Component control system for office machines having components with regular replacement intervals

A control system for office machines which include at least one component which becomes depleted and requires replacement after a specific level of use, said control system comprising:

• a control means for controlling operational elements of said control system;
• at least one level-of-use detector coupled to said control means for determining a level of use of the at least one component;
• a level-of-use display coupled to said level-of-use detector for displaying the level of use, and for indicating when a predetermined limit, indicating the specific level of use, is exceeded;
• a read/write unit coupled to said control means for reading a coded data carrier, said coded data carrier being associated with a replacement component to be installed to replace the component having exceeded the specific level of use;
• the coded data carrier including an enabling code thereupon which is read by said read/write unit, said enabling code enabling said control means to reset the level-of-use detector,
• wherein upon reading the enabling code, the control means directs the read/write unit to overwrite the enabling code on the coded data carrier.