Armor targets textile market

Based in Nantes, France, the manufacturer has taken four years to develop an ink claimed ‘perfectly adapted’ to highly-demanding textile media. 

In mid-April in Europe (and in June outside Europe), Armor is launching AXRTX, a new grade of thermal transfer ribbon dedicated to the printing of textile labels. And for the first time, Armor is supplementing the offering with a range of 10 print substrates: specially designed for the textiles market, they are made of nylon (three), polyester (two) and satin (five). 

They offer a variety of properties: printable on one side, printable on two sides, treated to avoid curling up during washing, stain resistant and width sizes of between 10mm and 120mm. Textile receptors are delicate products with a highly specific life-cycle, so Armor has conducted a battery of tests, both internally and at external laboratories operating under AATCCstandards: washing, cold wash, ironing, sweat testing and skin test. The ribbon and labels of the AXRTX range are also Oeko-Tex certified. They can therefore be used for baby articles under the Standard 100 by Oeko-Tex certification, Annex 4, Product Class 1. 

With this new range of receptors, Armor is targeting the textile cutting field. It is an area in which the manufacturer used to operate several decades ago, when it used to slit typewriter ribbons made of polyester or nylon. Armor has invested 300k euros in the new slitting machine dedicated to textile ribbons. The slitting principle is the same as for thermal transfer ribbons, but the technique is different. It was therefore necessary to train operators in the use of the new equipment. 

With this combined ribbon-label offering, Armor estimates that it is covering over 90 percent of market demand. It is an offering that supplements the demands of traditional customers who are yet to get to grips with the textiles market. But it also represents an opportunity to penetrate the existing market of the large textile label printing producers. 

‘Innovation is an integral part of Armor’s DNA. The AXRTX product range has mobilized multiple departments: R&D, sales, marketing and IT. This collective effort now enables us to attack the textiles market with confidence,’ said Yohann Froment, marketing and communications director of Armor Industrial Coding and Printing.