EUROPEAN LEADER GIVES CUSTOMERS THE RIGHT IMAGE

Thermal transfer technology continues to grow and evolve – and increasingly competes with laser and ink jet solutions.

There can be little doubt that the self-adhesive label industry has grown faster over the past 10 to 12 years than at any previous time in its history, largely due to the ever increasing demand for electronic bar code and variable image printing in retail and industrial applications.

Today, variable image printing using thermal, laser, ink jet and other electronic/computerised technologies makes up around 35 to 40 per cent of all self-adhesive label usage. Thermal labelling alone accounts for some 25 per cent of the self-adhesive market.

Initially starting in the mid 1980s with direct thermal labelstocks used for supermarket price-weigh labelling, and followed by thermal transfer technology for industrial labelling applications a couple of years later, thermal technology continues to grow at some 15 per cent a year – all indexed to the growth in bar code printing and VIP requirements.

While direct thermal currently holds the largest share of the thermal market it is thermal transfer that now grows at the fastest rate, fuelled by the fact that more and more thermal printer manufacturers are specifying thermal transfer for their print heads.

Much of the reason for this has come from the development of both new economy and performance grades of ribbons, back coating of ribbons to improve head life (now up to five years), the ability to run ribbons at higher speeds and to run on both rough and smooth papers.

All credit then to the ribbon manufacturers who work closely with the printer OEMs to develop improved ribbon performance, both for today and for the future. Manufacturers such as Armor, Sony and Ricoh – who between them dominate worldwide ribbon sales.

In Europe, clear market leader in the thermal ribbon stakes is Armor with a claimed 45 per cent market share and a forecast group consolidated turnover for 1996 of some FF550 million.

Established in 1922 in Nantes, France, Armor was the first company in France to manufacture solvent ink-based carbon films in 1964, and launched to first cartridge ribbons in 1975. In 1983 Armor signed a licence agreement with Fujicopier of Japan to become the first company in Europe with ‘thermal transfer’ technology.

But it’s not only thermal transfer technology where Armor excels; they have also expanded into other variable image printing solutions – namely toner cartridges for laser and LED printers and, in 1994, launched its own inks for ink jet printers. What better company therefore, to talk to about both thermal transfer and laser/ink jet technologies?

Now with manufacturing plants in Nantes and La Chevroliere in France and in Morocco, Armor will be opening another manufacturing plant in Poland later this year. Sales subsidiaries operate in Germany, the UK, Belgium and Switzerland. In total, some FF200 million has been invested in the past five years to retain their strong position in the European market.

So what are the major developments from Armor that have affected thermal transfer performance? In terms of ribbon technology it is probably the development and evolution of the market into ribbons for standard applications and very heavy duty applications.

Currently the majority of ribbons from Armor – around 70 per cent – are single layer, hot melt coated, standard wax formulations which are mainly used at the lower quality end of the thermal market where almost all the printing is on to paper surfaces. In terms of finished label cost there is today little difference between direct thermal and those printed with standard wax transfer ribbons.

Where a higher quality, smudge and scuff resistant performance on paper – or film – is required for heavy duty applications, such as pallet labelling, Armor have develop premium grade thermal ribbons which combine both wax and resin formulations into two or three layers of coating. Such ribbons make up the fastest growing portion of the thermal transfer ribbon market and, by the end of this year, are expected to achieve a near 30 per cent of the market.

For very heavy duty applications in the automotive, electronic, luxury goods, markets, etc., and where high levels of heat, scratch or solvent resistance are required, Armor provide a ‘super premium’ grade of thermal ribbon, coated with two or three layers of a resin coating.

Around 95 per cent of the ribbons produced are for black printing but the company is experiencing growing demand for coloured ribbons for ‘own branding’ and house colours, warning colours, etc, particularly in the premium and super premium grades. Currently some 12 colours, plus white, are available.

Between 10 and 15 per cent of thermal transfer ribbon printing today is on to plastics films and Armor see an increasing requirements for premium grades for filmic substrates for the future.

In terms of ribbon performance, thermal transfer technology continues to advance significantly. Five years ago print speeds were around four to five inches per second. Now they are around eight to 10 inches per second. Better resolution is now achieved, ribbons have become more sensitive, web widths have grown to as much as eight inches and back coatings have now been incorporated as standard.

For the thermal ribbon user the benefits of such developments come in a number of ways: the capability to print at higher speeds, the ability to now print – again at higher speeds – on rough papers, while the introduction of silicone-based back coatings have become the key to protecting head life. These back coatings, introduced about two years ago, help to withstand higher head temperatures and an enable print heads to last up to five years.

To meet the growing requirements of thermal transfer printing on the filmic label substrates Armor believe that polyester ribbons incorporating top coatings give the best results. Polypropylene ribbons also work quite well.

To aid the user of thermal ribbons Armor now incorporate end-of-ribbon sensors which prevent ribbons ruuning out in the middle of printing, say, a bar code. Most products are also FDA (or the equivalent BGA) approved.

In some of the more specialised market sectors the company have developed a ribbon for printing on plastic cards which gives excellent scratch and scuff resistance. Special ribbons have also been developed for printing on to fabrics.

Such has been the company’s success that Armor now claim to have more ribbon coating and finishing capacity in just one of their factories than the whole of their competitors put together. From 17 film coating machines and three fabric coating machines the company produce some 600 km (370 miles) of coated film every day – seven days a week.

Excluding their extensive converting facilities for non-impact and impact ribbons, Armor operate 25 high speed slitters, four cartridge assembly lines and two packaging lines producing around 20,000 thermal transfer ribbon rolls per day. In total, they manufacture thermal ribbons for over 60 OEM thermal transfer printer manufacturers.

Not unnaturally, such output is supported by both an experienced R&D team and extensive quality assurance operation. Nearly 30 chemists, technicians, and specialists are involved in creating new ribbons formulations, development, technical support and future technologies, as well as measuring and analysis – all complemented by some 20 people working in quality assurance, quality control, calibration, etc. Typically, up to 50 different printers, can be seen running in the company’s laboratories at any one time, all testing ribbons.

And what of the future? Francois Barreau, thermal transfer product manager, says ‘Armor certainly expects to see more and more thermal printer manufacturers specifying thermal transfer, as against thermal direct. Long term – perhaps two, three or four years ahead, thermal transfer is expected to become the dominant thermal technology, overtaking thermal direct in volume usage.

‘We are also working on the development of newer multi-layer coatings for the future, and expect to see more process colour ribbons being used. We also hope to find better solutions for printing on to some of the more difficult surfaces, such as Tyvek, metallic foil and some fabrics. We can also see the potential of developing special ribbons for security solutions and would be interested in working with security printers and materials suppliers in this area. Indeed, anyone that might have a demand for a special type of thermal ribbon.’

Having been in business for more than 70 years, Armor has a wealth of experience in cassettes for typewriters, fabric cartridges for printers, fabric ribbons, correction products and thermal transfer ribbons and cartridges.

With the rapid growth in the past few years in laser printers and ink jet, Armor has also extended its activities into the manufacturing of toner cartridges for laser and LED printers and in the development of its own inks for ink jet printers.

Forecasts for the next five years indicate that the colour ink jet printer base in Europe could grow by more than 30 per cent per annum and certainly Armor are already well placed to further extend their activities into this fast-growing market.

Outside of labels, Armor has developed specific ribbons for printing bar codes or variable alphanumeric data directly on to packaging, as well as thermal transfer technology for air, rail, metro or games tickets applications. They are also the only company in Europe capable of manufacturing multi-colour thermal transfer ribbons for presentations, Computer-Aided-Design, scientific work, graphic arts, colour proofing and the like.

As the variable imaging and digital printing label markets continue to evolve – and grow in excess of 15 to 20 per cent per annum over the next five years – Armor seem well placed to retain their European lead in these ever-demanding areas. Certainly with thermal transfer technology and, longer term, the European lead with toner and ink jet technologies as well.