Xerox develops chemical armour to extend the lifespan of printer components

It will help remanufacturing practices too.

Here is the article from therecycler.com"

Xerox scientists have developed a new chemical armour that protects photoreceptors. A photoreceptor coated with the new "armour" can survive more than one million revolutions - nearly doubling its usable life. "The long life of the photoreceptor reduces the need for replacement cartridges" say Xerox.

New "super coating" hints at how smart materials, nanotechnology will influence future design of office and production products

Tasked with developing ways to extend the lifespan of printer components - and reduce their impact on the environment - a group of scientists at Xerox Corporation have developed a new chemical armour that protects photoreceptors, the light-sensitive elements in xerographic machines.

Protected from normal wear and tear, a photoreceptor coated with the new "armour" can survive more than one million revolutions - nearly doubling its usable life. "The long life of the photoreceptor reduces the need for replacement cartridges, enabling a 33 percent reduction in waste," said Yonn Rasmussen, Vice President of the Xerographic Component Systems Group. "Customers experience less down time, and therefore reduced interruptions to work flow, improved productivity, and fewer service calls."

The new photoreceptor works in the standard machine design with no additional hardware changes or added costs to the customer. This invention has broad applicability across Xerox's product portfolio and is being first implemented in the Xerox 4112™/4127™ light production monochrome printers.

Photoreceptors are multi-layer thin film devices that convert light into electrostatic images. They must be replaced periodically due to surface wear and scratches that can affect image quality.

"This novel long life overcoat is an example of cutting-edge chemistry at work that required both materials and process innovation," said Giuseppa DiPaola-Baranyi, laboratory manager for Materials Integration at the Xerox Research Centre of Canada. "The ultimate goal is to develop photoreceptors that will last the entire life of the machine. For example, when you scratch your hand and you heal, that's a biological process. We are looking at how to mimic nature and leverage our expertise in smart materials design and nanotechnology to create molecules for next-generation photoreceptors with self-healing capabilities."

A global, multi-disciplinary team from the Xerox Research Centre of Canada, the Xerographic Component Systems Group engineering team in Webster, N.Y. and the manufacturing team in Venray, The Netherlands, advanced the project from the pilot plant stage in Canada to production in Venray in less than one year, a record time for commercializing a new technology such as this.

Remanufacturing Industries Council

Remanufacturing industry leaders in April 2001 agreed to form an alliance that would cross the lines of industry sectors to promote, protect and advance the entire remanufacturing industry. They created the Remanufacturing Industries Council (RIC), a coalition between individual companies, trade associations and interested government and academic organizations.

RIC VISION

• Remanufacturing, "the ultimate form of recycling," will become a household word, known for its contributions to the environment and the economy

• All remanufacturers will have access to state-of-the-art technologies and evaluation methods

• An industry-wide network will effectively protect and advance the interests of remanufacturers everywhere.

You can find more info here

Remanufactured products cost lower than new ones: But how much lower?

When I first started blogging, I have discussed the cost breakdown for labor and materials of new and remanufactured products. To reiterate, remanufactured products or parts cost lower than new ones with the same warranty. But how much lower? Well, it depends on the industry but article published in Wall Street provides an example. Bosch remanufactured spare parts are 40% cheaper than the new ones. Read more here.

Source: wallstreet.ro and Center for Remanufacturing and Reuse

Customer returns and economic downturn

Customer returns have long been a headache for especially consumer goods companies. With big box retailer returns, and their brand name at stake they generally viewed returns as a cost center. However, with economic downturn, customer returns either going to be a bigger headache for these companies, or they must revise the way they look at returns. An article by Diane A. Mollenkopf that came out on IndustryWeek analyzes customer returns in this hard economic times. Some of her ideas are already featured in this blog previously, but it's good to revisit them and see a fresh perspective. Please read the article here.

Why Xerox won't be a GM in the future?

A recent article published in Newsweek features Xerox's environmental initiatives and an interview with Xerox's CTO Sophie Vandebroek. Xerox, with its remanufacturing operations, has always been one of my favorite companies that I worked on. This article tells us about Xerox's seemingly counterintuitive R&D projects and products when you look at short-term gains. These products -disappearing ink, cartridgeless solid ink, etc...- may all be hits in the future when you consider the environmental impact and the green brand capital they can build and transform into market value.

Also, these are all complementary products. Xerox markets products with high initial investments, the more they improve their complementary product base by means of waste and cost (through reusability-the most logical manner), the more they earn in the long-term. That said, it seems that Xerox won't be the GM or Ford or Chrysler of the future, by simply foreseeing the trends in their industry and taking a proactive approach to deal with them when there is time.

Please read the article here.

John Deere buys ReGen Technologies

Last year John Deere bought 50% of ReGen Technologies, a remanufacturing company specializing on remanufacturing of farm equipment and engines. Basically, ReGen was founded in 1998 to remanufacture engines for John Deere products in the United States and Canada.

One of the findings of my dissertation research was that the vertical integration in remanufacturing operations provides companies with more control over their operations and improves integration of reman business to overall business model of the company. Moreover, more control can also mean making strategic changes more agile so it can pave the way for growth oriented ventures. I reached these findings by interviewing many managers from organizations that have significant remanufacturing businesses and using that data to develop a model on organizational decisions for remanufacturing.

Now, if I tie the dots with my research and this recent case: In John Deere's case first came the 50% joint venture, which provides some control but not all the way- some companies might be better off with a joint venture like this, but it depends on their business objectives regarding remanufacturing. Then came the full integration. John Deere bought ReGen, named the new business Deere Reman. “We aspire to an enhanced leadership position in the remanufacturing business,” said Barry Schaffter, senior vice president of manufacturing in Deere’s Construction & Forestry division. Deere Reman will now have a global focus and operations will be fully integrated with remanufacturing operations.

No financial details on the deal were announced. Please read the full press release by John Deere here.

Am I really coming back?

It has been a long time that things are slow in this blog. I have been very late on getting back to some people who contacted me for materials, discussions etc- I am sorry and I'll get back to them... Also, I will try to get back to my usual pace in updating my blog, which is interrupted by my dissertation and its defense for my committee. Unfortunately, I am still dealing with some scheduling issues on getting my PhD in hand, however, it's happening very very soon.

I want to make a smooth return to blogging by posting on responsible electronics recycling guidelines - nothing controversial or too complicated. If you go over these guidelines, you will notice both reuse and material recovery are emphasized and proper testing for refurbished equipment is urged. So it's actually not about "recycling" as we know it. It's product recovery, which spans remanufacturing, refurbishing, material recovery, material recycling, disposal, incineration.

Take a look at detailed guildelines here.