David Cameron

If you had confidence that reman color toner would give a consistent quality experience at a >25% price advantage, would you use it?

Color reman has been slow to mature. The market has been fragmented with many suppliers of various size and capability. Asian clones and reman products are flooding the market with low-priced substitutes. The range of price and quality are extreme.

Is it any surprise that reman color has been slow to take root and grow market share? The early adopters had to sort through reliability, confidence and trust issues to find reliable sources. The mainstream market has avoided the risk waiting for stronger competitors to emerge. It is common to hear, “I don’t want to take the risk of losing a customer on unproven product.”

However, the leading North American remanufacturers say they have corrected the issues and improved the quality and stability of the product. They say that the product is ready and that their numbers prove it. Are they really?

One of the key question dealers have raised in the CCG study, 2012 Reman Color Toner Readiness Assessment™ (click on link) is, ”Can remanufacturers demonstrate consistent performance over life that is comparable with an OEM supplies experience?” This is a critical step necessary to gain confidence in the market. The study is designed to provide answers to questions like this and identify which remanufacturers are outperforming the market.

The best way to validate product readiness is through understanding recent market field performance. We want to match current reman capability and quality with recent market experience to validate that improvements meet customer expectations.

Collecting field results to make a fair assessment requires having a large number (>200) of dealers/resellers complete a 10-minute online survey. This will give us the critical field-tested evidence with which to answer the burning question, “Is aftermarket color toner ready for prime time?”

That’s right, we need your input! Please take a few minutes to view the video and complete this important survey.

Cameron Consulting Group has no dog in this fight. There are no toner sponsors or hidden agendas. Rather our study is designed to provide an unbiased perspective about the readiness of reman color toner. We see it as an important market question that can best be addressed by assessing actual market experience.

If you had confidence that there were known sources of reman color toner that could consistently deliver a quality experience, what impact might that have on your business? Would you want to try it? With the help of leading channel providers we intend to assess the potential, identify reman leaders and give guidance in testing the decision for yourself.

If you are interested in hearing more about the study and preliminary results, please attend my session on Thursday morning at World Expo, hosted by The Imaging Channel and Recharger Magazine in Las Vegas, July 17-19. Hope to see you there.

For more information about the study and other work by Dr. Cameron, please visit the CCG Website (www.ccg1.net) or contact him by e-mail at david.cameron@ccg1.net or call (512) 638-1782.

About the author: Dr. David Cameron has over 25 years experience in the hardcopy industry. He launched Cameron Consulting Group (CCG) in March 2011 to meet a market need for proprietary client advisory services, market research, and consulting for the printing and imaging industry, including managed print services.