RMX Analytics
Feb 6, 2025
When we launched RMX Analytics and spoke directly with a number of RMX Partners, we kept hearing how ink yields are a hot topic. So, with that in mind, we headed off into the Printerpoint database of over 10 million print jobs to see what we might learn.
The data points you need in order to calculate the yield of a cartridge are:
Exactly when the cartridge was inserted
Capacity of the cartridge
How much ink was used before the cartridge was removed
Exactly when the cartridge was removed
How much ink was in the cartridge when it was removed
Hopefully, along the way, you know how much ink went on paper, and how much was used for maintenance.
We have always known the exact date and time that cartridges are inserted and removed. We’ve also always known how much ink is left in a cartridge when a customer takes it out of the printer. However, until now, we had no insight into per-color ink usage, or maintenance ink usage on a printer.
The latest generation of HP DesignJet printers (XL 3800, T850, XT950) includes an updated software development kit (SDK), which is what we use to communicate with a printer. This SDK included a couple of things we found pretty interesting when looking at the print job records on a printer:
Ink used for maintenance is now separated from the ink used on print jobs (rather than being lumped into the next print job)
Ink used for printing and ink used for maintenance are reported per color (so we can see exactly how much of any given color is used and how)
This opened our eyes to some possible new ideas of how we could show dealers the true yield of each ink cartridge they sell. For my research, I found a DesignJet XL 3800 in Printerpoint belonging to an RMX member that had two documented cartridge changes for one color. If I could determine exactly how much ink was used for printing and maintenance while that cartridge was in the printer, and how much ink was left in it when the customer threw it away, we’d have a really good understanding of the true ink yield.
What I found may surprise you (or maybe it doesn’t). The ink usage reported in the SDK doesn’t really line up with how much ink the cartridge holds!
But, the SDK reports 501mL of ink used for printing! So unless this cartridge actually holds 530mL of ink, the numbers aren’t exactly adding up.
A couple things could be at play here but with a +6% yield on this 500mL cartridge, the most likely scenario is that it is simply within HP’s range of ink yield variance… and with +6% I don’t see anyone complaining.
I’ll be the first to admit our results are a wee bit underwhelming – aside from the possibility that some Rumpelstiltskin-DesignJets can generate ink out of thin air. But don’t worry, we have another set of tests coming soon that we think might ‘yield’ more accurate results!