Ink grinding operations consist of making a uniform mixture of a wide variety of components (resins, wax, pigments and many others), of dissolving them according to the formulation and finally grinding them according to the cycles particular to each formulation.

On the industrial scale, the manufacture of inks previously formulated and tested on a semi-industrial scale remains a sensitive process, in light of the variety and sophistication of the components used, but also with the technical development of equipment.

One of Armor’s strengths is the ability to coat several layers of ink of different types and thicknesses onto a very thin polyester film (PET) to make it suitable as a consumable for thermal transfer printers.

Beyond this simple definition, the coating operation can be broken down into the following stages:

1. 1.The unwinding and feeding out of virgin polyester film
To achieve a regular, consistent and clean coating of ink, Armor must control the passage from a static state to the unwinding of extremely thin polyester film at very high speed (several hundred metres per minute). Only the best suppliers of thin PET are used.

2. 1.Ink coating operation(s) onto film
This stage, which involves coating very thin layers of ink onto the polyester film, requires an optimal balance to be achieved between five possible coating techniques and a number of other parameters, such as the chemistry and the physico-chemical properties of the ink, the coating speed, the ink coating weight, etc. Numerous quality control checks are carried out automatically on the coating lines to guarantee conformity with specifications (e.g. ink weight and the finish of the coating).

3. 1.Post-processing of coated ink layers 
To complete the coating operation, the now ink-coated film is wound onto a core to make what is known as a "jumbo". This operation requires precise control of the tension and alignment of the film for the slitting operations to follow.

4. Spooling the inked film
To complete the coating operation, the freshly ink-coated film is wound onto a core to make what is known as a "jumbo". This operation requires precise control of the tension and alignment of the film for the slitting operations to follow.

In summary, the successful completion of this part of the manufacturing process calls upon all the know-how and experience of all the Armor teams involved.

Roll slitting consists of transforming jumbos of inked film into ribbons to meet the specifications of the Thermal Transfer printer for which they have been designed, while still taking into account individual customization requirements.

Armor has 5 slitting sites across the globe to provide optimal customer proximity and high levels of responsiveness. Each of these sites operates with the same machines, the same technical procedures and uses ribbon slitting specifications from the same database, thereby ensuring that ribbons are manufactured identically worldwide, or are adapted according to specific market demands.

The strength of ARMOR lies in its ability to perfect this highly demanding industrial process and to manage a database which includes nearly 12,000 different ribbon specifications. A thermal transfer ribbon may vary according to printer requirements (length and width of inked film, size and characteristics of the core, positioning of the inked side and end of ribbon detection system) or customer-specific elements (whether or not to display the trade name on the ribbon and core).

Between the slitting stage and logistics processing, the ribbon undergoes a number of identification and packing operations. This stage seems straightforward but is in fact extremely complex due to the wide variety of individual customer specifications.

Armor is conscious of the need to offer a high degree of flexibility in the area of product customization and offers customers a wide range of solutions:

- marking of the core with customer and Armor traceability data,

- individual film-wrapping and labelling of ribbons for protection purposes and ease of identification of individual products and their designated printer types.

- packing in cardboard boxes,

- box labels incorporating product and printer data, and complete traceability information.

Here too, the perfect integration of the database at the very heart of the 5 slitting/packing centre operations provides very high levels of product consistency, as well as conformity to specifications in every country in the world. 

To be as responsive as possible to its customer needs, Armor has a sophisticated logistics organization.

At each Armor production plant, product stocks represent the ribbon configurations in greatest demand in each zone, thereby offering an ideal response to local needs and optimal delivery lead times.

Service level quality is a daily priority at Armor. Solutions are tailored to our partners' requirements.

The traceability system, in place throughout the chain from production to delivery, provides very efficient product monitoring: the assurance of peace of mind for our customers.