Welcome in the world of ARMOR

THE COMPANYDate of establishment : 1922

Structure : S.A. au capital de 10 299 450 Euros

Head office : Nantes - France

Deux activités :

Thermal Transfer : Ribbons’ manufacture for barcodes printers and direct printing on flexible packaging.

Office and Computer Supplies : Manufacture of Toner cartridges, Inkjet cartridges, ribbons for printers.

Production units Thermal Transfer :

• Nantes – France : 20.000 m² transfered at La Chevrolière in July 2006,• La Chevrolière - France : (South of Nantes) 90.000 m2 in which 30.000 m2 of production buildings,• Cincinnati - USA : 2.800 m2,• Singapor : 1500 m²,• Xiaolan - China : 1.500 m2,• Johannesburg – South Africa : 1000 m² (March 2006).

Bureautique et Informatique• Casablanca - Maroc : 4.000 m2,• Dortmund - Germany : 2.500 m2,• Prudnik - Poland : 7.000 m2.

80 YEARS’ EXPERIENCE

The group has nearly 80 years of know-how and innovations:

1922 Creation of the “GALLAND & BROCHARD” company.

1925 Launching of the ARMOR brand.

1964 ARMOR was the first company to manufacture carbon films (solvent ink base) in France.

1975 Launching of the first ribbon cartridge.

1983 ARMOR becomes the first company in Europe to have “Thermal Transfer” technology.

1992 Creation of a unit to manufacture Toner cartridges for Laser and LED printers.

1993 ARMOR starts to develop its own ink for Ink-Jet printers and launches its own cartridges.

1995 ISO 9002 certification N°1995 / 3718.

1996 ARTECH, a technical center for cartridges design, mould making and plastic-part injection moulding joins the Armor group.

1997 Creation of 3 retail subsidiaries (Italy, Poland, Czech.Rep.).

1999 Opening of a subsidiary in Asia: ARMOR ASIA IMAGING SUPPLIES Pte Ltd (Singapore).

2000 Creation of 1 new subsidiaries: ARMOR JAPAN KK (Japan)

2001 Armor launches its first colour inkjet cartridge with a memory chip.

2002 Armor launches its first Laser colour cartridge. ISO 9001 certification version 1994.

2003 ISO 9001 certification (2000 version).

2004 Opening a subsidiary in China: ZHONGSHAN ARMOR INDUSTRY CO., LTD

2006 Opening of ARMOR Imaging Supplies South Africa (AISSA)

ORGANISATION

A WEALTH OF EXPERIENCE

• THE MAKING OF INKS AND INK TRANSFER

• INK CHEMISTRY: THE BASIS OF OUR EXPERTISEConstant development of our ink formulas over the past 75 yearsenables us to meet the demands of the various technologies and applications in the market today: Ink-Jet, Laser, TT and Impact.

• INK TRANSFER, THE KEY TO PERFORMANCEBefore any character or image can be created, the ink must be:

• Coated on to the right medium (Fabric, Polyethylene film, polyester film then converted into a ribbon or filled into a cartridge).• Put in a cartridge (Ink-Jet, Laser, Impact).

Our perfect expertise in coating, slitting, assembling cassettes and filling cartridges enables us to overcome all difficulties and offer you the best guarantee of quality.

The creation of ARTECH, for the manufacture of plastic parts and empty cartridges, gives us greater control over the products and allows us to be flexible.

THE CAPABILITY TO INNOVATE

• WITH AN EXPERIENCED R&D TEAMOur aim is clear: to give you the exact answer you require for tomorrow’s printing needs.

• 15 chemists to create new formulations,• 7 specialists in measuring and analysis,• 14 technicians involved in: development, technical support and future

technologies,• 25 engineers and technicians from ARTECH GmbH for the design of Ink-Jet cartridges and fabric cassettes,• Over 1 million Euros invested over 4 years in the research and development,• An annual budget of 3 % ARMOR's turnover.

• A FOCUS ON QUALITY• 25 people for Quality Assurance, Quality Control, Calibration,• Self checking throughout the production process,• ISO 9001 certification (2000 Version) N° QUAL/1995/3718b.

INDUSTRIAL RESOURCESTHERMAL TRANSFER

Thanks to a continuous investment programme ARMORhas the industrial tools adapted to its ambitions:

– Over € 50,000,000 invested the last 8 years in new equipment & buildings,

– 40 million Euros will be invested from 2005 to 2008.

• INK MANUFACTURING– 1 unit with 6 wax grinders,– 3 units for grinding solvents with 4 automatic high capacity

grinding facilities,– 25 tones of ink per day: TT wax, TT solvent, fabric, thermoprint,

• INK COATING– 10 machines for wax coating,– 17 machines for solvent coating,– 2500 km of film coated each day (7 days per week).

• RIBBONS SLITTING– More than 50 slitting machines to satisfy our client’s needs in the

world, devided in 5 slitting centers.

INDUSTRIAL RESSOURCESOFFICE AND COMPUTER SUPPLIES

• IMPACT AND FAX: Morocco– 5 slitters for film quality,– 2 slitters for fabric quality,– 35 automatic and semi-automatic assembling machines,– 4 packaging lines.

• LASER: Morocco– 2 production units for cartridges,– 3 automatic filling machines.

• INKJET:– 1 fully automated injection unit, (Artech Garmany)– 1 factory for pre-assembly, filling and packaging Ink-Jet

cartridges. (Artech Poland) Capacity of 2 million cartridges per month.

OFFICE AND COMPUTER SUPPLIES

• IMPACT:– Ribbons & cassettes for typewriter,– Ribbons & cassettes for printers,– Correction tapes, correcting fluid,– Ink rollers,– Carbons, stencils.

• LASER:– Laser cartridges,– Toner kits.

• INKJET:– InkJet cartridges for office printers,– InkJet inks for wide format,– InkJet inks for industrial applications.

• COMPLEMENTARY PRODUCTS:– Fax rolls,– Cleaning products,– Special supports.

THERMAL TRANSFER MARKET

• INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONSRibbons & cassettes for barcode printers & for direct printing on flexible packaging:

– AWR®, wax base for standard applications,– AWX®, wax base for premium applications,– APR®, wax/resin base (premium),– AXR®, resin base (super premium) very high mechanical and

chemical resistance.

• TICKETING– Multiuse ribbons for ATB printers, and other label printers.

• OTHERS APPLICATIONS– Plastic card printing,– Textile printing.

STAFF

2003 2004 2005

ARMOR HEAD OFFI CE 64 66 68

THERMAL TRANSFER 554 562 541

OFFI CE SUPPLI ES 856 863 856

GROUP TOTAL 1474 1491 1465

DEVELOPMENT OF TURNOVER

ARMOR DIFFERENCES

Product – High Quality PATENT FREE products, 100% compatible to the OEM

Complete assortment - over 90% of installed base covered

Certificates – ISO 9001, ASTM, ISO 19752, DIN 33870, IS0 14001 (in process)

Pricing – 30% less in comparison to OEM

Guarantees – 2 Years Warranty; full capacity guarantee, reaction to OEM „non

guarantee“ policy = printer guarantee, compatibility guarantee, hot line

Services – short delivery time, e-shop (with fulltx compa.list), marketing and active

personal support

Sales – NOT to End Users

Retails – Blister packaging, easy identification of the product, compa. lists for stores,

merchandising tools

Ecology – free „take back“ of used cartridges and its eco. destruction

MERCHANDISING

COUNTER POS

POS STAND

PAL BOX

FAX BOX

MERCHANDISING

REFERENCES

ARMOR IN THE WORLD