In a post earlier this month, I reported Xerox shutting down toner production in Oklahoma City - Today, reports of new toner production at the Webster Plant.
Six, 25,000-gallon tanks were seen hoisted up and lowered into position at the Xerox plant in Webster.
The tanks are needed for the production of Xerox's new, Ultra Low-Melt EA toner.
“With the new tanks, we expect the Webster plant to start producing the Ultra Low Melt EA Toner sometime next year,” said Edouard Langlois, project manager for the Xerox Consumables, Development and Manufacturing Group. “Installation of these tanks will give this plant the flexibility to meet the demand for both first and second generation EA toners, and it will help Xerox deliver the most energy-efficient document management solutions for its customers.”
As with most of the newer, advanced toner, this Ultra Low-Melt is chemically grown instead of the older method of air-jet, pulverizing plastic.
EA (Emulsion Aggregation) Ultra Low-Melt is made of a combination of plastics and wax.
This toner melts as much as 45 degrees lower than Xerox's standard EA toner, resulting in devices using less power; between 15 percent to 30 percent less.
“This was the most difficult toner design we ever worked on,” said Hadi Mahabadi, Xerox vice president and manager of XRCC. “We had to push the envelope to the limit to achieve lower melting temperature and higher gloss while keeping other performance the same as or better than current EA toner.”
Ultra Low-Melt was developed by Xerox researchers in Canada in collaboration with Fuji Xerox Co., the Tokyo-based joint venture between Xerox and Fuji Photo Film Co. Xerox had been purchasing the toner from Fuji Xerox but is doing the addition so it can produce its own, Xerox spokesman Bill McKee said.
