encounter When asked how he entered this business, Mark uses the
‘print’ and ‘ink’, then we add ‘er’ at the back. That is how the name ‘Prinker’ came into being. It means somebody who
word “encounter”. Although the founder of Prinker used to be in the IT business, he mainly dealt with computer hardware and never opened a package of an inkjet cartridge or related products. When he first ripped open the package
makes inks for printing. In Chinese, the name “Pu Rui Ke’ means ‘average price, vivid color and scientific technology’, which is the exact the true portrayal of what we do.” Although Prinker came into the printer supplies industry by accident, the company operated at a high level and high maintained high standards. Now that the industry is increasingly competitive Prinker’s position as an expert in ink and inkjet cartridges and high standards have ensured Prinker’s survival.
of an inkjet cartridge, he mistakenly took the ink refill hole for the ink exit. The founder was influenced by his natural thought that “selling the tire is more profitable than selling a car”. There was also a saying about inkjet cartridge remanufacturing at that time, which was “It took you an overnight to buy a Santana if you are in this business.” After deliberation, the founder invested $3.5 million in 1999 and set up Prinker. Prinker was set to be an expert of ink and inkjet cartridges. Therefore, they tried to find a perfect name to go with the concept. Mark told us: “Finally, we took our part of the words
High standards drive development Prinker invested heavily in the infrastructure such as a factory and other assets. When Prinker was first built, the capacity was set as 2 million cartridges per month. After several extensions, the capacity has doubled. Since
▲ Production workshop
36
July 2010 | www.recyclingtimes.com.cn
Issue4--1-48.indd 36
2010-6-23 17:13:17
Recycling Times Magazine
Profiles
2004, Prinker dipped its feet into toner cartridge manufacturing by being an OEM factory. At the end of 2006, Prinker built a second factory specifically for manufacturing toner cartridges, with the hope of providing a better service and delivering quality products and services. The monthly capacity of the second factory is 150,000 toner cartridges. With further extensions in mind, Prinker can enlarge the monthly capacity of the second factory to 300,000 toner cartridges. Mark said: “we have only come into the toner cartridge business very recently, but our major engineers and management staff have been in the business for a very long time. From this perspective, Prinker is a very mature company with lots of experience in making toner cartridges.” “We have art-of-the-state equipment, high processing management levels, a committed technical team and an R & D center of international calibre at our disposal. We introduced manufacturing equipment from countries such as Germany, Switzerland and Japan. High technology and quality material from the USA are applied to the manufacturing process. The workshop, with "fullly-closed" and "multi-grade purification", is far away from foreign matters. Therefore it is absolutely pure and there are no chemical sediments or head jams. We are an ISO9001-2000 quality control certified company. Every process is watched closely and all our products are in vacuum packages,” he continued. Now Prinker has factories covering an area of 5000 m2, making five kinds of products, namely inks, inkjet cartridges, toner, toner cartridges and photo papers, altogether more than 200 products. Seven brands of products are sold in markets both home and abroad. Service keeps customers Like most companies in the printer consumables industry, Prinker focused on the overseas market at the beginning. The products by Prinker were sold to Germany, France, Britain, Korea and the USA. In some European countries, Prinker products take up over 40% of the total market share of aftermarket inkjet printer supplies. In recent years, Prinker has paid more attention to the emerging markets, which have become sources of growth. To meet the increasing demand of the domestic market, Prinker authorized a company here in China to explore the Chinese market in 2002 and they have flattened the distribution channel in China to provide better services and products for Chinese customers,. Since 2005, Prinker has headed the marketing and management system
▲ Engineers studying technical problems
in China directly. Apart from consistent performance and quality products, the service Prinker provides is the successful trump in winning recognition from customers worldwide. Prinker doesn’t just view the relationships with customers as “sellbuy” relationships. They see their customers as their business partners. They believe that only if the customers are gaining benefit can Prinker be successful. “What is worth mentioning, though, is that Prinker’s customer base was not from the IT industry. Prinker provided them with incredible support from training, setting up offices and even designing customers’ logos. These customers became a solid foundation for Prinker’s development. With support from these customers, Prinker set up their sales branches outside of China and extended the reach of Prinker products. Overseas sales were strong and the word of mouth of these customers has drawn more overseas customers to the sales network,” said Mark. The service Prinker provides doesn’t just mean the service for their products. They also attach great importance to the development of their customers in Prinker. When the customers are growing, Prinker wins more market share as well. Summary The market is full of risks and opportunities. Only minds that demonstrate bravery and wisdom can take the opportunities and be capable of great feats. Prinker walks along with the prime decade of China’s printer supplies industry. Prinker builds itself from ink and related products to toner and related products, from a green hand to a driving force of the industry. It is the attentive attitude and the commitment that makes Prinker extraordinary. www.recyclingtimes.com.cn | July 2010
Issue4--1-48.indd 37
37
2010-6-23 17:13:18
Issue4--1-48.indd 38
2010-6-23 17:13:21
Recycling Times Magazine
Legal Issues
Patent right ownership disputes between employee and employer By Helen Duan, INNOPAT Intellectual Property If an employee invents something in the course of their work, can the employee claim the patent as his own? Who exactly is the owner of the patent? As intellectual property rights gain more and more attention, ownership disputes over patents are more and more common and companies and employees are filing lawsuits against each other. Therefore, agreements concerning these issues should be signed before employment relations are entered into to avoid patent ownership disputes. In this issue, Lawyers Helen Duan and Jack Xu from Zhuhai Innopat Intellectual Property Co., Ltd. explain the issues concerning the ownership of patents invented at work under the Chinese laws. In recent years more and more businesses and individuals are recognizing the importance of patents and disputes about ownerships of patents have also become common. The focus of this kind of dispute is whether a patent invented at work falls into the service invention creation category or not. With regard to the definition of service invention-creation, Patent Law clearly stipulates that “An invention-creation, made by a person in execution of the tasks of the entity to which he belongs, or made by him mainly by using the material and technical means of the entity is a service invention-creation. For a service intention-creation, the right to apply for a patent belongs to the entity. After the application is approved, the entity shall be the patentee. For a nonservice invention-creation, the right to apply for a patent belongs to the inventor or creator. After the application is approved, the inventor or creator shall be the patentee. In respect of an inventioncreation made by a person using the material and technical means of an entity to which he belongs, where the entity and the inventor or creator have entered into a contract in which the right to apply for and own a patent is provided for, such a provision shall apply.” In fact, the two important factors that determine whether a patent is a service intention-creation are whether the employee uses the material and technical means of a company he belongs to
in order to invent the patented product or solution and whether the invention is made in the execution of tasks for the company. A case At the end of 2006, a company in Zhuhai found out that an employee (hereinafter refer to as “the employee”) had applied for a patent in the name of an individual and the employee became the owner of the patent. The company sought help from Zhuhai Innopat Intellectual Property, which filed a lawsuit on behalf of the company requesting that the court rule that it was actually the company that owned the patent.
www.recyclingtimes.com.cn | July 2010
Issue4--1-48.indd 39
39
2010-6-23 17:13:22
Recycling Times Magazine
Legal Issues
There were several pertinent facts about this case. Firstly, the content of the patent involved in this case was something the employee had proposed as a response to what the company advocated for rationalization proposals of the company. S e c o n d l y, t h e e m p l o y e e h a d s i g n e d a Confidentiality Agreement with the company. According to the agreement, during the employee’s employment, the employee was to keep any processing technology and other technologies provided by the company confidential and not disclose them to any third party. The technologies included (but were not limited to) financial information, marketing strategy, processing operations, manufacturing details and standards, written material, samples, models and technological secrets. The employee was required not use or disclose such information anywhere apart from in the office. Thirdly, the employee had no technological background before they joined the company. All of the information they knew about processing and technology were gained from training provided by the company. Fourthly, the employee admitted in front of court that the invention was based on a training handbook given to them by the company. Fifthly, the training handbook was written by the company and related companies. There was no publication number or publisher though the book bore the stamp of the company. The court, in the first instance, ruled that the handbook was a non-public publication. Therefore, it was part of confidential technological material belonging to the company. Since the company signed a Confidentiality Agreement with the employee, it meant the company looked upon non-public publications as technological material and took measures to protect the confidentiality of the information. Therefore, it was ruled that the invention in this case was created by the employee with the help of technological materials given by the company and thus the owner of the patent should be the company. The employee wasn’t satisfied with the result and appealed to Guangdong Provincial Higher People's Court (court of second instance). However, the court of second instance affirmed the judgment of first instance. The company won the case.
40
Let’s review this case. We find that Confidentiality Agreement and the training handbook were the keys to winning case. If the company hadn’t signed the agreement or if the book had had no company stamp, the employee might have been the winner of the case. Suggestions for companies Though we won the case, we still have some things that we could have done better, for example the no-paper office had made it difficult for us to collect evidence and the service invention-creation clause was not included in the Confidentiality Agreement. We can learn several lessons from this case so as to avoid disputes like this case. • Agreement on intellectual property (IP Agreement) When drafting an employment agreement, you can include an article stipulating that the intellectual property right of every invention created during the employment belongs to the company and then you can reward employees through other means. Or you can specify which inventions are classed as service inventions and which are non-service inventions. When there is a dispute, you need to know where you can
July 2010 | www.recyclingtimes.com.cn
Issue4--1-48.indd 40
2010-6-23 17:13:25
Recycling Times Magazine
Legal Issues
go and settle the problem and it is worth setting up a system for ownership disputes. For example, a company may require that if the employee deems an invention to be a personal creation, they should file a written proposal to the company together with a statement of reason. If the company thinks the reasons stand, the company will give the employee written certification that says the owner of the invention is the employee. If the company doesn’t agree with the employee, and both parties cannot reach an understanding, any party can file lawsuit to the court or appeal to arbitration organs. If the employee doesn’t hand over a written proposal and statement of reason, the invention can reasonably be regarded as service invention. When the company cooperates with other business partners to work on R & D, consulting, maintenance and other services, there should also be a clear agreement about the ownership of intellectual property. Such agreements not only make employees and business partners aware of the ownership of their inventions but also prevent employees or business partners from applying for their own patents on service inventions. When disputes happen, you can settle the problem according to the agreement. Take the above-mentioned case for example. If there had been an article stipulating that any intellectual property invented during employment belongs to the company or if both parties had had an internal system to solve ownership disputes, the employee would not have applied for the patent and the case would not have come up. • Clear confidentiality obligations The right to protect commercial secrets stands only if the right holder takes proper measures to keep the commercial secrets confidential. These measures should exist not only in the form of an internal confidentiality system but also in the form of related contracts and agreements. In the abovementioned case, the training handbook was regarded as undisclosed information because the company signed an agreement with the employee, and it was considered that appropriate protective measures had been taken. As employees are dismissed or resign, the flow of talent moves on. In order to deal with legal issues resulting from this,
companies can require employees to sign a Confidentiality Agreement as part of their employment contracts. • Set up a sound archive management Technology archive management and confidentiality systems are mostly concerned with the establishment of files, classification of the secrets, loan registration and management, copying and destroying material and handover procedures when an employee leaves and so on. With the increased digitalization of the working environment, a paperless office is welcomed by more and more companies. I need to warn you here, that the laws concerning the use and collection of electronic evidence are not yet perfect. There are many uncertainties in daily practices. It is suggested that important documents, meeting notes and those materials that need signatures should be kept in paper form in order to prevent lack of evidence. In the abovementioned case, much evidence was presented in digital form and because the upload time and the person who uploaded the information were not certain they were dismissed from the evidence. • Incentive program for employees The key element in getting a patent ownership is people. The company should establish an incentive program for its employees and give recognition for their inventions. A great incentive program enables the company to reward its employees and increase loyalty. Such a program can encourage employees to create more inventions and is good for both parties. In the abovementioned case, the employee felt inadequately recognized and this was a factor influencing their decision to apply for the patent. The case took its toll on both sides.
www.recyclingtimes.com.cn | July 2010
Issue4--1-48.indd 41
41
2010-6-23 17:13:26
Recycling Times Magazine
Legal Issues
• Keep an open mind The company should have an open mind towards talent mobility. You should encourage or assist the mobility rather than stop it from flowing. For example, you should give an objective description about the character, expertise and ability of a departing employee in the reference letter to the employee’s new company. You can also include the obligations the employee has about confidentiality and noncompetition. Keeping track of your former employees, helps you maintain friendly relationships with them and stop them from stealing secrets for your competitors and quit. • Clear the tasks Rationalization proposals have been on many companies’ agendas for years. It means companies take some measures to encourage the staff to think of some proposals or process that make the working place or production better. In the hope of getting rationalization proposals from the employees, the company will support them in many ways, financially or other means. However, it is hard to give any substantial evidence out of this activity and they will not be regarded as “using the company resources”. Therefore, when organizing rationalization proposals activities, the company should have ownership of invention in mind. The company can make it clear that these activities are part of the task apart from jobs given by the company. In the abovementioned case, the first fact, although the content of the invention was identical with the company’s rationalization proposal activity, the court didn’t support one point we put forward as “the proposal made by the employee is part of the task after work given by the company”. Summary: Confidentiality agreements protect sensitive technical or commercial information from disclosure to others. If the information is revealed to another individual or company,
the injured party has cause to claim a breach of contract and can seek injunctive and monetary damages. The use of confidentiality agreements can prevent the forfeiture of valuable patent rights. Under U.S. law and in other countries as well, the public disclosure of an invention can be deemed as a forfeiture of patent rights in that invention. Confidentiality agreements also define exactly what information can and cannot be disclosed. This is usually accomplished by specifically classifying the non-disclosable information as confidential or proprietary. Companies should pay more attention to this part of the contact and protect their own interests in daily operations.
Helen Duan Helen Duan is a patent attorney and general manager of INNOPAT Intellectual Property Co., Ltd, which is an officially authorised foreign patent agency in China. In 2005, she was honored as one of the “Excellent IP agent of Guangdong Province.” Ms. Duan has been working as a senior IP advisor for several famous companies and associations including China Yangzi Group Company, ZTE Corporation and Print-Rite Group. Having followed up and studied OEM patents for about 10 years, Ms. Duan has rendered numerous strategic, patentability and non-infringement opinions for successfully designing around OEM’s patents worldwide. With more than 15 years IP practice, Ms. Duan is well experienced in international IP laws and regulations, esp. for the US, Europe and Japan.
42
July 2010 | www.recyclingtimes.com.cn
Issue4--1-48.indd 42
2010-6-23 17:13:32
Issue4--1-48.indd 43
2010-6-23 17:13:38
Recycling Times Magazine
Tech Zone
Remanufacturing the Okidata B-2500 MFP series toner cartridge By Mike Josiah and the Technical Staff at Uninet Imaging First released in July 2008 the Okidata B-2500 machine is based on a 17ppm, 600 dpi MFP engine that has a first page out in less than 13 seconds. These machines can print, copy, fax and scan. The printers come with a starter cartridge rated for 2,000 pages and the standard cartridge (56120401) is rated for 4,000 pages at 5% coverage. These machines use a somewhat unique method of telling the printer a new cartridge has been installed. Instead of a chip on the cartridge they use a Key card that is inserted separately into the printer (See Figure 1). These reset cards need to be replaced each cycle. When packaging the cartridge it is a good idea to tape the card to the top of the bag so the user does not forget they have to insert the card for the cartridge to work ( just like the OEM does) An interesting item about this system is that the cartridge does not have a toner end detection system. It is all controlled by the reset card. These cartridges are Machines based on this engine fairly easy to do, and with Okidata B2500 MFP a retail cost of $159.00 Okidata B2520 MFP (as of April 2010) very Okidata B2540 MFP profitable too! Required Tools
Required Supplies
• Toner approved vacuum.
• Needle nose pliers
• Dedicated Okidata B-2500 Toner
• Conductive grease
• A small Common screw driver
• Size T-7 Torx driver
• Dedicated Okidata B-2500 Reset Card
• Cotton swabs
• 99% pure isopropyl alcohol
• Soft, lint free wipes
• A Phillips head screwdriver
step >
Remove the 2 silver pins, one from each side of the cartridge. Pry them out with a small jeweler’s screwdriver and then grab them with wire cutters to remove them.
44
step >
1
2
Remove the Torx screws and plate from both sides of the cartridge. The Torx screws used in these cartridges are size T-7.
July 2010 | www.recyclingtimes.com.cn
Issue4--1-48.indd 44
2010-6-23 17:13:48
Recycling Times Magazine
3
4
9
10
step >
step >
Clean off all the old conductive grease from the PCR contacts, and replace with new. Remember, whenever using conductive grease more is never better. Only use a small amount (Match what the OEM had there).
11
step >
5
8
step >
step >
step >
Re-install the two screws and the wiper blade.
Pry out one of the side panels, and separate the two halves.
From the gear side of the drum half, take a small punch (1/4�) or screwdriver and drive the metal axle pin out. This axle is fairly tight. Make sure you do it from the gear side, (the keyed Side), if you try and drive the axle out from the opposite side, the axle will not move and you may damage the drum ground contact inside the drum. Remove the drum.
12
Install the drum axle from the hub side. Make sure the keyed end of the axle is installed first. It is easier if you mark the keyed end with a marker so you know how to orientate it when installing it. The side marks in Figure 13 show the orientation of the flat or keyed edge, the top mark in Figure 14 shows the keyed edge location.
Install the cleaned PCR.
Remove the PCR and clean with you preferred cleaner.
6
Remove the two screws on the wiper blade, and the blade. Clean out the waste chamber. NOTE: Be very careful not to damage or distort the thin Mylar Recovery Blade next to the wiper blade. If this blade is bent or damaged in any way, it should be replaced.
step >
7
step >
step >
step >
Tech Zone
Install the drum into the cartridge.
On the toner hopper, note the location of all the gears.
www.recyclingtimes.com.cn | July 2010
Issue4--1-48.indd 45
45
2010-6-23 17:14:00
Recycling Times Magazine
step >
13
18
Pry off the metal bushings from both sides of the developer roller shaft.
step >
step >
Tech Zone
19
Remove the developer roller.
Remove the four loose gears from the hopper.
16
step >
Remove the screw and holder from the gear side of the developer roller. Press in on the plastic tabs on the back side of the holder to remove it.
20
step >
step >
Remove the two screws from the doctor blade. NOTE: The doctor blade in these cartridges actually consists of three parts. An upper metal brace, the doctor blade itself which is a very thin sheet of metal and the lower metal brace. Be very careful when handling the dr. blade as it is very easily bent.
14
Remove the gear from the fill plug area by pressing in on the tab.
21
step >
Remove the upper metal brace, being careful not to damage the alignment pins. The pin on the left side is normally tight so more care should be taken there.
46
Remove the fill plug and dump out any remaining toner from the hopper.
22
Remove the Dr. Blade. Lift it out from the slot on the left side of the hopper. Again, be very careful not to damage it. Clean the blade with a cotton swan and alcohol.
step >
Remove the screw, holder and contact from the contact side of the developer roller. Press in on the plastic tabs on the back side of the holder to remove it. Be careful not to lose the contact!
step > step >
15
17
July 2010 | www.recyclingtimes.com.cn
Issue4--1-48.indd 46
2010-6-23 17:14:18
Recycling Times Magazine
step >
Replace the upper metal brace and the two screws.
27
Clean the developer roller with a clean lint free dry cloth. We do not recommend any chemicals be used at this time. Replace the developer roller into the cartridge. The long metal shaft side goes to the gear side of the hopper.
step >
23
Remove the lower metal brace. Lift it out from the left side as the right side has a tail that runs through the cartridge wall.
26
30
Replace the screw, holder, and contact on the contact side of the developer roller shaft.
step >
step >
Tech Zone
24
step >
31
step >
step >
Clean out any remaining toner from the hopper. Make sure to get the feed roller and foam seals clean. It is not necessary to remove the roller, just make sure it is clean.
32
step >
Replace the metal bushings on both sides of the developer roller shaft.
29
Replace the screw and holder on the gear side of the developer roller shaft.
25
Replace the cleaned Dr. Blade assembly in the hopper. Install the lower brace first inserting the tail through the cartridge wall and under the copper contact. Install the Doctor Blade next making sure the lip is facing down and the blade fits over the alignment pins correctly.
step >
28
step >
Clean and replace the conductive grease on the developer roller and the feed roller shafts. Note that the feed roller contacts also run to the Dr. Blade. This helps ensure that the toner is properly charged throughout the hopper.
Fill the hopper with the Okidata B-2500 toner. Replace the fill plug.
www.recyclingtimes.com.cn | July 2010
Issue4--1-48.indd 47
47
2010-6-23 17:14:36
Recycling Times Magazine
33
Place the two halves together and install the two metal pins.
step > step >
step >
34
36
Install the drum cover if available. It needs to be taped in place. Use a brightly colored tape so the user will notice it.
Replace all the gears on the hopper as shown.
35
Install the metal plates and screws.
37
After the cartridge has been tested and bagged, tape the Key card to the top of the bag so the user will see it. This key card is installed into the printer separately from the cartridge.
step >
step >
Tech Zone
Printing a Test page:
The simplest way to test a cartridge is to make a copy. To do this place the original face down in the feeder. Press the copy key, number of copies desired and the start key. Cleaning the Scanner:
If copied and transmitted pages come out with marks on the pages, but the reports are clean, the scanner is dirty. To clean the scanner, open the scanner cover. Wipe the scanner window down with a lint free cloth moistened with Isopropyl alcohol. Repetitive Defect Chart
OPC Drum Developer roller PCR
48
75mm 50mm 29mm
July 2010 | www.recyclingtimes.com.cn
Issue4--1-48.indd 48
2010-6-23 17:14:46