The Recycler Issue 310

www.therecycler.com Issue 310 l SEPTEMBER 2018 l £10 

The technology of tomorrow, or a 

false dawn? Blockchain explained! 

The Recycler’s Owen Collins explains the ups, the downs, and the reality of the technology, to help you decide 

if it’s what you’ve been waiting for… Starts Page 4 

Inside Track 

With Vishesh Nangia of Power 

Point Cartridges. Starts Page 28 

HP’s Sustainability 

success 

Working together – up to a 

point… Starts Page 30 

INSIDE: 

CARTRIDGE GIANTS PARTNER 

Armor and Speed Infotech 

collaborate 

NINESTAR GOES RETAIL 

Karstadt to stock Ninestar 

products 

SHARP ON M&A COURSE 

The OEM has boosted funds 

for M&A projects 

NADEEM MIRZA JOINS STATIC 

CONTROL 

He joins as Head of Global 

Product Management 

FEATURE: KLEEN STRIKE (UK) 

The company celebrates 35 years 

in business 

p10 

p12 

p22 

p32 

p40

EDITORIAL 

Collaboration…up to a point! 

HP Sustainability 

I recently read the HP sustainability 

report which is a far better read than 

wading through their financial reports. 

In fact, HP even invited The Recycler to 

the launch of the report and to meet and 

interview Dr Kirsty McIntire, HP’s 

Director of Global sustainability. 

The report is a good read and probably 

leaves a casual reader with a positive 

feelgood factor about HP. But when you 

know a little bit more about HP you 

realise that their sustainability report 

seems to be more about PR. Their 

business is a razor and blades business 

model. Sell. The printers cheap to drive 

the sale of much higher priced 

cartridges. The cartridges, which are 

mainly made from plastic, are marketed 

as single use products by the OEMs. 

HP is one of the OEMs that, in 2015, 

signed the EU’s Voluntary Agreement to 

avoid any EU mandatory rulings. They 

agreed: 

a) That any cartridge produced by or 

recommended by the OEM for use in 

their printers shall not be designed to 

prevent its reuse and recycling. 

b) That printers shall not be designed to 

prevent the use of a non‐OEM 

cartridge. 

Equally their sustainability policy 

seems to skip the reduce and reuse steps 

contained in Article 4 of the EU 

Directive 2008/98/EC as they skip 

THE RECYCLER • ISSUE 310 • SEPTEMBER 2018 

reduce and reuse to incinerate and 

recycle. Sceptics might think that was to 

prevent reuse and remanufacturing. 

One of the biggest challenges society 

faces is the amount of single use plastics 

that are produced. HP does focus on 

collecting, incinerating and recycling 

their products, but here are a few things 

they could do to reduce their impact: 

Reduce 1: While an inkjet cartridge 

might fit in the palm of your hand, it 

often contains just a few drops of ink. If 

you doubled or trebled the amount of 

ink you put in a cartridge, you would 

halve the amount of plastics you 

consume or need to recycle. 

Reduce 2: Maximise the amount of toner 

you put in a toner cartridge. Stopping 

the use of starter cartridges would 

reduce the amount of plastics and other 

materials you consume or need to 

recycle. 

Reuse 1: Design and manufacture 

printers to be repaired and make the 

parts available and make them 

accessible. The longer a printer lasts the 

less you have to manufacture. 

Reuse 2: Design and manufacture 

consumables to be reused and reduce 

the amount of plastics and other 

materials you consume or need to 

recycle. 

I appreciate that these are big steps 

and HP and the other OEMs will need to 

Stefanie Unland Managing Editor 

be forced through legislation to make 

changes. But here is something that 

could be done. HP and the other 

imaging OEMs could collaborate with 

the rest of the market to establish an 

open empty cartridge collection system. 

This would ensure that the maximum 

amount of WEEE is collected and 

correctly processed. In her interview Dr 

McIntire says that sustainability needs 

collaboration. Sadly, Dr McIntire 

declined to commit HP to collaborate 

with the remanufacturing community. 

The Armor / Speed tie up seems to 

make good sense. The market is 

evolving rapidly and collaboration and is 

a positive way to mutually exploit skills 

and resources. I am sure we will see 

more of this in the future. 

Is Vietnam the new imaging centre of 

excellence? Kyocera is one of many 

companies looking to boost production 

across the imaging sector and relocating 

manufacturing to Vietnam. Yet if you 

drive around the older industrial areas 

around Zhuhai you can still see the 

empty Kyocera factory buildings. 

Meanwhile Ricoh has opened a factory 

in China. The global supply chain in 

action. 

Epson is the next OEM to block 

remanufactured cartridges with their 

firmware upgrades and follows on from 

HP’s recent actions. Is the time now 

right for the industry to collaborate on 

developing an open source solution to 

overcome the OEM firmware upgrades 

that seem to be enforcing a dominant 

market position to lockout consumer 

choice. 

Congratulations to Kleenstrike, the 

UK remanufacturer who are celebrating 

thirty five years in business. R 

3

FEATURE 

The technology of tomorrow, or a 

false dawn? Blockchain explained! 

If you’ve been involved in any form of business or company in the last ten years, chances are you will have 

heard the word ‘blockchain’ at some point. But despite the word becoming almost ubiquitous, surprisingly few 

people seem to really understand what it is, what it does, and what it could do for your business. In this feature, 

The Recycler explains the ups, the downs, and the reality of the technology, to help you decide if it’s what 

you’ve been waiting for… 

What is blockchain? 

It sounds like an obvious starting point, 

but for many, the most recurring 

question concerning blockchain is – 

“what is it?” 

The easiest explanation is that 

blockchain is a form of digital leger, 

allowing users to make, receive, and 

record payments and other 

information. In its simplest form, it is a 

chain of blocks, each containing data 

or information, and was originally 

devised as a way to timestamp digital 

documents to ensure they couldn’t be 

backdated or tampered with, whilst 

remaining open to collaboration. 

In this chain, each block contains a 

piece of data, as well as a hash – a 

unique identification code, akin to a 

fingerprint – and the hash of the 

previous block in the chain. The data 

stored upon the block varies, depending 

on what kind of blockchain it is part of 

– for those used for recording financial 

transactions, the data could include the 

sender, the payee, and the amount in 

question. 

To change any part of the data on the 

block will change the block’s hash; if 

this happens, it becomes a different 

block. This is one of the reasons that 

blockchain is regarded as a highly 

secure mode of interaction, as it is 

immediately obvious when changes 

have been made to a record. 

This is particularly notable if the block 

that is changed, or tampered with, isn’t 

the most recent, but instead midway 

through the chain. By changing this 

block, the hash changes too, and 

therefore every subsequent block 

(which will carry the hash of the 

preceding block as well as its own) will 

be rendered invalid, because it no longer 

contains the previous block’s hash. 

Another key aspect of blockchain 

technology, other than its hashes, is its 

decentralised form. Blockchain operates 

on peer-to-peer networks, that anyone 

can join, and there’s no central 

management (unlike conventional 

banking, with its multitude of central 

offices and managers, for example.) 

When a new person joins, they receive a 

copy of the entire blockchain, including 

its unchangeable history. 

In the act of creating a new block, 

this block is then sent to every node on 

the network, alongside a check proving 

it hasn’t been tampered with. When the 

majority of nodes on the network 

express that they are happy with the 

block, it becomes added to the 

blockchain. 

Why use blockchain? 

If you’re a business attempting to keep 

up with the curve, blockchain boasts 

numerous advantages. 

The first is the security aspect: By 

changing the entire blockchain if one 

block is altered, blockchain sets itself up 

as nearly tamper-proof. It’s easy to spot 

when changes have been attempted, 

and difficult to alter the chain without 

being detected. 

But this alone isn’t enough to make 

blockchain completely impervious, 

with modern computers able to 

calculate thousands of hashes per 

second. An additional security feature 

is ‘proof of work’, which works in a 

similar way, akin to a captcha code; it 

requires each node to complete a 

calculation which must be completed 

before a new block can be added. 

In addition to hashes and proof-ofwork 

is the security of consensus. A 

new block can only be added if the 

majority of users agree to it – meaning 

that any figure attempting to 

tamper with the blockchain can only 

do so if they assume control of at least 

51 percent of all computers on the 

network. 

This arrangement gives blockchain 

an advantage over a centralised service, 

where a hacker may only need to 

infiltrate the central network to 

wreak havoc on a company. The 

decentralisation also reduces timeconsuming 

correspondence, allowing 

blockchain to operate more quickly and 

efficiently. 

This, and the use of hashes, also gives 

blockchain the benefit of traceability. 

The chain provides companies with 

a digital paper trail, meaning 

transactions, deliveries and invoices can 

be authenticated and immutably 

recorded – removing the possibility of a 

company claim they have made a 

payment when they haven’t, or not 

received a shipment when they have. 

This is also useful for auditability, 

with transactions being ordered 

sequentially, indefinitely, and 

unchangeably. Companies can be 

positive where goods or orders have 

come from, checking the blockchain if a 

reminder is needed. 

Another benefit of blockchain is that 

it allows businesses to cut out the 

4 THE RECYCLER • ISSUE 310 • SEPTEMBER 2018

FEATURE 

middle man. Previously, nearly all trade 

deals and transactions required a thirdparty 

acting as broker, with subsequent 

costs, both financial and time-wise. 

Blockchain, however, is built upon 

mutual trust (and stringent security 

precautions), with each transaction 

registered and recorded without the 

need for a broker. This speeds up the 

entire process, letting businesses 

manage their time better and operate 

more efficiently. 

Similarly, blockchain offers transparency 

with its business dealings, with 

details of all transactions recorded and 

viewable, helping foster the trust 

between companies and reducing the 

need for third-parties in negotiations. 

Another aspect which helps increase 

a company’s efficiency is blockchain’s 

ability to use ‘smart contracts’. These 

automated processes can automatically 

trigger a commercial action, such as a 

payment or a delivery, once certain 

criteria have been satisfied. The 

blockchain can read a block’s data to 

ascertain if it fulfils the criteria, and if so 

can authorise the action, streamlining 

business from company to company. 

This again removes the need for a 

middle man, therefore having the 

capacity to benefit SMBs especially – 

unless your business is as a negotiating 

middle man… 

A further advantage of blockchain 

is that it fits into the predicted 

forthcoming ‘paperless society’. By 

keeping your company’s leger, contracts, 

or accounts on the blockchain, it 

simplifies matters, compared to 

bewildering mountains of physical 

documents, as well as contributing 

towards efforts to save the environment, 

in terms of deforestation and the energy 

required to create physical documents. 

What’s the catch? 

Blockchain is far from flawless; multiple 

concerns have been raised about its 

drawbacks, which could mean it’s 

actually not right for your business. 

One reason that many criticise 

blockchain is its jargon, arguing that 

adopting the technology means 

educating your workforce in an 

entirely new vocabulary. This is true 

for any technological advancement, 

although a disruptive technology 

like blockchain contains more new 

language than many. 

A more unavoidable problem with the 

technology is its reliance on human 

input, only being as reliable as the 


humans that are entering data; 

Coindesk’s Nolan Bauerle uses the 

phrase “garbage in, garbage out” to 

describe this effect. Whilst blockchain 

provides immutability, security, and 

efficiency, it is not inherently 

trustworthy, and has very few barriers 

to the input of false information; 

furthermore, once it is entered and 

verified, it becomes very difficult to 

rectify. If inaccurate information is 

input, it can travel far down the 

chain, and can be damaging to 

companies within the particular chain 

who take it at face value and respond 

accordingly. 

Similarly, one of blockchain’s key 

advantages – that changes can only be 

made to the chain if 51 percent of 

computers on the network approve it – 

is hypothetically flawed. It only requires 

51 percent of these nodes to lie, mislead, 

or simply be wrong, for that mistruth to 

become accepted and immutable fact. 

Known as a “51 percent attack”, it’s 

especially problematic for small 

businesses, where 51 percent could be 

as few as two people. 

The much-heralded advantage of 

blockchain, that once set in the chain a 

block cannot be altered, also has a 

downside: If there is an undetected flaw 

in the data which gets ‘set in stone’ as 

part of the immutable chain, it is 

incredibly difficult to amend, fix, or 

remove it from the chain. If this flaw 

presents a vulnerability that hackers 

could exploit, it leaves the entire 

blockchain vulnerable – and can put 

potentially vast amounts of sensitive 

data and information at risk. 

Blockchain technology could also be 

prohibitively expensive, as it requires a 

network of interconnected nodes 

operating at a high capacity. As chains 

become longer, the database expands, 

each node requiring greater computing 

capacity to operate effectively. If a node 

doesn’t have the computing capacity for 

this, it can drastically slow down the 

device in other areas, making the 

blockchain harder to host. 

The alternative isn’t particularly 

preferable, with nodes being forced to 

carry a smaller, more truncated version 

of the chain, not the full version, which 

can hamper the chain’s immutability 

and consensus. 

Another drawback to blockchain is 

the risk of forks – when the chain of 

blocks accidentally diverges. This can 

happen when some of the nodes 

running the blockchain update their 

software, meaning they may not be able 

to recognise or process the same 

transactions as nodes running on the old 

software. Similarly, the upgraded 

software is capable of duplicating the 

blockchain, casting aspersions on its 

reliability and verifiability. 

This also means that blockchains 

aren’t always future-proof, as if they are 

married to an old version of software, 

and cannot be duplicated when the 

software is updated, entire chains could 

be lost, or rendered inaccessible or 

obsolete. 

Is it really the future? 

So, is blockchain really all it’s cracked up 

to be? The technology has found myriad 

uses, from business to everyday life, but 

many remain unconvinced. 

A survey by global research company 

Gartner found that only 1 percent 

of Chief Information Officers 

acknowledged any form of blockchain 

adoption within their organisation, with 

only marginally more (8 percent) 

“planning or looking at active 

experimentation with blockchain” in the 

short-term future. 

5

FEATURE 

The technology of tomorrow, or a false dawn? Blockchain explained! 

Even more damningly, the same 

survey found that 77 percent of 

respondents reported that their 

company “has no interest in the 

technology and/or no action planned to 

investigate or develop it.” 

Gartner’s Vice-President, David 

Furlonger, elaborated on the findings: 

“This year’s Gartner CIO Survey 

provides factual evidence about the 

massively hyped state of blockchain 

adoption and deployment. It is critical 

to understand what blockchain is and 

what it is capable of today, compared to 

how it will transform companies, 

industries and society tomorrow.” 

Other notable results from the survey 

reveal the potentially uphill task that 

many workforces face in implementing 

blockchain. Of the 293 CIOs whose 

companies have already invested in 

blockchain technology, or who plan on 

doing so in the near future, 23 percent 

said that the technology requires the 

most new skills to implement of any 

technology area; a further 18 percent 

said that blockchain skills are the most 

difficult to find in potential employees. 

14 percent, meanwhile, stated that 

blockchain requires great change to the 

culture of an IT department, whilst 13 

percent believed the department’s 

structure, as well as culture, needed to 

change to adapt to the implementation 

of blockchain. 

Yet small steps are positive ones, and 

Furlonger warned that by rushing into 

implementation, businesses risked 

“significant problems of failed 

innovation, wasted investment, rash 

decisions and even rejection of a gamechanging 

technology.” 

Despite CIO reservations, other 

reports into blockchain spending 

suggest that for many, the advantages 

outweigh the disadvantages. An update 

to the International Data Corporation’s 

Worldwide Semi-Annual Blockchain 

Spending Guide forecasts that by 2022, 

spending on the technology will reach 

$11.7 billion (€10.06 billion), with a 

five-year compound annual growth 

rate (CAGR) of 73.2 percent. In 2018 

alone, spending is expected to hit $1.5 

billion (€1.29 billion), double that 

recorded in 2017. 

Broken down by region, the United 

States is expected to see the largest 

investment in blockchain, accounting 

for more than 36 percent across the 

period until 2022. It’s followed by 

Western Europe, with China third 

and APeJC (Asia Pacific excluding 

Japan and China) in fourth. 

IDC also revealed that the use case to 

receive the largest spending this year 

will be cross-border payments and 

settlements, which is predicted to 

account for $193 million (€166 

million) of total spending, followed by 

lot/lineage provenance at $160 

million (€137.6 million) and trade 

finance & post-trade/transaction 

settlements at $148 million (€127.3 

million). Overall, IT and business 

services combined is set to account for 

around 70 percent of all blockchain 

spending throughout the forecast. 

The data is interesting, as it appears 

to contradict the somewhat gloomy 

results of the survey conducted by 

Gartner. IDC’s Customer Insights & 

Analysis team research manager Stacey 

Soohoo confirmed as much, declaring 

that “enthusiasm for blockchain 

continues to be universally shared 

across regions, as businesses and 

organisations alike continue to explore 

the technology’s potential business 

application.” 

Soohoo did however acknowledge 

that blockchain’s modernity was in part 

acting against it though, with the 

technology being so new that 

infrastructure hadn’t necessarily 

caught up. 

“Regulatory concerns and industry 

standards continue to hinder 

widespread adoption as governments 

around the globe work with enterprises 

to formulate policies and governance,” 

she explained. “As such, cross-business 

collaboration and blockchain 

interoperability are emerging as key 

aspects in the growth of the distributed 

ledger technology.” 

In Asia Pacific and China, 

meanwhile, blockchain spending is set 

to reach $2.1 billion (€1.8 billion) by 

2022, according to IDC, with a forecast 

of spending of $272.7 million (€234.8 

million). Simon Piff, Vice President of 

IDC Asia Pacific's IT Security Practice 

Business, believes that companies who 

have already taken the investment leap 

are beginning to see a return. 

“What we are witnessing in the APeJ 

(Asia Pacific excluding Japan) market is 

that those that have already adopted 

blockchain technologies are seeing the 

savings that can be derived,” stated Piff. 

“This translates into savings in time, 

removal of complexity, and an 

increased velocity in transactions […] 

Over time the savings will be industrywide, 

but the early adopters will see 

better returns than the latecomers.” 

Piff ’s colleague, Swati Chaturvedi, a 

Senior Market Analyst at IDC 

Asia/Pacific, suggested that the 

increase in spending was as a result of 

decreasing concerns over security. 

“APeJ is still in its nascent stages of 

adoption as it received scepticism earlier 

because of its security issues,” conceded 

Chaturvedi, but adding that “now, this 

digital ledger technology has grown 

beyond borders as we have seen 

governments / central banks and 

financial institutions in countries like 

India, China, Singapore, Australia, 

South Korea among others test out pilot 

projects to reap maximum benefits.” 

Is it right for you? 

Fundamentally, assessing whether or 

not blockchain can work for your 

company depends on the demands of 

your particular business. If your trade 

involves vast amounts of paperwork, 

legers, and vital details, then the 

security and efficiency offered by 

the technology, in speeding up 

transactions, cutting out the 

middleman, and protecting data from 

hackers, might well be exactly what 

you need. 

There remain questions over the 

security of blockchain, but such 

speculation attaches itself to any new 

form of technology, be it chip and 

pin or driverless cars. Whilst some 

vulnerabilities remain remedying, and 

some – such as susceptibility human 

error – might never be fully eliminated, 

the huge spending forecasts seem to 

suggest that many across the world are 

willing to overlook this speculation 

and invest. 

As the forecasts also show that those 

who have invested early are already 

beginning to see the benefits, it might 

well be worth looking to the future, 

and the ubiquitous technology of 

tomorrow, before your business is 

left behind. 

R 


In this Issue 

City News 

20: Kyocera acquires German software provider; HP’s UK 

profits fall 

21: Visual Edge in quadruple acquisition 

22: Sharp doubles funds to boost sales; Marco makes 

Iowa business purchase; Dex Imaging acquires 

Carolina dealer 

Wide-Format Column 

24: Printed electronics: You truly can print anything 

The technology of tomorrow, or a false 

dawn? Blockchain explained! 

The Recycler’s Owen Collins explains the ups, the downs, and 

the reality of the technology, to help you decide if it’s what 

you’ve been waiting for… Starts Page 4 

Editorial 

3: Collaboration…up to a point! 

Feature 

4: The technology of tomorrow, or a false dawn? 

Blockchain explained! 

World Focus 

10: Cartridge giants form strategic partnership 

11: Turbon businesses unite under one banner; Reseller 

survey raises questions about compliance 

12: Karstadt to stock Ninestar products; Print-Rite unveils 

3D Printing Innovation hub 

14: Anticipation builds for Paperworld 2019; OCP files for 

insolvency; Nations uniting to fight counterfeiting 

16: Destroy Your Printer: The first finalist; WEEELogic 

embraces new European partnership; Epson update 

blocks remanufactured cartridges 

17: A fresh feel for Paperworld Middle East; LD Products 

achieves record return rate 

18: Kyocera to boost Vietnam production; EU reveals 

greenhouse gas emissions progress 

8 

Inside Track 

With Vishesh Nangia of Power 

Point Cartridges Starts Page 28 

HP’s Sustainability 

success 

Working together – up to a 

point… Starts Page 30 

Inside Track 

28: Visesh Nangia, Power Point Cartridges 

Feature 

30: Working together – up to a point: HP’s Sustainability 

success 

Around the industry 

32: Nadeem Mirza joins Static Control; New study reveals 

photocopier market potential; Seminar success for CET 

33: Lexmark announces 1,000 global layoffs; Kyocera 

signs up for Amazon Dash; Dicker Data becomes 

Kyocera distributor 

34: Ricoh opens Chinese factory; ECi recognises 

Everyday Heroes 

35: East Africa represents a ripe printer market; Seine 

Holland attends ambassador luncheon 

36: UKCRA announces 2018 meeting details; Atrix 

unveils results of rebranding; Colvin Plaza welcomes 

Rapid Refill 

37: PCL Direct updates website; Sensient increases 

Turkish distribution capability; HYB organises staff 

Outward Bound day 

38: Fuji Xerox head dismisses dissolution; UTAX 

announces ISO certification 

Feature 

40: Kleen Strike (UK) Celebrates 35 Years 

Retail Column 

42: Nine ways to improve your store image 

Products & Technology 

44: New products and Atom praise from ECS; IR Italiana 

Riprografia announces new compatible toner cartridges 

45: New chips aplenty from Apex: Refillable inkjet printer 

released by Samsung 

46: Static Control unveils remanufactured universal 

cartridge 

48: Ninestar launches double protective design; Multiple 

new products from CET 

49: Aster announces replacement toner cartridges; 

Armor now offers remanufactured photocopier 

consumables 

50: Epson unveils new wireless technical printers; Katun 

Europe introduces new products 

51: KMP announces raft of replacements; Clover releases 

new replacement cartridge; Alveare and CBC in 

fluorescent partnership 

THE RECYCLER • ISSUE 310 • SEPTEMBER 2018

WORLD FOCUS 

Search for The Recycler on Facebook for more news and industry coverage 

EUROPE Armor, Speed Infotech, Partnership 

Cartridge giants form strategic 

partnership 

Armor Office Printing and Speed Infotech, two printing industry stalwarts focusing 

on remanufactured products, have announced that they are joining forces, in an 

alliance that will demonstrate the companies’ commitment to a circular economy. 

According to the two companies, this 

strategic alliance “represents a real boost 

for the circular economy as both 

companies are committed to the collection, 

production and marketing of 

remanufactured cartridges.” 

Armor and Speed Infotech are 

establishing this partnership in order to 

reinforce their presence in the European 

inkjet cartridge production and collection 

market for retail customers. Together they 

post annual revenues of around €80 

million ($93.8 million) in the Office 

Printing market. 

As part of the agreement, Speed 

Infotech is providing access to its ink 

cartridge production capacity according to 

Armor’s patent compliance and quality 

require-ments whilst Armor is 

contributing its entity that manages the 

collection of empty cartridges, namely 

Recoll, based in the Netherlands. The 

French manufacturer will continue to 

develop its ink formulation and ink 

production activities and continue to 

serve all its customers in Europe, 

with the benefits of an enhanced 

supply chain and a more extensive 

product range thanks to the alliance. 

“SPEED Infotech is very glad to enter 

into the partnership with Armor Office 

Printing,” states Benjamin Young, CEO of 

SPEED Infotech. “SPEED aspires to 

become a global remanufactured inkjet 

cartridge production centre. This alliance 

will undoubtedly bring SPEED growth 

in production volume, continuous 

improvement in quality, and more 

importantly, further confidence in R&D 

investment likewise. SPEED will continue 

to serve all its customers around the 

world, with the benefits of further 

enhanced comprehension and delivery of 

product quality to the highest industry 

standards thanks to the alliance.” 

Hubert de Boisredon, CEO of Armor, 

states: “This alliance demonstrates the 

commitment of two industrial partners in 

the circular economy, actively striving to 

preserve the planet’s resources by 

recycling print cartridges.” 

Having incorporated circular economy 

methods into its business practices, 

Armor says it has made the strategic 

decision to enter into this partnership, 

which will enhance its strength in the 

European remanufactured inkjet cartridge 

market. Over 6 million laser and inkjet 

cartridges are collected and recycled each 

year by Armor. 

Established in 2001, SPEED Infotech 

has asserted its commitment to being a 

reliable and respected company in the 

global remanufacturing industry. Over the 

past eighteen years, the accumulated 

volume of remanufactured inkjet 

cartridges produced and marketed by 

SPEED has reached 100 million pieces. 

Currently, SPEED has a R&D and 

production centre in Beihai China, with 

the sales unit based in Shanghai, and a 

service centre in the Czech Republic. It is 

also the first company to have obtained 

approval from China National Bureau of 

Quality Inspection to import used printer 

consumables in China. 

Armor, meanwhile, is a partner of the 

IEC (Circular Economy Institute), a 

founder member of both France Cartouche 

Réemploi and ETIRA (European Toner 

and Inkjet Remanufacturers Association), 

and a board member for France of the UN 

Global Compact. 

Armor continues to gain market share 

in Europe (+10 percent in 2017), despite 

the highly competitive environment. The 

printing consumables specialist explains 

that it is currently expanding its OWA 

brand and services designed for business 

customers in the European market. This, 

states Armor, “is ensured by its collection 

and production services for remanufactured 

laser cartridges and on the highquality 

inks for business inkjet and 

large format cartridges produced at its 

plant in Poland, supported by its R&D 

centre in Germany.” 

26.–29.1.2019, Frankfurt am Main 

paperworld.messefrankfurt.com 

Remanexpo: Business Matchmaking 

Connecting people and businesses 

The service allows you to meet new customers and 

suppliers at Paperworld 2019 

Powered by 

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WORLD FOCUS 

EUROPE Turbon Products GmbH, Business, Reorganisatio 

Turbon businesses unite under one banner 

Turbon Products GmbH has revealed to customers it is reorganising its sales management and will unite its various units 

under a new label. 

As of 1 August 2018, “the three players from 

the sales organisation of Turbon AG” will 

join forces under the new company 

umbrella of Turbon Products GmbH. As a 

result, under the new label, customers will 

find the former Turbon Europe GmbH 

based in Hattingen (DE), the Embatex 

GmbH based in Feldkirchen (AG) and 

EBP AG based in Hünenberg united 

by a “common sales management”, 

headquartered in Feldkirchen, Austria, with 

production based at the company’s factory 

in Romania. 

Turbon explains that this merging of its 

various elements “will make Turbon 

Products GmbH a Europe-wide established 

company in manufacturing and 

distribution of sustainable recycled toner 

cartridges.” 

The company describes its “strict quality 

standards”, “on-going coordination 

processes”, “innovative developments” and 

“highly flexible logistics”, and asserts that 

sustainability is a crucial issue for Turbon 

Products GmbH. This is demonstrated by 

the company’s “resource-saving production 

processes” and the “implementation of a 

holistic approach” when it comes to 

recycling. 

The company goes on to state, in the 

letter to its customers, that, with its new 

structure, it can “respond even more 

efficiently and flexibly” to customer 

requirements and says that the aim is to 

offer “an agile service at the highest level”. 

The company address will be: 

Turbon Products GmbH 

Satellitenstrasse 1 

AT-9560 Feldkirchen 

Austria 

EUROPE WEEE Compliance, Survey, Online Retailers 

Reseller survey raises questions about compliance 

A new OECD report exploring extended producer responsibility online has revealed the “large scale” of WEEE noncompliance 

- an issue the aftermarket printing consumables industry should be seriously taking into consideration? 

The OECD report, entitled Extended 

Producer Responsibility (EPR) and the 

impact of online sales, was put together 

with contributions from members of 

Eucolight. Its findings indicat e that 

“online WEEE non-compliance is 

hindering the efficiency of WEEE 

systems, affecting around 5 to 10 

percent of the total OECD Electric and 

Electronic Equipment (EEE) market.” 

EucoLight Secretary General, Marc 

Guiraud, explains ‘WEEE schemes, 

which aim to make producers 

responsible for the environmental 

impact of the products they sell, have 

been key in increasing recycling and 

collection rates. When producers selling 

online avoid their obligations, they 

impose an unfair burden in the rest of 

the system and on compliant producers. 

Non -declared products prevent correct 

calculation of collection rates, and 

therefore achievement of the collection 

targets. 

Nigel Harvey, EucoLight Vice 

President and Recolight CEO, said “The 

OECD report confirms the large scale of 

WEEE non-compliance through online 

marketplaces and fulfilment houses. 

There is an urgent need for regulatory 

change. The VAT system has been 

amended to make online fulfilment 

houses jointly liable for VAT payments 

for any product they hold in stock in the 

UK. A similar approach is now needed 

for WEEE.” 

While the report focused on LED light 

bulbs, its troubling findings cannot help 

but raise questions about online 

cartridge sales, and how many resellers 

of cartridges are compliant with the 

WEEE legislation. 

With the new WEEE directive, which 

is due to be implemented from next 

month, requiring printer cartridges to 

meet its stringent obligations, producers 

and online sellers of cartridges 

may need to closely examine the 

directive in order to avoid the “strong 

consequences” of non-compliance. 



Remanexpo: Product Group 


The dedicated part of the event focused on reuse and 

remanufacturing of printer cartridges 

Powered by 



11

WORLD FOCUS 


GLOBAL Ninestar, G&G, Retail 

Karstadt to stock Ninestar 

products 

One of Germany’s biggest department stores is now offering the Chinese 

company’s G&G-branded products in its national network of over a 

hundred branches. 

The news was announced by Ninestar’s 

German distributor, Toner Dumping. The 

announcement stated that placing 

products into the Karstadt chain “is not 

easy. The products need to pass a series 

of quality and safety standard and 

certification.” 

The statement added that Ninestar’s 

G&G brand was conquering the market 

“with its premium product quality and 

outstanding performance.” 

The placement in the department store 

chain proves that the deal agreed with 

Toner Dumping and Karl Kallinger, almost 

exactly a year ago, is bearing fruit. At the 

time, Kallinger described the deal as an 

“exciting challenge”, and praised the G&G 

brand as having “the best prerequisites in 

Germany’s highly competitive market for 

printer accessories.” 

G&G’s good relations with its 

distributors were cemented earlier this 

year with its EMEA Distributors 

Conference, which welcomed over 70 

partners for a day of discussions and 

demonstrations, culminating in a visit to 

the vista of the River Elbe. 

It is further positive news for Ninestar, 

after its recent announcement that all of its 

products are excluded from the list of 

items landed with additional tariffs, in the 

escalating trade war between the USA and 

China (see The Recycler: Issue 309.) 

Alongside the company’s statement 

regarding its financial results for the first 

half of 2018, Ninestar announced its 

products were exempt from the USITC’s 

list of imports. 

“Judging from the public information 

that the company can obtain at present, the 

company’s products are not included”, the 

company declared, adding that its 

management was “closely monitoring the 

impact of the Sino-US trade disputes” but 

had not ruled out investing in two US 

projects. One project is the “US renewable 

supplies production base” and the other is 

Ninestar’s US R&D centre. 

EMEA Print-Rite, 3D Printing, Business 

Print-Rite unveils 3D Printing Innovation hub 

In June 2018, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau 3D Printing Innovation Hub was officially opened in Zhuhai, 

the result of a collaboration between Print-Rite and local government. 

The hub was officially opened on 28th 

June 2018, with the highlight of the event 

being the world’s first patented 3D 

printed lion head. 

The facility is the culmination of a 

partnership between Zhuhai Free Trade 

Zone Administration Committee and 

Print-Rite and it was launched with the 

goal of cultivating new resources in the 

field of 3D printing industry, and 

supporting the scale-up development of 

the entire industrial chain. Serving as a 

demonstration in Guangdong, Hong 

Kong and Macau regions, the hub will be 

promoting the industry upgrade of 3D 

printing. 

Considered to be the city’s first 

government-enterprise cooperation 3D 

printing industry incubator to date in 

Zhuhai, the 3D Printing Innovation Hub 

is set to focus on boosting the concept on 

“3D Creates Infinity Possibilities”, 

providing help for full end-to-end services 

in 3D printing. 

The hub is defined as an innovation 

incubation centre in 3D printing, and will 

provide start-ups and SMEs with a ‘onestop’ 

shop to assess, guide and address 

their needs in 3D printing, including: 

• Education and training 

• Business and mentoring 

• Accelerate adoption and development 

The hub is equipped with industrialgrade 

3D printing facilities and materials, 

designed for supporting the research 

capabilities in all incubation phases. The 

pilot plant and growing resources in 

terms of software, labs, hardware, and 

materials available at the hub allow for 

on-the-ground understanding of each 

area of 3D printing. 

A variety of 3D printing solutions 

available at the facility have been installed 

with the intent to showcase and educate 

on the potential for real-world 

applications: 

• FDM 3D Printing 

• SLA 3D Printing 

• Resin 3D Printing 

• SLS Nylon 3D Printing 

• SLM Metal 3D Printing 

• Laser Engraving 3D Printing 

• 3D Scanning 

In this brand-new innovation hub, 

start-ups will be able to explore the many 

possibilities of 3D printing, as well as to 

build creative collaborations with 

manufacturers to accelerate the adoption 

and development of 3D printing 

technologies. 


WORLD FOCUS 

EUROPE OCP, Insolvency, Business 

OCP files for 

insolvency 

The German ink manufacturer has 

begun legal proceedings in the 

Court of North West Bochum, North 

Rhine-Westphalia. 

Insolvency proceedings were started 

earlier this week, with the appointment of 

Attorney Hassan Ben Djemia, of Herne, 

as provisional insolvency administrator; 

he will be tasked with collecting bank 

balances and other claims of OCP, and 

are responsible for measures of 

foreclosure, including injunctions 

against OCP. 

OCP was first established back in 

1994, and over twenty-four years has 

grown, now boasting multiple 

branches and over twenty official 

distribution partners. 

In October 2016, it announced to its 

customers that it was discontinuing the 

distribution of various items “not 

related to our core pursuits”, which 

OCP said at the time was “in order to 

maintain profitability and strengthen 

our market position.” 

Mr. Djemia can be contacted on +49 

2323 9873795. 

Anticipation builds for 

Paperworld 2019 

Next year’s edition of the annual trade show takes place at Germany’s Messe 

Frankfurt from the 26th to the 29th of January, and a multitude of companies 

have already booked their places to exhibit to visitors from around the world. 

Paperworld 2019 will once again include 

the Remanexpo product group, but for the 

first time will see the cream of the 

remanufacturing and aftermarket industry 

in Hall 5.1, relocated from its previous 

home in Hall 6.0. 

Companies already confirmed to attend 

include industry giants such as Static 

Control, Clover, wta Carsten Weser, 

Integral, and SAS Armor. 2019 will also 

see the return to Remanexpo of KMP, 

which will be exhibiting at Booth C81. CEO 

Jan-Michael Sieg is looking forward to the 

opportunities that the show – and in 

particular, its new location – provides: 

“The relocation of the 

Remanexpo area to Hall 5.1 was 

one of the reasons we decided to 

exhibit at Paperworld 2019,” Sieg 

explained. “We want to present 

ourselves again to the specialist 

retailers there as a European 

alternative to the original 

manufacturers, with inkjet and 

toner cartridges made in Europe. 


EUROPE Printer shipments, Market DataPaperworld, Frankfurt, Remanexpo 

Of course, we are hoping for a strong 

presence by the specialised trade, and 

plenty of personal contacts with existing 

business partners as well as potential new 

customers.” 

More than a thousand exhibitors are 

already confirmed for Paperworld 2019, 

with Director Michael Reichhold 

saying the supporting 

programme is “already in full 

swing.” 2018’s event attracted 

over 1,600 exhibitors and 

33,000 visitors - with so many 

exhibitors already confirmed 

for next year, it looks like 

Paperworld 2019 is all set to 

build on this year’s success. 

EMEA Counterfeiting, Crime, Copyright 

Nations uniting to fight counterfeiting 

JETRO, the Japan External Trade Organisation, and SON, the Standards Organisation of Nigeria, are working 

together in a renewed bid to tackle fake products. 

Punch reports that the two bodies will 

be joined in their mission by various 

other groups, including the Nigerian 

Customs Service and the Nigerian 

Copyright Commission. 

The collaboration between the 

nations was heralded with the Nigeria- 

Japan Anti-Counterfeiting Seminar, 

held in the Nigerian capital of Lagos 

last week, organised by SON and 

JETRO Nigeria with the support of the 

Embassy of Japan. 

Shigeyo Nishizawa, JETRO’s 

Managing Director and Trade 

Commissioner began the event by 

championing mutual understanding of 

IP protections, and the strengthening of 

combined anti-counterfeiting efforts 

between the two countries. 

The seminar was also attended by 

seven Japanese companies with 

operations in the African country, who 

showcased their original products, and 

some fake equivalents, in order to 

highlight the differences to attendees, 

including the Government’s standard 

enforcement agencies. 

Amongst the companies exhibiting 

were Brother International (Gulf FZE), 

Canon Europe, Sharp Middle East FZE, 

Panasonic Marketing Services Nigeria, 

and Japan Tobacco International. 

According to Nishizawa, the total 

number of Japanese companies in 

Nigeria is still on the increase, and he 

asserted that with a total of 40 firms now 

operating in the country, the need to help 

customers identify what is genuine and 

what is counterfeit has become much 

more pressing. 


WORLD FOCUS 

NORTH AMERICA Expert Laser 

Services, Destroy Your Printer Contest 

Destroy Your 

Printer: The 

first finalist 

The fifth edition of Expert Laser 

Services’ Destroy Your Printer 

contest has welcomed its first 

shortlisted entry, from The 

McCurdy Group. 

The competition was open to both 

small and large companies and 

organisations in the United States, 

and ran from November 2017 to 

March 2018. It challenged entrants to 

film “a creative, fun and humorous 

video of you and your cohorts 

destroying one of the following: Inkjet 

Printer, Laser Printer, Copier, 3D 

Printer or Fax/MFP” and then upload 

it YouTube and submit the URL. 

Now, the company has posted the 

first finalist’s video on to its website: 

Dennis McCurdy, of the 

Massachusetts-based McCurdy 

Group, introduces the four-minute 

clip, which features the company’s 

“Business Specialist and former stunt 

driver” Justin Bellinger performing a 

stunt called the “firewall.” 

After giving a brief history of both 

his own career and the stunt itself, 

Bellinger takes to the wheel of a 2004 

Monte Carlo whilst others position 

the doomed printer in front of a 

petrol-soaked palette wall, and ignite 

it. “Don’t try this at home,” offers 

McCurdy, sensibly, as with the fireball 

already blazing heartily, Bellinger 

zooms towards it and, at high speed, 

smashes straight through both the 

printer, the palette, and the inferno 

itself. The video concludes with 

McCurdy and Bellinger surveying the 

damage to the car, and what little 

remains of their former printer. 

Expert Laser Services are expected 

to reveal further finalists throughout 

the summer. 

EUROPE WEEELogic, Recipo Group, Partnership 

As WEEElogic explained, this partnership 

will be crucial “for producers looking for 

centralised services and easy coordination of 

compliance and recycling across Europe.” 

“This new partnership with Recipo Group 

strengthens our presence in Europe and 

enables producers and obligated parties to 

address their compliance, recycling and 

circular economy issues with the support of 

our legal, compliance and recycling hub,” 

said Romain Letenneur, Managing Director 

of WEEElogic. 

In order to help companies cope with 

extended producer responsibility legislation, 

WEEELogic revealed that it relies on “the 

expertise of local, specialist compliance and 

take back schemes”, and in order to 

“maintain its development and to exclusively 

offer wider coverage to its clients”, the 

organisation has opted to embrace the 

You can contact The Recycler via Twitter at @RecyclerMedia 

WEEELogic embraces new 

European partnership 

The WEEE compliance and recycling hub has partnered with Sweden's Recipo 

Group in order to “offer common services at a European level.” 

NORTH AMERICA Epson, Firmware update, Cartridge block 

As Griffin Hampson of Cartridge Network 

explains, in recent years printer 

manufacturers such as HP have released 

firmware updates which block third-party 

cartridges, meaning customers are limited to 

buying OEM branded versions, which are 

often more expensive. 

Epson has recently followed suit with its 

own firmware update, which was not 

detected for several days and affected Epson 

T288 / T288Xl & T410 / T410XL cartridges, 

and Expression XP530, XP 630, XP640 & 

XP 830 printer models. Other models may 

also have been affected. 

According to Hampson, “If you do not 

accept the update you should be OK. The 

easiest way to protect your printer is to select 

“never” in the Epson Driver Update Settings. 

Go to our web page, then Trouble Shooting 

and then “Epson Firmware issues”. 

Both legitimate remanufactured 

cartridges and counterfeits have been 

blocked by this update. 

OEMs issue these updates to ensure sales 

partnership agreement with the Swedish 

scheme, Recipo Group. 

Recipo Group, a compliance and take back 

scheme, currently operates in both Sweden 

and Denmark and is set to expand into 

Norway. 

The CEO of Recipo Group, Josef Tapper, 

commented: “It is of utmost importance to 

simplify the administrational burden for 

the EEE- and battery producers to comply 

with the European environmental 

regulations.With the newly established 

cooperation with WEEElogic, Recipo takes 

further steps to be part of the transition to a 

circular business model within the European 

electronic market”. 

Epson update blocks 

remanufactured cartridges 

Following in the footsteps of HP and other OEMs, Epson recently released a 

firmware update which blocks the use of remanufactured cartridges. 

of their own cartridges, and they can often 

face a significant backlash for doing so, as in 

the case of HP Australia, which had to offer 

compensation to customers in May this year 

after selling printers which blocked the use 

of third-party cartridges. 

HP has also previously had to offer 

explanations and apologies for other 

firmware updates. However, this has not 

stopped the company from issuing yet 

another update at the end of last month, 

which affected the HP M602 and HP M4555 

printer families. 



WORLD FOCUS 

EMEA Remanexpo Middle East, Paperworld Middle East, Events 

A fresh feel for Paperworld Middle East 

The event’s organisers, Messe Frankfurt, have revealed that Paperworld Middle East will be taking place in new halls from 

18 – 20 March 2019. 

Paperworld Middle East will now be held in 

new environs, Messe Frankfurt explains. 

The new location for the popular event is 

Sheikh Saeed 1, 2 and 3 halls in the Dubai 

International Convention and Exhibition 

Centre. 

As well as the familiar product sections, 

such as Remanexpo, Printers, Copiers and 

OEM supplies, Office Supplies and School 

Articles, there will now also be a new 

Corporate Gifts product group. 

NORTH AMERICA LD Products, Business, Returns 

With engineering and quality control 

processes managed in Phoenix, Arizona 

and distribution throughout the United 

States, the GOLD Line provides imaging 

dealers and managed print providers with 

what the company describes as “a 

field-proven alternative to leading 

remanufactured cartridges - for up to 20 

percent less.” 

“Typical return rates for leading 

remanufactured cartridges tend to run in 

the 1-2 percent range so we’re proving that 

the performance and profitability of our 

GOLD Line is second to none,” stated 

Christian Pepper, president of LD Channel 

Partner Division. “The statistic we are most 

proud of is that in the first six months of the 

year, we have not had a single colour 

Some of the exhibitors who have already 

signed up so far include Al Hasanat, 

Calidad, Soni Polymers, TCC Marketing 

LD Products achieves record return rate 

cartridge return or defect. Many dealers 

have reported poor remanufactured colour 

quality as of late, as remanufacturers try to 

cut costs and they inevitably sacrifice 

quality. We would like to invite dealers to 

try our colour skus free of charge and put 

our quality claims to the test in their end 

user fleets.” 

Launched in January 2018, after a year of 

product and field testing, the LD GOLD 

and Vital Paper Products. In order to sign 

up now and take advantage of the early 

bird discount, click here. 

This year’s Paperworld Middle East 2018 

was a resounding success, hosting over 300 

exhibitors from more than 40 countries and 

incorporating new features such as the 

Green Room and dedicated industry 

seminars, and the 9th edition of the show 

in 2019 already looks set to become a 

crowd-pleaser. 

LD Products Channel Partner Division has reported that its GOLD Line of commercial grade laser printer cartridges have achieved 

what is believed to be the industry’s lowest ever return rate of only 0.1 percent on all shipments for the first half of 2018. 

Line now features over 200 skus to support 

printer models from HP, Lexmark, Xerox, 

Dell, Brother and Samsung, which make up 

80 percent of most managed print fleets. 

Unlike remanufactured cartridges, which 

LD Products say “need to be cracked in half 

during production, sometimes causing 

leaking, performance issues and returns”, 

the company states that its LD GOLD Line 

utilises a New Build methodology featuring 

a brand-new shell with top quality 

components inside. 

In contrast to many new build cartridges, 

key supply chain quality management 

processes are performed, LD Products 

explains, “to ensure dealers receive the 

quality, performance and price needed to 

protect accounts and win new customers.” 


17

WORLD FOCUS 


ASIA Kyocera, Production Plant, Vietnam 

Kyocera to boost Vietnam production 

Kyocera Document Solutions Inc. has announced its decision to build a third plant at its production base in Vietnam. 

A This development will lead to increased 

production capacity in line with the 

acceleration of production of its 

multifunctional products (MFPs) and 

printers. 

Production is expected to begin at the 

new plant in July 2019, with Kyocera 

revealing that it is focusing on expanding 

its production system, and subsequently 

enhancing the ability to produce parts inhouse, 

and increase logistics efficiency to 

deal with the production increase of MFPs 

and printers. 

Kyocera has stated it will also make 

active use of the Internet of Things, and a 

variety of other information sources, to 

visualise the production line operating 

status in the plant, thereby automating 

feedback on the collected data that will 

further improve efficiency across the plant. 

The Vietnam Plant, which started 

production in October 2012, is the second 

overseas plant of Kyocera Document 

Solutions after the Shilong Plant in China. 

The Vietnam Plant is intended to be a 

complex serving not only as a 

manufacturing base for MFPs and 

printers, but also as a Research & 

Development facility. For that purpose, the 

Vietnam Plant will relocate its Vietnamese 

employees to Kyocera Document Solutions 

R&D Centre as trainees and provide its 

workforce with a working environment 

where, Kyocera says, they can fully exert 

their capabilities. 

Kyocera also asserts that the OEM will 

continue to contribute to the stimulation 

of the Vietnamese economy “by increasing 

the production of its document processing 

products and support the development of 

the local community by creating job 

opportunities, adding to the current figure 

of almost 4,500 currently working at the 

site, which spans over 200,000m2.” 

EUROPE EU Parliament, Greenhouse Gas Emissions 

EU reveals greenhouse gas emissions progress 

The EU has unveiled the progress it has been making toward cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, using infographics. 

Explaining that it has set “ambitious 

targets” for reducing greenhouse gas 

emissions, the European Parliament 

states that “Fighting climate change is a 

priority for the EU”, and announces its 

progress using infographics. 

The first infographic demonstrates how 

gas emissions have decreased since 1990 

and offers projections for the future, with 

levels predicted to fall below 4,000 

million tonnes of CO2 by 2035. 

The Parliament explains that EU targets 

for 2020 have been set out in the climate 

and energy package adopted in 2008. 

One of its objectives is a 20 percent cut 

in greenhouse gas emissions compared to 

1990 levels. 

In 2015, the Parliament reveals that the 

amount of greenhouse gas emissions in 

the EU had already decreased by 22 

percent compared with 1990 levels. 

According to EU countries' latest 

projections based on existing measures, 

the EU says it will remain on track to meet 

this target. Emissions are expected to be 

26 percent lower in 2020 than in 1990. 

Early estimates, however, show that 

greenhouse gas emissions in the EU 

increased in 2017. Discussions are 

ongoing on how to tightening the EU's 

2030 targets and its 2050 strategy ahead 

of COP24 to take place in Katowice, 

Poland, in December. 

To meet the target mentioned above, the 

EU says it is taking action in several areas. 

One of them is the EU's Emissions 

Trading System (ETS) that covers 

greenhouse gas emissions from largescale 

facilities in the power and industry 

sectors, as well as the aviation sector, 

which is responsible for about 45 percent 

of the EU's greenhouse gas emissions. 

Between 2005 and 2016, emissions 

from power plants and factories covered 

by ETS fell by 26 percent, which the 

Parliament describes as being “markedly 

more than the 23 percent reduction set as 

the 2020 target.” 

To reduce emissions from other sectors 

(housing, agriculture, waste, transport), 

EU countries set out the national targets 

for emissions reductions under the Effort 

Sharing Decision. The emissions from the 

sectors covered by national targets were 11 

percent lower in 2016 than in 2005, 

exceeding the 2020 target for a 10 percent 

reduction. 

The second, concluding infographic 

used by the EU reveals which sectors 

contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, 

and then reveals member state targets for 

2020, as well as previously recorded 

levels. 







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CITY NEWS 

OEM share prices 

August 2018 

Prices correct as of 1st August 2018 

Share Prices 

COMPANY JULY AUG 

Brother Industries (Yen) ¥ 2179 2299 

Canon (Yen) ¥ 3542 3585 

Dainippon Ink & (Yen) ¥ 3485 3605 

Chemicals 

Sun Chemicals parent company 

HP Inc. (US$) $ 23.37 23.37 

Hubei Dinglong (RMB) ¥ 8.33 8.35 

Jadi (MYR) M 0.05 0.04 

LG Chem (S Korean Won) W 325k 391k 

Matsushita Electric (Yen) ¥ 1404 1470 

Industrial Co. 

Panasonic parent company 

Mitsubishi Chemicals (Yen) ¥ 948 992 

Ninestar Corporation (RMB) ¥ 28.66 28.82 

Formerly Apex Microelectronics 

Oki (Yen) ¥ 1256 1373 

Seiko Epson (Yen) ¥ 1951 1961 

Turbon AG (Euro) € 5.65 5.65 

Xerox (US$) $ 25.02 25.68 

UK Waste Prices 

price per tonne 

Aluminium € 25.06 40.41 

Plastic € 73.05 69.78 

Paper € 6.26 16.95 

Currency 

€/US$ 1.17 1.16 

€/£ 0.88 0.89 

£/US$ 1.32 1.30 

Oil Price 

Crude oil - (US$) $ 78.89 73.13 

‘Brent Crude futures, 

1-Pos IPE close’ per barrel 

Shipping Prices 

Europe (Hamburg/Antwerp/ $ 881 926 

Felixstowe/Le Havre) 

Mediterranean (Barcelona/ $ 903 898 

Valencia/Genoa/Naples 

USWC (Los Angeles/ $ 1555 1877 

Long Beach/Oakland) 

USEC (New York/Savannah $ 2623 2846 

Norfolk/Charleston) 

Sources: HMRC, FT.com, krx.co.kr, tse.or.jp, 

Environment Exchange, packagingnews.co.uk 

*Brent Crude price is for August 2018 


EUROPE Kyocera Europe, Alos GmbH, Acquisition 

Kyocera acquires German 

software provider 

Kyocera Document Solutions Europe is expanding their service offering with 

the acquisition of the German based company Alos GmbH, which specialises 

in data management. 

Kyocera has completed the purchase of 

Alos Solution, a system provider of 

capture and Enterprise Content 

Management solutions (ECM) in 

German-speaking countries. 

Alos possess over 100 employees based 

in Germany and Switzerland, providing 

solutions to several thousand customers 

across the globe. 

Alos has more than 60 years of 

experience working with clients such as 

Kraft, BP, AT&T and Unilever. By 

capitalising on Alos’ key strengths of 

providing intelligent data acquisition 

solutions through automated workflows 

with legally compliant archiving 

processes, Kyocera says it hopes to gain 

synergies from the investment alongside 

broader customer access. 

The company will continue on an 

independent basis with a three-year 

integration process planned, reporting 

directly to Kyocera Document Solutions 

Deutschland. The acquisition is the latest 

step in Kyocera's development in the 

realm of total document management, 

described by the OEM as a key growth 

area for the company. 

Takuya Marubayashi, President of 

Kyocera Document Solutions Europe said, 

“As a company we are focused on driving 

EUROPE HP Inc UK, Profits, Fall 

HP’s UK profits fall 

forward the advancement of document 

solutions to meet our customers modern 

business needs, both physical and digital, 

to ensure safe, effective and high quality 

management of processes. Alos will form 

part of our approach in providing tailormade, 

cost-effective solutions that will 

complement our range of quality products 

and services.” 

“We are convinced that the merger will 

benefit our customers, partners and 

employees,” added Alos’ GmbH Vice 

President, Friedhelm Schnittker. “The 

comprehensive Kyocera product range, 

paired with Alos' scanning solutions, 

offers great potential. We look forward to 

working together to seize this opportunity 

for the benefit of all stakeholders.” 

Kyocera explains that Alos “perfectly 

completes” the OEM’s portfolio by 

strengthening areas such as data 

acquisition, Enterprise Content 

Management and Business Process 

Management, thereby providing “highly 

available and secure document output”. 

The OEM’s British arm saw a rise in sales, but less positive news elsewhere. 

Sales for the year until October 31st 

2017 reached £1.4 billion ($1.81 

billion/€2.01 billion), a year-on-year rise 

of 13.7 percent, reports The Register. 

However, the cost of those sales, 

company expectations” and added: 

The gross profit margin decreased 

from 7.9 percent in the previous year 

to 6.2 percent in the current year on 

account of an increase in the cost of 

largely due to rising prices of purchases for reselling. The profit 

components, increased by 17.8 percent. 

Administration expenses also rose, by 

60.4 percent, meaning operating profit 

for the company stood at £12.67 million 

($16.45 million/€14.18 million), a 

decrease from £29.36 million ($38.1 

million/€32.87 million) the year before. 

The Register adds that “accounting 

for interest income, interest payable 

and tax, HP banked £2.86 million 

($3.71 million/€3.2 million) in net 

profit” – a fall of 84.6 percent from the 

previous figure of £18.67 million 

($24.22 million/€20.9 million). 

HP said the results were “in line with 

before tax margin decreased from 1.9 

percent in the previous year to 0.7 

percent in the current year due to the 

strengthening of GBP in 2017 by 8.7 

percent against USD, resulting in an 

exchange loss of £7.34 million ($9.52 

million/€8.21 million)." 

The value of GBP had previously 

sunk against the USD following 

2016’s European Union membership 

referendum, although HP UK raised 

prices several times to offset this, with 

estimates from September suggesting 

its prices went up by 30 percent since 

June 2016. 



CITY NEWS 

NORTH AMERICA 

Visual Edge, Acquisitions, Business 

Visual Edge in quadruple 

acquisition 

The Ohio company has made four separate purchases this month, as it 

continues its year of expansion. 

Among the company’s new purchases is 

the Indianapolis-based N2N Technologies, 

a core managed IT services provider, 

which will be incorporated into Visual 

Edge’s Netwise Resources brand, 

according to The Cannata Report. 

As a result, “operations of N2N’s two 

locations, including 18 employees” will be 

transitioned over to Netwise Resources. 

“N2N has had considerable growth in 

the past five years, and we’ve been 

approached by many companies about a 

merger,” says N2N co-founder and Chief 

Operating Officer, Todd Eaton. “After 

many conversations with Netwise and 

Visual Edge, we found that our companies 

are very similar in management styles and 

how we work with our customers. It’s a 

really good fit.” 

“This will increase our ability to offer 

managed IT services to our base of over 

75,000 clients nationwide,” says Mark 

Gibson, Vice President of managed IT 

services for Visual Edge Technology, “and 

gives Netwise a centralised 24/7 

nationwide service desk operated right 

from the company’s Indianapolis 

headquarters.” 

Visual Edge has also acquired 

Vermont’s Office Systems, which “will 

remain an independent operating 

company with advisory support from 

Visual Edge-owned Axion Business 

Technologies and its President, Robert 

Ferland.” 

“This really completes our overall 

strategy to have a footprint in all of the 

New England states,” said Ferland. “The 

potential for growth here is huge. We also 

get the added bonus of Office Systems’ 

market share in New Hampshire. One of 

the benefits for Office Systems’ customers 

is that we will bring new services to 

market that they would not have otherwise 

had access to, such as production print, 

managed print, and managed IT services.” 

Visual Edge’s third acquisition is 

Business Technology Partners, of Orlando, 

Florida. 

Bob Christensen, the President of 

AXSA and leader of Visual Edge 

Technology’s Florida growth strategy, 

stated, “Our goal at Visual Edge is very 

specific—to work with owners of small 

dealerships who need help with 

succession planning. We not only give 

them good value for their company, but we 

also carry on their legacy by taking care of 

their key employees and customers.” 

“BTP’s president, Eric Williams, has 

done a great job of building the company. 

This is really the passing of the baton. He 

wants to make sure that his company, his 

people, and his employees are in good 

hands,” added Christensen. 

Finally, Visual Edge has acquired 

Gaylord-based Dunn’s Business 

Solutions, of Michigan. 

Dunn’s, which first opened in 1978, 

provides businesses in Northern Michigan 

with “state-of-the-art” multifunctional 

equipment, office furniture, supplies, and 

workflow solutions, and prides itself on 

being “independent and female-owned.” 

“We are a company rooted in our 

community. Customer satisfaction is and 

has always been most important to us,” 

explains Dunn’s president, Theresa 

McNamara, who has been at the helm 

since 1990, and who took the decision to 

seek a purchase from Visual Edge after 

considering her upcoming retirement. 

“Their model is exactly what I was looking 

for—a company that would continue to 

take care of my employees and my 

customers, and maybe even do better than 

I could. I want to see my legacy continue.” 

After McNamara gives way, Dunn’s will 

be led by Danny Brady, a friend of 

McNamara and the president of another 

Michigan-based Visual Edge-owned 

subsidiary, Brady’s Business Systems. 

Otherwise, it will be “business as usual,” 

McNamara declared: “The same faces, the 

same products, the same great service. We 

hope to add new services and products to 

increase our customers’ efficiency. That 

has always been our number one goal.” 

Both Dunn’s and Brady’s, which Visual 

Edge acquired in January of this year, are 

authorised Kyocera resellers, with Brady 

also bringing expertise of MPS, document 

management, and managed IT solutions 

to Dunn’s. 

“In a rapidly growing dealer 

community, it is extremely important for 

dealers to operate from a stronger 

competitive position, while remaining 

independent, within the Visual Edge 

Technology family,” said Brady. 


21

CITY NEWS 


GL0BAL Sharp, M&A, Business 

Sharp doubles funds to boost sales 

In a bid to expand its overseas printer sales network, the OEM is opting to double the amount of funds set aside for 

mergers and acquisitions in 2018; however, it has abandoned a plan to issue new shares, citing dilution fears. 

As the Nikkei Asian Review reveals, Sharp, 

which has been trailing in the wake of both 

Fuji Xerox and Canon in a saturated MFP 

market, has “adopted a strategy of 

purchasing others’ sales channels rather 

than develop them on its own.” 

In order to accomplish this, the OEM is 

dedicating ¥12 billion ($108 million/€92.4 

million) to mergers and acquisitions in this 

fiscal year and will be specifically targeting 

vendors “strong in corporate sales”, 

particularly in Europe and North America. 

Among its most recent acquisitions was 

Texan dealer, American Business Machines, 

which “has been selling printers and other 

office equipment to businesses in Houston 

and surrounding areas for more than six 

decades.” 

Sharp will be able to utilise ABM’s 

substantial network to boost sales of 

products which contain Sharp’s display 

technology. 

The OEM “will now speed up investment 

for growth” and hopes to bolster sales in its 

smart business solutions segment by 36 

percent from last fiscal year. However, it has 

abandoned a plan to issue up to $2 billion 

(€1.7 billion) worth of new shares, following 

a negative response from investors. 

As Reuters reports, following its initial 

announcement a few weeks ago, the OEM’s 

investors promptly dropped its shares “on 

fears of earnings per share dilution.” 

Last week, Sharp released a statement, 

saying: “Due to increasing market 

uncertainties, the company decided that 

carrying on with the plan to issue new 

shares would not yield maximum benefit 

for shareholders.” 

This announcement quickly brought an 

up-turn in the company’s shares of 17 

percent, as investors responded positively to 

the volte-face. 

“The shares fell after the announcement, 

so they decided to quit. It’s that 

simple,” said Masayuki Otani, chief 

market analyst at Securities Japan. 

“To announce a new share issue, and 

then say ‘we changed our mind’ because 

the shares fell... that’s not common but not 

unprecedented.” 

The idea behind Sharp’s initial decision 

to issue the news shares was to use the 

funds from those shares to “to buy back 

preferred shares that were issued to banks 

in return for a financial bailout in 2015.” 

Sharp attempted to convince investors 

that this manoeuvre would be beneficial 

long-term, but to no avail. The OEM, which 

had previously been struggling, seems to be 

showing “signs of recovery” and, according 

to analysts, has “become more decisive and 

responsive to shareholders since it was 

taken over by Foxconn two years ago.” 

Sharp also “recently posted its first 

annual net profit in four years” and has 

announced plans to purchase Toshiba’s 

personal computer division. 

“My impression is that Sharp has really 

changed as a company,” said Hajime 

Nakajima, who works as chief strategist at 

investment advisory firm, AsLink. 

NORTH AMERICA Marco, Rudzianski’s Business Equipment, 

Acquisition 

Marco makes Iowa 

business purchase 

Marco, a technology services provider, has announced 

that it has purchased the copier contracts and client 

base of Rudzianski’s Business Equipment, located in 

Dubuque, IA. 

Marco will be providing Rudzianski’s clients service and support 

from its office in Cedar Rapids, IA. Marco currently has eight 

offices throughout the State of Iowa. 

“We look forward to continuing Rudzianski’s commitment to 

satisfying their clients and expanding the services and technical 

expertise we can provide them,” said Marco CEO Jeff Gau. 

This is Marco’s eighth acquisition in the past two years. They 

recently purchased Prime Office Innovations and Governor 

Business Solutions in Michigan. The company has 1,180 

employees and serves more than 32,000 customers from its 50 

locations throughout the Midwest and nationally. 

“We are excited to sell our company to Marco,” said Ed 

Lehman, owner of Rudzianski’s. “They are a high performing 

company that is committed to excellence and outstanding 

customer service.” 2018 has been a fruitful year so far for Marco, 

which, in addition to these acquisitions, has also been ranked on 

Minnesota’s Top 150 workplaces and featured on the list of the 

world’s 501 top MPS providers. 

NORTH AMERICA Dex Imaging, Inc., Cavin’s Business 

Solutions, Inc., Acquisiiton 

Dex Imaging acquires 

Carolina dealer 

DEX Imaging, Inc., an independent dealer of document 

imaging and data management solutions in the eastern 

United States, has announced the acquisition of Cavin’s 

Business Solutions, Inc. 

Established in 1959, Cavin’s Business Solutions is a Kyocera 

(Copystar), Konica and Xerox dealer which has offices in 

Fayetteville, Greenville, Jacksonville and Wilmington, North 

Carolina, and also offers service coverage in Charlotte, Columbia 

and Charleston, South Carolina. 

DEX Imaging’s CEO, Dan Doyle Jr., commented, “Merging with 

Cavin’s Business Solutions, Inc. supports our ongoing strategy to 

strengthen and expand DEX’s services in the Carolinas, creating an 

autonomous DEX Headquarters in that region that provides an 

abundance of product choices, enhanced service manpower and 

local expertise that our competitors simply do not offer.” 

Cavin’s Business Solutions President, Randy Gainer, said, “We 

are excited to join forces with a company that shares our same value 

proposition for quality. DEX has a proven track record of innovation 

and service excellence that will allow us to deliver even greater value 

to our customers; more product selection, exclusive DEX-patented 

technology, and enhanced service responsiveness. 


WIDE FORMAT COLUMN 

Printed electronics: You 

truly can print anything 

The parkas in opening ceremonies at the South Korea Olympics had printed 

electronics in them, according to David Savastano, editor of Printed Electronics 

Now. The heaters inside the suits, designed by Butler Technologies, Butler, 

Pennsylvania, USA, were built from flexible hybrids by a specialised 3D printer. 

Neal McChristy 

The market for flexible, hybrid and 

printed electronics systems, like the 

wearables in the Olympics, is growing 

into lights and displays, according to 

Printed Electronics Now. Embedding the 

electronics in wearables that monitor 

blood pressure, pulse and other signs of 

health is being used right now. But 

someday, a glass panel in a building 

may be embedded with electronics that 

allow someone to touch it for sight and 

sound. Xerox has made panels in a 

jazz display that emit music when 

participants touch it. General Electric 

prints ceramic passive strain sensors 

on turbine blades to alert for service. 

A set of communication protocols 

called Near Field Communication 

(NFC) allow two electronic devices in 

proximity to communicate. The 

Information Mediary Corporation uses 

NFC connects for its Med-ic Syringe 

Pack to record whether the patient is 

actually using the medication. 

Some see glass building facades 

equipped with embedded organic 

photovoltaics and think NFC will 

change the way consumers 

communicate with products, including 

appliances. 

Meanwhile, Printed Electronics 

Now’s Shikha Sinha reports that the 

wearable, smart clothing as a market is 

scheduled to exceed $4 billion (€3.45 

billion) by 2014, with shipments 

expanding at 50 percent in compound 

annual growth rate – a figure from 

Global Market Insights, Inc., Selbyville, 

Delaware, USA. 

Sports associations are depending 

these products to lower injuries. Plus, it 

is driven by a fitness wave and wanting 

to monitor blood pressure or heart 

rate. Some think tracking perspiration 

or muscle activities could have as 

much of an impact. Conductive fabrics, 

along with the sensors, can drive up 

the cost. 

Hexoskin, Heddoko Inc., Ralph 

Lauren, Athos, Sensoria Inc. and 

Catapult Sports Pty Ltd, etc. are 

operating in the market and 

collaborations is occurring between 

players and sports associations. 

Printable batteries more prevalent 

Graphene, that material that is 

hundreds of times stronger than steel, 

is having a place in the 3D printed area 

for batteries and supercapacitors, 

according to Printed Electronics Now. 

Graphene is an extremely 

electrically-conductive form of 

elemental carbon that is composed of a 

single flat sheet of carbon atoms 

arranged in a repeating hexagonal 

lattice. 

Versarian plc, Cheltenham, 

Gloucestershire, United Kingdom, is 

incorporating graphene into devices to 

reduce the time for charging and also 

increase the storage capacity. 

Versarien has been collaborating 

with Warwick Manufacturing Group, 

University of Warwick, Coventry, UK) 

and partner companies and scientists 

at the universities of Warwick and 

Cambridge, but now other technology 

providers from the UK and overseas are 

involved. 

The company, through its subsidiary 

Cambridge Graphene Ltd, Cambridge, 

Shire County, United Kingdom, is part 

of the Flexibat consortium that has 

recently been awarded £1.2 million 

($1.56 million/ €1.35 million) in 

grant funding from Innovate UK as 

part of a £1.5 million ($1.95 million/ 



€1.68 million) project to develop and 

bring to market graphene enhanced, 

thin, flexible printed batteries for 

electronic wearable and IoT (Internet 

of Things) devices, reports Printed 

Electronics Now. 

A Flexibat project seeks providing 

much thinner and more flexible 

batteries that have higher energy 

densities using roll-to-roll printing 

processes. These are targeted toward 

the health and physical market. The 

company recently received an 

order for Nanene graphene nano 

platelets from a Chinese automotive 

battery manufacturer for technical 

evaluation. 

For further information, the Web site 

for Printed Electronics Now is at 

https://www.printedelectronicsnow.com 

Wide-Format news in brief 

The Netherlands builds bridges and 

houses with 3D printers 

A method to print materials that 

are like clay or cookie dough with a 

3D printer has been made possible 

by a Purdue University, West 

Lafayette, Indiana, USA, team, 

according to Additive Manufacturing 

Web magazine (https:// 

www. additivemanufacturing. 

media). The magazine reports the 

advance could be used for 

manufacturing dental implants 

pharmaceuticals, solid rocket fuel 

or more uses for the 3D printing 

using viscous material. 

This form of 3D printing won’t 

allow for printing high-strength 

materials such as metal composites 

or ceramics. In this process viscous 

material was changed to go through 

the nozzle, which has highamplitude 

ultrasonic vibrations 

applied to it. This lowers friction on 

the walls of the nozzle allowing the 

material to snake through. 

The team used x-ray images from 

Argonne National Laboratory, 

Chicago, Illinois, USA, to look inside 

the nozzle. 

Zucrow Labs, the largest academic 

propulsion lab in the world at 

Purdue, is exploring the options, 

including exploring use of the 3D 

printing process for solid rocket fuel. 

The combustion was tested by 

igniting two-centimetre samples 

(0.8 inches) in a high-pressure 

vessel. 3D printing gives a chance to 

customize rocket geometry and its 

combustion, including make parts 

burn slower or faster. 

But more earthly uses include 

customised dental fittings and 3D 

printing of personalised drugs, 

such as by pharmacists. 

Print heads vary for Wide-Format 

It’s a question that should be asked: 

“What print head is in that UV-curing 

Wide-Format machine?” 

If the people who answer know, 

your answers could vary much. 

Sometimes, it is dictated by the 

updating of the RIP software. 

Dilli uses Konica-Minolta print 

heads on some models, with fewer 

models featuring the speed benefits of 

Kyocera print heads, according to 

FLAAR Reports (http://flaarreports.org). 

EFI VUTEk printers used 

Seiko heads in the past, but now more 

EFI models are using Ricoh heads. 

Kyocera, Konica-Minolta and 

Ricoh are respected print head 

brands, not found in entry-level 

printers, according to FLAAR 

Reports. 


25


Wide-Format news in brief 

The Netherlands builds bridges and houses with 3D printers 

“Project Milestone, a Netherlandsbased 

method to build homes that can 

be lived in built with a 3D printer, are 

hoped to cut costs and environmental 

damage and are built without 

bricklayers, which are in short supply. 

The first homes are being built in 

Eindhoven, according to Daniel 

Boffey, a Brussels correspondent for 

The Guardian. 

The smallest of five houses, a twobedroom, 

attracted applications from 

20 interested families within a week 

of images being made available, 

according to an article in The 

Guardian. 

Bridges are being built, too. Seven 

months ago, Dutch officials opened 

the first 3D-printed concrete bridge 

that is primarily being uses by 

cyclists, in the southeastern town of 

Gemert. 

The 26-foot (7.92 metre) bridge 

was built by the BAM Infra 

construction company with 

assistance from Eindhoven University 

of Technology, and was made of 

reinforced concrete, pre-stressed, and 

spans a ditch full of water connecting 

two roads. 

Finns print shaft with artificial brain 

Embedded sensors have been 3D 

printed into a metal shaft by the VTT 

Technical Research Centre, 

Vuorimiehentie, Finland. The shaft 

will use the sensors in it for wireless 

data communication, according to 

Additive Manufacturing Web magazine. 

Sensors track the performance and 

condition of machines or devices, or can 

also verify the authenticity of the parts. 

The Centre 3D-printed a “smart” 

shaft, with the overall process 

including 3D printing, sensor 

technology, wireless data transfer and 

condition monitoring. Research focus 

was providing a way for sensors to 

form a functional part of a 3D-printed 

metal structure. This allows sensors or 

smart identifiers added to 3D-printed 

metal parts during manufacture. Also, 

an accelerometer and wiring are 

embedded into a 3D-printed metal 

shaft for a friction bearing. 

Wireless communication capability 

allows information to communicate 

from the component to the cloud. 

Other applications include mining, 

energy, transporting and industrial 

manufacturing under demanding 

conditions 

Ricoh heads back into latex printers with FESPA 

While many companies have given up 

the latex printing area, deferring to 

other OEMs, Ricoh exhibited the Ricoh 

Pro L4160 latex printers at the FESPA 

Show in Berlin 15 - 18 May 2018 at 

Messe Berlin, Germany. Last time a 

Ricoh latex printer visited FESPA was 

in 2012. 

The Ricoh Pro L4160 was the first 

latex series of printers to achieve 

global Color-Logic certification. Now 

the Ricoh Pro L4100, in combination 

with the ColorGATE Production server 

software, is now certified for use with 

the Color-Logic process. The 63.4 inch 

(161 cm) printer uses Ricoh Aqeuous 

Resin Latex Ink, has CMYK Orange- 

Green-White configuration, resolution 

up to 1,200 DPI, and of course, is 

powered by a ColourGATE Production 

Server. 

New Avery exec has over 20 years in industry experience 

Pascale Wautelet has been named the 

Avery Dennison Corporation global 

vice president of Research and 

Development (R&D) for its Label and 

Graphic Materials group, succeeding 

Hassan H. Rmaile, who was promoted 

earlier in the year as Vice President and 

General Manager for Global Graphics 

and Reflective Solutions and Vice 

President, Global Technology and 

Ventures for Avery Dennison. 

It was announced at Avery, 

headquartered at Glendale, California, 

USA, that she will lead Label and 

Graphic Materials’s global R&D 

network, including oversight of Avery’s 

seven regional research and 

development centers and teams. With a 

team of over 300 scientists, Wautelet 

will continue to build the future 

pipeline products and solutions for this 

materials science company that has 

innovation at its core. 

Wautelet joined Avery Dennison in 

July 2017 as Vice President, Label and 

Graphic Materials for Europe, Middle 

East and Africa. She has more than 20 

years of domestic and international 

experience across multiple functions in 

the chemical/petrochemical/plastic 

industry, including flexible packaging 

and labeling. Prior to joining Avery 

Dennison, Wautelet was Global 

Technology Director at Jindal Films, 

overseeing corporate innovation and 

research and development across 

Europe and North America. 

Editor’s Note: Neal McChristy is a 

freelance writer with over 35 years 

journalism experience in magazine, 

newspaper and Web-based work. He has 

been contributing editor for magazine 

columns in the wide-format industry for 

18 years. He also has over 20 years’ 

experience as reporter and editor in the 

printing and imaging area. He likes to 

correspond with readers and can be reached 

at freelance9@cox.net. 


INSIDE TRACK 

Vishesh Nangia, 

Power Point 

Cartridges 

This month, The Recycler spoke to Vishesh 

Nangia, Managing Director of India’s Power 

Point Cartridges, to find out more about the 

company, its origins, and the future forecast for 

the circular economy on the subcontinent. 

1. What does your 

company do? 

We are India’s leading compatible 

and eco-friendly recycled cartridge 

manufacturing company, with the 

objective of delivering Office Printing 

Solutions at an efficient expense, 

without cutting back on the quality. 

We at Power Point help the practice 

of environmental safety by 

implementing it in the Indian print 

industry, and we attempt to reduce the 

amount of printer consumable waste, 

and fortify our dedication to nature. 

Each empty cartridge that is reused 

diminishes the amount of plastic 

going into landfills. Cartridge reuse 

lessens the amount of natural 

resources needed to produce new 

cartridges. By recycling the printer 

cartridges, we cut down the waste 

entering the environment. 

Power Point Cartridges’ Offices 

2. How big is your company 

(in terms of premises, 

employees, operations)? 

We are headquartered in Mumbai, 

and have a presence across India, with 

6 metropolitan branches. Our team 

strength is over 250 employees and we 

offer a wide range of solutions, from 

printer cartridges to print 

management services. 

3. How did your company start – 

what were your origins? 

Power Point takes pride in its 

extraordinary growth story, which 

started from Mumbai in 2010 and 

thrived leap and bounds to reach out 

to every nook and corner of the 

subcontinent. Within the last year, the 

company has opened four branches, at 

Kolkata, Hyderabad, Lucknow and 

Chennai. 

4. What challenges are there for 

companies like yours in the 

Indian market? 

The new epoch of managed print 

solutions is definitely changing 

customer ambitions, creating new 

priorities and a different set of 

challenges. As a consequence, 

organisations are seeking more 

flexibility in their MPS contracts, as 

well as a lesser turnaround time, a 

better roadmap for innovation, and a 

clearer strategy for information 

management. 

5. How do you think the China 

waste import ban will impact 

the recycling industry in 

India? 

China represents the largest trade 

partner for USA recyclables, and is one 

of the world’s foremost importers of 

recyclable material. If all material is 

banned, it will be a challenge to 

replace that demand for our 

recyclables. Demand is growing in 

India & Southeast Asia, but not at the 

rate needed to replace what is sent to 

China. The USA, Europe, etc. currently 

do not have the capacity to recycle 

everything they produce. 

6. How much has the recycling 

ethos struck a chord with the 

local population? Is it 

becoming a social issue? 

The Indians’ love for smart and latest 

gadgets are an open story. On the 

other hand, our reluctance towards 

using second hand or refurbished 

products has also been an open tale. 

However, in recent times, the 

refurbishment market has picked up, 

with the refurbished IT sector 

leading the chart. Irrespective of the 

industry, the refurbished products are 

quality tested on several parameters 

just to ensure it does not lag behind 


INSIDE TRACK 

their new-build brothers. On top of 

this, these companies provide 

layers of safety features apart from 

the warranty and extended warranty 

on every item, hence providing an 

added layer of comfort to the 

customers. 

7. Have the circular economy 

initiatives been supported by 

the Indian government? 

The importance of recycling is well 

communicated to the general public, 

but the initiatives available are still 

only very few. Being ecological is on 

the minds of the Government, but it is 

too early to confirm the complete 

transformation. However, the 

resourcefulness is on the rise, so 

hopefully the circular economy 

concept will get a boost soon. 

8. What new opportunities have 

been opened to you because 

of your green credentials? 

The concepts of cost savings in the 

print industry are here to stay, 

although paper will likely never leave 

the corporate world entirely. But 

still it’s more than a fact 

that if not given gravity, 

the corporate print 

environment is often a high 

or increasing cost centre, 

that can be much more 

expensive than most 

businesses envision. To 

have a firm grip on printing 

costs, it is imperative for 

businesses to have a firmer 

grip on their printing 

infrastructure, especially 

those in pursuit of ways to 

reduce operating costs. 

9. How do you plan on 

expanding further in the 

future? 

PowerPoint travels in harmony, with 

these insightful words from Richard 

Branson: “If you take care of your 

employees, they will take care of the 

clients” – thus, we are providing equal 

opportunities for the employees to 

grow in a highly interactive 

workplace, where they can scribble 

their thoughts. We believe in having 

better employee morale, and every 

thought is counted and approached 

with respect. Our team has innovation 

in its DNA, and they are all set to 

launch the access-card-based highly 

secured pull-printing feature in our 

solutions. We are consistently striving 

to reach the last mile of our 

customers, with the help of our 

franchisee network. PowerPoint has 

no intention to take the foot off its 

growth accelerator anytime in the 

near future. 

R 

To find out more about 

Power Point and its work, visit 

their website at 

www.powerpointcart.com 


29

FEATURE 

Working together – up to a point: 

HP’s Sustainability success 

At a recent summit at its London offices, HP revealed its 

Sustainability Report 2017, where Director of Global 

Sustainability Operations Dr. Kirsty McIntyre spoke exclusively to 

The Recycler about HP’s CSR history, and why collaboration is 

the key to success – with certain exceptions. 

Dr. McIntyre described HP’s 

sustainability efforts as “an enormous 

success,” and placed them in a 

historical context stretching back over 

75 years. 

“When Dave Packard suggested that 

a business had responsibility beyond its 

profits, back in 1942, he was laughed 

out of the room,” explained Dr. 

McIntyre, speaking proudly of the 

OEM’s long-running commitment to 

sustainability and the environment. 

“We’ve been on this journey for more 

than thirty years,” she continued, 

stating that “that responsibility beyond 

ourselves is part of our DNA.” 

This “DNA” is in evidence in the 

company’s 2017 Sustainability 

Report, which reveals that HP has 

recycled over 271,000 tonnes of its 

hardware and supplies, since the 

beginning of 2016, whilst in 2017, the 

OEM used more than 99,000 tonnes of 

recycled plastic in its ink and toner 

cartridges. 

The plastic waste epidemic has 

become one of global society’s most 

widely-discussed cause célèbres, and 

Dr. McIntyre was unequivocal in her 

belief in HP’s role in tackling the crisis. 

“HP has a responsibility to turn the 

tap off,” she elaborated, discussing the 

amount of plastic waste in the world’s 

oceans. “You don’t need to see much to 

realise the extent of the problem,” she 

Dr. Kirsty McIntyre, Director of Global 

Sustainability Operations for HP 

added, and praised the widening public 

consciousness around the issue, which 

she attributed to “the Blue Planet” 

effect, in reference to the BBC 

documentary, harrowing footage from 

which spread around the globe – “such 

is the reach of David Attenborough.” 

Dr. McIntyre conceded that such 

visibility does make it “easier selling 

the message” of sustainability, and 

declared that for people in her position, 

the whole point of promoting that 

message involved “trying to make 

ourselves redundant” – making 

sustainability, and environmental 

responsibility so commonplace that 

businesses no longer need to lead the 

way. “I don’t think the attention will go 

away,” she opined optimistically, citing 

small-but-significant measures, such 

as bans on single use plastic bags and 

straws, and new taxes on single use 

plastics. According to Dr. McIntyre, 

“the key is education”, calling the 

conundrum “as much a social issue as 

an environmental one.” 

HP’s Sustainability Report also 

included details of the OEM’s outreach 

programmes, which includes a 

collaboration with Los Angeles-based 

Homeboy Electronics Recycling, which 

not only recycles discarded hardware 

and gadgets but also offers 

employment to those who would 

otherwise face barriers – specifically 

ex-gang members and convicted 

criminals. 

During the London summit, HP 

showed a video detailing its work with 

Homeboy, which drew a comparison 

between the environmental and social 

benefits. “We tear down products and 

find new value,” said a Homeboy 

employee, adding that “prison tears 

down people. And then we help them 

find the new value.” 

HP’s outreach has also seen it active 

on the island of Haiti, where it has 

sourced more than 170 tonnes of 

plastic waste that would otherwise 

have made their way into the oceans; 

much of this waste was then recycled 

into printer cartridges. Dr. McIntyre’s 

view on outreach and collaboration in 

fighting plastic waste was unequivocal 

– “we can not do this alone.” 

However, when asked if this spirit of 

communal endeavour extends to 

working alongside remanufacturers, 

Dr. McIntyre became considerably 

more cagey. 

Asserting that the OEM had no plans 

to collaborate with the aftermarket 

community, Dr. McIntyre claimed that 

“an original cartridge will actually 

produce less waste. Due to the oftenlow 

quality of remanufactured 

cartridges, we have a high concern 

over the sheer number of wasted 

prints, which would make working 

together rather… counterproductive.” 

Dr. McIntyre conceded that although 

HP would be steering well clear of any 

sort of link-up, remanufacturers were 

entitled to their efforts, admitting that 

“there is a place in the market for us 

all.” She however reiterated that due to 

her concerns over the quality of the 

remanufactured product – an opinion 


FEATURE 

that most remanufacturers would 

surely dispute – it would be “more 

complicated working together, than 

otherwise.” 

Despite this near-total refusal to 

work with remanufacturers for 

environ-mental benefit, Dr. McIntyre 

was able to identify common ground 

between aftermarket companies and 

her own global OEM. 

“The big challenge, I think, is 

clones,” she contended, “which is 

where there is that common ground – 

they’re really not good, for either 

party.” Although this objection was 

grounded in more of a business 

perspective than an environmental 

one – as, environmentally, clone 

cartridges are as offensive as a typical 

newly-built original cartridge – Dr. 

McIntyre offered the opinion that 

clones – and the “hidden, shady 

companies” producing them – are 

“undermining the market for both us, 

and for remanufacturers.” 

One of the key messages currently 

being espoused in terms of the fight 

for sustainability is the idea of reuse, 

rather than just recycling, with reuse 

representing not only a cut in plastic 

waste but also in the energy needed in 

the process. When questioned on how 

HP could adopt the reuse mantra into 

its sustainability programme as well 

as the recycling mantra, Dr. McIntyre 

again dampened expectations, stating 

that hardware reuse was something 

the OEM was invested in – such as its 

link-up with Homeboy – but that she 

didn’t anticipate HP moving towards 

any form of cartridge reuse. 

Using similar arguments to those 

against joining forces with 

remanufacturers, McIntyre said HP 

was opposed to cartridge reuse on 

grounds of “quality, reliability, and 

customer satisfaction – as well as 

sustainability,” arguing again that 

non-original cartridges hampered 

sustainability efforts by regularly 

creating wasted prints. 

HP’s sustainability efforts include a 

35 percent reduction in greenhouse 

gas emissions since 2015, a six 

percent drop in materials use intensity 

for its printers since 2016, and an 

impressive 90.9 landfill diversion rate; 

efforts which should be applauded. 

However, if it really wants to “turn off 

the tap” on plastic waste, the 

collaboration ethic will have to be 

widened to include the simultaneous 

efforts of the remanufacturing 

community. Dr. McIntyre is correct 

to say that HP “can not do this 

alone” – but if actions are to match 

words, the barrier between OEMs and 

remanufacturers will have to be 

broken down to ensure true 

sustainability success. 

R 

ETIRA: WORKING FOR ALL REMANUFACTURERS AND PARTNERS 

ETIRA Reuse is better than single use 

It is a simple message, and ETIRA and its members are ambitious to 

achieve maximum reuse across the office imaging sector. Only 25% of 

office imaging consumables are successfully reused and 

remanufactured utilising the latest reverse engineering technologies. 

However, the barriers are many from technology and IP challenges, 

freeriding to disruptive marketing, counterfeiting and false advertising. 

ETIRA - working every day since 2003 for its members: 

Challenging unfair tenders that try to exclude reuse and remanufactured 

products. 

Opposing anti-reuse patent applications, explicitly designed to prevent 

successful reuse and remanufacturing of imaging products. 

Fighting fake and false advertising claims of new products misleadingly 

marketed as reused or remanufactured. 

Tackling REACH and WEEE infringements, freeriding and product 

counterfeiting. 

Promoting reuse and remanufacturing and why they are good for both 

consumers and the environment! 

ETIRA ~ Working for you – Come and join us. 

THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY 

The epidemic levels of plastic waste are 

unsustainable and positive and proactive 

reuse of plastic products are the first 

steps towards reducing the epidemic. 

The European mindset is changing 

concerning reuse is better than singleuse, 

and the EU is working towards laws 

and policies that deliver the circular 

economy and reuse philosophy that 

could require all office imaging 

consumables are 100% suitable for 

reuse. 

ETIRA continues to engage at the 

highest levels to influence and drive 

policies that support members 

interests. 

Grieglaan 7 • 4837 CB Breda • The Netherlands 

Tel: + 31 6 414 614 63 • Fax: + 31 76 564 04 51 info@etira.org 

www.etira.org 


31

AROUND THE INDUSTRY 


EMEA CET, Seminars, Events 

Seminar 

success for 

CET 

The company has heralded the 

successful gatherings in Jordan 

and China on its LinkedIn page. 

CET Group Dubai organised the 

event, CET Go Bigger, for its 

distributors in Amman, the capital 

of Jordan. It took place at the end of 

June, and was attended by over a 

hundred local distributors, 

engineers and technicians from the 

office automation industry. A similar 

event was held later in the same 

week in Northern China, at 

Lanzhou’s Feitian Hotel. 

The conferences were described 

by CET as “a great success”, and the 

company gave its thanks to all those 

who travelled to attend and 

participate. 



NORTH AMERICA Static Control, New Hires, Business 

Nadeem Mirza joins Static Control 

Static Control, the largest manufacturer of aftermarket imaging systems and 

components, has announced the hiring of Nadeem Mirza as Head of Global 

Product Management. 

Mirza has over 25 years’ 

experience in product management, 

global marketing and sales 

and comes to Static Control 

after serving as the Global 

Director of Product Management 

for Milacron, a manufacturer of 

plastics processing equipment, 

technologies and services in 

Pittsburgh, Pa. He has also held 

key positions in global product management 

for GE and ThermoFisher Scientific, where 

he managed a $500 million (€429.4 million) 

product portfolio, helped increase global 

sales by 10 percent and grew strategic 

products by 15.5 percent. 

“Nadeem has led global teams in worldclass 

organisations for industry pioneers 

that, like Static Control, focus on top quality, 

value and innovations,” said Bill Swartz, 

President of Static Control. “He will help 

GLOBAL Photocopier, Market Data, Report 

Nadeem Mirza 

streamline our processes to be more 

efficient and bring cartridges to 

market at a faster pace. His 

long history in new product 

commercialisation on a global scale 

makes him a huge asset and we look 

forward to developing and executing 

the strategies he brings to the table.” 

Mirza will prioritise product 

develop-ment on a global scale based 

on strategical importance, communicate 

product and company strategies to all 

stakeholders and help achieve growth 

objectives for Static Control. 

“I’m excited to join the team at Static 

Control,” said Mirza. “The opportunity for 

growth at Static Control is immense. We are 

in a unique position to leverage our wellestablished 

technologies with our production 

capabilities, which is a huge value to 

customers.” 

New study reveals photocopier 

market potential 

A newly released, detailed market study entitled "Global Photocopier Market" 

examines the performance of the photocopier market from 2018-2025. 

The report encloses in-depth research of the 

photocopier market state and the competitive 

landscape globally. This report also analyses 

the potential of the photocopier market in the 

present, as well as future prospects from 

various angles in detail. 

The Global Photocopier Market 2018 report 

includes photocopier market revenue, market 

Further, the photocopier report gives 

information on company profiles, market 

share and contact details along with a value 

chain analysis of the photocopier industry, 

photocopier industry rules and policies, 

circumstances driving the growth of the 

market and compulsion blocking growth. 

The photocopier research report includes 

Share, photocopier industry volume, market the products that are currently in 

trends, and photocopier growth aspects. A 

wide range of applications, utilisation ratio, 

and supply and demand analysis are also 

featured in the report. It shows manufacturing 

capacity and photocopier prices during the 

forecast period from 2018 to 2025. 

Some of the companies featured in the 

study include Brother International, Canon, 

Eastman Kodak, Hewlett-Packard, Samsung 

Electronics, Ricoh, Lanier, Toshiba, Xerox 

demand and avail able in the market along 

with their cost breakup, manufacturing 

volume, import/ export scheme and 

contribution to the photocopier market 

revenue worldwide. 

Finally, this new photocopier market report 

gives you details about the market research 

findings and conclusion which helps you to 

develop profitable market strategies to gain 

competitive advantage. 





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NORTH AMERICA Lexmark, Business, Layoffs 

Lexmark announces 

1,000 global layoffs 

The OEM has revealed plans to institute approximately 1,000 global layoffs, 

representing about one ninth of its worldwide workforce. 

As US News reports, Lexmark is planning to 

cut approximately 1,000 jobs over the next 

year as part of its latest restructuring of the 

printer company.” 

According to the OEM, this restructuring 

“is needed to align its workforce with its 

strategy to ensure the company’s future 

success.” It also said it would not be 

offering any specific indications of the 

locations where these cuts will occur, 

adding that it “currently has about 9,000 

employees globally.” 

These layoffs follow on from 

The technology, which allows users to 

reorder supplies such as toner and other 

consumables at the push of a button, is 

described by Kyocera as “one way of 

ensuring small businesses have one less 

thing to worry about,” although it has been 

criticised by aftermarket companies for 

“locking out” the remanufacturing industry. 

“By integrating with Amazon Dash 

Replenishment, Kyocera printers can now 

automatically track toner usage and reorder 

supplies just when they need them,” 

announced the OEM. “Customers will 

never have to worry about running out of 

this essential office supply.” 

Kyocera becomes the latest big player to 

embrace the technology, after Brother, 

Samsung, HP, and Epson already signed up 

for Dash. The announcement will cause 

concern for remanufacturing companies, as 

it makes it even harder to sell 

remanufactured cartridges when customers 

are able to top up their OEM supplies in 

approximately 700 job cuts implemented 

by the company last year. 

EUROPE Kyocera, Amazon Dash, Business 

Kyocera signs up for 

Amazon Dash 

The company has become the latest OEM to integrate the e-commerce giant’s 

Dash technology, in what will be worrying news for remanufacturers. 



such an easy, quick, and streamlined 

manner. 

“By integrating Dash Replenishment 

with Kyocera’s printers in the UK and 

Germany, we’re helping our customers 

streamline their toner reordering process, 

saving them valuable time and money,” said 

Vindhesh Kumar, the OEM’s Senior 

Manager for Strategy and Business 

Development. “Kyocera is focussed on 

using the latest technology and processes to 

make life easier for our customers. This 

integration is just another example of our 

dedication to delivering these benefits and 

we’re excited to rollout the new capability.” 

AUSTRALASIA Dicker Data, Kyocera, 

Distribuition 

Dicker Data 

becomes Kyocera 

distributor 

The company has become a 

distributor of Kyocera Document 

Solution’s range of A3 and A4 

ECOSYS print and consumables 

solutions, as CRN reports. 





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“We’ve been successfully servicing the 

print market in Australia for many 

years and the addition of Kyocera will 

result in more choice for our partners,” 

Dicker Data chief executive David 

Dicker said. 

“Furthermore, Kyocera’s leading 

partner program will enable our 

committed print partners to enjoy 

above-average profitability across the 

range that we’re now distributing.” 

The agreement between the two 

companies has already come into effect, 

with Dicker Data revealing “it already 

had stock on hand to start fulfilling 

customer orders”. 

Kyocera managing director David 

Finn said: “I am extremely excited to 

expand our distribution footprint by 

partnering with Dicker Data, both 

parties have experienced impressive 

growth in recent years and I believe our 

strong product portfolio coupled with 

our reseller programs will complement 

Dicker Data’s already successful 

business model.” 

Dicker Data has been steadily 

burgeoning in recent months, having 

added 18 new vendors last year and 

making a net profit in 2017 of $27 

million (US$20 million/€17 million). 


33



ASIA Ricoh, Factory, Expansion 

Ricoh opens Chinese factory 

Ricoh has announced the establishment of a new manufacturing organisation, “Ricoh Manufacturing (China) Ltd.”. 

This company will manufacture office 

equipment at a new state-of-theart 

production facility in Dongguan 

Guangdong, China, and, according to the 

OEM, forms part of Ricoh’s efforts towards 

strengthening its global production 

capability. 

The newly established facility will be the 

central production site for Ricoh’s office 

printing machines. Ricoh says, “It will also 

contribute to further enhancing our 

superior quality by using advanced analytics 

of sales and production data, and installing 

cutting-edge robots and factory automation. 

This will also facilitate efficient production 

of customised products which is today 

carried out regionally.” 

Ricoh also explains that “by unifying 

production data and data from the office 

machines operating at our customer’s 

locations, we will also be able to further 

enhance the machines’ quality.” 

Moreover, the OEM states, the new 

factory will be “the most advanced factory 

within the Ricoh Group” when it comes to 

environmental performance, contributing 

to achieving a decarbonised society 

through the installation of solar energy 

systems, displacement ventilation systems, 

natural lighting and natural ventilation. 

Ricoh announced its growth strategy 

“Ignite” in February 2018, and is working 

towards its three growth strategies: “Evolve 

MFPs, enhance our operations and secure 

our customer base (Growth strategy #0)”, 

“Expand our customer base by pursuing 

possibilities of printing technologies 

(Growth strategy #1)” and “Add Ricohoriented 

value to our customer base, and 

connect offices & frontlines (Growth 

strategy #2)”. 

Ricoh states, “The new company will 

establish this flagship factory to deliver on 

growth strategy #0, and by accelerating our 

digital manufacturing capabilities, it 

will contribute to increasing business 

efficiency resulting in enhanced 

“operational excellence”.” 

EUROPE ECi, Heroes, Awards 

ECi recognises Everyday Heroes 

ECi Software Solutions has announced the finalists for its annual Everyday Hero Award program. 

Now in its fourth year, the Everyday Hero 

Award program was created to honour 

ECi customers—both individuals and 

companies—who consistently go above 

and beyond to help others and make a 

difference in their communities. 

Nominations are submitted by ECi 

employees, customers and partners and 

evaluated by an independent panel of 

judges. Following an assessment of more 

than 30 entries, this year’s three finalists 

are: 

• Christine Cox, ComDoc, Inc., for her 

dedicated volunteer work with The 

Haven of Rest and Broken Chains 

Ministry, providing men and women inneed 

with mentorship and support to 

improve the trajectory of their lives 

• Angie Higgins, B&C Business 

Products, for rescuing more than 300 

dogs a year by running the Cimarron 

Valley Humane Society in her spare 

time 

• Mike Rhodes, Esperanza Homes, for 

facilitating a partnership with IDEA 

Public Schools to provide local lowincome 

and minority students with 

access to better education 

The winner will be announced on 5 

November 2018 at ECi’s biennial user 

conference, Connect 2018, and will 

receive $5,000 (€4,295) for the charity of 

their choice. The first and second runnersup 

will receive $3,000 (€2,577) and 

$1,000 (€859) respectively to donate to a 

charity of their choice. 

In addition to honouring ECi’s customers, 

the company states that its Everyday Hero 

Award program supports its own core 

values—which ECi explains are “to crave 

greatness, own the outcome, deliver 

awesome and embrace community.” 

ECi explains on its official website, “As an 

organisation that specialises in providing 

small and medium-sized enterprises with 

cloud-based business management 

solutions and the expertise needed to 

thrive, this award reinforces ECi’s mission 

of supporting the entrepreneurial spirit— 

both at work and in the communities its 

users live in and serve.” 

“Each year, selection of the finalists gets 

more challenging,” said Ron Books, ECi 

CEO. “It’s an incredible opportunity to 

recognise our customers who go above 

and beyond in their local communities. 

We extend heartfelt congratulations to this 

year’s finalists. Their efforts to create a 

positive change in the lives of others are 

truly inspirational.” 







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EMEA East Africa, Print Market, Business 

East Africa represents a ripe 

printer market 

Research conducted by InfoSource has revealed that East Africa “represents a 

growth region for printer manufacturers”, as IT-ONLINE reveals. 

Vendors, distributors and resellers are faced 

with the pleasing prospect of “growing 

demand for production and office printer 

equipment sales and services”, in addition 

to a variety of other regional factors which 

make East Africa ripe for industry growth. 

“The key players need quality 

information that helps them find the right 

partners, support the right equipment, and 

develop the right set of skills to support the 

dominant markets in Uganda, Tanzania, 

Kenya and their neighbours,” explained 

Chris de Beer, Africa regional manager at 

InfoSource. 

He also stated that “regional factors are 

overall positive and indicate enormous 

potential for print vendors and their 

partners”. 

“Our local investigations over the past 

few years continued to divulge several 

revealing insights about various aspects of 

the sector in East Africa,” says De Beer. 

“The corruption clampdown in Kenya, for 

example, has impacted the industry there in 

several ways, including slowing the pace at 

which government tenders are awarded. 

“The majority of the copier/MFP market 

is largely based on dropping boxes across 

East Africa, while in Uganda growth is 

generally phenomenal, albeit off a low 

base.” 

This difference between different 

countries in the region is evident, with 

research discovering that “colour 

production equipment” is more popular 

than mono in Kenya, while in Uganda sales 

of black and white copier and MFP units 

have been on the rise, in contrast to 

Tanzania. 

“Few vendors are directly represented in 

Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda,” concludes 

De Beer. 

“Market growth therefore signals that 

exceptional partnerships with the right 

companies mark a significant advantage 

over rivals.” 

EUROPE Seine Holland, Ambassador Luncheon, Business 

Seine Holland attends ambassador 

luncheon 

The European branch of Ninestar has attended a special luncheon in Utrecht, 

hosted by the King’s Commissioner of the Netherlands for the Chinese 

ambassador. 

Oleg Zhao, Seine Holland’s General 

Manager, revealed that it was his “great 

honour” to attend the luncheon, “on the 

occasion of the working visit to Utrecht by 

the ambassador of the People’s Republic 

of China [H.E. Wu Ken] to the Kingdom 

of the Netherlands”. 

The luncheon was hosted by Mr. 

Willibrord Van Beek, the King’s 

Commissioner, Mr. Pim Van den Berg, 

the Vice Governor of Utrecht, and the 

Mayor of Utrecht, Mr. Jan Van Zanen. 

Zhao explained, “Both sides give high 

comments for today’s Sino-Dutch all 

round cooperation and more than 20 

years friendship between Utrecht 


province and Guangdong province.” 

He went on, “Seine as the first 

company from Guangdong that settled in 

Utrecht, we have been developing our 

printing business well for more than 15 

years in European market” and thanked 

the company’s business partners, 

colleagues, NFIA and Utrecht for their 

help and support. 

35


NORTH AMERICA Atrix, Rebrand, 

Business 

Atrix unveils 

results of 

rebranding 

Atrix, of Burnsville, Minnesota, a 

manufacturer of portable, industrial 

vacuums with ultrafine filtration, has 

announced a new branded identity. 


EUROPE UKCRA, Events 

UKCRA announces 2018 

meeting details 

The United Kingdom Cartridge Remanufacturers Association has revealed the date 

and location of this year’s meeting, as well as details of its key speaker. 

This rebranding process was highlighted 

by the launching of their new website, 

www.atrix.com. 

A family owned business that started in 

1981, Atrix goes to market in over 40 

countries worldwide through a network of 

industrial and commercial distributors. 

Atrix manufactures patented HEPA and 

ULPA immediate containment filters, as 

well as vacuums, accessories and ESD-safe 

products used in specialty applications in 

a variety of markets including: industrial, 

electronics, hazardous particulate, pest 

control, specialty medical and janitorial. 

“It’s an exciting time at Atrix. Over the 

past two years we’ve seen double-digit 

growth in sales, allowing us to increase 

our staff, who enjoy ESOP status. We’re 

proud of our 37-plus-year legacy of 

working with exceptional client partners 

like Grainger, IBM, Fastenal, Univar and 

Thermac,” said Shane Vail, General 

Manager, Atrix. “This past year we 

completed an extensive research study and 

asked our valued partners what prompts 

their decision making and what’s 

important in driving their success. Given 

that research, we’ve developed a new 

website that’s much more user-friendly 

and provides an enhanced overall user 

experience.” 

Atrix’s rebrand not only includes a new 

logo and appearance for increased 

visibility, but the new website includes 

multiple new features including: updated 

product resources (brochures and spec 

sheets), product selector functionality, a 

distributor locator function, and a 

language translator. 

“The rebranding gives our customers a 

more complete picture of our expanded 

capabilities and strengthens our position 

as a go-to supplier in the industry,” said 

Vail. “We’ve refreshed and updated our 

look, but the core values at Atrix will never 

change—personal and prompt customer 

service and delivering quality products at 

the best value.” 

The 2018 UKCRA meeting will take place at 

the Novotel Coventry hotel in Coventry, 

England, on the 18th of October, and is open 

to all who wish to attend. 

The event’s key speaker will be Chris 

Davies, a former Member of the European 

Parliament for North West England from 

1999 to 2014. During his decade and a half 

in office, Davies served as the Liberal 

Democrat spokesman on the European 

Parliament’s Environment, Public Health, 

and Food Safety Committee, winning 

Parliamentarian of the Year in 2014. 

Whilst in office, Davies was also active in 

the environment, climate, and energy policy 

sectors, and his efforts in these fields during 

NORTH AMERICA Rapid Refill, Business, Expansion 

The Kenton Bee reports that the ribboncutting 

ceremony for the new branch was 

performed by the Tonawanda Chamber of 

Commerce, in the presence of local business 

leaders and civic dignitaries. 

Rapid Refill was first founded in 2013, to 

offer ink and toner cartridges, printer 

repairs, secure shredding, and managed 

print services – all of which will now be 

available to Tonawanda residents. 

“We are the epitome of a locally family 

owned and operated, small business,” said 

co-owner Daniel Novick, who also spoke of 

his plans to support the community through 

recycling and fundraising programmes. 

the development of 2000’s WEEE Directive 

led to the inclusion of the ‘design for reuse’ 

stipulation for imaging equipment. 

That work in turn prompted a detailed 

study, “on the implementation of product 

design requirements set out in Article 4 of 

the WEEE Directive,” in particular 

focussing on the reusability of printer 

cartridges. The wider measures outlined in 

this study aimed to “improve the 

robustness of both the new and the reused 

cartridge markets.” 

Davies boasts degrees from both 

Cambridge University and the University of 

Kent, and is sure to prove an insightful and 

illuminating speaker. 

Colvin Plaza welcomes Rapid Refill 

The inkjet and laser printer supply and services company has officially opened its 

newest branch in Tonawanda, New York State. 

“Rapid Refill sells to local consumer 

residential customers, small businesses and 

to New York State government agencies.” 

Kenton Bee 




EUROPE PCL Direct, Website, Business 

PCL Direct updates website 

The company, which manufactures and supplies a wide range of printing 

consumables, has announced the refreshment of its official website. 

The Coventry-based remanufacturer has 

unveiled a fresh new online look, having 

updated its company website, and is inviting 

customers to take a look. 

PCL, which is a Circular Economy Gold 

Partner, specialises in remanufacturing, 

offers its own recycling scheme, and is a 

member of both CIWM and UKCRA. 

However, the business also supplies OEM 

printing consumables for brands such as 

Konica Minolta, Sharp, Canon and 

Samsung, and offers bespoke labelling and 

white label goods “based to our clients’ 

requirements.” 

You can browse their new website on 

www.pcl-direct.com. 

EUROPE Sensient, Distribution, Turkey 

Sensient increases Turkish 

distribution capability 

Digital inks manufacturer Sensient Imaging Technologies has added local 

warehousing and distribution capabilities to its Turkish operation, “to better 

serve the growing Turkish textile market.” 

The company’s investment will create a 

warehouse capable of directly supplying 

its digital inks to the Turkish market, 

whilst also providing direct access for new 

Sensient in the region,” said Mike 

Geraghty, President of Sensient Colors. 

“As a result, Sensient is reaffirming its 

commitment to support our partners and 

and existing customers, removing customers in Turkey by investing in local 

importation delays, and simplifying the 

local supply chain. 

Digital printing in the Turkish textile 

industry has been rapidly increasing over 

recent years and has a forecasted annual 

average growth rate of 12.5 percent. “This 

market development combined with a 

strong support network in Turkey and the 

release of new digital inks in 2018 has 

warehousing of inks.” 

Initially, Sensient will stock selected 

products to serve the growing installed base 

with plans to increase both the volume and 

the product range when necessary. 

“Sensient will continue to work with its 

partners in the region to maintain the 

highest level of service, support, and 

flexibility for its growing customer base,” 

resulted in significant growth for the company added. 

ASIA HYB, Staff, Business 

HYB organises staff Outward 

Bound day 

On a bright and sunny 30 June 2018, HYB organised an Outward Bound day for 

its employees. 

Describing the day as an occasion which 

united its employees “regardless of 

positions, genders, ages” in the pursuit of 

“one ultimate goal […] – to win and to 

experience”, HYB explained that the 80 

participators were divided into 6 teams. 

The team members had to select their 

team leaders (who must not be in the 

position of managers) who were then 

tasked with brain storming, strategy 

setting and ensuring the implementation 

of their team plan. 

The different training programs available 

offered “opportunities for participators to 

plan in a short time and determine to take 

plan into actions.” 

HYB staff played together, cooked 

together, “and most importantly the team 

suffered the punishment of bad decisions 

together”, says HYB. 

When all the participants climbed over 

the 4-metre high wall, the training came to 

what the company describes as “a perfect 

ending” because all of the HYB employees 

“believe the impossible to be possible 

and believe that their Teamwork can help 

each other to reach the success they are 

longing for.” 


37



NORTH AMERICA Fuji Film, Xerox, Business 

Fuji Xerox head dismisses dissolution 

Despite the well-publicised conflict between Fujifilm and Xerox, the joint venture’s chief remains calm, in what has been a 

mixed month for the OEM’s Australian division. 

As Reuters reports, Fuji Xerox President 

Kouichi Tamai is not predicting any major 

fall-out from the ongoing difficulties 

between Fujifilm and Xerox, following the 

withdrawal of Xerox from their proposed 

merger. 

“I’m confident a breakup will not happen 

because that wouldn’t make sense (for 

Xerox) in terms of the energy, money and 

time it would take to do so,” he stated. 

Xerox, which backed out of the merger in 

May 2018, “said it may not renew its 

technology agreement with Fuji Xerox” and 

then upped the ante by also stating that it 

“would start sourcing products from new 

vendors for sale directly to customers in Fuji 

Xerox’s primary Asia-Pacific market.” 

Such a dispute with Xerox could provide 

financially troubling for Fuji Xerox, which 

would experience a loss in revenue of more 

than $1 billion (€853.8 million). However, 

Tamai feels it would not be beneficial for 

Xerox to seek out new vendors. 

“That would increase costs for Xerox,” he 

said. “It is my responsibility to convince 

Xerox that it is cheaper and more reasonable 

to source products from us.” 

“My mission is to persuade Xerox 

executives that the merger would be the best 

solution for both companies,” he concluded. 

“Daily interactions with them actually have 

given me a feeling that many at Xerox 

actually support the merger.” 

For Fuji Xerox Australia, meanwhile, it 

was a month of mixed fortunes, with the 

Australian Government’s Department of 

Human Services, which will see Fuji Xerox 

providing multi-purpose office printers with 

scan and photocopy capabilities. 

ARN reports that the company signed a 

$32.7 million (€28 million) contract with the 

Department “to upgrade multi-purpose 

office printers, supplies and accessories”, 

which is “part of a previous contract that was 

awarded to Fuji Xerox Australia under the 

Major Office Machines (MOM) panel.” 

The contract will conclude in May 2021. 

Hank Jongen, General Manager of the 

Department of Human Services, explained 

that Fuji Xerox Australia was selected for the 

deal “as their proposal presented the best 

value for money option.” 

The Australian government’s MOM 

procurement panel was set up in 2016, with 

the Minister for Finance Mathias Cormann 

saying that it had been appointed “for the 

next four years, with an optional two-year 

extension.” 

This good news was tempered later in the 

month, after Fuji Xerox Australia was ruled 

by the country’s Fair Work Commission to 

have breached the terms of an employment 

agreement with a member of its workforce. 

After 22 years with the company, former 

service technician Sham Kumar was made 

redundant in January, after Fuji Xerox 

decided to close its Alexandria, Sydney-based 

print workshop, CRN reported. 

Kumar received a termination letter from 

Fuji Xerox Australia’s national Order 

excitement of a new multimillion deal offset Fulfilment and ANZ Manufacturing 

by being ruled against in an unfair dismissal 

claim. 

The OEM inked a three-year deal with the 

Manager, Patrick Dunn, who informed him 

that there were no open positions within the 

OEM equivalent to Kumar’s skills and 

EUROPE UTAX, ISO Certification, Business 

UTAX announces ISO certification 

UTAX (UK) Ltd has announced it has demonstrated its compliance to and been certified to the Quality Management 

System Standard – ISO 9001:2015 by BSI (British Standards Institution). 

The certification was presented by BSI 

following a stringent auditing process. 

ISO 9001 is the internationally recognised 

Quality Management System (QMS) 

standard. Designed to be a powerful 

business improvement tool, ISO 9001 

Quality Management certification helps 

organisations to continually improve, 

streamline operations and reduce costs. 

Shaun Wilkinson, Managing Director - 

UTAX (UK) Ltd, comments: “We are 

extremely proud to announce that BSI has 

confirmed that UTAX operates a Quality 

Management System which complies with 

the requirements of ISO 9001:2015. 

“This achievement, in conjunction with 

our company restructure back in October 

2017, has allowed us to be more efficient 

with our business processes and 

reinforces our commitment for continued 

growth.” 

“We are delighted to have achieved 

this certification, which brings us in line 

with our parent company TA Triumph- 

Adler GmbH,” comments Sarah 

Mackay, UTAX’s Head of Operations. 

“The ISO 9001 certification has validated 

our position in the marketplace; 

demonstrating our desire to always 

provide high levels of quality and 

seniority; however, he was welcome to apply 

for remaining available roles on a merit 

basis. 

“We advised that you will now enter a 

redeployment period from today until 22 

January 2018,” the letter read. “We advised 

that you will have the option to be considered 

for other redeployment opportunities, 

however, if we are unable to find you a 

suitable redeployment opportunity, then 

your role would cease for reasons of 

redundancy as on 15 January 2018 in which 

you would be eligible for a redundancy 

package.” 

Now, Fair Work Commissioner Bernie 

Riordan has ruled that Fuji Xerox failed to 

consult with either Kumar or the National 

Union of Workers prior to the redundancy, 

which failed the consultative requirements 

of the employment agreement. 

Riordan also found that the process of 

Kumar’s redundancy was based on a 

“subjective skills matrix,” which was flawed 

in its comparison of Kumar to his 

colleagues. Riordan added that Kumar was 

not consulted about the downsizing of the 

workforce. 

“I find that Kumar’s termination was not a 

case of genuine redundancy,” the 

Commission ruled, “due to Fuji Xerox’s 

failure to consult in accordance with the 

agreement.” 

Kumar will receive three weeks’ pay plus 

superannuation, atop the redundancy pay he 

has already received, which includes 86.7 

weeks’ pay plus an additional 5 weeks’ 

notice. He has also been offered a threemonth 

outplacement programme with 

Prima Careers. 

efficiency. The standard will help us to 

monitor and manage quality across our 

business so we can identify areas for 

improvement, be more resilient and build 

on our sustainable business model.” 

Tania Murray, UK Head of Client 

Propositions at BSI commented: “By 

achieving certification to ISO 9001:2015, 

UTAX has demonstrated that it is 

committed to monitoring and managing 

quality across all operations to ensure 

consistent performance and service. This 

will help to enhance stakeholder 

confidence, improve business processes 

and increase customer satisfaction.” 


FEATURE 

Every five years is another milestone for 

us - and almost two generations later 

here we are. Many people are confused by 

our name Kleen Strike. What does it have 

to do with toners or inkjets? It goes back 

to the pioneer days of impact. Kleen 

Strike Inc., my father’s company, began in 

Baltimore, Maryland in 1960. It was a 

different business world then. It was the 

era of the door to door salesmen. There 

were no telexes, faxes, no tele sales, and of 

course no internet selling. The main 

mode of printing in offices was impact 

typewriters that used spool to spool 

ribbons and secretaries typed copies on 2 

or 3 sheets of carbon paper with paper in 

between. The ribbons were made of 

cotton or silk (nylon came later) and 

would last for weeks, months or years 

depending on the size of the company. 

The main products sold were ribbon 

spools, carbon paper and erasers. If you 

made a mistake you had to erase the 

wrong character on the first page, then 

carefully erase it on the second page and 

third page and then type it over correctly. 

Then the impact industry developed 

with the introduction of matrix printers 

Directors meeting 

Kleen Strike (UK) 

Celebrates 35 Years 

by Laura Heywood 

If you try and think back what were a few of the news events of 1983 

many would struggle. Ronald Reagan and George Bush Sr. were 

President and Vice President, Margaret Thatcher had already been 

Prime Minister for five years, Ron Atkinson, Manager of Manchester 

United, took the team to an FA Cup win. It was also the year of the 

Brinks Mat Robbery, Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean and Moon Walk 

and the birth of the Chicken McNuggett. 

that used nylon ribbon cassettes. It was a 

continuous loop in a cassette or cartridge, 

that as it printed, eventually the ink was 

used up and the cassette needed 

replacing. And typewriters became more 

sophisticated with the introduction of 

electric typewriters that used film ribbon 

cassettes and lift off tapes. 

And this is when Don Barker, my 

partner and I entered the market. Don 

with his engineering background and my 

background with meeting and talking to 

people having been a flight attendant 

with United Airlines for three years, we 

decided to set up our own company with 

the technical support of Kleen Strike Inc. 

We introduced a new concept that was 

being offered by a few companies in the 

USA – a service of reloading (replacing 

the ribbon) in nylon matrix printer 

cartridges and correctible cassettes. 

Doing our research we knew that in the 

UK there were a handful of companies 

offering a ribbon re-inking service. But 

re-inking hammered nylon, the ink 

would not absorb as when it was virgin 

nylon and would sit on the surface of the 

ribbon producing poor quality printing. 

With our Kuhn inker, one of the best in 

the industry and 40 years old and a sonic 

welder (Branson welders were used in the 

car industry but adapted for the ribbon 

manufacturing industry. It would join the 

two ribbon ends together sonically. With 

Don’s engineering background we not 

only inked black and purple nylon but 

subsequently inked four process colour 

ribbon as well. We had complete control 

over the percentage of ink and the length 

of nylon we put in our cassettes. 

But we did our market research first. 

We went to Business to Business events 

offering our service and the concept was 

not so easy to sell. Many had tried the reinking 

service and were not impressed. At 

that time you could not play the ‘green 

card’. There were only a handful of 

regulations regarding the Industry and 

ribbon cassettes were never an issue. It 

wasn’t till the advent and growth of laser 

toner cartridges when it became an issue 

and took on relevance. 

Within weeks of setting up the 

company, purchasing the latest Amstrad 

computer with its ‘start of the day’ disk 

and little matrix printer, and printed 

stationery we were approached by a large 

corporate through a recommendation 

that liked our idea and decided to give us 

a try. Their head office was in Liverpool 

and the stationery buyer not only loved 

the concept but also the substantial 

amount of money they would be saving. 

A ribbon cassette used in their tills in 

their 480 stores nationwide used purple 

ribbon and they paid almost £9.00 

($11.83/€10.12) each. Our price was a 

third of this. The stores would send, via 

their system, bin bags full of used ribbon 

cassettes plus various film cassettes used 

at their head office. Besides collecting 

their used cassettes to reload there would 

be the odd partially eaten sandwich, used 

pens, etc. – and every week we would 

drop off freshly reloaded and boxed 

cassettes. A few years later when they 

switched to toners we continued 

collecting the used toners and returning 

those. The majority were the HP2 – and 

at the time this one cartridge had 85 

percent of the market. 

It was a stable time. Businesses hadn’t 

begun to single source and kept their 

stationery and printer consumables 

separate and the only printer contracts 

were on the large mono copiers. 

Equipment was expensive and people 

weren’t inclined to upgrade so frequently. 

The toner cartridges were so highly 

engineered that they could be 

remanufactured many times. At the time 

there were no distributors of components 

with only a handful of mono toner 

suppliers on the market in the UK. 


FEATURE 

Shortly after the mono inkjets were 

introduced we began refilling inkjets. 

With our business growing we hired a 

British Aerospace engineer that was 

about to retire; and with his engineering 

background we offered a very good 

product. And we had validation about 

our quality from where we least 

expected it. 

In the 1998 issue of Customer’s 

Voice, Europe’s Independent Digital Test 

Laboratory, they had requested the 

toner remanufacturing industry to 

submit a sample toner, specifically 

the HP4 that was fairly new to the 

market. They wanted to test the 

remanufactured product against the HP 

‘original’ as its standard and we didn’t 

hesitate. Submitters listed that were 

tested in the issue were Little Red Book, 

Xerox, Cartridge Company, BASF, 

Lexmark, Toner Flow, Berolina, Mercia, 

Retone, Verbatim, Esselte, OCP, 

Laserfriend and us. 

Several days later we received a call 

back from Customer’s Voice commenting 

that our toner cartridge achieved one of 

the best results tested. In fact, he 

mentioned that HP sent over an engineer 

to check that we had indeed used 

alternative components. On the 4000 

page original our yield was 110.08 

percent; with grey scales we were rated as 

“the best of these tests” and with general 

comments such as “about the best overall 

quality” and ‘Kleen Strikes pristine 

offering”. The lab report concluded that 

some very good remanufactured 

cartridges are available. 

In 1989 Don’s son Alistair began 

working for us and seven years later in 

‘96 Alan Longstaff. Both now Directors 

and shareholders are the reason our 

operation has run so smoothly and 

responsible for Kleen Strikes ‘pristine’ 

quality. For almost 30 years our premises 

in Rochdale were in one of the buildings 

of the old Dunlop Cotton Mill - at one time 

it was the largest cotton mill in the world. 

In 2013 received notice it was being 

demolished, so we moved closer to the 

Town Centre where we are now. 

The loyalty we have from our 

customers, some for over 30 years - from 

schools and colleges and businesses to the 

single purchaser –is because they’re all 

treated the same friendly way and give 

advice and assistance whenever asked. 

We’ve had mothers that come in with 

their children to purchase an inkjet and 

say “I came in with my mother as a child 

and you gave me a cuddly toy and I 

treasured it for years”. 

And of course, it’s down to the loyalty 

of our staff. Sadly we lost Don last year. 


Ray in the printer workshop 

He was our cornerstone. But the legacy 

he left us from his exceptional eye for 

detail to his engineering skills is with 

us still. 

Many of our staff have been with us for 

many years. Graham for example, for the 

past 11 years, always has a smile and 

friendly chat as he delivers; Pauline, our 

administrator who works her magic every 

day; Ray, who not only repairs printers 

but also refurbishes used printers to 

perfect condition; and Nathan, following 

a few weeks on a company experience 

special program we made him permanent 

and his unique abilities make him a 

valued asset. 

And then there’s me. Having such a 

great staff has left me time to devote to an 

Industry that I have wanted to not only 

make a contribution but to make a 

difference. And since becoming Secretary 

of the UKCRA over 18 years ago, and 

with the members support, I have had the 

confidence to face a few important 

challenges. 

• a stakeholder in developing an 

international standard for imaging 

equipment and cartridges (IEEE 1680.2 

- EPEAT), 

• meetings with MEP Chris Davies 

regarding challenges remanufacturers 

were facing by OEMs in designing 

cartridges from being successfully 

reused and through his efforts 

succeeded in ‘design for reuse’ (Article 

Kleen Strike (UK) new premises 

4) being included in the WEEE 

Directive. 

• several trips to Westminster to promote 

reuse with Environment Ministers, 

Shadow Environment Ministers, 

Minister with the DTI, attended 

Environment Agency workshops and 

contributing to workshops that 

resulted in the UK Government’s ‘Triple 

Win Report on Remanufacturing’ 

• transparency and continued dialogue 

with the Environment Agency that 

resulted in England and Wales being 

exempt waste management licensing. 

There were also accolades along the 

way. Kleen Strike was awarded the 

Rochdale Business Award in the category 

of the Environment in 2013, RunnerUp 

of Manchester’s Green Award for 2014 

as well as being awarded The 

Remanufacturer of the Year by The 

Recycler, and last year a Lifetime 

Achievement Award in appreciation by 

the global remanufacturing industry for 

my contributions. 

Have we noticed any dramatic changes 

in the Industry? None as dramatic that 

are happening today – many companies 

now include printer consumables with 

their stationery orders, or OEM printer 

contracts that lock out remanufacturers, 

as well as internet sales of consumables 

rising. But by far the biggest impact on 

OEMs and remanufacturers alike are the 

import of new-build single use clones. 

Even a number of remanufacturers are 

offering both in order to be competitive 

and survive. 

What are the next five years going to 

bring? Even after all this time, we’re 

never able to predict what will happen 

next. We’ll continue to offer new and 

second user printers, printer repairs, 

stationery products and consumables 

and even the few nylon ribbons we still 

reload for a handful of customers and 

should a new concept or opportunity 

occur we’ll be sure to embrace it as 

we’ve always done. 

R 

41

RETAIL COLUMN 

Nine ways to improve your 

store image 

Flora Delaney 

If your store hasn’t changed in a decade, you are more than ready to have an update. An 

updated store front and other interior changes can improve store awareness and increase foot 

traffic. There are many ways to improve your store image. Consider the exterior, interior and 

digital image your store and its employees project. 

1) Exterior awning and signs. 

A new awning with an updated logo 

can go a long way to giving your store 

a “grand opening” impression. Take a 

look at your store front and address 

peeling paint or a dirty entry way. 

Make sure all lights are in working 

order. Remove old decals, stickers and 

posters. Then consider using a custom 

decal with your store logo and hours 

in a new color to attract attention. 

Awnings and signs are like advertisements 

that are on 24/7. 

2) Curbside extras. 

Depending on your neighborhood, 

consider either adding flowers in urns 

on either side of your door or a 

chalkboard sandwich board to 

advertise and sometimes just delight 

passersby. The chalkboard sandwich 

board doubles as a perfect social 

media content generator as you can 

take a picture of it and post it to your 

media of choice. Even sidewalk chalk 

can add humor and interest on the 

sidewalk outside your door. Welcome 

people in or give them a smile on the 

way out. 

3) Improve customer service. 

A tried and true way to increase 

customer return trips to your shop is 

to make sure their visits are engaging 

and helpful. Make sure they are 

trained, well cared for (by you!) to 

develop a deep well of patience and 

empathy for customers who come 

through the door. We all know 

customers can be surly and even 

wrong…but they are always the 

customer. When your employees see 

you dealing well in difficult 

circumstances, they can learn how to 

react in tough times. 

4) Vaporize standing around. 

If customers walk into your shop and 

see employees leaning and bored, 

there is an immediate withdrawal of 

energy from your store. Employees 

need to both be busy and look busy to 

keep energy levels high in the store. 

Customers who see bored employees 

through the window or door are less 

likely to enter simply because of the 

anticipation of poor customer service. 

Employees need reasonable tasks 

like cleaning, organizing and 

merchandising to keep your store 

looking fresh and entice customers 

inside to shop 

5) Institute a new uniform. 

Let your staff help you create a new 

uniform like embroidered shirts or ¾ 

aprons. If your employees are coming 

to the store wearing their own 

clothing, make sure they are 

presenting the professional look you 

want and the safety you need. If you 

do not already have a policy against 

halter tops, flip flops, bike shorts and 

hats in the store, address that with 

everyone in the staff. Then introduce 

the new uniform element and let them 

know that there is a new standard for 

professionalism and branding. Be 

vigilant. Letting just one employee 


RETAIL COLUMN 

drop the uniform will bring on an 

avalanche of woe. If your employees 

have had some input into the uniform 

change, it is likely to go more smoothly. 

Not everyone will like it at first. 

Remain consistent. 

6) Showcase ‘Click and Collect’. 

If you allow customers to order online 

and collect at the store, make sure the 

storefront holding area is clean and 

well branded. Your click and collect 

bins or lockers should be well signed to 

help other customers learn about your 

newest service. 

7) Bags and packing materials. 

If unboxing videos on YouTube have 

taught us anything, it is that postpurchase 

messaging and reinforcement 

is a critical part of the 

brand experience. Your bags should be 

durable and well designed. Your 

shopping bag is one of the few store 

branded elements that leave the store 

with your customers. Bags that are reused 

become additional exposure for 

your brand. If you think of bags and 

boxes only as expense items, you are 

missing a marketing opportunity. 

Online shipping boxes are one of the 

few ways to become memorable to 

your customers. Your bags and boxes 

are more than a transportation tool. 

Used correctly, they become 

extensions of your brand into the 

marketplace. 


8) Hold events and classes. 

Of course, it has to be relevant. While 

you may have enough room to hold a 

yoga class, that is discouraged. But 

bring in a designer who can talk about 

color and its impact on business 

presentations to boost color usage 

amongst your business customers. The 

content can then become part of an 

email campaign and could fuel a dozen 

social media posts. As you look to 

combat online encroachment, events 

are one way that brick and mortar 

stores can push back against low 

priced online sellers. 

9) Be active online. 

If you are only using one social media 

platform it is like trying to reach all 

of your customers with only one 

magazine. Everyone reads something 

different. The same is true with social 

media. Instagram has hit over 1 billion 

users and is growing at a feverish 20 

percent annual rate. The key 

demographic is millennials who are 

gaga for colour. What a perfect 

channel for our industry. With a focus 

on beautiful pictures, you can 

reinforce your store’s ability to create 

color in print. Consider how you can 

create a persona with fixates on nerdy 

color facts – like pantone and 

hexadecimal colour codes. 

Your store image is an important asset 

that needs attention and maintenance 

just like the remanufacturing 

equipment you use. For most stores, a 

re-branding or refresh is in the budget 

every 5-7 years. Once you select the 

items you intend to attack, make sure 

you make the most of it with plenty of 

marketing to announce your new 

image. Create a “re-grand opening” 

style event to spark interest and 

awareness. Staying with the times and 

being seen as a thriving successful 

business is a part of becoming a 

thriving successful business. R 

43

PRODUCTS & TECHNOLOGY 


EUROPE ECS, ATOM, Software 

New products and Atom praise from ECS 

The South Yorkshire remanufacturer described the Atom software as a “professional industry game changing application” 

in the same month it released a selection of new products for use with various OEM machines. 

ECS said that the aim of the software is “to 

help all ECS Partners to reduce their costs 

and streamline daily business operations.” 

The company also revealed that Atom is 

being used by hundreds of partners, and is 

in action across thousands of locations 

throughout the UK. The distributor 

described Atom as the key to the 

remanufactured solution that they provide, 

and a massive contributor to their position 

as a UK leader in the consumable 

aftermarket. 

Director Chris Fink explains Atom’s uses 

further: “Atom is our own software that we 

offer to all partners. It works in harmony 

with The Greener Side to deliver our 

partners with hidden sales opportunities 

that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to gain 

access to. Ultimately, Atom helps to 

strengthen your business by arming your 

sales team with highly valuable data.” 

ECS also spoke of the compliance and 

security that Atom is able to provide for 

their partners. The remanufacturer pointed 

out the various legal obstacles and 

obligations that companies in the toner 

industry must face as another reason for 

Atom’s success, and described one of 

Atom’s main advantages as the compliance 

and peace-of-mind that the software 

provides to its users. 

Adam Lighton, Director of Operations 

and one of the creators of Atom reveals how 

the software works: “Using Atom, we have 

the power to provide you with real-time data 

into your customers’ waste streams, which 

will help you to identify hidden sales 

opportunities & provide your clients with all 

of the cartridges that they use. There could 

potentially be hundreds of other devices in 

the location where you have a device on 

contract which an MPS system won’t pick 

up on. Atom can help you to acquire this 

information.” 

As well as highlighting the advantages of 

Atom, ECS has also announced the release 

of several new products. 

The company’s first release was of a 

range of compatible Utax toner cartridges, 

for use the Utax 2506ci/3206ci/4006ci/ 

5006ci/ 6006ci machines. ECS stipulates 

that these products also fit the equivalent 

Triumph Adler models. 

Also available is a new range of 

compatible Sharp MX60 developer packs, 

available in CMYK and for use in the Sharp 

MX2630/MX3050/MX3060/MX3070/MX 

3550/MX3560/MX3570/MX4050/MX406 

0/MX4070/MX5050/MX5070/MX6050/ 

MX6070 machines. 

Following these releases, the 

remanufacturer also launched a range of 

replacement Ricoh products including 

remanufactured cartridges for use in the 

Ricoh SPC830/SPC831, and a 

remanufactured waste toner bottle, for use 

in Ricoh’s MP C305/MP C306/MP 

C307/MP C406/MP C 407 machines. 

“Quality control procedures and testing 

are implemented throughout each and 

every one of our departments, ensuring that 

products are checked, double checked and 

triple checked at each stage of their life 

cycle, from production through to packing 

and finally our warehouse before they are 

sent out to our partners,” said Lighton, 

explaining the company’s commitment to 

“providing quality, performance, and 

reliability throughout all product lines.” 

EUROPE IR Italiana Riprografia, Cartridges, Italy 

IR Italiana Riprografia announces new compatible 

toner cartridges 

The Italian company added new compatible toner cartridges for use in Olivetti and Utax machines to their range. 

IR Italiana Riprografia announced the 

addition of compatible toner cartridges 

with chip for use in Olivetti PGL 2535 with 

a page yield of 3,000, compatible toner 

cartridges with chip for use in Olivetti D- 

COPIA 4023MF with a page yield of 7,200 

and compatible toner with chip for use in 

Olivetti PGL 2540 with a yield of 7,200 

pages to their range of products. 

Also launched were compatible 

cartridges with chip for use in Utax P 

3527W with a page yield of 3,000, 

compatible cartridges with chip for use in 

Utax P 4020DN with a page yield of 7,200 

and compatible cartridges with chip for 

use in Utax P 4020MFP with a yield of 

7,200 pages. 

These newly launched compatible toner 

cartridges follow on from the recently 

announced compatible Kyocera-Mita toner 

cartridges with chips for use in Kyocera 

Ecosys M2135DN, Kyocera Ecosys 

P2040DN and Kyocera Ecosys M2040DN 

printers. 

The above-mentioned cartridges feature 

the “following advantages”, according to 

IR Italiana Riprografia: “OEM equivalent 

print quality”; “100 percent compatibility 

with OEM toners”; “significant savings 

over [the] OEM” and “MSDS in 

compliance with REACH”. 

The above-mentioned compatible waste 

toner boxes were produced “in a 

certificated environment” including the 

ISO 9001:2015 quality management 

system certificate; the ISO 14001:2015 

environmental management system 

certificate; and the BS OHSAS 

18001:2007 occupational health and safety 

management system certificate. The 

product performances of several items 

distributed by IR follow the standards set 

by STMC and ISO 19752 and ISO 19798. 

For more information, please visit 

www.itrip.it. 


Subscribe to The Recycler at www.therecycler.com/subscribe 


GLOBAL Apex, Chips, Remanufacturing 

New chips aplenty from Apex 

The chip manufacturer has announced replacement chips for use with Brother 

and Samsung cartridges. 

Since February 2018, Brother released a 

series of new models of multifunctional 

inkjet printers in North America and 

Australia. The print speed is up to 12ipm in 

monochrome and 10ipm in colour. The 

devices come with the functions of printing, 

copying, scanning and faxing, also support 

various printing methods, such as wireless 

printing and NFC printing. 

Apex’s new replacement chips are in the 

company’s ASIC design for Brother 

LC3013/3313 series cartridges for use in the 

Brother MFC-J491DW/MFC-J497DW/ 

MFC-J690DW/MFC-J895DW/DCP-J772 

DW/MFC-J491DW/MFC-J890DW printers. 

Apex also announced that replacement 

chips for use in the Brother DCP- 

J772DW/MFC-J491DW/MFC-J890DW 

printers will be available soon. 

Furthermore, Apex has unveiled SoC 

designed replacement chips for use with 

Samsung CLT-603/604 series cartridges. 

Samsung released four new A4 

Multifunctional Colour Laser Printers. 

According to Apex’s technical analysis, the 

new series printers are the updated version 

based on the former CLT-503 series printers. 

Except for the functions of double-sided 

printing and wireless printing, the new 

series printer possesses larger print 

capacity which improves the print quality 

and efficiency and can bring more choices 

to the small and medium enterprises. 

The page yield of the CLT-603/604 

series monochrome cartridge is up to 

15,000, while the colour cartridge is up to 

10,000. The bigger print capacity means 

cost-effectiveness for the user. 

The replacement chips released by Apex 

are for use in Samsung ProXpress 

C4010ND/C4060FX/C4062FX/C4012N 

D/C4062FX printers. 

ASIA Samsung, Ink Tanks, Printers 

Refillable inkjet printer released 

by Samsung 

As Yonhapnews reports, Samsung Electronics Co. released the Samsung Inkjet 

Plus printer which features ink tanks that can be refilled “without replacing 

cartridges, allowing users to print paper at lower costs.” 

Samsung said that “The Samsung Inkjet 

Plus is the first all-in-one Inkjet product to 

allow users to refill inks.” 

Cost per coloured page is thought to only 

be 13 Won ($0.01/€0.01) because of the 

printer’s “large-sized tank”. Samsung said 

that, printed on paper, the ink will last 25 

years, while on on photo paper it will last 

75 years. 

The OEM said that it sees this new model 

as “suitable for offices and schools which 

need to print large amounts of materials.” 

The article goes on to say that “users can 

also check the remaining amount of inks 

visually, and the product also comes with a 

nozzle that prevents leaks.” 


According to the article released by 

Yonhapnews the cost for the Samsung 

Inkjet Plus will be set at 219,000 Won 

($196/€168) for the standard and the 

wireless model will be 249,000 Won 

($223/€191). 

Yonhapnews 

45



GLOBAL Static Control, Chips, Cartridges 

Static Control unveils remanufactured universal 

cartridge 

Static Control, the largest manufacturer of aftermarket imaging systems and components, has recently launched a 

remanufactured universal cartridge which can be used in multiple printers. 

According to the company, this 

remanufactured universal cartridge “offers 

an extended yield of up to 128 percent more 

than the OEM cartridge.” 

This one-of-a-kind cartridge was not 

developed overnight, said Static. It all 

started while in the early development 

stages of a solution for the CE340 series of 

cartridges (OEM SKUs: CE340A, CE341A, 

CE342A and CE343A) used in the HP 

LaserJet Enterprise 700 MFP M775 printer. 

This colour printer is FAST, Static explains, 

capable of printing 30 pages per minute. 

This is done thanks to a mechanism within 

the printer called the continuous image 

transfer belt. This technology helps 

increase the print speed by transferring all 

the colours onto the paper at the same time. 

Older colour printers would print one 

colour first, then the next and so on. 

kind of hidden cost,” said the company, “we 

set out to find an optimal solution. 

“Ultimately, we’ve solved the problem 

with a high performance toner that can be 

properly cleaned from the transfer belt by 

the cleaning blade.” 

Static Control explained that its engineers 

determined that a universal cartridge could 

be designed to provide a single, optimised 

solution for the three cartridge families. 

The only differences in the plastics between 

the three cartridges were notches on the 

waste bin section. 

Subsequently, Static Control engineers 

developed an advanced automation process 

to modify used cartridge cores across the 

families to work in all of the applications. 

Next, a chip needed to be developed that 

could work in all three series of cartridges. 

The company’s chip engineers developed 

While this technology has existed for and manufactured a solution that, 

several years, the introduction of the M775 

printer narrowed the window for the 

according to Static, “provides the end user 

the most OEM-like experience.” 

aftermarket to find a solution that 

worked properly with the transfer 

belt. 

The issue with many aftermarket 

solutions, comments Static, is that 

the toner is not adequately removed 

by the cleaning blade, meaning that 

old toner would be pressed upon new prints 

causing a print defect that we refer to as 

filming. This would happen in the CE340 

series after about 5,000-10,000 pages of 

printing, depending on the type of printing 

Static added, “Thanks to our engineer’s 

understanding of the symmetry and toner 

load of these cartridges, they knew there 

was an opportunity to provide an extended 

yield in the CE740 series of cartridges. After 

and environment. 

testing and qualification, our black 

This issue occurred not just in CE340 

series. The CE270 Series (OEM SKUs: 

CE270A, CE271A, CE272A and CE273A) 

cartridges used in HP Colour LaserJet 

CP5525 and Enterprise M750 printers, 

along with the CE740 series (OEM SKUs: 

CE740A, CE741A, CE742A and CE743A) 

used in the HP Coluor LaserJet CP5225 

presented the same transfer belt issue, but 

after many more pages were printed. The 

filming would start around the 75,000- 

100,000 pages mark and transfer belts 

should last for approximately 150,000 

pages in these machines. 

Changing a transfer belt in these 

machines is a costly and difficult service 

call, and an issue that Static Control said it 

did not want to burden its customers with. 

“Rather than release cartridges with this 

cartridge offers 128 percent more pages 

than the OEM (16,000 pages versus 7,000) 

while the colour cartridges offer 50 percent 

more than the OEM (11,000 versus 7,300).” 

The company concluded, “In the end, our 

universal cartridges can reduce the number 

of SKUs you have to offer from 12 to four, 

and provide the unique advantage of an 

extended yield offering in the CE740 series 

of cartridges.” 

Alongside the universal cartridge, Static 

Control has also released a slate of new 

products for use in a variety of OEM 

machines. 

The plethora of releases includes five new 

non-OEM compatible toner cartridges, for 

use with multiple Lexmark machines: The 

711/810/811/812, the M3150/XM3150, the 

M5155/M5163/M5170/XM5163/XM510, 

the MS810/MS811/MS812, and the 

MX710/711/810/811/812. 

Static Control has also released a 

compatible toner cartridge for use in the 

Dell B3465 MFP, and the same for use in 

the Samsung SL-M3370/M3870/M4070. 

The company has also unveiled a series 

of remanufactured ink cartridges, for use in 

multiple different Epson machines. 

The first remanufactured cartridge is for 

use in the WorkForce WF-7520/WF- 

7010/WF-3520/545/840/845/WF-3540/ 

645/520/633/WF-3520/630/60/635/WF- 

7510 All-in-One Printers and the Stylus 

NX330/NX430 Small-in-One printers. 

The second remanufactured cartridge 

is for use in the WorkForce WF- 

3540/845/WF-3520/60/630/WF-7510/WF- 

7010/WG-7520/635/WF-3520/545/633/ 

645/840 and the Stylus NX625/NX530 Allin-One 

printers. 

The third remanufactured cartridge is for 

use in the Epson Expression XP-200/XP- 

300/XP-310/XP-400/XP-410/WF- 

2520/WF-2530/WF-2540/WF-2520/ 

WF-2530/WF-2540/XP-300/XP- 

310/XP-400. 

The fourth remanufactured cartridge 

is for use in the Epson Expression 

Premium XP-820/XP-800/XP-610/ 

XP-810/XP-620/XP-520/XP-600 Small-in- 

One All-in-One Printers. 

The fifth remanufactured cartridge is for 

use in the Epson Expression Premium XP- 

760/XP-55/Expression Photo XP-750/XP- 

760/XP-850/XP-860/XP-950/XP-960. 

The sixth remanufactured cartridge is 

for use in the Epson Expression XP- 

420/WorkForce WF-2630/ WF-2650/WF- 

2660/WF-2750/WF-2760, whilst the 

seventh remanufactured cartridge is for use 

in the Expression Home XP-330/XP- 

430/XP-434/XP-440. 

Static Control’s eighth new remanufactured 

ink cartridge is for use in the 

Epson Expression XP-530/XP-630/XP- 

635/XP-640/XP-830. 

The company has also released a new 

Odyssey drum, with its patented ZeroTwist 

gear technology, for cartridges for use in the 

HP P1505/P1102/P1606, the Canon LBP- 

3150/LBP-6000, and related printers. 

Finally, Static Control has also released a 

new replacement chip, for use in the Canon 

PFI-1700. 




Remanexpo: 

Product Group 

Connecting people 

and businesses 

The dedicated part of the 

event focused on reuse 

and remanufacturing of 

printer cartridges 

Powered by 

Visit www.therecycler.com/live for more information



GLOBAL Ninestar, Double Protective Design, Cartridges 

Ninestar launches double protective design 

The company has launched new replacement cartridges for various Brother machines, with a double protective design. 

The replacement toner cartridges 

have been unveiled as part of 

Ninestar’s attempt to circumvent the 

problems posed by Brother’s 

upgrading of its toner cartridge chips. 

According to Ninestar, Brother has 

been issuing firmware upgrades for 

its inkjet cartridges and products 

since 2012, but has now begun 

issuing toner cartridges with chips, 

leading to predictions that it will soon 

be issuing firmware upgrades for its 

toner cartridges too; in a recent study, 

Ninestar’s R&D team forecast that 

“Brother’s toner cartridges with chips may 

also be frequently upgraded just like its 

inkjet cartridges.” 

Part of the problem is that, postupgrade, 

printers are “persistently sending 

short pulses irregularly.” A chip’s data 

writing fails due to the fact that its 

traditional chip memory “does not have 

enough data erasing time and power 

supply due to its own limitations,” 

meaning an upgraded printer will simply 

not recognise the chips. 

Ninestar’s newly-unveiled solution is 

twofold: The first part is a chip with a 

battery, meaning the chip is no longer 

reliant on the printer’s external power 

supply, due to its own internal power 

supply. According to the company, this 

“reduces the firmware upgrades risk 

effectively. On the other hand, low-power 

consumption design ensures that the chip 

won’t loss data even the battery is at low 

voltage and increase battery 

life.” 

The second protective 

design on Ninestar’s new 

product is a cartridge structure 

optimisation, which prevents 

chip battery short circuit. The 

chip’s size limitations requires 

the battery to be very tiny, and 

the close distance between its 

positive and negative poles 

could easily trigger a short 

circuit of the battery. Therefore, Ninestar 

has taken steps to optimise the structure 

so as to prevent the risk of this happening, 

either during transportation or use. This 

also means the product has enhanced 

stability, according to Ninestar. 

The double protection design has just 

been launched on Ninestar’s replacement 

cartridges, replacing the Brother 

TN760/TN2420 series cartridges. 

For more information, visit 

www.ggimage.com. 

ASIA CET, Parts, Remanufacturing 

Multiple new products from CET 

The company has released a selection of new parts for use with a variety of OEM machines, including an ADF feed 

roller maintenance kit for certain HP models. 

The maintenance kit is for use in the HP 

LaserJet Enterprise MFP M725dn/725f/ 

725z/725z+, the LaserJet Pro 500 Colour 

MFP M570dn, the Colour LaserJet 

Enterprise M651n/651dn/651xh, the 

MFP M680dn/680f/680z, the Flow 

MFP M680z, and the LaserJet Enterprise 

700 Colour MFP M775dn/775f/775z/ 

775z+ machines. 

According to CET, the maintenance 

kit offers “OEM-equivalent quality and 

outstanding durability.” 

The company has also released a 

selection of other parts, including a 

transfer roller for use with the HP LaserJet 

Pro M501, the LaserJet Enterprise M506, 

and the LaserJet Enterprise MFP M527. 

It has also unveiled three new drum 

cleaning blades; the first is for use in the 

Ricoh SPC435DN/440DN/MPC401/ 

401SR and the Aficio SPC430DN/431DN 

and MPC300/300SR/400/400SR. 

The second drum cleaning blade 

released is for use with the Sharp 

MX-4070N/3570N/3070N; MX-4060N/ 

3560N/3060N; MX-4050N/3550N/ 

3050N; and the MX-6070N/5070N/ 

6050N/5050N, whilst the third new drum 

cleaning blade released by CET is for 

use with the Sharp MX-6240N/7040N/ 

6500N/7500N. 

CET states that all of these products are 

“tested and evaluated in our R&D lab”, 

and that they offer “OEM-like 

performance at a fraction of the cost.” 

The supplier has also launched a new 

range of chips for use with Kyocera 

cartridges. 

The new chips, which CET describes as 

offering ‘more “cost-per-copy” solutions’ 

and being “manufactured with latest 

software”, have been designed for use 

with Kyocera TK1150/1152/1160/1162/ 

1170/1175/ 1178 cartridges. 

Chips are also available for use with 

Kyocera TK3160/3162/3170/3172/3190/ 

3192/ 3182 cartridges. 

Finally, chips have been released for use 

with Kyocera TK3100/3102 and Kyocera 

TK7105/7107/7205 cartridges. 


www.cetgroupco.com 


Subscribe to The Recycler at www.therecycler.com/subscribe 


EUROPE Aster, Cartridges, Netherlands 

Aster announces replacement toner cartridges 

The company introduced replacement toner cartridges for Canon’s 051 series cartridge and 052 series cartridge. 

Aster announced that the toner cartridges 

are now available from Aster’s Holland 

warehouse. 

The replacement cartridge for Cano’s 051 

and 051H series cartridge, are two-piece 

cartridges and are for use in Canon 

imageCLASS LBP162dw; while the all-inone 

replacement cartridge for Canon’s 052 

and 052H series cartridge, are for use 

in Canon imageCLASS LBP214DW, 

LBP215DW, MF424DW, MF426DW and 

MF429DW. 

According to Canon, the new LBP215DW 

and MF429DW replace LBP253DW and 

MF419DW, while the LBP162DW, 

LBP214DW, MF424DW and MF426DW 

replace LBP151DW, LBP251Dw, MF414DW 

and MF416DW, respectively. 

Furthermore, the new line-up features 

improvements in print speed over the 

predecessor models. 

The standard-yield replacement cartridge 

051 and the high-yield replacement 

cartridge 051H come with a page yield of 

1,700 pages and 4,000 pages respectively, 

while the standard-yield replacement 

cartridge 052 delivers 3,100 pages and the 

high-yield replacement cartridge 052H 

delivers 9,200 pages. 

For more information, please visit 

www.goaster.com. 

EUROPE Armour, Cartridges, France 

Armor now offers remanufactured photocopier 

consumables 

The French company has revealed it is now “positioned in the copier consumables market for businesses.” 

Armor Office Printing has launched 60 

types of cartridges for the photocopier 

consumables market, compatible with 

OEM manufacturers such as Kyocera, 

Ricoh, Canon and Konica Minolta. 

According to Armor, the range 

offers “100 percent remanufactured 

consumables under the OWA brand”. 

Centralised Managed Print Services 

(MPS) is highly acclaimed by companies, 

especially within CIOs, Armor explains. 

Until a few years ago, this type of printing 

services was present mainly in large 

groups. Now this trend is also accelerating 

in medium and small structures. For 

proof, more than 65 percent of companies 

intend to increase their MPS budget in the 

coming years (source: July 2017 

QUOCIRCA). But Armor says the 

company can see that MPS solutions are 

integrating more and more photocopier 

equipment. To help them seize this 

opportunity, Armor has asserted its desire 

to support its reseller partners in the 

photocopier market by offering a range of 

consumables that meets the needs of 

companies under MPS contract. 

Armor, through its OWA range, now 

offers sixty references of remanufactured 

copier consumables compatible with five 

OEM manufacturers in this market: 

Kyocera Mita, Canon, Ricoh, Konica 

Minolta and Samsung. To design this 

range, the Armor team analysed the 

customer’s needs in order to offer the 

most suitable products, with a high quality 

requirement, the company explains. 

In addition, Armor’s range of 

photocopier consumables ensures and 

maintains communication with existing 

MPS solutions. The photocopier 

equipment can thus maintain its longevity 

and optimal operation throughout the 

maintenance contract. 

One of the strengths of remanufactured 

copier consumables, according to the 

French company, is its advantageous cost 

that allows IT and office resellers to 

increase their service margin compared to 

an original cartridge. 

“On average, OWA copier consumables 

can deliver 30 percent immediate 

savings,” says Céline Berson, Category 

Manager, Copiers/Services at Armor. 

In addition, Armor comments, 

remanufactured consumables are from 

collection and recycled in Europe which 

allows this range to fit perfectly into a CSR 

approach, increasingly dear to companies. 

For more information go to 

https://fr.armor-owa.com. 







Powered by 



49



GLOBAL Epson, Wireless printing, New printers 

Epson unveils new wireless technical printers 

Epson has announced two new high-speed, easy-to-use wide-format SureColor T-Series plotters – the Epson SureColor 

T3170 24-inch desktop printer and the SureColor T5170 36-inch floor-standing printer. 

Marking Epson’s expansion of the T-Series 

product line to the low-to-mid-range CAD 

printer market, the new wireless printers 

feature an all-new clean and compact 

design coupled with the reliable printing 

enhanced Nozzle Verification Technology to 

automatically detect and adjust nozzle 

condition, the new printers offer 

breakthrough print speeds producing 

accurate A1/D-size prints in 34 seconds, 

performance inherent in Epson’s technical precise detail and commercial-grade 

printer solutions. Whether printing reliability. Featuring Integrated wireless 

blueprints, line drawings, signage, or 

classroom posters the SureColor T3170 and 

SureColor T5170 benefit professionals and 

workgroups across a range of segments 

including architecture, engineering, CAD, 

GIS, education, corporate, home and small 

office settings. 

“The SureColor T3170 and T5170 are 

designed specifically for innovators – 

engineers, designers and architects – 

looking for a compact printer that is worthy 

of being displayed in their environment,” 

said Matt Kochanowski, product manager, 

professional imaging, Epson America, Inc. 

“Leveraging Epson’s latest technology to 

deliver class leading print performance, the 

new printers also feature a new footprint 

that enhances today’s workspaces and 

allows users to wirelessly produce accurate 

and vibrant prints from tablets and 

smartphones virtually anywhere.” 

Leveraging Epson’s new PrecisionCore 

and Wi-Fi Direct connectivity, architects 

and designers can seamlessly print from 

tablets and smartphones or use the 

new 4.3” LCD colour touchscreen with 

simple and intuitive menu control and 

navigation. Next-generation high-capacity 

UltraChrome XD2 pigment inks deliver 

durable vibrant prints with brilliant colour 

and crisp lines. 

The Epson SureColor T3170 24-inch 

desktop printer and the SureColor T5170 

36-inch floor-standing printer deliver a 

range of features designed to help industry 

professionals increase productivity, 

including: 

• Breakthrough Print Speeds – The SC- 

T3170 and T5170 produce accurate A1/Dsize 

prints in 34 and 31 seconds, 

respectively 

• Easy to Operate – A large, intuitive 4.3- 

inch LCD colour touchscreen simplifies 

print tasks 

MicroTFP printhead technology and • Compact/Clean Design – Ultra small 

footprint and sleek, minimal design 

enhances workspace 

• Replace Ink Less Often – High-capacity 

cartridges, up to 50 mL colour and 80 mL 

Black 

• Print from Virtually Anywhere in the 

Office – Integrated wireless and Wi-Fi 

Direct connectivity allow for easy printing 

print from tablets, smartphones and 

more 

• High Performance – PrecisionCore 

MicroTFP printhead offers Precision 

Droplet Control for outstanding clarity, 

and commercial-grade reliability with 

Nozzle Verification Technology 

• Durable, Vibrant Prints – Nextgeneration 

UltraChrome XD2 archival 

pigment ink technology produces 

brilliant colour and crisp lines 

• Versatile Media Handling – 

Accommodates rolls up to 24- and 36- 

inches and sheets up to 11” x 17” through 

the Auto Sheet Feeder 

• Precise/Sharp Detail – Print blueprints, 

line drawings, posters, and more up to 

2400 dpi 

• Easy Set Up – Get up and running out of 

the box in as quickly as 30 minutes 


www.epson.com. 

EUROPE Epson, Wireless printing, New Printers 

Katun Europe introduces new products 

Katun Corporation announced the introduction of new imaging products for Konica Minolta and Ricoh machines for 

European dealers. 

The supplier launched Katun 

Performance drum units for use in Konica 

Minolta Bizhub 224e and C224-series 

applications. These are new-build black 

and colour drum units that according to 

the company “provide significant cost-percopy 

savings for Konica Minolta dealers.” 

The company has also introduced a 

Katun Performance new-build colour 

drum unit for use in Konica Minolta 

Bizhub C258/C308-series machines. 

Katun said, “each drum unit provides 

OEM-equivalent image quality and 

life/yields.” 

Also launched were Katun Performance 

toner cartridges for use in Ricoh MP 

2001/2501-series MFPs. According to 

Katun, this monochrome toner cartridge 

“will enable dealers to reduce their costs 

while receiving OEM-equivalent print 

quality and yields.” 

To find out more, please visit 

www.katun.com/eu. 







Powered by 





EUROPE KMP, Cartridges, Remanufacturing 

KMP announces raft of replacements 

The company has revealed a variety of replacement cartridges, described as 

“the perfect alternative to original products.” 

KMP has released a replacement inkjet 

cartridge, to replace HP’s 973X cartridge; the 

replacement is available in all four CMYK 

colours and are offered as high yield 

cartridges. It is for use in the HP PageWide 

Pro 450 series/452dn/452dw/452dwt/470 

series/477dw/477dwt/552dw/570 series/ 

577dw/577z/477dn. 

The company has also released a 

replacement black toner cartridge, replacing 

HP’s 79A cartridge. It is for use in the HP 

LaserJet Pro M12 series/M12a/M12w/M26 

series/M26a/M26NW/M12. 

Furthermore, KMP has released a range of 

replacement toner cartridges, replacing 

Canon’s 046/046H cartridges; these are 

available in all four CMYK colours and come 

in either standard or high yield variations. 

These are for use with the Canon I-Sensys 

LBP-650 series/LBP-653cdw/LBP-654cdw/ 

LBP-654cx/MF730 series/MF732cdw/ 

MF733cdw/MF734cdw/MF735cdw/MF735cd 

wt/MF735cx/MF731cdw. 

The company has also released 

replacement black toner cartridges to replace 

Kyocera’s TK3160, TK3170, and TK3190 

cartridges. The replacement for the TK3160 

is for use in the Ecosys M3145dn/ 

M3645dn/P3045dn/P3055dn/P3060dn/P30 

50dn; the replacement for the TK3170, 

meanwhile, is for use in the Ecosys 

EUROPE CBC, Fluotoner, Partnership 

Alveare and CBC in fluorescent partnership 

The Italian companies are linking up to create a new application for CBC’s 

fluorescent toner, fluotoner. 

The toner will be used in augmentative and 

alternative communication (AAC), 

designed at helping those who suffer 

impairments in spoken or written 

language, including conditions like cerebral 

palsy, autism, and Parkinson’s disease. 

It will be compatible with speciallyadapted 

Xerox printers, which have been 

amended for fluotoner application by 

Perugia-based company M.C. System srl. 



P3055dn/P3060dn/P3050dn. The replacement 

for the TK3190 is for use in the Ecosys 

M3660idn/P3055dn/P3060dn/M3655idn. 

Additionally, KMP has released 

replacement toner cartridges to replace 

Kyocera’s TK5240 cartridge; the 

replacements come in all four CMYK 

colours and is offered as high yield. It is for 

use in the Ecosys M5526cdn/P5026cdn/ 

P5026cdw/M5526cdw. 

KMP has also released replacement toner 

cartridges to replace Kyocera’s TK5220 and 

TK5230 cartridges; these come in either 

standard or high yield variants, and are 

available in all four CMYK colours. They are 

for use in the Ecosys M5521cdn/ 

M5521cdw/P5021/P5021 series/P5021cdn/ 

P5021cdw. 

KMP stipulates that all products have 

been “proven and tested according to 

international DIN standards.” 

“If you want to keep within your budget, 

opt for cost-effective inkjet and toner 

cartridges by KMP,” the company added. 


www.kmp.com. 


www.cbceurope.it, www.alveare.coop, or 

www.mcsystemweb.com. 

EUROPE Clover, Cartridges, 

Remanufacturing 

Clover releases 

new replacement 

cartridge 

The company’s latest release is for 

use in multiple Brother machines. 





Powered by 


The replacement black toner cartridge 

offers a page yield of 8,000 pages, and is 

for use with the Brother DCP-L 5500 

DN/DCP-L 6600 DW/HL-L 5000 D/HL- 

L 5100 DN/HL-L 5100 DNT/HL-L 5200 

DW/HL-L 5200 DWT/HL-L 6250 

DN/HL-L 6300 DW/HL-L 6300 

DWT/HL-L 6400 DW/HL-L 6400 

DWT/MFC-L 5700 DN/MFC-L 5750 

DW/MFC-L 6800 DW/MFC-L 6800 

DWT/MFC-L 6900 DW/MFC-L 6900 

DWT. 

The Brother printers with which the 

new cartridge is for use in are particularly 

dedicated to the SOHO and SMBs 

segments. 

“With our product solution, you do not 

have to choose between quality and cost 

any longer,” announced Clover. “Our 

remanufactured product is one of best 

aftermarket alternatives available in the 

market in each and every performance 

aspect; and all for a far lower cost 

compared to the original equivalent.” 

The replacement cartridge is described 

as “environmentally sustainable,” and 

has been “re-manufactured using zero 

landfill processes,” says Clover. 


www.cloverimaging.eu. 


51

marketplace or 

To advertise here 

Call: 01993 899800 

email: info@therecycler.com 

The 

TONER MANUFACTURER 

COLLECTOR 

COLLECTOR 

CBC (Europe) GmbH 

toner@cbc-europe.com 

Tel: +49 211 530670 

www.cbc-europe.com 

FBO Organisation, S.L. 

fbo@fbo-org.com 

Tel: +34 936724863 

www.fbo-org.com 

LVL 

bp.sales@lvlcartridge.com 

Tel: +33 251709249 

www.lvl.fr 

REMANUFACTURER 

RESELLER 

OPC DRUMS 

wta Carsten Weser GmbH 

info@wta-suhl.de 

Tel: +49 3681 4529710 

www.wta-suhl.de 

Copy Clic 

info@copyclic.com 

Tel: +33 0 1 84 18 03 75 

www.copyclic.com 

Fuji Electric Europe GmbH 

contact@fujielectric-europe.com 

Tel: +49 69 6690290 

www.fujielectric-europe.com 

MARKET INTELLIGENCE 

TONER DUST PROTECTION FOR PRINTERS 

SUPPLIER 

LightWords Imaging 

admin@lightwords.co.uk 

Tel: +44 1270 878850 

www.lightwordsimaging.com 

PrinterAide 

taiwan@printeraide.com.tw 

Tel: +886 63319580 

www.printeraide.com.tw 

TOKO Srl 

toko@toko.ro 

Tel: +40212327270 

www.toko.ro 

SUPPLIER 

COLLECTOR 

TONER MANUFACTURER 

Freckles Ltd 

info@freckles.bg 

Tel: +359 2 955 5560 

www.freckles.bg 

The Greener Side 

info@greener-side.co.uk 

Tel: +44 1427 700 700 

www.greener-side.co.uk 

Primedia Products 

tmiller@primediamicr.com 

Tel: +1 304-277-2050 

www.primediamicr.com 


To advertise here 

Call: 01993 899800 

or email: info@therecycler.com 

marketplace 

Email d.connett@candugbr.com 

to find out about an EU based 

solution to handle 10,000 tons 

per year. 


53

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30 August 2018 

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+44 1993 899 800 

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