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"422 Business Advisor"- Cover Story, February 2000

The Laser Link, Inc.-Remanufactured Toner Cartridges . . . and Much More

Nestled in the outskirts of Boyertown is the home of The Laser Link, Inc., a woman-owned and family-grown office supply and service company. Founded in 1992, the company quickly outgrew its space in the Pam and Bob Adzima home and now fills to capacity its 5500 square-foot facility.

The Laser Link's primary product has been remanufactured toner cartridges. In early 1992, people had rarely heard of "remanufacturing." Now, with recycled products a preference for most purchasing agents, these cartridges are in great demand.
The company saves customers up to 40 percent versus buying name brand, and reduces the waste generated by the empty plastic in our landfills.

There are about 200 companies in Pennsylvania that remanufacture toner cartridges. These companies produce over 68,952 cartridges per month, which saves over 213,751 tons of trash monthly from Pennsylvania landfills!

Quality, as in any product, is utmost in the customer's mind as well as in the minds of The Laser Link staff. President, Pam Adzima, is currently on the Standardized Test Method Committee serving the Remanufacturing Industry. 

"This is a breakthrough in our industry. We have always been independent, competitive companies but current OEM practices have forced us to work together," she said. "The result is standards that have worked their way through ASTM and ANSI. In co-operation with Rochester Institute of Technology, we will finally be able to fairly measure our cartridge performance against the OEM's. Government purchasing agents will now be able to distinguish the true remanufacturing companies from the 'junk dealers'," Adzima explains.

The Laser Link, Inc. has maintained several government contracts over the years and Pam Adzima is no stranger to Harrisburg. She enlisted the help of Representatives Dennis Leh and Raymond Bundt to fight Lexmark's' latest marketing effort, "Prebate,"
which Adzima views as a threat to the remanufacturing industry as a whole. This cartridge comes with a "single use only" license.

"Essentially, Lexmark has monopolized the core availability which, if other OEMs copied, the remanufacturing industry would be out of business," Adzima said. Legislation has been passed in four states through a grassroots effort of remanufacturers, according to Adzima. The legislation does not allow the State to purchase from any company that restricts recycling in any manner. Representative Dennis Leh has written a bill for Pennsylvania which will be introduced this session. 

Although a leader in this area, The Laser Link, Inc. does much more than just provide toner cartridges. Through the years, as customer requested, many services have been added. The service staff is HP Certified and The Laser Link, Inc. is an Authorized Repair Center. The company repairs most makes and models of laser printers, inkjets and fax machines both in-house and on-site.

Another service provided by The Laser Link, Inc. which has developed a loyal customer base, is computer repairs. The staff is Microsoft Certified and offers in-house or onsite repairs. "What is unique about our in-house service is our flat $95.00 fee," says Bob Adzima. "We offer a flat rate because most problems can be solved in an hour or less. Those that take longer, don't have to cost a fortune because we can continue to work on other machines as one goes through the diagnostics."

Other computer related services include PC Networking, and custom database and web design. As a board member of the Pottstown YWCA, Pam donated the design and hosting of their new website-http://www.ywcapottstown.org.

Customer service is a priority in this company, as is educating the customer. Computer customers receive a detailed troubleshooting guide to help them understand the basic problems they might face and quick fixes they can do themselves. Corporate clients are offered free classes on maintenance and cleaning of their laser printers.

The company also sells name brand office supplies at discount prices, generally beating the superstores. All items are drop shipped directly to the customer with next day delivery available. The Laser Link, Inc. accepts all major credit cards and offers corporate accounts. Visit them on the Internet at www.thelaserlink.com, where you can place orders for remanufactured cartridges, computer parts and name brand supplies using their secure server.

For additional information contact The Laser Link, Inc. at 610.367.4997 or 800.766.7336, fax 610.367.4998.