If It Prints, I'll Let You Know

Xerox Toner in Short Supply!

Early this month, PrintWeek reported that they have been contacted by several printers who informed them of issues regarding the delivery of Xerox toners. The culprit behind the shortages is said to be an increased demand from customers, which is highly understandable considering that this is the holiday season, one of the instances when there is undoubtedly an increase in printing activity. In addition, more consumers reportedly prefer higher density ink and have print jobs that contain more color images on each page.

At the time of the first post, Xerox gave the statement that the shortage was going to be short-term and should be overcome quickly. As of December 15, the British Printing Industries Federation (BPIF) said that the shortage issue is expected to be resolved by Christmas.

Xerox 700 Affected customers – mostly small printers – complained about having to wait as long as ten days for the delivery of toner. Small printers who are heavily dependent on Xerox toners complained about having to turn away jobs and having a machine sit idly by, some for as long as a week.

The shortage happened in the U.S., Asia and the U.K. but only affects a “small number of products”, among them the Xerox 700. Of the nineteen printers contacted by PrintWeek that use Xerox 700, only one claimed to not have been affected. Some printers have already expressed the intention to seek remuneration from Xerox for the opportunity loss that they had to suffer as a result of the shortage, which forced some of them to temporarily turn away jobs and stop production.

Thus far, Xerox has not given any official statements about how big the shortage problem is, other than to say that the company was doing the best it could to address the concerns of the customers.