MSE: Success in Remanufacturing

The news is making much of the success of Micro Solutions Enterprises. The company founder, an Israeli-born immigrant named Yoel Wazana, has turned remanufacturing into something approaching an art form. Aftermarket imaging supplies – including refurbished ink and toner cartridges – are a thriving business, due in large part to the economy. People are putting a premium on quality, but with purses and wallets much leaner than usual, they are willing to look a little further afield for it.

Refurbished electronics sales are up, as are sales of … well, nearly everything recycled, repurposed, or remade. There is a growing awareness in every industry that customers need lower prices without compromising quality. As a result, companies who are willing to adopt business models that make profit from good products sold in larger quantities (at lower prices, of course) are the ones seeing successes. MSE is one of many companies answering that visible need.

In 1994, when the company was founded in an apartment (and its only employee was Yoel Wazana), this success could not have been predicted. Before the bursting of the dot-com bubble, the economic crisis, recession, and near depression of recent years, sales on remanufactured items weren't nearly as viable, because people and businesses had the luxury of buying new without worrying about costs. Companies like MSE had to target penny pinchers, smart shoppers, and deal hunters.

Yoel saw a coming need for lower cost/higher value products, and placed himself and his company on the ground floor of what he saw as a grand opportunity. As a result, when the economy did force people into frugality, businesses flocked to MSE for aftermarket imaging and printing products. The resulting boom was very good to Yoel and his employees – the company grew to over 900 employees and a busy factory that shipped worldwide. Based in California, they continue to grow and reach more potential customers.

The economy scared a lot of people. Businesses quickly caught on to the model that Wazana and other entrepreneurs were embracing. The principles of lean enterprise have never been so important. MSE went a step beyond simply reducing waste, though. They've endeavored – successfully – to create a quality product from what would otherwise be wasted. The practice makes economic and ecological sense, and it is hoped that, as time goes on, more and more companies will become as devoted to lean enterprise as Yoel Wazana and Micro Solutions Enterprises.