How to Save on Printing Costs? Cheaper Consumables NOT Reduced Print Jobs!

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Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) call for a more consolidated approach to printing by embedding print management solutions to its laser printer units by password protecting access to units; to networking a printer across a workgroup and to more sophisticated applications such as the “Follow Me” document technology.

This establishes leaner printing operations for most organizations which not only reduces hardware costs but more importantly toner and paper usage; as printing has become more restrictive given authorization to access, increased accountability per department and intensive tracking of print jobs. After all, according to Samsung in an article by Peter Judge, the cost of printing eats up at least 1/5 of the IT budget of most organizations.

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How SMBs can benefit from toner refill kits?

Small and Medium Business (SMB) entities cannot survive without a laser printer to back up their day to day print requirements. But unlike large businesses that belong to the top 500 corporations, SMB’s usually operate with a limited budget and could hardly cope up with escalating printing costs. And with OEM toner cartridges slowly eking up in costs, this puts undue pressure on the SMB unit’s budget for business printing. Luckily, they can now turn to the aftermarket for printer consumables for more affordable options.

One of the most practical consumable to be released by the aftermarket is the toner refill kit. Not only is the consumable affordable, it also allows printing to continue without even purchasing a new cartridge unit. Instead, compatible toner powder is loaded into the cartridge’s empty toner hopper.

Can compatible toner compare to OEM toner in terms of print quality? We Americans are a stickler to fine equipment and accessories, and that includes printer consumables. Products with questionable quality will definitely not sell in the US; more so if this impacts print quality and yield coverage in the case of laser printer consumables such as the toner cartridge. The fact that toner refill kits are competitive in an 80 billion printing industry is a testament to our penchant for taking only the best. The men and women who crafted the manufacture of good quality and yet affordable printer peripherals truly deserves our gratitude.

As of writing, the aftermarket for printer consumables (that includes toner refill kits of course) has already captured around 20% market share and has moved at least 7 billion dollars in the printing industry. This figure is on the rise as more and more laser printer users are becoming dependent on the quality and yield performance of compatibles. It also helps that compatibles are at least 60% cheaper than its OEM counterpart; thus giving business users more elbow room to spend saved funds to finance their going concerns.

The hard facts are portrayed in the refill of an empty Samsung ML-1710D3 toner cartridge which loads the ML-1710 laser printer. The genuine cartridge is retailed at $80 for its rating of 3000 pages at 5% page coverage. The compatible Samsung ML-1710 toner refill kit on the other hand is available for only $8.95 and duplicates in every way the print and yield performance of the OEM cartridge. And because Samsung tolerates toner refills on its cartridges, the unit is designed with a fill hole for refill convenience.

So for SMBs out for a great deal on printer consumables, cross the line and move in with Samsung toner refill kits to experience more financial flexibility.

Understanding the Industry Mandated Print Coverage of 5%

The printing industry has set 5% as the standard measure of print coverage. So how does this standard apply to laser printer consumables and the output pages as well? When buying toner cartridges or toner refill kits, notice how these consumables publish a yield rating on its package. Yield rating is expressed as the estimated number of printout pages obtainable from a particular gram load of toner based on the print coverage standard.

To illustrate further, replacement cartridges and refill toners compatible with the Samsung ML 2010D3 toner cartridge are rated 3000 pages at 5% page coverage. The same standard applies to other replacement printer peripherals such as the photoreceptor drum, laser scanning assembly or fuser assembly; where the expected serviceable life is expressed in number of printed pages at the industry mandated standard of 5% coverage.

How extensive is a page coverage of 5%?
Print coverage actually refers to the amount of toner used to cover a letter-sized piece of paper. Five percent, when used as industry yardstick, actually denotes minimal print coverage. Look up typical business letters or fax cover sheets and that's how sparse toner coverage is under the 5% standard. From a layman’s point of view, 5% coverage is equivalent to printing a 1 square inch image on a sheet of paper or printing 2 paragraphs of text (composed of 180 to 200 words) on an A4 size or letter size substrate.

Is this realistic?
The print coverage industry standard will not apply with most workplaces since majority of printouts cover the entire breadth and width of the paper, considering the regular margins set by word processor applications. In construction firms for instance, printouts are produced for bill of materials and workmanship specifications, corporate reports for stockholders; and for contracts and other legal documents serving its various clientele.

For these types of documents, page coverage for monochrome prints would likely fall between 30% to 35%. This way, the 3000 page yield published for the Samsung ML 2010D3 toner cartridge is only good for at least 1,000 pages at 35% coverage. Meanwhile for color laser printers, the reasonable coverage would be between 20% to 35% or 5% to 7% for each of the 4 toner cartridges.

Conclusion
Printing industry think tanks may have been correct in adopting print coverage as the measure, but it would have been more factual if the rate had been raised to the 30% level. No wonder laser printing neophytes can't help but feel disappointed when the 3000-page rated toner cartridge conks out after the printout of 1000 pages - thinking that they've justbeen duped. Well, they ought to learn more! And if toner cartridge pricing is way too hefty considering its limited output, a compatible toner refill kit will help serve laser printer user requirements for a more affordable consumable that delivers the same print quality and yield expected of a replacement OEM toner cartridge.

Universal Laser Printer Toner - Is there such a thing?

A user of a popular community website asked if toner powder compatible with the Samsung ML1640 can be used on an ML2010 printer series. I take it that the user was considering the refill of an ML2010D3 cartridge with third party toner intended for the MLT-D108S which loads the ML1640 series.

Well, this is typical since same brand OEM toner cartridges are designed compatible for use on other laser printer units from the same or another series, as specified by the manufacturer. The ML2010D3 loads not only the ML2010 unit but also the ML2510 and ML2570 printers. Third party toner on the other hand extends this compatibility across laser printer brands as Samsung ML-2010 toner refill kits can also be used to replenish the toner supply of Xerox Phaser and Workcenter models as well as Dell 1100 toner cartridges.

So can one indeed refill toner cartridges with compatible toners sparingly? In the case of the ML1640 and ML2010, OEM specs do not indicate compatibility and the same goes for third party toner refills. While both units are monochrome laser printers and can produce effective resolution of 1200x600 dpi, yield rating for both the ML2010D3 and MLT-D108S varies at 3000 and 1500 pages - at 5% page coverage.

Page yield is directly influenced by toner particle size and this likely is an indicator of incompatibility, among other factors. In a WhatTheyThink.com interview, Xerox VP Hadi Mahabadi discussed how a 5 micron toner can produce double the yield of a 9 micron toner.

There is no such thing as a universal laser printer toner. While toner composition can be identical, differences in particle size and toner technology used in its production generate various toner formulations that are specific to the output requirements of a laser printer in terms of resolution, speed and yield - including the fusing process. This should then prompt laser printer users to stick with specific OEM cartridges or be meticulous in the choice of compatible toner as well as with vendors supplying toner refill kits because toner is exclusive for a certain laser printer or a particular series and is not compatible with just about any printer unit or cartridge for that matter.

Toner Powder deciphered. Laser printer OEMs base toner specifications on the technical designs of a laser printer, as follows: Toner substances utilized are usually of the styrene acrylate copolymer, polyester resin, styrene butadiene copolymer and a few other polymers, tested by manufacturers to fit a printer’s specification. Toner formulation differs for each laser printer model, particularly on the percentages of substances deemed necessary to produce the desired printed output. Granule size is also a major consideration since it will all depend on the laser beam's capacity to engrave the dot size on the photoreceptor surface that could accommodate a toner particle. Naturally if the dot calls for a 4 micron toner particle, such should be supplied or the printout quality will be affected. Toner melting point is the most important aspect, since toner is expected to bond with the paper fibers in the process of fusing. Toner is devised to have low melting point, because it will need a lot of energy if fusing temperature exceeds 220 degrees Celsius.