Armor inaugurates new factory in India

Spread across an area of 45,000 sq ft, the unit houses three slitting machines, an automated core-cutting unit, automated packaging line and a quality lab.

Owing to increasing demand in the Indian market, the lean manufacturing facility is expected to get its fourth slitting machine by July 2017. Mark Day, vice president and general manager Asia at Armor, said: ‘We estimate the thermal transfer ribbon market in India stands at 100 million sqm. Our plant here can house a total of six slitters taking the annual production capacity to 125 million sqm. This can be further increased by upgrading slitters with robotics in the future, each of which can produce 120 million sqm per annum.It is a futuristic facility that will cater to all parts of the country. We are also evaluating an investment in a warehouse in a different region for even better service to customers.’

To coincide with the opening, the company held its first technical conference in India with 52 guests from 34 Indian companies.

Armor took the opportunity to launch its new products, AXR EL and AXR TX, at the conference. While AXR EL is dedicated to the electronic segment, especially targeted at printed circuit boards (PCBs), AXR TX is dedicated to textile industry targeted primarily at care labels. Both products ensure that information remains legible while withstanding the stress that the product is subjected to during its lifecycle. They also guarantee compatibility with specific label materials used in respective industries. AXR EL, for instance, has been tested to offer resistance to high temperature of up to 300 degree C and also PCB cleaning specific solvents.

Armor further introduced guests to its extranet site, 2go2, exclusive to its distributors and channel partners from around the world. The site will enable distributors to interact with Armor directly and get more information on its products. It will give access to the price list, purchase history as well as international case studies. The extranet is expected to be launched in September.

Also for its channel partners, the company introduced a program called Armor Pack. The offer, accessible to its distributors, will feature the most popular ribbon sizes as required by its customers in the region. These will be shipped on the next working day by the local factory. The made-to-order ribbon sizes will take up to five business days to ship. This strategy is expected to reduce investment in inventory while offering faster delivery to customers.

Armor senior management from France were present at the conference, with Yohann Froment, marketing and communication director, industrial coding and printing at Armor, said: ‘Our goal is to anticipate the demand and be ready for the future. We have invested 60 million EUR in enhancing and expanding our production capabilities worldwide since 2013. Armor dedicates four percent of its turnover to research and development at our headquarters in France; 60 percent of the company’s 1.2 billion sqm of thermal ribbons manufactured annually are slit using highly automated robots at our facilities, thereby, minimizing human interference. We are ready for more demand as the existing equipment allows us to produce 1.8 billion sqm every year.’

From an environmental standpoint, Armor is recording production volumes of thermal transfer ribbons up 10 percent every year, yet has seen 15 percent less solvent consumption over the last five years. Armor believes in a no land-fill policy, with scrap generated in most Armor facilities sent to cement factories where the waste is used to generate fuel for production.

Armor entered India in 2013 with an acquisition of a small slitting company in Bengaluru. After completing the acquisition in 2014, the company shifted to a bigger facility that housed two slitting machines it acquired from the Indian company and a new machine from Europe. A second European slitter was installed in 2015 followed by another in 2016. Due to exponential growth in the region, the company had to relocate its factory the second time in three years – this time to a space four times bigger than the first one – with all European equipment.

Exports contribute to 80 percent of the company’s annual turnover. Armor has further international expansion plans and will inaugurate its next slitting unit in Canada this year.