Why own an inkjet circuit/ print tester?

Questions:

• Do you spend hours of ineffective time each day manning a printer bank?
• Is it difficult sourcing ancient inkjet printers that have not been made in 10 years?
• Do you waste $3-4 of time and ink processing a cartridge that wasn’t going to work no matter what you did?

If you answered yes to any of the questions above then you should consider investing in an inkjet circuit and print tester.  This paper will justify the rationale for owning one as well as the true Return on Investment (ROI).

Industry data states that on average 7% of virgin and 13% of non-virgin inkjet cartridges are defective electrically.  Unless your business works exclusively with virgin empties, you can expect about 1 in 10 cartridges to be bad. 

Every inkjet cartridge refilled needs to be print tested-- why play Russian roulette with your customers?  Using a Shoptester 200 inkjet circuit/ print tester can save you @$0.50 on every cartridge that you manufacture.  Here is how: 

First, let's calculate the COST SAVINGS PER DAY using the equipment over using your existing printer bank.  Multiply the # of cartridges processed each day x $0.50 per cartridge.  The answer is what your SAVINGS are each day using this equipment.

Example 1—At 10 cartridges per day x $0.50 = $5 savings per day
Example 2—At 20 cartridges per day x $0.50 = $10 savings per day
Example 3—At 50 cartridges per day x $0.50 = $25 savings per day

Assumptions:

1. Estimate that your employee cost is $12 per day (salary plus benefits)
2. $3 cost to process a cartridge-- labor, ink, shop supplies, etc.
3. Culling out 1 in 10 "bad electronics" cartridges before processing saves $3 for every ten cartridges or $0.30 per cartridge tested.
4. Using the Shoptester 200 to post-fill print test saves about one minute per cartridge over a normal printer bank-- Example-- @25 seconds per cartridge instead of the @85 seconds per cartridge to load, unload, and print testing using an actual printer.
5. A one minute labor savings per cartridge for print testing saves on average about $2.00 for every ten cartridges (10 of 60 minutes = $2 labor/hour or $0.20 per cartridge)
6. The pre-test $0.30 and post-test $0.20 savings per cartridge total $0.50 per cartridge

WHAT IS THE ROI ON THE TESTER? -- 18 cartridges per day
The ROI to lease a Shoptester is about 18 cartridges per day.  Anything above that number pays for the equipment much faster.

Justification:

1. A standard lease payment on a $5500 piece of equipment is @$200 a month at 36 months and @$280 month at 24 months.
2. A standard work-day month is 22 days
3. $200 month lease payment / 22 days is about $9 per day
4. 18 cartridges x $0.50 savings = $9 per day
5. (Assuming lease payment for $5500 with $1 out and 2 in advance- rates subject to change with each lender)

What does all this mean?  Strictly from a financial standpoint, owning a Shoptester 200 circuit and print tester can save you time and money.  This doesn't even take into account the time and $$ saved tracking down discontinued printers that were are scarce to begin with and break down after a few hundred tests.

Not all testers are created equal.  With other features and benefits like testing for the TSR sensor (which some printer banks don't catch), new cartridge recognition capabilities, free software upgrades, and a reputation as the most accurate tester in the world (several testimonials available on request), the Shoptester 200 makes a whole lot of sense.  Most importantly it makes financial sense for professional inkjet refillers.

For more information contact Allen Luthy at aluthy@sme-us.com