With the release of the first Hewlett-Packard laser printer in 1984, at a cost of $3,500, one of the largest, most competitive categories in the office products channel was born. The printer supply category emerged as a growing, high value commodity due to the rapid transition away from pre-printed forms. Today, it represents 30-35% of most companies’ office products spend.

Inspired Office Performance

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The Case for Reengineered Toner CartridgesA White Paper Addressing the Myths and Realities Published: Third Quarter 2018

A HISTORY LESSON

The toner cartridge aftermarket was initiated in 1989, after the launch of the first HP laser printer. By the late 1990s, there were 4,500 U.S. based toner remanufacturing companies. (Source: Static Control) Burgeoning and unregulated, the industry became known for unreliable quality and unscrupulous sales tactics. Despite this stigma and due to the significant price savings to the end user, it continued to grow. OEMs (Lexmark and HP), recognizing their lost sales, became more aggressive in combatting aftermarket manufacturers. They proliferated the market with new printers requiring specific cartridges, installed smart chips that married cartridges to specific printers and began to use chemically-manufactured toner that proved difficult for the aftermarket to reverse engineer.

THE CURRENT STATE

The aftermarket industry has now consolidated in the U.S. to less than 20 wholesale manufacturing companies. Most of the remaining survivors are ISO 9001/14001 certified companies, driven by automation and innovation. The aftermarket remains vibrant, with volume of reengineered toners consumed in the U.S. increasing each of the last six years.

Thanks to the OEM’s efforts to make their cartridges more difficult to reengineer, the remaining companies have invested in new technology and their products are now more reliable and are of higher quality than ever before. Over 40 million aftermarket cartridges ($2.6 billion at retail) were sold in the U.S. in 2014. (Source: Infotrends)

THE FUTURE LANDSCAPE

New technology and document automation continues to reduce traditional business printing. Copier leases and the associated pages printed are declining. Part of this lost volume is shifting to lower cost network laser printers.

The OEM printer companies continue to raise toner cartridges prices every year. The aftermarket manufacturers have been able to keep costs down, helping companies avoid the costly OEM price increases. Globally, laser toner cartridge sales are expected to be up 2-3% in 2015.

By shifting from OEM to reengineered cartridges and adopting Managed Print strategies, companies can reduce their total cost to print and avoid the anticipated 4-6% OEM supply increases that are projected over the next two years. (Sources: Photizo, Actionable Intelligence)

Reengineered Toner Cartridges:Myths vs. RealityAs the sale of remanufactured cartridges has risen through the years, OEMs have waged a campaign against them built on F.U.D. (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt).

MYTHSHP advertises the defective rates of remanufactured toner cartridges are significantly higher than OEMs. In 2013, HP derived nearly 50% of its total company operating margin from their Imaging and Printing Group. As they seek to protect their “legacy” consumable business, they have publicly advertised that 40% of aftermarket cartridges can be defective (Source: OPI Magazine, 2012). The $2.6 billion aftermarket could not survive and grow with a 40% failure rate.

As the battle for toner cartridge sales has intensified, OEMs have flooded the market with false and misleading statements about remanufactured cartridges. These include:

“The use of remanufactured cartridges may void the OEM printer manufacturer’s warranty.”

“The page yield of remanufactured toner cartridges is not equivalent to the OEM.” (Source: HP’s ad in OPI 2012)

REALITYYour empty toner cartridges have $ value and may be worth up to $11 each.

The use of remanufactured cartridges will NOT void the manufacturer’s warranty. The federal government has ruled this to be an anti-trust violation as established by the Magnusson-Moss Fair Trade Warranty Act and the Clayton Antitrust Act.

New build knock off cartridges (clones) from the Pacific Rim continue to find their way into the US market. Most are patent infringing. Check with your supplier to be sure you are not buying them.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT:“Every year, more than 375 million plastic printer cartridges end up dumped in landfills in the United States and around the world.” (Source: Recharger Magazine)

“The plastics used in printer cartridges are made of engineering grade polymers that have a very slow decomposing rate ranging between 450 - 1000 years depending on the cartridge type.” (Source: EPA)

“In one minute, 660 cartridges are thrown away*. This adds up to 573 pounds of steel, 76 pounds of aluminum, 4 pounds of copper ending up in our landfills every minute.” (Source: EPA)

Historically, printer supplies have represented 30-35% of a company’s total office supply spend. (Source: OPI magazine)

Remanufactured cartridges provide an opportunity to reduce this category spend by 35-50%.

*Material estimates based on 200 inkjet cartridges and 460 toner cartridges

1. INCOMING RAW MATERIALS INSPECTION

All incoming materials: drums, toner, blades, PCRs, magnetic rollers, etc. are verified against

stringent standards before they reach the production floor.

2. SORT & GRADE

All empty cartridges are sorted and graded. Only premium empty cartridges are used to ensure

optimal quality.

3. RECYCLE

All packaging materials, used hoppers and non-conforming components are disassembled and

recycled.

4. SPLIT & CLEAN

Empty cartridges are carefully disassembled and cleaned using a proprietary state-of-the-art

process. Hopper’s are precisely split using custom built automated equipment. The hopper is

now ready for the sealing phase.

5. DIGITAL AUTO FILLINGUsing automated filling equipment, each cartridge is precisely filled to the exact specified weight. Toner hoppers are filled with premium toners, which are technically matched to the OPCs (drum) for optimal yields and printer performance.

6. SEALING

Each toner hopper is sealed with an OEM style seal. Our quality sealing process ensures a leak-proof

cartridge that is easy for the consumer to install.

7. ASSEMBLY

Our factory-trained technicians assemble all cartridges with OEM grade compatible components (up

to 75% new components are used in each cartridge.) The assembly process includes the installation of a

pre-qualified drum, wiper blade, doctor blade, PCR and magnetic roller.

8. 100% POST TESTING

Each and every cartridge is post tested utilizing industry standard print tests to ensure outstanding

performance and quality.

9. PACKAGING

All cartridges receive a final inspection to ensure they conform to our stringent quality standards.

Cartridges are cleaned, polished, heat-sealed in a static resistant bag and boxed. A full set of instructions

and warranty information is included.

10. QUALITY CONTROL

Each step in our manufacturing process is monitored by dedicated Quality Control experts. Each step in

our production process undergoes regular and spot inspections to guarantee that Guy Brown’s

products meet the expectations of the consumer.

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10-Step Laser Reman Process

guybrown.com 888.304.6880@guybrownof�ce on: info@guybrown.com