Re-feel to establish pan-India presence

Kolkata

With a vision to promote green in the realm of printer cartridge refilling, Kolkata-based Re-feel Cartridge Engineering is opening three new showrooms, two of which will be in Nagpur and Bangalore, this month. Already covering 34 locations with its company-owned cartridge 'Refill Points' and franchisee stores, the company is now aggressively planning to cover 100 locations across the country by Q3 based on its franchisee model.

“ Presently we have nine company owned operational showrooms across India. Also, we are planning to come up with two more Refill Points outlets in Kolkata this month,” said Alkesh Agarwal, CEO, Re-feel.

The company has recently launched a range of refilled and remanufactured ink cartridges besides it's original OEM cartridge supplies. Christened Sprint, Re-feel is also about to introduce colored pre-ink stamps, a new variant in the existing ink stamp industry.

“The refilling industry in India is estimated to be over Rs 1,400 crore with a YoY growth estimated at over 20 percent. Also, the CAGR of refill industry for FY 2004-09 was pegged at 12.8 percent. However, lack of capital investment and poor quality of products is adversely affecting the refilling industry across India. It is here that we have made a breakthrough. Our products come with a quality assurance that includes money back guarantee,” Agarwal added.

Since its inception, Re-feel has focused on green IT with the refill components used in refilling complying to global standards and its remanufacturing process helps in reduction of e-waste.

Under its cartridge remanufacturing program, Re-feel collects used cartridges from corporate houses and consumers. Then, the cartridges are disassembled, cleaned and checked for errors, infused with high quality components and toner if needed to the cartridge packs thereby making them reusable.

Having a complete set of printing materials in its product mix at its assembling section in Kolkata, Re-feel also provides remanufacturing of laser cartridges which requires superior technological expertise as compared to normal refills. Presently, the company imports toner, printing and paper components from UK, South Korea, China and Vietnam.

Of course this means that its products are sold at a premium. But Agarwal explained, “Re-fill cartridges are priced a bit higher than normal refills because we provide better materials with quality assurance to the end-user. Normally, for higher profit margins and low costs, local refillers tend to use poor quality material with bad workmanship, which is fatal for the printer and are not eco-friendly. Our products are not only eco-friendly but are also recyclable.”