R&D, Armor’s Backbone

Research and Development has always been ARMOR Office Printing’s core competence

With continued investment, year after year, ARMOR Office Printing has become the market leader. More than€1.5 million is invested each year in R&D for both the Laser and Inkjet core competences. ARMOR Office Printing is one of the few manufacturers in its field to establish genuine legal expertise in industrial property, an integral part of R&D, with the aim of developing products always respectful of patents filed by OEMs (“Original Equipment Manufacturers” i.e. printer manufacturers).

R&D’s primary missions for both core competences:

• Developing new products with high-potential, as a result of market research regarding new OEM printers/cartridges.

• Designing a new compatible print cartridge solution ensuring end-user performance and print quality at least equivalent to OEMs.

• Studying all patents filed for OEM cartridges in order to design a compatible solution taking into account these patents and respecting them.

• Analyzing, in great detail, all OEM cartridges’ technical performance. Performance which becomes the reference for developing compatible ARMOR products.

• Accompanying production by optimizing the industrialization process throughout the product’s life.

• Anticipating and responding to required product changes when new patents are registered for a cartridge during its life cycle.

• Guarantying end-user print quality by supporting all Quality teams associated with each industrialization stage.

The Laser core competence consists of a team of 10 people, all experts in mechanics and material sciences. Their role is to assess all cartridge components and find the best components and combinations that ensure print quality similar to or greater than OEM cartridges. So multiple combinations are designed and tested by R&D, leading to different possible prototypes. The prototype finally selected will be one that meets or exceeds all technical performance levels specified in the specifications.

The Inkjet core competence consists of a team of 14 people, including experts in ink chemistry, electronics, mechanics, and material sciences. Their mission is to reinvent a solution that reproduces all the technical qualities of the original cartridge while taking into account the numerous patents for producing it. A real feat of innovation since this means not only creating but also overcoming all the original product’s technological and legal barriers. All the while meeting efficiency requirements in terms of cartridge production cost (and so price competitiveness) and quality of service.