GPS President Chris Andre (Credit: Karen Rivedal – State Journal)
Global Printer Services has opened two new sites and seen more business, its President stated in a business profile.
Wisconsin State Journal reported on Global Printer Services (GPS) President and Co-founder Chris Andre, who discussed the company’s expansion in the past year and the work that it does in remanufacturing laser printers.
The company, based in McFarland, Wisconsin, was founded in 1996 and has 70 employees, with an annual turnover of 15,000 to 20,000 refurbished printers. Andre noted that remanufactured printers are “15 to 25 percent cheaper to buy” than new machines, with “possible reduced maintenance and supply costs”. Andre noted that MPS programmes, and their ability to control all parts of a printer purchase from consumables to maintenance, means there is “pressure on dealers to keep their costs low”.
This pressure prompts “increased demand for refurbished printers”, he added, stating that there has been a “surge in business” for GPS and companies like it, despite “paper use among most companies continu[ing] to decrease”: Andre believes that “there’s much more acceptance now of refurbished products than 10 or 15 years ago”.
The company acquired Minnesota-based Valstar Printers in 2012, and saw production increase as well as making two new markets available to GPS – government and online sales. In early 2013, GPS opened a third office for shipping in Las Vegas, and in August moved the Minnesota operation to a larger location.
Discussing the company’s work over the past 17 years, Andre stated that “when we started out, many of the printers we sold required very little work” due to the youth of the industry, but now “most of the printers we sell now go through a very extensive process”. Few tools and a “bottle of Windex” were all that was needed then, and now “over 150 models” mean “each printer is handled by a minimum of six different people”, as well as a process of “cleaning data, reprogramming and […] complete rebuilding”.
In remanufacturing the printers, GPS replaces “maybe half a dozen parts”, or “10 percent at the most”, with the rest “cleaned and reconditioned” through a process involving “tear[ing] it down to its frame” before cleaning “the frame and all the pieces”, with old toner and grease removed. Then the plastic “comes off the machine” before being “hand cleaned and repainted back to its original colour”.
Noting that “critical components” are replaced, including the fuser assembly, Andre stated that important pieces are rebuilt including the pressure and hot rollers, though it depends on the machine and the damage, and four hours of work on each machine is required. Staff are internally trained, with 20 added in the past five years alone, compared to just 25 staff in the company 10 years ago.
Discussing the growth in business, Andre stated that “we went out and did more selling”, and the shift to MPS has “made our product more acceptable to the dealers”. Printers are purchased through recycling companies or asset recovery companies, with around 7,000 machines in the company’s three locations at the moment.
Asked about the strangest thing to be found in terms of damage, Andre noted “we’ve seen it all”, with mice, frogs and even a tarantula found inside used printers, as well as “messages [in] the displays” and “spray-printed” machines.
Andre concluded: “We started out with two people and now have 70 people. It does feel pretty good to be providing those jobs, and we are proud that we’re not outsourcing overseas. We’re happy to be doing the work here and continuing to see growth within the 50 states.”