oel Wazana always seems to be smiling. The proud president of Micro Solutions Enterprises is beaming as he walks the freshly finished floors of the company's new Research and Technology Center. In the final stages of remodeling, this 14,000-square-foot facility epitomizes the commitment to quality that the company has embraced since its inception. According to Yoel, engineering and technology will be MSE's future, and hopefully, the future of the cartridge remanufacturing industry.

"This building is dedicated to developing technologies that will take us to that next level," Yoel said. "There are a lot of new things that we are working on in the next 12 to 18 months that are going to be incredible. We have the technology today and some top-secret things coming into place that nobody could have imagined. Our teams tackle challenges head-on and are always thinking outside the box. We are revolutionizing the way the cartridges are being manufactured." The new Research and Technology Center is the fourth building at the company's headquarters in Chatsworth, Calif. (MSE is currently eyeing prospective locations for a new manufacturing facility in the neighborhood of 150,000 to 200,000 square feet to bring the entire manufacturing operation under one very large roof within the next 18 months.) It has been almost five years since MSE was featured in the October 1999 issue of Recharger Magazine. Since then, the guiding principles have not changed. The company remains very family oriented, customer focused and quality continues to be priority No. 1. With the advent of the changing marketplace, MSE has acted proactively. Undeniably, MSE is one of the most technologically advanced companies in the industry.

Patented Technologies Equal Quality and Efficiency

According to CEO Avi Wazana, "MSE never wanted to be just another cartridge assembler who was solely dependent on vendor-based solutions and also at the mercy of the latest OEM designs."

Instead, MSE has positioned itself as an engineering company that solves challenges in-house. "We wanted to be an engineering company and be different," Yoel said. "Our goal is to rival the originals. We help convert people from OEM to MSE products because it just makes sense for everyone."

The most prominent examples of MSE engineering are its Patented Laser Cutting and Ultrasonic Welding Technologies. In 2001, the MSE research and development team invented a proprietary and patented solution to use ultrasonic welding to seal cartridges. This unique process was designed and implemented to enhance product performance and increase manufacturing efficiencies.

"We began ultrasonically welding the HP 4000 series cartridges to eliminate inherent flaws in the standard manufacturing protocol," Yoel said. "Our patented system improves quality and ensures proper mag sealing blade alignment. It also prevents bowing that can lead to sporadic print defects and uneven grayscales. The structural integrity of the new weld is stronger than the original and this process also eliminates the need for clips."