Recycling Times Magazine English Edition-Issue 39 (NEW LOOK) by Recycling Times Media Corporation

EDITORIAL

Tony Lee The future of inkjet printing has been expected to face its demise ever since laser printers continued to take up larger and larger proportions of the market, more so now when the cost of color laser printers has dropped to below US$150. Since 2007, the inkjet OEMs, including Epson, HP and Canon, have worked hard to win back their previous market share by targeting businesses with inkjet printers. On April 5, 2007, HP announced the Officejet series, true business inkjet printers, to keep up with laser printers at the same price point. Actually, HP invested US$1.4 billion on SPT (scalable printing technology) into the series. Hence, this series of printers has offered competitive speed, cost per page, processing capacity and output quality when compared with laser printers. In 2008, Epson introduced its reengineered micro piezo-electric print Publisher & Managing Director Tony Lee

Directors David Gibbons Sabrina Lo

Senior Consulting Editor Art Diamond

Editorial Team Doris Huang Doris.Huang@iRecyclingTimes.com Jane Yu, Violien Wu, Virginia Ruan, Wendy Lee

Graphic Designers Miracle Wei, Kevin Deng

Sales Team Anna Liang Anna.Liang@iRecyclingTimes.com Kevin Zhu,Victoria Zhao, Tobee Deng

Marketing Team Jessica Yin Jessica.Yin@iRecyclingTimes.com Tracy Zhang

Operations Team Charles Lee Charles.Lee@iRecyclingTimes.com Betty Lee, Candy Chen, Joy He

Regional Contributors Europe: José Bustamante Africa: Bevlen Sudhu Australasia: Maurice Aiken

Regional Offices 6B Xinhai Commercial Building, 104 Yuanlin Road, Jida, Zhuhai 519000, China Tel: +86 (0)756 3220716 / 3919266 Fax: +86 (0)756 3220717 24 Ardley Ave Kellyville, NSW, Australia 530 West Ojai Ave., Suite 108 Ojai, CA 93023-2471, USA Email: info@iRecyclingTimes.com Website: www.iRecyclingTimes.com

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head, which applied BES (Bubbles Elimination System) to resolve the problem of clogged print heads. With the new longlife print head, business inkjet printers were able to surpass traditional desktop laser printers in terms of technology, reliability, environmental protection, and cost. In more recent times, HP has released the new generation business inkjet printers—the Officejet Pro X576dw series. With printing speeds up to 70ppm, they have become the fastest inkjet printers in the world, and been listed in the Guinness World Records. The first page prints out in just 9.5 seconds as well. The new fixed, page-wide array print head allows four pigment inks to spurt precisely onto the moving page, providing the high speeds. In just a few years, the business inkjet printers have matured and caught up with laser printers. Some even cry out, “The era of inkjet printing has returned!” According to BCC Research, the global industrial inkjet printing hardware and consumables market was valued at US$1.9 billion in 2012, and will approach US$7.4 billion by 2017. They say the Asia-Pacific region is the largest market for industrial inkjet technologies. Between 2012 and 2017, Asia-Pacific’s share is expected to grow from 47% to 53% of the world market. A recent InfoTrends study predicts 56% of all office printers will be inkjet by 2016, leaving lasers to account for the remaining 44%. In recent years, business inkjet and multifunctional printers have surpassed laser devices in the U.S. by unit shipment volume and become the leading technology. Results show 77% of those who chose an inkjet device, did so because it was cheaper to buy and operate. This is a significant insight. While many think customers want product performance such as speed, reliability, and output quality, it would appear that the crucial reason for finally selecting inkjet is the lower cost. Inkjet printers have returned! Are you ready?

CONTENTS

RECYCLING

TIMES No. 39 | 2013

05 | NEWS IN BRIEF Ninestar, Fuji Electric Seek Exemption from GEO

34 | OEM NEWS HP Conducts Disgraceful AntiCounterfeit Raids in India

06 | WORLD NEWS 4,000 Counterfeit Cartridges Seized in Russia

37 | DIGITAL PRINT NEWS 39 | REGIONAL NEWS

09 | LEGAL UPDATES Canon Moves Closer to Victory on Patent Infringement Complaint

45 | TECH ZONE Dell 5130 Series Toner Cartridge

11 | JUST A MINUTE Getting Better Connected

47 | MONEY FROM HOME Cash for Your Cache

11 | TRENDS Infotrends Predicts Inkjets to Dominate in the Office

49 | ACTIONABLE INSIGHTS Okay, Lexmark is Victorious in Court, So Where’s the ROI?

13 | NEW PRODUCTS 19 | AFTERMARKET NEWS RemaxAsia Listed as Government Preferred Expo 23 | ENVIRONMENT

14 | FRONT COVER STORY

More than 46,000 used printer cartridges have been collected in Mildura, Australia by the recycling program Cartridges 4 Planet Ark. What a shame they are being crushed for recycling and not being remananufactured! Source:www.sunraysiadaily.com (Picture: Luke Birch)

51 | KEEPING UP Complacency is a Killer 52 | THE LISTS

FEATURES

24 To Be or Not To Be: China’s Print Consumables Aftermarket Faces the Crossroads A heated debate is taking place within the Chinese print consumable industry regarding such existential issues as, price wars, product quality, profit margins, patent infringement and counterfeiting. 29

43 | PEOPLE Color Ink Dispersion Opportunities Sue Wright, Director of Diamond Dispersions

Paper Tutorial

Over the past 212 years, the paper industry has become more sophisticated in machine design, operating speeds and in the diversity of papers being produced. 40

OEMs Financial Reports

The first quarter of 2013 saw a continuing weakness in the global economy, signs of a slowdown in China and Europe, and severe price competition affecting the imaging industry as a whole. Nestor Saporiti, UniNet Photo Credit: UniNet

Recycling Times informs, educates, and nurtures the global printer consumables industry innovatively through an integrated broadcast, print, digital and social media strategy. As such, we honor and respect the intellectual property of all businesses and individuals. Consequently, we take a zero tolerance position to the manufacture, distribution and sale of patent infringing “cloned” and counterfeit printer cartridges and components. We continue to strive to avoid promoting such in our advertisements, articles and editorial content. All rights reserved. © June 2013 by Recycling Times Media Corporation. The contents are not be to copied or republished without official written consent. Editorial content may not necessarily represent the offical position or view of Recycling Times Corporation. Readers should apply due deligence when doing businesss with any advertiser or company listed in this publication.

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NEWS IN BRIEF

HP Lifts Prices, Changes Access for Resellers

Ninestar, Fuji Electric Seek Exemption from GEO

Office Workers Ignorant about Laser Printer Supplies

HP announced another hike in its smallformat inkjet supplies and photo value packs, effective June 1, 2013. The increase is a part of HP’s normal portfolio management process. But according to some analysts, the action might be mostly motivated by shrinking print volumes in its consumer inkjet business and the declining revenue generated by its printer and consumables sales in recent quarters. The company also signaled a “fundamental change” in access to its supplies for resellers. According to HP, it will classify original HP inkjet cartridges (both smallformat and large-format) and LaserJet cartridges as “authorized products.” Hence, only authorized partners will be able to purchase HP supplies from HP distributors to sell to end users.

Ninestar/Seine and Fuji Electric have posted objections to the General Exclusion Order (GEO) that might be granted to Canon by America’s International Trade Commission (ITC). The GEO concerns the patents over twisted prism gear projection couplings held by Canon. Fuji Electric wants the GEO written so only the gears, drums, and toner cartridges in specific types are excluded. Products using a different non-infringing gear design could then be imported and avoid the harsh effects of a broad GEO. Ninestar notes that the ITC has limited GEOs with exemptions in the past by specifying that the GEO does not apply to products imported and manufactured abroad by various entities. It believes its products should be exempted in this way as they are using a workaround gear design.

A survey commissioned by Lexmark found many European office workers do not know the use, cost or quality of laser printer supplies. The survey questioned 664 office workers across Europe and found “knowledge to be very low” regarding laser printer supplies, noting that “common beliefs and misconceptions” were widely held by those surveyed. It reveals 75% of the participants don’t know how many pages their printer cartridge should print, and 28% believe they must pay to recycle an empty toner cartridge. 84% had no idea how many more pages they can print after a low toner warning appears; 50% believe that the more expensive the toner cartridge, the higher the print cost per page.

Read More: bit.ly/17NkE9t

UniNet Launches Absolute Color™ Toner, Components for OKI Data C530DN UniNet has rolled out Absolute Color toner and components for the Okidata C530dn color printer. The Okidata C530dn is designed for small workgroups requiring quality and speed. This new color printer features printing speeds of 31 ppm for black, and 27 ppm for color printing. UniNet’s new toner cartridges have an OEM standard yield of 3,500 pages for black, and 3,000 pages for color

printing. High yield cartridges are rated at 5,000 pages for all four colors. The drum has a new design with all four drums in a single replaceable assembly. Read more: bit.ly/YtJ2tW

New Toner for Brother Printers Released Static Control Components (Sanford, NC) has released a universal, high-density toner for Brother printers. Static control claims the new toner provides solid print performance and avoids extreme toner starvation or doctor blade build-up and backgrounding. By ordering this new toner in bulk, remanufacturers can also reduce their cost and space.The high density toner is offered in four different weights and product codes are TRBUNIVHD100B (100g), TRBUNIVHD-200B (200g), TRBUNIVHD-1KG (1KG) and TRBUNIVHD-1KG (10KG). Read more: bit.ly/YeGeh1 www.iRecyclingTimes.com|Issue39

14 FRONT COVER STORY

THE

UNINET STORY Nestor Saporiti Listens, Customers Prosper Art Diamond, Consulting Editor

Among his many talents and managerial skills, Nestor Saporiti, President of UniNet Imaging Inc. is a careful listener. He listens to every customer, recharger and distributor in UniNet’s vast, worldwide network. His listening skills ensure that each message, each request, every suggestion, is carried back to UniNet’s R&D Lab. There, they are transformed into new and better products and to customized specialties. Ultimately, they add another notch of growth to this rapidly expanding enterprise.

Born in Argentina, Nestor Saporiti graduated from the University of Buenos Aires with a degree in architecture and urban planning after relocating to California, his post-graduate studies were in business and marketing at UCLA. Saporiti is a hands-on CEO who manages custom solutions to keep his customers happy. With a proficiency in four languages (English, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian), he is an expert communicator, listening and learning from his customers. By attending almost every major trade show and exposition, by listening carefully to his customers and tracking trends in the marketplace, he has been able to participate in the development of new products and in the customization of existing ones for UniNet’s accounts. There is no bureaucracy at UniNet, no long chain of command to misinterpret goals or complicate solutions.

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FRONT COVER STORY

Where the Strength Is Origins Technical Director, Neil Robinson believes, It all started back in 1989 when Nestor “Our strongest feature is our growth, even in Saporiti began selling remanufactured these dismal economic times—a dynamic that cartridges in Argentina and Japan; he became creates energy and excitement throughout a the first American recharger to engage in company. Some of our competitors have passed international sales of these products. As the growth period and appear to be stalled, or business grew, he entered emerging markets in flat lined. With earnings down and a negative Europe and Latin America before establishing outlook, they have closed offices overseas. But, operations in the United States. UniNet was UniNet continues to expand globally by adding very big in Latin America, and still maintains a products, adding distributors and adding commanding position in that region. customers. In those early days, UniNet specialized in “Of course,” Robinson continues, “Product Hewlett-Packard’s monochrome products. But quality is another powerful factor contributing as profit margins narrowed, the company turned to UniNet’s growth. We do both backward to hard to find products, remanufacturing and forward compatible testing, to ensure our components in 1990 and color cartridges in toners are totally compatible with those of the 1998. OEMs.” In 2007, UniNet acquired the assets “Our quality control program is based of Summit Technologies, a company upon the confidence we have in our OEM headquartered in Bohemia, NY, with offices manufacturing partners. We establish in Ventura, CA and chip manufacturing test procedures to meet our standards and operations in Las Vegas, NV. In September specifications and implement these standards in 2004, Summit Technologies was the outcome all of our plants. of a merger between Summit Laser Products “Actually,” he continued, “most of our and Graphic Technologies of Camarillo, CA. testing is devoted to “We acquired Summit,” bringing new products on explains Saporiti, Our strongest feature stream. But, if we find that “because we could not deliver products fast is our growth, even in a certain incoming product varies more from lot-toenough to the East Coast these dismal economic lot than QC limits would customers.” Keeping his customers times—a dynamic that allow, we immediately test it more frequently in mind, Saporiti realized creates energy and to cull out any rejects early on that they lacked excitement throughout a and then scrutinize the the technical skills they manufacturing operation needed to compete in company. to reduce the variations.” the complex market. In the last analysis, Consequently, he brought Nestor Saporiti is probably the strongest Mike Josiah on board to provide technical marketing/technical weapon in UniNet’s support and hands on training. He later named arsenal. “It’s the interaction he has with his Neil Robinson as Technical Director to oversee customers,” Robinson explains. “I truly believe operations. Soon afterwards, Joe Cachia joined his heart is in R&D. He lights up when he UniNet with the mission of building up the enters my laboratory all flushed with an idea firm’s smart chip production facilities. for a new product, or a request to modify an “We are not a bureaucracy,” declares existing one for a preferred customer.” Saporiti. “I spend most of my time speaking MICR toners are a top specialty, a high with customers, at their offices, at trade shows margin product line in demand for banking and on the telephone. I’m a great listener and applications and secure document printing. they know I will carry their words back to the “Finally,” Robinson concluded, “let’s not individual responsible.” forget another important element. UniNet In a way, Nestor’s endless talks with UniNet does a lot of OEM business. It’s steady work. customers reveal an eternal quest for customer It’s high volume. And, prompt payment is a interaction and feedback. His college training certainty.” as an architect leaves him with the curiosity of a scientist and the discipline of an engineer. In United They Stand the words of Saporiti, “We customize products Saporiti named his company UniNet, a and have years of experience in tweaking toner contraction of the two words, Universal for higher density, higher page yield, or both.” www.iRecyclingTimes.com|Issue39

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FRONT COVER STORY

Mike Josiah, UniNet's Technical Director and Production Manager

Joe Dovi, COO and Executive Vice President of UniNet Ms. Marcela Gasanz, UniNet's Marketing Manager, is the wife of Nestor Saporiti

Neil Robinson stands among the hundreds of toner and inkjet copiers and printers used to test UniNet machine components, chips and consumables.

Mike Josiah’s clear, photo-illustrated and Network. Saporiti has given his Cartridges: The Tougher the Better reman directions are recognized UniNet’s extensive experience in toner loyal distributors a vested interest in formulation, additive blending, classifying worldwide. To date, Josiah has published their distributorship—a piece of the more than 360 instructions. These and other operations, enables it to adjust action. Having skin in the game, these are constantly edited and updated to density, page yield, charge acceptance, entrepreneurs are faithful and highly incorporate feedback from readers and and other properties. motivated to build their respective viewers around the globe. UniNet offers Jumbo (high volume) fiefdoms. Competitors have even They appear in 11 hard copy and online cartridges and either X Generation® high approached some of these “partners” periodicals. yield toners, or high, Absolute Black® with attractive offers, tempting them to Joe Dovi, UniNet's COO and Executive high density toners, or both. Indian and abandon UniNet and join the competition. Vice President, points out, "UniNet is Russian buyers prefer the highest density It hasn’t worked. Their loyalty and very supportive of the smaller rechargers toners. MPS customers prefer the high dedication has won out, down through and the stiff competition they face on HP yield toners. the years, and they continue to stand with monochrome cartridges, so we UniNet. have focused on helping them Today, UniNet has a workforce We have a low distribution cost improve their bottom line by of roughly 450 employees because we have our own global educating them on new product worldwide. They occupy some lines. Our R&D team has spent 300,000 square feet of floor network. We hire local people considerable time developing space at distribution centers in 11 because they better understand several niche cartridges that are locations, strategically located in not only easy to remanufacture, 10 countries on 4 continents. their domestic customers but provide the highest profit Says Nestor, “We have a margins, namely, Oki Data, low distribution cost because Xerox, Dell, Kyocera, and other non-HP “As the demand for color toner grows we have our own global network. We models. Although spent cores are harder we see more two-component color toners hire local people because they better especially at the high end,” notes Saporiti, to find in large volume, they provide a understand their domestic customers. unique growth and profit opportunity for adding “These two component cartridges We have our own network in New York the ‘walk-in’ type rechargers who have are typically harder-to-remanufacture. and California with 6 in Latin America access to these cores.” That’s a turn-on for UniNet as we (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, The bottom line is UniNet proactively specialize in these hard-to-remanufacture Mexico, and Venezuela) and others in listens and learns from its customers. cartridges. With our tight quality control Africa, Canada, Europe, Japan and the Decisions can be made quickly, R&D program, we can guarantee our color Middle East. In 2012, we added to these efforts advance smoothly and UniNet toners. With Mike Josiah and his team by starting up operations in Indonesia and delivers improved products, driven by a providing stepwise instructions, our the Philippines.” It’s a global network, highly active CEO, a tough competitor, at customers are in good hands to prosper in cleverly crafted and strategically located home in a high technology industry. ■ this high margin market.” to yield a strong presence in all markets. www.iRecyclingTimes.com|Issue39

AFTERMARKET NEWS GEO: A Double-Edged Sword Aftermarket supplies companies have keenly followed the Canon ITC investigation on the twisted prism gear patent infringement lawsuit. As matters draw to a close, many analysts predict a general exclusion order (GEO) will be issued which will prohibit the unlicensed entry of infringing products into the United States. Luke Goldberg, SVP MSE Global at Micro Solutions Enterprises, thinks the GEO should be a positive thing for the remanufacturing industry in the United States. However, it may be detrimental

RemaxAsia Listed as Government's Preferred Expo

for other parts of the world, because manufacturers of infringing products will no longer be able to ship their products to the United States. He predicts these products could be dumped in other countries where patents are not protected. Watch more about what Luke Goldberg says on bit.ly/12imyNl ■

Most Expensive Liquid BBC TV’s Watchdog show champions consumer rights and helps expose bad business. It has aired a segment on the rising prices of inkjet cartridges, in comparison to their shrinking size. Sarah Dyckhoff at Cartridge World Aylesbury was interviewed about this issue. She told the Watchdog show HP’s cartridge containing 5 millilitres of ink costs £12 (about US$18). That means consumers have to pay £2,400 (or US$3,735), for just

one litre of ink. In other words, one litre of ink costs the same as 1,800 litres of gasoline, or 68 bottles of premium whisky. Watch more on: bit.ly/10yjAWC ■

The Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China has announced its recommended list of significant and influential Chinese expos for 2013. RemaxAsia Expo ranks 11th out of 115 events and is the only office products expo in China to be published in the list.The Ministry says it supports the influential industrial events to ensure they sustain the healthy development of their respective industries. The list went through a strict and complicated approval process by government and industry associations. Both RemaxAsia and iPrint(China) expos will be held October 16 to 19 in the Zhuhai Airshow Center. More than 80% of exhibition booths are booked. Read more: bit.ly/10oUdl7 ■

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AFTERMARKET NEWS Diamond Dispersions Sees Stunning Growth Global ink specialist, Diamond Dispersions, reported 47% sales growth during the first quarter of 2013, compared to the same period in 2012. The company has delivered 32% year-on-year sales growth in the first half of fiscal 2013, ending on

August 31, 2012. March 2012 was a record month for sales, the highest in company history. According to Diamond Dispersion, demand for its dye sublimation dispersions continues to increase with new and existing customers across the world placing orders. (See 5 QUESTIONS on p43.) Read more: bit.ly/ZoXwbQ ■

Static Control Selects Exclusive Distributor in Indonesia Static Control Components named Adiwarna Gemilang as the exclusive distributor of its industry-leading line of imaging products in the Indonesian market. Ed Swartz, Founder and CEO of Static Control, said, “With our newest distributor Adiwarna Gemilang, we look forward to supporting the growing imaging aftermarket in Indonesia. It will better serve the remanufacturers of Indonesia by offering local inventory, technical support

and unique products that only Static Control has.” Read more: bit.ly/11CUS2t ■

Quocirca Completes Study of MPS Landscape: 2013 Quocirca, an information technology (IT) and business analysis company, recently released a report titled, Managed Print Services Landscape: 2013, that analyzes the growing MPS market and its continuing development. According to the report, the focus of MPS has shifted from the core services of device consolidation and optimization to long-term business improvement. Further, as companies move to next generation MPS contracts, they seek to lower operating costs and improve overall productivity. The report states the trend of MPS contracts is to offer a variety of business process optimization capabilities, including business process and IT services. Read more: bit.ly/10JLtLs ■

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ENVIRONMENT

New Cartriges Made from Recycled Waste and Empty Inkjets Blend HP has partnered with Lavergne Group to develop a method to use old plastic inkjet cartridges in molding new ones. Lavergne discovered that the plastic from water bottles, along with a secret mix of additives, would combine with plastic from many of HP's empty inkjet cartridges to create a material close to virgin plastic. This material is being used in the existing manufacturing equipment designed for use with new raw materials. No expensive refitting is required. Research began in 2000 and the first cartridge was produced in 2005. Since then, more than 1 billion inkjet cartridges have been manufactured with material

from the closed-loop process. Now the company has turned to the development of processes for recycling the polypropylene plastic used in some HP business printers' ink reservoirs. Read more: bit.ly/11HtIKx ■

Empty Cartridges Collected for Remanufacturing Goodwill Industries, a model in the recycling and re-use of clothing, appliances and household goods, has partnered with a division of The Turbon Group—Recycle Your Empties—to recycle used printer cartridges in the US. All Goodwill donation centers will collect used ink cartridges donated and ship them to The Turbon Group’s

remanufacturing facility in York, Pennsylvania to make them suitable for re-use. The company will also provide free, prepaid mailers and boxes to ship the cartridges so that customers need not pay to recycle their cartridges. Read more: bit.ly/13wIaWz ■

Recycling Awareness Remains Low in UK BusinessWaste.co.uk, one of UK’s leading waste and recycling experts, found 80% of companies have no recycling policy in this region. These firms fill landfill sites and resort to illegal activities to get rid of

their waste. The most common things in business without recycling include printer cartridges, paper and cardboard plastics, electrical waste and old computers, etc. In addition, some firms plan to break the law for reducing their costs of rubbish. The government is promoting green policies and recycling through tax breaks for energy efficiency. Moreover, the landfill tax, at £72 per ton, will penalize those organizations that do no recycle their wastes. Read more: bit.ly/108ghnh ■

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24 ENVIRONMENT

To Be or Not To Be

Chinaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Print Consumables Aftermarket Faces the Crossroads

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SPOTLIGHT ON CHINA

Will price wars result in a substantial decline in quality? How can Chinese consumable manufacturers win customers and markets without acceptable quality? Must China’s printing aftermarket compete only by reducing quality and price? Is the Chinese aftermarket making “suicidal mistakes”?

fray. We are busy from the beginning to A heated debate is taking place within the end of the year with more and more the Chinese print consumable industry shipments. However, our profits are regarding such existential issues such steadily declining. We face increasingly as price wars, product quality, profit higher risks. None of us favor this. But margins, patent infringement and counterfeiting. Some, but not all, Chinese none of us has a solution.” manufacturers favor rapid growth and Quality Issues often try every means to compete for Ms. Mary Ouyang, General Manager of market share. Some push themselves Mito Color Imaging Co., Ltd., is deeply in an almost concerned over this suicidal manner situation, claiming, A heated debate is by lowering price “The price war without thinking will finally ‘kill’ taking place within about the bottom the recharger. In the Chinese print line. Others offer Europe, customers products without consumable industry are already consistent quality returning to OEM regarding such or standards, consumables due existential issues such openly producing to the poor quality counterfeit of the aftermarket as price wars, product consumables, and ” quality, profit margins, products. handing out loans Customers irresponsibly to patent infringement and become prejudiced their customers. against Chinese counterfeiting. Consequently, the products due to whole industry quality issues. is risking extinction by operating in an As an effective alternative to the OEM unhealthy and abnormal environment. consumables, aftermarket consumables Suicidal Tendencies Price Wars During recent interviews, some industry players complained, “We don’t dare accept more orders, because we will lose more money if we take them.” Guobin Cao, General Manager of Zhuhai Benma Printmax Imaging Co., Ltd, told a Recycling Times reporter that a severe price war has become the major means of competition. As a result, profit margins have substantially declined. For many manufacturers their heartfelt thinking is: “The high-end manufacturers are also hit badly by this. They never thought of joining the price war, but eventually had no choice but to enter the

have been at risk of patent infringement ever since they were first introduced. Luckily, a growing number of manufacturers in the industry are being awarded patents, Still, product quality— the most critical factor supporting the continued existence of rechargers—has been neglected during the price wars. David Gibbons, Director of Recycling Times Media Corporation, commented that the global industry has a jaundiced view of printer cartridges remanufactured in China. Because cloned cartridge remanufacturers disrespect intellectual property as well as the environment, their cartridges are usually poor in quality. This prejudice has spread to the quality of every printer cartridge shipped from China. www.iRecyclingTimes.com|Issue39

26 SPOTLIGHT ON CHINA

Survival or Self-Destruction? The threshold for entering the print consumables market is low. Some jokingly say, “With two screwdrivers in hand, anyone can be part of this industry!” In the face of an abnormal market Poor Patent Awareness environment, many companies Poor patent awareness is another hope the market will obey the cause of tragedy. More and more Luckily, a growing number of theory of evolution: Survival of OEMs are using patent laws to the fittest. Thus, the small and attack third party print consumable manufacturers in the industry weak enterprises will be squeezed manufacturers. These court actions are being awarded patents,still, out and only those focused on have already had a substantial product quality—the most critical research and development will impact on the industry. According to Ms. Helen Duan, factor supporting the continued survive. Arnald Ho, Chairman of Printa leading attorney with INNOPAT existence of rechargers—has Rite, said the past year was full Intellectual Property Co., Ltd., the of worries and challenges in overall patent status of the Chinese been neglected during the price the industry and it will persist aftermarket, led by Print-Rite wars. this year. “If this continues, it and Ninestar, is improving. But will not be surprising that many overseas, some small and medium manufacturers will be squeezed size manufacturers have been hurt by Selling on Credit out, or acquired by other manufacturers.” Selling on credit is quite normal patent infringement lawsuits. One of Massive consolidation for the industry between Chinese Buyers and Sellers, but the main reasons these complaints have will be painful and may be destabilizing. it’s a bizarre way to win market share. impacted the industry is that rechargers What should companies do? Wait to “die” Most important, this kind of trading is lack patent awareness. or find a solution? dangerous because Sellers are at high Ms. Duan explains, “Take Canon’s Here are some possible solutions: risk of loss. Section 337 complaint, for example, “To make things worse,” notes Gibbons, “some industry associations, which openly welcome remanufacturers from different countries and regions in the world, now reject players simply because they are Chinese.”

US market will be squeezed out of other markets as well. In addition to poor patent awareness, a shortage of funds to employ skilled scientists and engineers also leaves players vulnerable and unable to innovate in their product development activities.

which alleges infringement of Canon’s patented twisted prism gear coupling (U.S.Patent Nos. 5,903,803 and 6,128,454). Once an ITC General Exclusion Order (GEO) is issued, everyone becomes a suspect.” The impact of the GEO will be substantial. Some analysts claim that those who choose to retreat from the

This “Sell on Credit” strategy can stimulate the market in the short term but may cripple the manufacturer over the long term. The closure of First Ink (HK) Limited is a good example. Moreover, the poor awareness of environmental protection, quality standards and existing legislation, and counterfeiting, hinders the growth of the entire industry.

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A. Take the Initiative on Price According to Tony Lee, Publisher of Recycling Times, OEMs increased prices on their consumables (continued on p27) several times last year, which is just contrary to the price-slashing war in the Chinese aftermarket. He explained that without intellectual property and core patents, Chinese manufacturers

LIFTOUT DIRECTORY

DYES, PIGMENTS & DISPERSION PRODUCERS ASIA EVERLIGHT CHEMICAL INDUSTRIAL CORPORATION Ray-An Tsai, Vice President Everlight produces a wide range of high quality 6F, No.77, Sec 2, DunHua S. Rd., Taipei 106, Taiwan dyes, colorants and dispersions through stringent Tel: +886.2.2706.6006 monitoring and control of production processes. Email: sales-ccbu@ecic.com.tw There are also offices in USA(p4).

LIAONING FINE CHEMICAL TECH CO., LTD. Liaoning Fine Chemical is a high technology enterprise engaged in research and production chemical products. It produces textile dyes, dye intermediates, ink jet printer inks and other high quality products.

MODERN DYESTUFFS & PIGMENTS CO., LTD. MDP is a reputable manufacturer and exporter of dyestuffs for leather, textiles, paper, ink aluminium dyes and other dyestuffs. It sells products directly or through agents to more than 80 countries worldwide.

Mr. Xiangjun Wang, Sales Technical Director 58#Anyang West Styreet, Qianyang, Dandong, Liaoning,China Tel: +86.415.6677.227 Email: bulkink@pro100.cn Website: www.pro100.cn

Ms. Ying Zhu, Vice President Assistant No.48, lane 198 Fanjiang an Road, Jiangbei District, Ningbo, China Tel: +86.574.8650.2800 Email: cindy@cnmdp.com Website: www.moderndyestuffs.com

SHANGHAI CELLUDYE CORLORANTS CO., LTD Mr. Wenjun Zheng, Managing Director Celludye is dedicated to providing innovative, 315 Chugong Road, Shanghai Chemical Industrial cost-effective quality dyes, colorants and specialty Zone, Shanghai, China pigments to a broad range of customers. It produces Tel: +86.21.3758.5399 water based inkjet dyes, reactive dyes for digital Email: wj.zheng@celludye.com textile printing, acid dyes and cold transfer printing Website: www.celludye.com dyes.

SHANGHAI SHINECOL DYESTUFF TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD Mr. Foto Gao, Business Manager Shanghai Shinecol is specialized in various kinds of Rm 101, No 3 Dalangwandao, No 958 Xinsong Rd., acid/direct/reactive dyes for making desk-top printer Minhang District,Shanghai, China ink, wide-format printer ink and textile printing ink. Tel: +86.21.6493.7562 Meanwhile, it manufactures textile digital printing Email: wzshinecol@qq.com reactive dye ink suitable for Epson/Seiko/Konica Website: wzshinecol.cn.alibaba.com printer head.

UA CHEMICALS UA Chemicals, founded in 1990s, aims at integrating research and development activities for the most advanced chemical products worldwide. The company's products include dyes, inks, dispersions and other related chemicals.

Mr. Kegui Ji, Marketing Manager Room 1-1313, Ascent Estates Commercial Center, No.10, Lixiang Road, Huangpu District,GZ, China Tel: +86.20.8227.7513 Email: ua@uachemicals.com Website: www.uachemicals.com

WU HAN PRATT INFORMATION MATERIAL CO., LTD Mr. Lifeng Xiong, General Manager Wu Han Pratt Information Material Co., Ltd., Ta Er Tou Jinghe Wujiashan, Wuhan Economic and is focused on inks, ink pigments, dyes, and Technological Development Zone, Wuhan, China the research, development and production of Tel: +86.27.8753.7730 digital printing products. Email: xlf98998@hotmail.com

Peter Callahan Director, Diamond Dispersions

A dispersion consists of pigment or dye particles scattered in a liquid and kept in stable suspension for an extended time period. Dyes, with the exception of disperse or sublimation dyes, are water soluble and immediately dissolve; pigments do not dissolve and therefore require milling and the use of chemical dispersing agents. Nearly anyone with a mill and a knowledge of basic chemistry can disperse pigments. Many companies attempt it with varying degrees of success but others simply do it as a cost saving exercise. Their goal is to make a product cheaper, rather than to improve the quality of their ink. A great dispersion is a combination of great chemistry, great milling capability and the finest inkjet grade pigments or dyes available. The end result shows in the quality of the finished ink these three elements can produce and, most important, in the image quality of the resultant print. Pigments should be milled properly with a narrow particle size distribution curve. Too many large particles can render an ink dispersion unstable. Too many small particles can result in a loss of color density where good color saturation is essential. Therefore, balance is everything in a good dispersion. The suspended particles should be well dispersed which means using the proper dispersant chemistry to maintain pigment particles separate and discrete, without agglomerating (clumping) or settling out, for up to two years. The dispersion should also be highly resistant to any additive chemicals an ink chemist might employ. Indeed, some strange things have been tried! Once all of the above requirements have been met, the dispersion can be called stable. And, clearly, stability is a most prized quality.

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LIFTOUT DIRECTORY

EUROPE DIAMOND DISPERSIONS LTD. Diamond Dispersions is the authority on ultrafine pigmented dispersions for inkjet applications and is dedicated to the perfection of ink. As a team of ink specialists, they consider ink production to be a craft, not a process, and are driven by the next break-through in ink technology.

FLINT GROUP Flint Group offers a broad portfolio of dry and flush pigments, dispersions, varnishes, additives, chips and resins for producing printing inks, plastics, coatings, fertiliser, clothing, balloons, pencils, markers, or other highly specialised products. FUJIFILM IMAGING COLORANTS LIMITED Fujifilm Imaging Colorants (FFIC) is a global leader in the development and supply of innovative, high performance colorants that are enabling new possibilities in the field of digital print and a range of new applications.

MIFAR SPA MIFAR is a leading European manufacturer of high quality pigment preparations offering a simple solution for the production of a wide range of inks and coatings. Part of TENNANTS Group, MIFAR is supplier of major inks manufacturers worldwide.

Mr. Peter Callahan, Director Prince of Wales Road, Darnall, Sheffield, S9 4DZ, United Kingdom Tel: +44.114.263.5380 Email: peter.callahan@diamonddispersions.com Website: www.diamonddispersions.com

26b, Boulevard Royal, L-2449 Luxembourg, Luxembourg Tel: +44.161.776.6810 Email: info@flintgrp.com Website: www.cdrpigments.com

Dr. Tom Annable, Director P.O. Box 42, Hexagon Tower, Blackley Manchester, M9 8ZS United Kingdom Tel: +44.161.721.2100 Email: projet@fujifilmic.com Website: www.fujifilm.com

Via Valtellina, 18/20 - 20027, Rescaldina (MI), Italy Tel. +39.331.515.037 Email: info@mifar.com Website: www.mifar.com

NORTH AMERICA BASF (BADISCHE ANILINE SODA FABRIQUE) CORPORATION BASF is the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading chemical company with more than 110,000 employees, and an estimated total of 386 production sites worldwide. BASF produces organic dyes and colorants as well as inorganic pigments that serve customers and partners in almost all countries of the world.

CABOT CORPORATION Over its 130-year history, Cabot has delivered performance solutions that solve challenges in a broad range of products and solutions to customers in every corner of the globe. Among the specialty products offered by Cabot are inkjet ink colorants, and extremely fine particle carbon blacks for electrostatic and electrophotographic toners.

CLARIANT CORPORATION Clariant is a world leader in specialty chemicals, pigments and colorants. It produce colorants for the full range of printing technologies, including products for non-impact printing applications such as, laser and ink jet printers. Clariantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Masterbatch BusinessUnit is one of the leading providers of color and additive concentrates for the plastics industry.

Ms. Pamela Kay, Technical Sales 11501 Steele Creek Road, Charlotte, NC 28273 Tel: +1.704.587.8280 Email: colorseffectscustomercare@basf.com Website: www.basf.com

Dr. Robert J. Nick, Senior Scientist 157 Concord Road, Billerica, MA 01821 Tel: +1.978.670.6978 Email: Robert_nick@cabot-corp.com Website: www.cabotcorp.com

Mr. Will Dowden, Technical Sales Manager 400 Monroe Road, Charlotte, NC 28205 Tel: +1.401.338.5133 Email: will.dowden@clariant.com Website: www.clariant.com

DUPONT CORPORATION

For more than 200 years, DuPont has brought world-class science and engineering to the global marketplace through innovative products, materials and services. Its market-driven innovation introduces thousands of new products and patent applications every year.

ESPRIX TECHNOLOGIES Esprix Technologies is a provider of high performance chemistries such as pigments, dye fixatives, and other specialty materials for imaging systems, and advanced chemistries for sophisticated electronic applications. Through its overseas operations in India, China and Japan it has increased efficiencies in supply chain logistics.

Mr. Gus Gusafson 14 T. W. Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709 Tel: +1.800.243.2143 Email: gus.gustafson@usa.dupont.com Website: www2.dupont.com/home/en-us/index.html

Ms. Tonya Pless, Vice President Electrostatic Imaging Materials, 7680 Matoaka Road, Sarasota, FL 34243 Tel: +1.941.355.5100 Email: tpless@esprixtech.com Website: www.esprixech.com

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LIFTOUT DIRECTORY

EVERLIGHT USA, INC. The US subsidiary of Everlight Chemical Industrial Corporation in Taiwan, China, a high-tech chemical company producing a wide range, of high quality dyes, colorants and dispersions.

KEYSTONE ANILINE CORPORATION Keystone Aniline Corporation is a leading supplier to the global industrial colorant marketplace. They provide comprehensive technically based application and business solutions to turn the challenges of utilizing color into opportunities and revenue for their customers.

LANXESS CORORATION Spun off from the Bayer Group’s chemicals and polymers division, Lanxess went public as an independent company on January 31, 2005. The company is currently represented at 48 production sites worldwide. Besides a great variety of color pigments and technical grades, Lanxess offers a full range of products developed specifically for the toner industry. Among these are inorganic pigments for inks and toners. ORIENT CORPORATION OF AMERICA Orient Corporation of America was established in Port Newark, New Jersey in 1979 as the leading manufacturer of nigrosine dye in the Western Hemisphere. The parent company, Orient Chemical Industries, Ltd., is located in Osaka, Japan and was founded in 1917. Orient’s line of colorants include water-soluble dyes, and fine pigment dispersions.

PENN COLOR Founded in 1964, Penn Color develops and manufactures the most diverse product line of color concentrates, masterbatches, and pigment dispersions of any colorant company in the world. It has expanded and diversified to develop innovative solutions for industries using colorant and additive functional materials.

SENSIENT IMAGING TECHNOLOGIES Sensient Technologies is the world's leading supplier of flavors, fragrances and colors used to make a diverse variety of foods and beverages, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, home and personal care products, specialty printing and imaging products, computer imaging and industrial colors.

UNITED COLOR MANUFACTURING, INC. United Color Manufacturing is a global leader in the design and production of dyes, additives and covert marking systems for peteroleum, plastic, ink and various specialty applications.

Mr. Mike Yang, President 10507 Southern Loop Blvd. Pineville, NC 28134 Tel: +1.919.423.4257. Email: myang@everlightusa.com Website: www.ecic.com

Mr. Rich Stover,Technical Sales 2501 W. Fulton Street, Chicago, IL 60612 Tel: +1.719.539.7434 Email: info@dyes.com Website: www.dyes.com

Mr. Charles Freeman, Technical Sales 8 Morgan Road, Burgettstown, PA 15021 Tel: +1.412.809.4713 Email: bayoxide@lanxess.com Website: www.lanxess.com

Mr. Tony DeRose, Assistant Vice President 1902 Wright Place, Suite 200, Carlsbad, CA 92008 Tel: +1.760.918.5787 Email: tony@orient-usa.com Website: www.orient-usa.com

400 Old Dublin Pike, Doylestown, PA 18901 Tel: +1.215.345.6550 Email: info@penncolor.com Website: www.penncolor.com

Product Development Manager 2724 Loker Avenue, Carlsbad, CA 92010 Tel: +1.760.930.1600 Email: info@sensient-tech.com Website: www.sensient-tech.com

Mr. Robert Cwik, National Sales Manager P.O. Box 480, Newtown, PA 18940 Tel: +1.215.860.2165 Ext. 104 Email: rec@unitedcolor.com Website: www.unitedcolor.com

Directory Publishing Plan Jul 2013 Aug 2013 Sep 2013 Oct 2013 Nov 2013 Dec 2013

Trade Associations Print Testing Labs Manufacturers of Monochrome Toners Manufacturers of Photoreceptors Manufacturers of Color Toners Manufacturers of Blades

Jan 2014 Feb 2014 Mar 2014 Apr 2014 May 2014 Jun 2014

Manufacturers of Smart Chips Manufacturers of Ink Jet Inks Empty Cartridges Collectors and Brokers Manufacturers of Primary Charge Rollers Manufacturers of Developer Materials Manufacturers of Dye & Pigment Dispersions

We’ll publish the directory of Trade Associations in next month’s edition of Recycling Times magazine. If you want to be in the list, please send your company profile details to Ms. Violien Wu at violien.wu@irecyclingtimes.com. The inclusion of companies in this and each directory is not an endorsement of the companies listed. Readers should exercise all due diligence in business and financial dealings.

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NEXT ISSUE

SPOTLIGHT ON CHINA

pool” to facilitate innovation issues such are still too weak to control price. “The as, talents and finances and thus make ongoing price war might bring an end good preparation for Zhuhai players to to the remanufacturers themselves,” change and upgrade. he said, adding, “The golden days of Hua Wang, Beijing Dingxin View high-profit have gone, but it is still Technology Co., Ltd. sums it up by possible to sustain a satisfying profit stating that Chinese manufacturers must margin if fair competition is undertaken. collaborate to survive the “cold winter”. Without a reasonable profit margin, how can rechargers achieve independent D. Innovate the Business Model innovation and improve their core The marketboundaries and industry competency?” structure are not fixed in stone and According to a market analysis by can be reconstructed or extended. For Tao Zhang, example, Zhuhai Secretary-General Seine Technology of Zhuhai Printing previously In the face of an Consumable started as a print abnormal market Industry consumable Association, environment, many supplier, but now industry players it is developing companies hope the should invest more printers based market will obey the in independent upon its own, innovation and independent theory of evolution: speed development intellectual Survival of the fittest. of new products property. so as to gain the According to initiative in pricing. Such an approach is Zhixiang Zhao, General Manager of being taken by an increasing number of Ourway Image Co., Ltd., “The future market players. development of our industry relies B. Respect Intellectual Property Rights Consumable manufacturers in Zhuhai—capital of the world’s printing consumables industry—have obtained over 4,000 patents, which accounts for more than 60% of all patents covering Chinese aftermarket consumables. The importance of intellectual property and innovation just can’t be neglected. Mary Ouyang noted, “The lawsuit filed by Cannon decreases our industry sales in the US market, meanwhile, it teaches us the importance of innovation and respect for intellectual property.” C. Collaborate A consolidation called the Technology Innovation Alliance for Guangdong Printing Supplies has been formed to promote industry upgrading and fast development in China. The alliance was initiated by Zhuhai Printing Consumable Industry Association, and coordinated with 13 leading Chinese supplies manufacturers as well as the town of Nanping. According to Tao Zhang, the alliance is the first technology alliance for the Chinese printing supplies industry. It will take advantage of each member’s strength to build a “patent

on a more innovative, or outside-thebox, business model. MPS might be a good opportunity for industry players. It can be a way to extend their efforts, by reaching higher up on the industry chain, and by cooperating with the OEMs.” E-commerce might be another alternative for companies to brand and market their products. In the words of Tony Lee, “Industry players should adjust their business strategy in branding and sales channels, as well as discovering those unique features that differentiate them from the competition.” The impact of the GEO will be substantial. Of course, the success of the industry cannot be achieved without the support of government agencies to create and maintain a fair and competitive environment. Conclusion How can China’s printing consumables aftermarket survive the “cold winter”? A practical solution might be to collaborate in creating a healthy and normal market, whereby the industry players win their market shares by high quality products and honest business practices. ■

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PAPER TUTORIAL

Art Diamond, Senior Consulting Editor

PAPER TUTORIAL

• Translucent papers Two brothers in England, Sealy and Since the dawn of history, mankind • Vellums Henry Fourdrinier, financed an advanced has sought out surfaces to portray life’s • Writing papers design of Ts’ai Lun’s machine from a experiences, record transactions or • and hundreds of other grades, coated prototype built by John Gamble. Gamble express artistic talents. From the painted and uncoated, glossy and matte, in a was granted British patent No. 2487 on cave walls of Chauvet and Lascaux in variety of basis weights, colors and October 20, 1801 for the device now Southern France—estimated to have surface features. known as a Fourdrinier papermaking been decorated 30,000 or more years machine. ago—to the Dead Sea Scrolls, roughly Paper Properties 1,700 years old, the medium of Here is a Glossary of terms choice has varied from rock walls frequently used to describe key to animal skins, to plant and Over the past 212 years, the paper properties: vegetable fibers. paper industry has become Basis Weight: The weight in The word paper is derived from more sophisticated in machine pounds of a ream (500 sheets) of the Latin papyrus, and from the paper, where the dimensions of Greek word papuros. Both apply design, operating speeds and each sheet is based upon the grade to a woody plant that grows in the diversity of papers being of ream specified, e.g., bond (17” x along the Nile delta. Egyptians 22”), book (25” x 38”), cover (20” made paper from the stems of produced. x 26”), etc. the papyrus plant beginning Bond Paper: Originally, the some 3,000 or more years ago. Paper Grades term “bond” was used to describe paper Chemically, papyrus is composed of containing cotton fibers usually collected Over the past 212 years, the paper 57% cellulose, 27% lignin, 9% minerals from bleached rags and textiles. These industry has become more sophisticated and 7% water. In addition to using it to ‘rag content” papers were typically in machine design, operating speeds and produce a writing surface, the Egyptians used for fine writing grades or legal in the diversity of papers being produced. formed it into rope, sandals, baskets, etc. documents requiring strength and The list includes: But, it was the Chinese inventor, permanence. • Bond papers Ts’ai Lun, who in 105 AD, gave the • Cigarette papers Brightness: The percentage of world a mass production process for light, of a given wavelength, reflected • Condenser papers papermaking. He first prepared a 1% from a paper surface when viewed at • Offset printing papers slurry (by weight) of cooked wooden a prescribed angle. Today’s brightest • Kraft papers fibers which he then poured onto a office imaging papers have brightness • Newsprint woven cloth screen. After water drained values ranging from 92 to 100. • Photographic papers through the screen, the fibers formed a The thickness of a sheet of • Printing papers Caliper: caked layer which was pressed and then paper, in .001 inches. • Sand papers lifted as a sheet and passed between • Security papers Curl: The arching, bowing or buckling heated rollers for drying. www.iRecyclingTimes.com|Issue39

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PAPER TUTORIAL

of a flat sheet of paper, usually as a result of differential moisture absorption or release between one side of the sheet and the other. Formation: The degree of clumping of fibers and fillers (e.g., clay, calcium carbonate) observed in a sheet held up to a strong light. These clumps appear as “clouds” within the body of the sheet. The more uniform the fibers and fillers are distributed, the better the formation. The best formation is seen in cigarette, photographic, and fine writing papers. Gloss: A shine or luster seen on the surface of paper when viewed at a low angle. Size, Metric System: • A0 – 841mm x 1,189mm • A1 – 594 mm x 841mm • A2 – 420 mm x 594 mm • A3 – 297 mm x 420 mm • A4 – 210 mm x 297 mm • A5 –148 mm x 210 mm • Size, North American: • Monarch – 7.25 x 10.5-inch • Letter – 8.50 x 11-inch • Legal – 8.50 x 14-inch • abloid – 11.00 x 17-inch GSM: Under the metric system, basis weight is measured in grams per square meter (GSM). A writing/copier/printer/ bond paper rated at 90 GSM (or 24 U.S. pounds) is heavier than 75 GSM (or 20 U.S. pounds) and is preferred for its high feed reliability. Opacity: A measure of the percentage of light incident on a sheet that passes through it. This property is of value especially where duplexing (printing on both sides) is required to prevent show through of printing on the other side. A number of factors, including composition, fillers,

formation, coatings, etc., determine sheet opacity. Smoothness: The relative smoothness or roughness of the surface of a sheet as measured on the Sheffield scale. The higher the value, the rougher the sheet. An extra smooth sheet will have a Sheffield value of 20 to 30 as compared with 200 to 250 for an uncoated, rough surfaced bond paper.

Paper owes its flexibility to the moisture it contains since water acts as a plasticizer for the cellulose molecule. Stiffness: The stiffness of sheet of paper is an indication of its feed reliability through a copier or printer. It is measured in Taber stiffness units which indicate, on a scale from 1 to 10, how much force is required to bend a narrow strip of paper fixed at one end. Paper Composition Office imaging papers can contain some or all of the following ingredients: cellulosic pulp, cotton fibers, postconsumer waste paper, broke (mill waste), calcium carbonate filler, titanium dioxide pigment, high brightness clays, dyes, colorants, optical brighteners, sizing, and wet strength resin. Calcium carbonate increases the brightness and opacity of paper and as an acid buffer, it helps maintain a high (alkaline) pH value to keep the sheet acidfree and thereby extend its archival life. The bright, kaolin clays are typically used as fillers in paper. Among other

pigments, inorganic fillers, such as titanium dioxide and talcum, are used to boost paper brightness and opacity. Lignin is a complex organic substance that binds together cells and fibers in trees and woody plants. Owing to its oxidation, lignin is responsible for the yellowing of paper as it ages. After cellulose, lignin is the most abundant renewable carbon source on Earth. Between 40 and 50 million tons per year are produced worldwide, mostly as waste products. The finished, wide rolls of paper can be coated on either one (C1S) or both sides (C2S), either on or off the papermaking machine. The coated surface can be given a matte, engraved, or glossy surface by a final pass through a calendar stack. Back in the days of roll film photography, specialty paper surfaces and tints created an entire catalog of sensitized printing and enlarging papers for artists, studios and commercial photographers. Paper Permanence Acid-free papers are today’s norm for extended life and archival keeping qualities. They are resistant to chemical deterioration, over time, in an acid environment. Hydrogen bonding is an important feature of the cellulose molecule that enables it to attract and hold onto water. Paper owes its flexibility to the moisture it contains since water acts as a plasticizer for the cellulose molecule. As paper ages, it loses its ability to hold water and becomes increasingly brittle. For more information, please refer to the “Paper Basics” guide published by Mohawk Paper: www.mohawkmakeready.com/topic/ paper-basics ■ www.iRecyclingTimes.com|Issue39

34 OEM NEWS Brother’s MEA Regional Workshop Unveils Business Plan, New Printers During its annual business planning workshop held in Dubai, Brother International (GULF) unveiled its plan for more development and growth in Middle East and African (MEA) markets. The company expressed confidence in maintaining a strong presence across the region's printing segment with the launch of new products for 2013 and attractive initiatives for channel partners, distributors and end users.

Brother has released latest monochrome laser printers and multi-function centers (MFCs) at the event. These new products offer 40 ppm print speed and cover a range of network and wireless devices. Brother also showcased its latest multifunction inkjet device with InkBenefit, and its existing range of labeling systems, scanning devices and mobile printers. Read more: bit.ly/101ytdV ■

Epson to Increase Inkjet Printer Production Seiko Epson Corp. plans to improve the production capacity of its plant in Batangas, the Philippines, to meet a growing demand for its flagship inkjet printers. At the 20th anniversary celebration of Epson’s Micro Piezo technology, Toshimitsu Tanaka, Country Manager at Epson Philippines Corp. said, “I believe EPPI (Epson Precision Philippines,

Inc., a manufacturing unit of Seiko Epson) will have a 1020% capacity increase. At this moment, annual production capacity of our plant in Batangas is 4.25 million for printers.” In excess of 90% of Epson’s locally produced L-series models are exported to Japan and Europe. Read more: bit.ly/XFP4r8 ■

Lexmark Introduces MPS Program According to a report by Computing Research News (CRN), Lexmark recently introduced its Page Plus Business (PPB) program for encouraging IT resellers with little experience in MPS to enter the MPS market This program provides an easy way to switch from a transactional hardware to contractual sales approach and will not require consumers to use the extended auditing or management of more advanced MPS programs. CRN’s report states that fewer than 20% of SMBs currently purchase or lease printers as part of an MPS contract. However, 40% of these companies are planning to use some form of MPS in the next few years. Read more: bit.ly/11CL4XQ ■

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OEM NEWS Epson Wins TIPA Award for Best Multifunction Photo Printer Editors and journalists from photography magazines around the world have presented the prestigious TIPA award for 'Best Multifunction Photo Printer' 2013 to the Epson Expression Photo XP850 and XP-750. TIPA - the Technical Image Press Association - judges the innovation, technology, design, ease-of-use and price-to-

performance ratio of products launched in a 12-month period to develop a shortlist and winner for each award category. Winning the 2013 'Best Multifunction Photo Printer' Award means that Epson has now received a total of 32 awards from TIPA for technologies and imaging products, including inkjet printers, inks, scanners and projectors, since 1997. Read more: bit.ly/ZZuIuo ■

HP Conducts Disgraceful Anti-Counterfeit Raids in India HP reportedly conducted anticounterfeit raids in an arbitrary manner with no procedure whatsoever followed by the raiding team. The enforcement team raided Ranjit Nagar commercial complex, Bhikaji Cama Place, Trans Yamuna, and the Nehru Place IT complex. Puneet Singhal, President of Computer Media Dealers Association (CMDA-

Delhi), informed that during the raids, the team never properly identified itself and relied solely upon their own witnesses rather than neutral observers. Each search was finished within minutes. The association is exploring all possible remedies to strongly protest this issue of harassment caused to its consumable channel community.

Pantum Names Merlion Official Distributor According to a Channel EMEA report, Merlion will be responsible for distributing the full range of Pantum printers in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Channel EMEA is a brand new content portal for channel professionals working within the Europe, Middle East, Africa (EMEA) ICT, and consumer electronics (CE) channels. Merlion claims it is Russia’s largest distributor. Ms. Victoria Tarantino, Merlion’s Director of Business Development in Central Asia and the Caucasus, added: “Becoming the official distributor of Pantum in Kazakhstan gives us a great responsibility to promote its products in this region.” Read more: bit.ly/159C2q8 ■