Refillers : Boost your Revenues & Reputation
At a recent International Reman Expo, the Marketing Director of an International aftermarket consumable supplier asked me "How many refillers are there in India?"
I was reminded of an anecdote I had read long ago. Akbar asked Birbal one day " How many crows are there in Delhi?". Without batting an eyelid Birbal replied "2,37,27,289 !". Taken aback at the precise answer, Akbar asked incredulously "How can you be so sure? What if there are more than 2,37,27,289 crows?” Birbal smiled and replied "They must be the friends and relatives of the crows in Delhi who are just visiting". " What if there are less than 2,37,27,289 crows". With a straight face Birbal responded " Then some of the crows in Delhi are visiting their relatives and friends outside Delhi!
The story above reflects the true state of refillers in India. It is impossible to determine the exact number of refillers in India. There is a refiller on every corner of every street in all Indian cities. Every stationer is a refiller. Outside all major Railway stations one can find refillers sitting with a Bottle of ink and a syringe. Students buy ink bootles and refill their cartridges at home. Inkjet refilling is common place. Now these refillers even refill the common laser toners.
The story above reflects the true state of refillers in India. It is impossible to determine the exact number of refillers in India. There is a refiller on every corner of every street in all Indian cities. Every stationer is a refiller. Outside all major Railway stations one can find refillers sitting with a Bottle of ink and a syringe. Students buy ink bootles and refill their cartridges at home. Inkjet refilling is common place. Now these refillers even refill the common laser toners.
It is important to note the difference between "Refilling" and "Remanufacturing". In the difference lies the future potential of the business. When a refiller simple refills an Ink cartridge with Ink or a Laser Toner with Toner powder, it is termed as "refilling". No parts like Drum, PCR, etc. are changed. The refillers use "Universal" inks or toner powder. In rare cases they may change the Drum in a Laser Toner.
The costs charged range between Rs 75 to Rs 100 for Inkjet cartridges and Rs 250 to Rs 400 for Laser Toners. Refillers are happy as their margins are 100% or more even in such low rates. Customers are grudgingly happy as they can refill 3/4 times at 15% of OEM cost. Quality is a major issue but for the price the customer cannot expect more than what they get.
But what refillers need to understand is that the although their margins as a percentage may be high - but their take home profits are not very high. Secondly there is not much respect for "refillers" in the minds of the customer.
It is in the hands of the refillers to change this.
Refillers can boost their revenues as well as their reputation by simply changing their "mindset" and "approach". They need to graduate from being "refillers" to becoming "remanufacturers".
How can refillers do this? Simple. Follow these Ten Commandments :
- Focus on improving the quality of the cartridges and toners they supply. Today it is a "Hit or miss" methodology that is followed with rejection rates being as high as 15% to 20%.
- Use Inks, Toners & Parts from reputed international manufacturers. Current refillers opt for the "cheapest" inks and toners and toner parts. They continue using this till they encounter a high rejection rate. Then they switch to another supplier and repeat the process.
- Improve the methods used in remanufacturing e.g. using machines to clean and refill cartridges. Currently everything is a manual process. There is no proper cleaning or removing of residue Ink/Toner powder from the cartridges. There is no testing done as the refilling cost is so slow it does not justify the extra effort.
- Presentation is very important : use good packing material. This has been the story of almost all products in India. Cartridges are no different.
- Educate customers on the importance of replacing parts in Toners to improve Print quality as well as life of the printers. To do this refillers must first get enlightened and get educated themselves.
- Clearly diffrenciating between "refilled" and "remanufactured" toners and charging a much higher price for "Remanufactured" toners. If the refillers do this, overnight they can double their renenues.
- Ensuring that the Ink and Toner quantity is equal or more than OEM. The practice of filling less ink/toner than the OEM due to either competition or in the hope that the cartridge will come back faster if the ink/toner is exhausted quicker is quite rampant. Refillers must understand that as industry is getting organized, customers are getting aware. OEM 's have already started a campaign claiming that OEM cartridges deliver 2.5 times the yield as refilled cartridges. The only way this can be substantiated is comparing OEM to refilled cartridges with less than the OEM specified Ink/Toner quantity.
- Doing away with unhealthy trade practices. Unless refillers wake up to the fact that what used to work earlier will not work any longer due to customers becoming more aware and educated, they face the risk of getting passed over by customers.
- Investing in Printers and testing each cartridge before delivery. The rejection rates that the refillers face currently can be reduced to a third if every cartridge is tested before delivery. On the face of it the investment initially may seem surplus. But in the long run, the savings due to much lower rejections will more than pay for this investment.
- Having a "Return and Money-back" policy to give comfort to customers. In order to be able to do this confidently, refillers must practice the above 9 commandments first.
Wearing a tie, does not change an illiterate person to an educated person. Similarly, calling oneself a "Remanufacturer" instead of a "Refiller" will not bring respect and profits overnight. Refillers must practice the above Ten Commandments in spirit consistently and become "Remanufacturers" in the true sense.
The policy of making a "Quick buck" needs to be replaced with the objective of becoming a respected remanufacturer with a long list of satisfied customer willing to pay a decent premium for Reman toners.
In the existing customer base, if the above changes are introduced, you can easily double your profits if not more.
Atul Tibrewala
Managing Director
Cartridge Junction (I) Pvt. Ltd.
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