| Requirement: |
Remanufactured |
|
|
| Designation: |
Toner cartridges are the only cartridges designated-both black&white and color. Neither ink jet cartridges nor plotter cartridges nor copy machine cartridges are designated. |
|
|
| Availability: |
Quality remanufactured cartridges are available and being used at numerous DOE sites daily. |
|
|
|
At all times, we will have new printers for which spent parts for remanufacture of the cartridges are not available. Just list the printers affected when reporting availability as a justified exception so we can let you know as soon as remanufactured cartridges for those printers become available. |
|
|
| Price: |
All remanufactured cartridges are 1/3-1/2 the price of virgin cartridges. Price is not a justified exception so far as remanufactured toner cartridges are concerned. |
|
|
| Performance: |
The "performance not good enough" is also not a valid reason for not purchasing remanufactured cartridges. We have been testing manufactured cartridges since 1997 and have yet to find a printer for which we cannot find a quality remanufactured cartridge PROVIDED the cartridges are available. To find quality cartridges, use the protocol for selecting quality remanufactured cartridges and list of suppliers other DOE sites and Federal agencies have found carry quality cartridges. |
|
|
| Timely Manner: |
Best practice is to have a replacement cartridge on hand at all times because no one knows when a cartridge--be it virgin or remanufactured--will become spent. |
|
|
| Warranty: |
In general, warranties cover virgin and remanufactured cartridges equally. As an example, look at the bold text in the letter on warranty coverage from Hewlett Packard. |
|
|
| Testing: |
Consider overcoming cultural resistance by asking staff who have concerns to conduct a test (see protocol for details). |
|
|
| Specific Problems: |
Some of the more sophisticated printers have a computer chip that makes remanufacturing cartridges for those printers more difficult, which means it takes more time for those cartridges to be available. Tale tell signs are calibration problems and inaccurate "low toner" messages. If your supplier carries only top quality remanufactured cartridges (those with an excellent quality control program), you should be able to purchase remanufactured cartridges for such printers. |
