Copier
Service Technicians
We
interviewed technicians who service copiers when problems
arise. These included both companies that contract for
service and maintenance, sending a technician to the
workplace when necessary, and also manufacturers that
bring the machines back to their own facilities for
repair.
Following
the Paper Trail, the Canadian Aurora Institute/Reach
for Unbleached study, found that, "While at least 40%
of respondents had heard no complaints about recycled/chlorine
free papers in the office environment, of those who
had heard critiques, fully 43.5% of complaints had come
from office machine maintenance technicians or distributors."
LISTENING
STUDY: What is your experience with the use of recycled
papers in copiers and printers?
"Recycled
paper represents a relatively small percentage (we estimate
approximately 5%) of all paper used in Xerox equipment.
Xerox's Media Technology
group tracks inquiries/complaints from owners of Xerox
equipment having difficulty with paper and other media.
Complaints about Xerox papers are tracked separately
from those for competitive (i.e. non-Xerox) papers.
With respect to
Xerox papers, we have not seen a disproportionately
high level of customer dissatisfaction with recycled
paper. Complaints about Xerox recycled paper account
for less than 1% of the complaints received year-to-date
for all Xerox papers. The proportion of complaints attributable
to recycled paper is lower than the proportion of total
paper use accounted for by recycled paper.
By contrast, recycled
paper does account for a somewhat disproportionately
high percentage of complaints from customers running
competitive papers in their equipment. Although we estimate
recycled paper represents only 5% of total paper used,
more than 10% of all complaints about competitive paper
handled year-to-date are attributable to recycled paper."
- Elizabeth Graves, EH&S Regulatory Affairs Manager,
Xerox (Note: Xerox's responses in this section are
based on the experiences of Xerox paper engineers and
service technicians working with Xerox customers in
the United States.)
"My experience is 100% postconsumer tends to jam. The
chemicals used to hold it together make the paper slip
in the system; chemicals transfer to rollers and increase
the number of service calls but the paper does not damage
the machine. 30-50% postconsumer works fine.
USA Standards for
paper (weight, paper content, brightness, hue, chemicals
in paper production) are much higher than other countries.
Papers from other countries that are cheaper may not
have the same reliable quality." - Mike Campbell,
Service Manager, Central Business Equipment, Albany,
NY (Note: CBE services Minolta and Toshiba copiers.)
"Generally
avoid it if we can. Some customers use it regardless."
- Ikon Office Solutions, NY (Note:
Ikon services Canon and Ricoh copiers.)
"I
generally suggest not to use it, probably due to old
experience. You'll find it's an industry thing. Some
guy will complain he just spent a ton of money on the
recycled. I tell my clients, 'That's not my problem;
I'm just telling you what I know will work.'" - Ikon
Office Solutions, VA (Note: Ikon services Canon
and Ricoh copiers.)
"Very
good experience, no major issues. It's part of our testing
procedure.
Along with the workgroup
machines, internal data center machines are highest
users of recycled paper. We test those machines to run
all the 'regular' commodity papers.
Internal recycled
paper use is higher than at an external copy/print shop-print
per payment is usually on glossy or other specialty
paper." - Kurt Swanke, Konica Business Technologies,
Windsor, CT (Note: This facility builds and repairs
Konica copiers. Not able to confer with company engineers
on some points.)
LISTENING
STUDY: If you think there is a problem with using recycled
paper in copiers, can you explain why that problem exists?
What characteristics of the recycled paper are problematic?
"The
complaints that Xerox has received year-to-date for
competitive (i.e. non-Xerox) recycled papers are linked
to two problems. The most common issue is excessive
contamination or dirt that negatively impacts image/print
quality. A second issue is excessive paper curl that
impacts runnability (i.e. causes paper jams).
Xerox has long recognized
these potential quality issues with recycled paper.
To address them, we've established for Xerox recycled
papers the same stringent performance and reliability
specifications that apply to their virgin counterparts.
These specifications establish acceptable ranges for
paper dust, curl, paper static and poor cut quality
to ensure optimum runnability. Although laboratory tests
indicate a slightly higher degree of curl in Xerox recycled
papers compared to virgin papers, both types of paper
are well within the acceptable range for curl defined
by Xerox specifications, and demonstrate equivalent
runnability performance in customer equipment.
The problems of
excessive curl and contamination are quality issues
related to the paper manufacturing process. Recycled
papers, just like virgin papers, vary from high- to
low-quality in terms of print quality and runnability.
Producing a quality paper requires papermakers to establish
strict performance specifications and to control the
variability of the papermaking process to meet these
specifications consistently -- regardless of the production
run, or the paper machine or mill making the paper.
Recycled paper -
a mix of fibers from many different sources - is inherently
more variable than a virgin sheet made from a more limited
number of fiber types. This added variability in recycled
paper makes it more challenging for a papermaker to
control the paper's curl. An important factor is the
"drainage" on the paper machine (how the wet papermaking
solution forms the paper web). The ability to uniformly
control drainage is important for making a consistently
high-quality, low-curl paper - recycled OR virgin.
A specific problem
unique to recycled paper are the "stickies" (adhesive
and plastics) which can build up on the paper-making
machines (causing holes and inclusions in the paper,
degrading its quality) and on copying/printing equipment
(causing spots on the photoreceptor, which in turn causes
poor print quality). The higher dirt level in recycled
paper may also be objectionable to customers seeking
premium image quality." - Elizabeth Graves, EH&S
Regulatory Affairs Manager, Xerox
"Seems to be dustier, seems not to pick up out of the
cassettes as well as other paper; seems to be a lot
of variability. From my experience I don't know what
type of recycled paper would run better or worse." -
Ikon Office Solutions, NY
"Rag content is getting in the machines. Chemicals in
recycled paper react differently to the electricity.
There is higher dust content. I was told in '83 to stay
away from it. I've passed on the info to people I've
trained.
Moisture content
is important. Dry paper and the toner gets thrown around.
My advice to clients is often, 'Buy a better paper and
stay away from the recycled.'" - Ikon Office Solutions,
VA
"I've
heard when papers with higher than 50% postonsumer are
used, something happens - when humidity is involved
there are issues. I haven't heard of any customer problem
with recycled content with our machines.
When customers cut
the paper themselves, they create jams. We don't print
workgroup machine paper specs." - Kurt Swanke, Konica
Business Technologies, Windsor, CT
LISTENING STUDY: If you think there is not a problem
using recycled paper in copiers, why do you think many
people blame recycled paper for runnability problems?
"We believe that low-quality recycled papers, just like
low-quality virgin papers, cause runnability problems
in copying and printing equipment. Unfortunately, customers'
experience with low-quality recycled papers may have
created a misperception that all recycled papers are
of low-quality and cause paper jams.
As stated above,
Xerox recycled papers are able to achieve the same performance
and reliability levels of Xerox virgin papers. Overcoming
misperceptions among the general public regarding the
quality of recycled paper, however, is a long-term effort."
- Elizabeth Graves, EH&S Regulatory Affairs Manager,
Xerox
"People
expect all recycled papers to run as well as the virgin.
Paper is totally different from one brand to another.
Some brands consistently work well. I've never had problems
with Great White. Great White is what is recommended
for our machines." - Mike Campbell, Service Manager,
Central Business Equipment, Albany, NY
"I'm
not sure about that. You'd have to separate that from
one kind of copier to another - analog vs. digital.
Duplexing is done differently now. With analog machines,
the paper would copy one side and stack up before printing
the opposite side, creating static and jamming problems
with any paper. The digital copiers duplex one page
at a time, greatly reducing the problem. I think that's
an across the board issue." - Kurt Swanke, Konica
Business Technologies, Windsor, CT
LISTENING STUDY: Do your service technicians caution
customers against the use of recycled paper in the machines
they service? Does your company have a policy to caution
customers against the use of recycled paper in copiers?
If so, could you provide us with a copy of that policy?
"Xerox
does not have a policy to discourage the use of recycled
paper in our copying and printing equipment, nor do
our service technicians discriminate against its use.
Our service technicians' goal is to maximize the 'uptime'
of Xerox equipment to satisfy our customers. To this
end, service technicians promote the use of high-quality
paper over low-quality paper (as opposed to promoting
virgin paper over recycled paper).
The same approach
to solving problems with defective papers is followed
regardless of whether the paper is virgin or recycled
- the primary focus is making every effort to help customers
use their paper of choice. If a customer reports a runnability
problem with a competitive paper, a Xerox service technician
recommends that the customer try another batch number
or brand of paper. For example, if the problem paper
contains recycled content, the service technician would
recommend the customer try another brand of recycled
paper (as opposed to recommending a switch to virgin
paper).
If a customer reports
a print quality problem, a service technician evaluates
a machine's set-up, the quality of the machine's imaging
components, and the paper being used. In some cases
handled year-to-date, this evaluation has shown that
a low-quality competitive recycled paper is causing
the image quality issue (high adhesive/plastic content
in the paper builds up on the photoreceptor, producing
spots on copies/prints). In these cases, the technician
presents the results to the customer. It is the customer's
decision to continue using the paper or not, recognizing
the implications to print quality." - Elizabeth Graves,
EH&S Regulatory Affairs Manager, Xerox
"We
do not caution them against using it or have a policy
against recycled. We inform them of the possibility
of premature failure due to the use of high post-consumer
content paper. Premature failure means a higher frequency
of service calls due to the cleanliness of the inside
of the machine caused by paper chemicals leaching to
rollers as noted above." - Mike Campbell, Service
Manager, Central Business Equipment, Albany, NY
"Not if there are no problems. There's no policy. If
we have a customer who is using recycled paper and continuously
calling in with problems related to jams/dusting/spots
and the machine meets the correct mechanical and electrical
specifications, we'll take a known virgin paper and
if it runs fine then we'll identify the recycled as
the culprit. There's no training process by the manufacturers
to identify this type of problem." - Ikon Office
Solutions, NY
"No
policy. A technician in the field for 10 years - if
he spots a problem, he'll put new, virgin paper in and
if it works fine, he'll point to recycled paper. We
don't use anything refurbished. Parts or otherwise."
- Ikon Office Solutions, VA
"No,
that may come in the pre-sales area, from a copier salesperson,
but not during regular service from a service technician.
We don't sell paper." - Kurt Swanke, Konica Business
Technologies, Windsor, CT
LISTENING STUDY: We've heard from several end users
that they're afraid to use recycled paper because it
would void their copier warranty. Do you know of any
warranty language which prohibits or limits the use
of recycled paper in office equipment? (We've asked
copier manufacturers if this is the case, and all of
them said they didn't have language specifically prohibiting
the use of recycled paper in their copiers.)
"Xerox
warranty language does not prohibit the use of recycled
paper in copying or printing equipment. As mentioned
above, if a customer reports a runnability problem with
a competitive paper, a Xerox service technician recommends
that the customer try another batch number or brand
of paper. If a customer continues using a problem material,
Xerox might consider subsequent service calls related
to the problem material to be outside of the customer's
service contract (and the service calls would be an
additional charge to the customer)." - Elizabeth
Graves, EH&S Regulatory Affairs Manager, Xerox
"No
warranty is voided; they cover recycled paper. The machines
are guaranteed to run recycled paper." - Mike Campbell,
Service Manager, Central Business Equipment, Albany,
NY
"Not
sure; it's only a remote possibility from the manufacturers.
Personally we are very lenient with that. It's darn
near an impossibility to prove that what someone put
through the machine was responsible for breaking an
expensive part. I've never voided a warranty." - Ikon
Office Solutions, NY
"No,
it won't void warranties." - Ikon Office Solutions,
VA
"
I don't know of any . We do test it. Paper information
is in every users guide." - Kurt Swanke, Konica Business
Technologies, Windsor, CT
LISTENING
STUDY: Some users have reported experiencing runnability
problems with recycled paper in their machines. Often,
they link these difficulties to higher-speed equipment,
higher post-consumer content paper, or older equipment.
Do you have any experience or comments on whether any
or all of those factors contribute to runnability problems?
"These
are not issues with Xerox papers. As previously mentioned,
Xerox recycled papers - regardless of their level of
recycled content -- are qualified to the same performance
and reliability standards and carry the same guarantee
as comparable Xerox virgin papers." - Elizabeth Graves,
EH&S Regulatory Affairs Manager, Xerox
"Yes,
high-speed equipment does need to run a better grade
of paper than a slower copier. I would recommend no
higher than a 30% pcc and your brand of paper does matter."
- Mike Campbell, Service Manager, Central Business
Equipment, Albany, NY
"I've
never isolated it in that fashion." - Ikon Office
Solutions, NY
"At
our higher speed (where the machine footprint can be
larger), we've made the paper path as straight as possible.
In machines running 50 ppm (pages per minute) and up,
the paper only makes one turn, reducing reliability
problems for all paper. This change has occurred in
the past five years. Papers for color copying have more
problems due to the high moisture content." - Kurt
Swanke, Konica Business Technologies, Windsor, CT
LISTENING
STUDY: Is there a problem with dusting generated by
higher post-consumer content papers (which can impair
the operation of optical sensors)? Or is dusting caused
by inadequate vacuuming of the sides of the paper after
cutting it? Or is dusting caused by something else altogether?
"Because Xerox recycled papers must meet the same stringent
dust and contamination specifications as Xerox virgin
papers, Xerox recycled papers do not present a dusting
problem." - Elizabeth Graves, EH&S Regulatory Affairs
Manager, Xerox
"Dusting
is not really the problem but the chemicals transferring
to the rollers. There's a cleaning system in the machine
to take care of dusting. If the service tech isn't keeping
track that could be a problem. But I haven't had a problem
with that." - Mike Campbell, Service Manager, Central
Business Equipment, Albany, NY
"I
don't know. It could be after the cutting. It just seems
to have a higher dust content. Something used to hold
the fibers together possibly--just dusting from the
paper sliding over itself." - Ikon Office Solutions,
NY
"Industry
rumor-more with carbonless paper. That rumor has probably
reduced recycled paper users. We haven't experienced
that problem that I know of, especially in the last
5 years." - Kurt Swanke, Konica Business Technologies,
Windsor, CT
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