New Blog...

Hello, everyone.

Just making a quick post to notify you that Expert Laser Services has a new blog hosted on our brand new website. You can visit the new blog here.

I will continue to post here with a more stringent personal opinion on the imaging industry and the technology sector as a whole.

stay tuned...

Acquiring MPS, Page After Page...

Well I am just going to cut to the chase with this one.

We here at Expert Laser Services are super happy to announce that we have acquired our competitor Page after Page, essentially doubling the size of our company.

The acquisition was set in stone last Thursday and we are now integrating their employee base with our own. We are excited to bring Expert Laser Services and Page after Page into a new age of managed print perfection.

Exciting times are ahead as we move into the future with this endeavor.

Revisiting A Myth

Back in 2010 I wrote this post. It was an attack on the idea that the paperless office was ever to become a reality and I stand behind that post and the perspective which inspired it. A week or so ago, I came across this blog post which reiterates my opinion that I was right in my convictions. 

Based on the facts presented in said article I must reiterate, since the inception of paper people always have and always will have an intense emotional connection to paper. Granted it may be more subtle to the printed page in the office space but, take it away from your employees against their will and behold the sh!t-storm!

From the Article:

"As Publishers Weekly puts it, “the 2014 figures are further evidence that print books are selling better than they have since sales of eBooks exploded in 2010.” The paper tome apparently hit rock bottom in 2012, but has since rallied in categories from children’s books to adult non-fiction, and formats from trade paperback to hardcover.

Students, too, are rediscovering paper. Several studies – including one by tech-centric Hewlett-Packard – find a strong preference for printed textbooks, notably among those in college who have tried both types. In the HP survey, 57% preferred print; only 21% preferred an eTextbook."

Read the whole article here.

AIOI Makes DOTC: The Book!

Guess who's back?

It's me, the suddenly reclusive (and now shamelessly self plugging) Dubious Monk!

That's right folks I, Nathan Dube have returned! (at least for the moment and possibly longer). So where have I been you ask? Selling MPS and (GASP) copiers! Crazy eh, Greg? Well to be fair, it's mostly A4 MFPs which are selling like hotcakes....

So why post now? Do I have new industry relevant prophetic views of the times we live in and the times to come? Am I returning from the shadows to destroy more printers? Well...

No.

I am simply popping in to say hello and THANK YOU to the man, the myth and legend himself Mr. Greg Walters! I must admit, I only just purchased his book (pictured above) recently and was charmed to find that my blog is listed as suggested reading and I am listed as a "Leopard" which if you are familiar with DOTC you will understand, if not... BUY the book!

No really, buy it. Greg's content always has been cutting edge and ahead of the curve while also being quite hilarious, provocative and borderline offensive (at times). All things that drew me to the death of the copier blog in the first place.

Greg is by far one of the (if not THE) greatest minds in MPS and the realm of office imaging professionals in general. If you are currently in and/or are planning to enter the MPS industry, this is a must read. End of story.

As for me, well... I said everything I wanted to about MPS in the content of this blog in posts past and until something new comes along I will not simply write to just meet the expected three posts per month that "professional" bloggers are called to manifest.

When I have content worth sharing, it will pop up. Furthermore, you may see posts from additional authors here should things proceed the way I think they should.

Hoping you are all well and wishing you a happy holiday season!

Music for Healing?

More info > HERE.

We Closed The Loop

From the Telegram and Gazette:

"SOUTHBRIDGE — Expert Laser Services, based in Southbridge, has long been an environmental champion since its inception as "Expert Laser Recycling" in 1990. But, until recently, there has always been a missing link in the recycling chain.

"Our process always made us 'the greenest of the green' when it came to toner cartridge recycling," claims company president Mike Carpentier. "Cartridge cores are routinely turned 8 to 10 times in our system. Most programs—even global manufacturer-based programs—get only a single re-use of cores, then they are shipped off to a landfill."

"Still, like every remanufacturer, we eventually found ourselves having to toss cartridge cores into the trash. There was simply no way to recycle them. Konica Minolta's Clean Planet Recycling Program changed that. They've closed the recycling loop for us. Now we can recycle all major consumables — including toner cartridges, imaging units, waste toner bottles, developer units and drums." 

Read the whole article here.

It's Not Easy Being Green!

Kermit sang that “It’s Not Easy Being Green”. Businesses, homes, organizations, and even countries are discovering that Kermit was right. It’s not easy being green. Does that mean that being green isn’t worth it or worse, is it counterproductive? Well, let’s consider the options.We can make a concerted effort to make our homes, workplaces, and world greener. Or, we can continue to waste and throw away whatever and whenever we choose. Certainly the option to do whatever, whenever, sounds better. It also sounds more American. It sounds more like freedom. It sounds more carefree. Surely this is the correct choice. Not at all, and don’t call me Shirley.

Landfills are growing. The Earth is groaning from waste and decay. The resources we want for our very livelihood are dwindling. We really should make every effort to reduce waste. But Kermit’s right. It’s not easy. After all, if it was easy, wouldn’t everybody be doing it? So, how do we make it easier on ourselves and others? There are thousands of small changes that each of us, businesses and individuals, can do to be greener. The first is to spread the word, not so much with dialogue but with knowledge about actions and techniques that actually work. The verbage out there says that we need to reduce our carbon footprints. 

Great! How?

Well, one way to insure that your business is reducing its footprint is to stop wasting so much in the way of office imaging equipment and supplies. Simply put, start recycling your toner cartridges. Don’t just throw them away. Better yet, don’t return them a local retailer that is going to bulk ship them across the ocean. That’s not recycling. Think about it. You bring 3 cartridges to the local retailer. They are stored there, until the retailer has reached his capacity. Then, the retailer packages them on skids and ships them across to who knows where. This “recycling” procedure is incredibly wasteful too. It uses amazing amounts of shipping fuel, not to mention all of the plastic wrapping around the skids and such, just to move the empty cartridges. How do you avoid that? It’s pretty simple actually. 

Call a company like ours, Expert Laser Services. We will pick up your empty toner cartridges and bring them to our local operation, right here in Southbridge, MA. Wait, that’s not all (I always wanted to say that). You don’t have to pay us a collecting fee. In fact, we will give you credit, for each cartridge, towards your next purchase of our 100% guaranteed quality cartridges.

So basically, you save money on supplies. You save expenses on staff time and effort. Best of all you help save the planet, all at the same time! Just by making one phone call, you have made your business greener. Then, you can sing with Kermit…

            When green is all there is to be

            It could make you wonder why, but why wonder why

            Wonder, I am green and it’ll do fine, it’s beautiful

            And I think it’s what I want to be