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Tonerhead
Started in 2002, Tonerhead was born out
of the need for a better post-assembly testing solution for
our parent company LaserTek Industries (LTI). LTI is one of
the largest remanufactures in the United States, producing
over 60,000 cartridges per month.
” We were spending a lot of time and
money repairing the equipment we were using.” Said Tim Knecht,
one of LaserTek’s engineers. “We have so many post-assembly,
R&D, and QA test stations in our facilities, that we had to
find a more reliable piece of equipment. All the broken
cables, transformers, and cracked keyboards were a constant
nuisance. Some of the printers required a computer at each
station because they wouldn’t work with the other box.” With
Tim and owner Harry Nicodem’s strong technical backgrounds
they decided to address and fix the problem. They drew up a
“wish-list” for a new testing solution. When the engineering
prototype was built, the first TestMessager was born. “A few
times when people came into our plant we would show it to
them,” said Tim. “They couldn’t believe it. Harry knew that
we had a marketable product. So with further research and
development, we decided to market the product at the 2002 Las
Vegas Recharger Expo. We sold every unit we had with us and
spent the next four weeks filling orders we took at that
show,” stated Tim.
TonerHead has since spun-off its
operations from Laser Tek Industries. With LaserTek being its
parent company, there is a very strong technical background.
TonerHead now has a staff of fifteen with its own marketing,
production, R&D, clerical, and shipping/receiving staff.
TonerHead now occupies a new facility in McHenry Illinois.
TonerHead has a full-time assembler and they plan to partially
automate production of the devices in the near future.
“It’s not the product we sell, it’s the
training, service, and support that sets us apart from the
others,” said Tim. “We have the technical training, the
know-how, and innovative ideas to put us on the cutting edge
of the market. Our engineering staff has already produced five
different Test Messagers, each having different functions.”
Tim continued, “Our original Test
Messager will give you a four page diagnostic series, that
include, Blank, fifty-percent gray with ghosting targets,
black, and a text page. These test prints will help you to
determine what defects, if any, are present. The black page
button can be pressed repeatedly to dry out a primed
cartridge. Our Field Service Test Messager will give you the
same capabilities as the original plus a ‘config’ button. The
‘config’ feature will give you all the diagnostics on your
printer, said Tim.
Through customer demand, TonerHead has
now come out with Inkjet Test Messagers. These color Inkjet
TestMessagers print color specific test patterns that exercise
all nozzles on PCL-compatible inkjet printers. Tim explained,
“It will print black and 3-color page tests. Our Deluxe
version offers the same features as the standard plus
individual full-page tests with gradient bands for cyan,
magenta, and yellow.”
“Our newest family member is the Lab Test
Messager. The Lab Test Messager allows you to run a full cycle
on the printer cartridge by sending 1000 pages at 5% coverage,
with a click of a button,” stated Tim.
When asked who are their customers, Tim
replied, “Our customers consist of remanufactures of laser and
inkjet cartridges and printer repair service technicians. They
vary in size from small to medium businesses. Some of our
distributors are the largest in the industry.”
TonerHead has seen a steady growth in
sales since its beginning in October 2002. “We have far
exceeded our goals in sales this year” says Tanya Dickey,
Marketing Manager for TonerHead. “Fifty-eight percent of our
sales are U.S. based, and forty-two percent is international.
We have not done much advertising internationally as of yet,”
continued Tanya. “There is a whole untapped market that we are
planning to saturate. TonerHead’s direction is greatly
influenced by the needs of its customers,” said Tanya. “Our
first customer was really ourselves. When we solved the
problem that we were having, it turned out that other people
were having the same problem. Those first TestMessagers flew
off the shelves and everyone was asking for a color inkjet
version. We immediately went into development on the inkjet
version which has surpassed all of our expectations,” Tanya
stated.
In closing Tanya noted, “ We are offering
an affordable yet efficient product and we are currently
developing and marketing new products to enhance post testing
for inkjet remanufactures. Lately people are asking us for a
USB unit. I don’t know for sure, but I’m optimistic we can
debut something at Recharger 2003. TonerHead is new to the
industry; however, we have made a huge impact on the testing
procedures in our industry. We have become a household name.
For more information on TonerHead Test Messagers visit
www.tonerhead.com or call 815/331-2400.
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