ARMOR Print Solutions sees opportunities
July 4, 2022
In 2022, ARMOR Print Solutions celebrates 100 years of the ARMOR Group and takes the occasion to plan, consolidate and talk opportunities within Europe.
In France, at a time when 70 million printer cartridges are put on the market each year, 8 out of 10 still end up in the bin. Launched in the 1990s, the ARMOR Group’s sustainable services and consumables business, ARMOR Print Solutions, has continued to grow and is now a leading player in Europe.
ARMOR Print Solutions remanufactures laser and inkjet cartridges for the consumer and professional markets, with a range recently extended to include wide format, franking machines and, in 2020, copiers. “With +200% growth since its launch, our ambition for the copier range is very strong: we are aiming for a number one position in Europe” said Gerwald van der Gijp, Managing Director of ARMOR Print Solutions.
Convinced that the future of printing within companies will also involve better management, ARMOR Print Solutions said it has been positioning itself for several years in the field of managed print services and various software solutions for managing printer fleets, with the launch of its Dyalog brand in 2020. And finally, with its Armor Industrial Ink offering, ARMOR Print Solutions is now extending its industrial ink expertise to the development and production of semi-industrial inks.
In a context of market restructuring with the withdrawal of certain players, ARMOR Print Solutions is betting on growth and unveiling its strategic choices and new projects, ready to seize acquisition opportunities.
ARMOR Print Solutions is growing rapidly and has already recruited 50 new employees since the beginning of the year, in addition to the 400 already in place at its Moroccan production site. Around 100 new employees are expected to be hired in the coming months. At the same time, the buildings will be expanded by 4,500m2 by the end of the first half of the year. The European sorting site is also being expanded.
“With our collected, remanufactured and remarketed printing consumables, at the heart of the circular economy concerns, we cover 95% of the references of original manufacturer cartridges (HP, EPSON, Canon, etc.) and 98% of the references of printers on the market. To do this, we rely on a hundred years of industrial know-how in ink formulation and on a rapidly expanding community of several hundred employees in Europe and Morocco.” said Gerwald van der Gijp, Managing Director of ARMOR Print Solutions.
With a view to diversifying its circular economy offering, ARMOR Print Solutions announced that it will be consolidating its range of reconditioned printers in the coming months.
ARMOR Print Solutions has network of resellers and distributors in Europe, including over a thousand in France. In order to increase its European presence, ARMOR Print Solutions is also strengthening its position in the DACH region (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) and in Northern Europe, by expanding its sales teams and investing in a 24-to-72-hour delivery logistics solution.
Its management team is also being strengthened with, in particular, the forthcoming arrival of a sales manager for France, ARMOR’s historic market which still has vast growth potential.
In parallel, the Polish ink production plant will soon be opened to other players in the sustainable printing industry. “With this project, we plan to create a co-production and partnership unit, to form a true hub for sustainable printing.” said Gerwald van der Gijp.
Hubert de Boisredon, Chairman and CEO of ARMOR said: “ARMOR Print Solutions is now a major European player in remanufactured cartridges and responsible printing solutions. The challenge for remanufactured cartridge producers is to reach a critical size large enough to generate sustainable profitability. Many players are in fact too small to grow. Some have decided to withdraw from the European market. Coupled with the awareness of the challenges of preserving the planet’s resources, we see an opportunity.
“With the support of the ARMOR Group, which will invest several million euros in the consolidation of ARMOR Print Solutions and the OWA brand, the ambition is to become the only solid alternative to original equipment manufacturers. Through organic growth and future external acquisitions, we aim to grow our sales of remanufactured consumables by 40% by 2023, serving our commitment to the circular economy and supporting our customers’ commitment to sustainable ecology.”
“The environmentally oriented trends in the market offer good opportunities for ARMOR Print Solutions: the AGEC law, which imposes a minimum of 20% of remanufactured products in public procurement in France, the European Green Deal, which aims to impose product reuse targets on manufacturers, and the growing awareness of the challenges of the circular economy,” concluded Gerwald van der Gijp.
Categories : Around the Industry
Tags : ARMOR Group ARMOR Print Solutions Business Consolidation Growth Opportunities
