Dr. Xiao Guilin: Remanufacturers Should Continue to Do More R&D

At Conference@2013, Dr. Guilin Xiao, Senior Engineer for R&D at Hubei Dinglong Chemical Co., Ltd., analyzed the opportunities and challenges offered by aftermarket color toner.

According to Dr. Xiao, biotoners were introduced to the market as being environmentally friendly and low in cost, but have not yet become popular due mostly to their high retail price. Although the bioresins in current use are comparable in price to petro resins, future economies of scale are expected to bring their cost down as the volume of bioresin sales increases.

Although end users appear to prefer biotoner (based upon sustainable, harvested crops) over existing petro-toners (based on petroleum-derived resins), retail prices are typically higher than existing toners and buyers are unwilling to pay the extra cost.

Dr. Xiao said aftermarket color toners are in demand for color toner cartridge remanufacturers. He suggested that aftermarket players should continue to do more research on color toners as well as other imaging supplies. Dr. Xiao believes that along with fierce price competition, toner is just one factor among all imaging supplies, suggesting aftermarket players should study other imaging supplies as a whole consumables system.

Also, Dr. Xiao noted that manufacturers should focus more on developing their own brand products and should not risk product quality in an attempt to gain market share based upon price.

Dr. Xiao added that aftermarket toner manufacturers should continue to show their respect for the Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) of others and announced that Dinglong has been awarded U.S. and Chinese patents for its innovative toner products.