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Follow UsThe whole concept of
refilling printer cartridges is slowly emerging as a new growth
industry in India. On the global front, however, there are millions
of individuals and companies, mostly in the SMB segment, who are
relying on businesses that offer refilled printer cartridges for
their printing needs. A faction of the printing industry is of the
view that refilling printer cartridges is without a doubt, a great
way to save money for both individuals and companies that rely on
vast quantities of printing, to run their businesses. There are
companies that provide high caliber equipment and accessories with
full technical and consulting support. Ultimately, this allows their
customers to refill cartridges more profitably and less costly.
However, there has been a
severe dearth of awareness created on this opportunity to the
consumers. Furthermore, what is plaguing the current refilling
industry is the factor that it is not organized, and consumers have
had a very poor experience in refilling their cartridges; often at
the cost of jamming their printer nozzles on account of poor quality
of the refilled cartridges. This has been used by
(Original
Equipment Manufacturers) to create fear about refilling in the
market. However, the scenario is on a gradual change now and many
companies are coming up with better quality of both the ink, as well
as the cartridge refilling process, which has found a good market.
The refilling
opportunity
This gives an opportunity
for the companies like ProDot, Cartridge World, Cartridge Junction,
and Re-feel amongst others to create a niche for them in the
marketplace. There are other players in the market as well; however,
most of them have not got the model right for India. Some offer
perceived international quality at dollar royalty for earning in
rupees, making profitability a distance dream. Other local companies
do not offer the quality or the brand to build the market at a
national level, thereby compromising on the long-term viability of
the business.
Alkesh Agarwal, CEO of
Re-feel (a retail printer cartridge refilling and recycling chain),
said that though the global market adopted the concept of refilling
cartridges way back in 2001, it started picking up here in India only
by 2007. Since then, this industry has seen a huge growth.
“Initially, it was an unorganized industry that made it difficult
for the new players to set the ball rolling. But off late, we have
seen a very good traction from the prospective business owners in the
country,” Agarwal emphasized.
Today, Re-feel has around
115 retail stores and Cartridge World has around 90 retail stores
across India. So, between these two brands there are more than 200
stores pan-India and with other players too jumping into the
bandwagon, this industry is poised to grow exponentially. While this
industry is definitely shaping up well, it is difficult to measure
its growth in terms of percentage, as it is fairly a new industry.
“Today, almost 60
percent of cartridges used are refilled or recycled here in India. In
fact, India is very aggressive when it comes to refilling or
recycling of cartridges. Since we are living in a price sensitive
country, it makes more sense to go for refilled or recycled
cartridges. Though the industry has been unorganized in the initial
few years, the coming up of few professional companies has made this
sector more organized now,” added Atul Tibrewala, MD, Cartridge
Junction.
Challenging 'Original'
Refilled cartridges are
ordinary printer cartridges that are refilled through the exact
process, through which the original ink cartridges are manufactured.
Refilled cartridges reuse all the parts of an already used cartridge
while only replacing the parts that really needed replacement. On the
other hand, OEM cartridges are made of unused material and parts.
OEM cartridges are
costlier because not only the material and parts used in their
building are new but the ink filled in it is new as well. Besides, it
is often argued by the major printing vendors that the ink used by
them is of superior quality. Refilled cartridges as the name suggests
are the ones which are up to 60-70% cheaper in comparison to OEM
cartridges. The reason for this low price is that refilled printer
cartridges are usually refilled with new ink and in most of the cases
all its parts are reused. In extreme cases, some parts are replaced
but that significantly reduces the cost.
However, OEM cartridges
are considered to be more reliable. OEM printer cartridges can
be refilled from 5-20 times depending on the type of cartridge and
its particular printer make. This makes an OEM cartridge more
reliable even for a reuse. On the other hand, on buying a refilled
cartridge, users are not sure about how many times they can refill
the cartridge before discarding.
Meanwhile, the impact of
using a refilled cartridge on the environment is considered to be
generous. All the materials needed to build a new OEM cartridge is
saved. This also saves the often neglected ecological system. On the
other hand, using an OEM ink cartridge every time the printer
cartridge is exhausted will be dearly taxing on the environment. The
materials sent into the garbage will not dispose off for hundreds of
years. Going green thus means going for a refilled cartridge instead
of a brand new OEM printer cartridge.
Tangibility of
refilled cartridges
Refilling of cartridges
helps in cutting down on cost of consumables without impacting the
quality and yield. The refilling process and the use of 100% imported
inks, toners, parts; and emphasis on strict quality control, ensures
that the refilled cartridges deliver quality equivalent to OEMs. The
professional players fill in the exact quantity of ink and toner as
required for each cartridge ensuring that the yield is not impacted
and as good as OEM. In some cartridges, where it is possible to fill
more than the OEM specified quantity, they fill in extra ink/toner
(taking care to prevent overflow during printing) ensuring that users
get a higher yield than OEM in similar print conditions.
Refilled cartridges offer
a cost savings of more than 50% to consumers and businesses. It
offers a quality of print and performance similar to an OEM
cartridge, if refilled using our process and automated machines.
Secondly, it helps to
reduce the environmental impact by preventing fewer cartridges to be
recycled that end up in landfills. Most cartridges can be refilled
7-11 times easily. The benefit of this is immense as they may take
hundreds of years to decompose. And thirdly, it provides an
alternative choice to the consumer to buy services and consumables,
and not limit it to only the OEMs.
Pramod Rajpal, CEO of
ProDot, pointed out, “Once this industry gets matured, we will
definitely look at marketing this concept aggressively all across
India. Refilling printer cartridges provide benefits to all and it
gives a win-win situation for everybody. Users can avail a refilled
cartridge at a lower cost than the new one. Even the resellers are
reaping the benefits, as the refilled cartridges are available at
5-10% lesser cost than the new cartridges and any amount taken from
the user is much more profitable for them in terms of percentage.”
“Printer cartridge
refilling is the best choice. Refilling printer cartridges saves up
to 75% on print cost and also helps in saving nature by reducing
e-waste and conserving natural resources. The cartridges can be
refilled several times giving print quality equivalent to original
depending upon the model. We do refilling for both inkjet cartridges
as well as laser cartridges. For individuals as well as large
corporate this is a very good cost cutting tool,” added Agarwal.
He further highlighted,
“One cartridge refill is one less going to landfill. We all know
that cartridges are very hazardous to nature. Here, I would like to
highlight some interesting facts and figures; In 2007, 3 bn
cartridges were dumped in the landfills and cartridges take 400-1000
years to biodegrade. Refilling conserve natural resources, as reusing
saves electricity, petroleum, and also saves other scarce natural
resources.
Nonetheless, some fallacy
still exists in the industry that refilled cartridges spoil printers
in terms of their longevity or durability getting reduced. However,
it is not the case. Properly refilled cartridges never damage the
printer. If sub-standard cartridges with sub-standard parts, inks and
toners are used, they can damage printers and reduce their life. For
example, if a drum in a laser cartridge is not replaced, then it can
definitely reduce the life of a printer. Lastly, constantly trying to
fix a paper jam or ink leaking in printers can reduce the printer
life. Moreover, the only case where a printer can get spoiled by a
cartridge if a user uses sub-standard parts, incompatible inks or is
not tested and cleaned thoroughly before refilling. Meanwhile, there
are some players that give printer replacement guarantee if customer
proves that his printer has been damaged due to their refill.
Even the printer warranty
is not affected if a user uses a refilled cartridge. All OEMs write
in their contract, which comes with the printer, that the warranty is
not void if any user uses refilled or remanufactured cartridges.
Associated
disadvantages
As discussed above, the
advantages of using refilled printer cartridges are quite viable in
terms of low cost of a refilled cartridge and reaping the
environmental benefits. The disadvantages can, however, outweigh the
advantages at times.
Buying cheap inks will not
only spoil the prints but irreparably damage the printer. Refilling
ink cartridges can be sometimes difficult — if air within the
cartridge is not properly balanced, then the ink will not flow evenly
and the users will then end up with uneven prints besides damaging
the nozzle. Some other problems that occur with ink refills are
leaks, ink streaks and clogged printer heads. They also tend to last
for a shorter time than normal ink cartridge prints.
Another disadvantage that
users cite while using inkjet refills is the quality of the ink
itself. The print quality in some brands of inkjet refills is
apparently less than that of the original manufacturer's. This is
understandable, since they don't have access to the original
formula employed by the manufacturer to create its branded ink for
its inkjet cartridges.
Some unprofessional
players refill cartridges through syringes or drill holes to refill
the ink. This may alter as well as damage the cartridges, which might
lead to reduction in the printing life of cartridges as well as limit
the amount of times that a cartridge can be refilled. This might also
lead to poor and inconsistent quality of printing.
In order to tackle these
issues, the professional players are using automated machines. The
machines use a process similar to the one being used by OEMs to
provide similar quality to printing. They also provide 'tamper
proof' refilling to most cartridges that does not require any holes
to be drilled.
OEMs under fire?
Majority of printer
supplies all round the world are from the OEMs. They charge high
prices and derive good profits from the consumables they sell. They
naturally strive to protect their lucrative business. There is a
continuing battle in the marketplace between the OEMs and companies
selling refilled cartridges.
The OEMs are continually
striving to protect their lucrative position in the supplies market
in other ways. Recently some manufacturers have added chips to their
cartridges. This makes refilling and remanufacturing more difficult
as it takes a while for the remanufacturers to copy the chips.