Drawing on its industrial know-how in formulation, printing and high-precision coating, ARMOR GROUP has created this year, 2024, a new subsidiary which had been developed 'under wraps' these last few years, ARMOR SMART FILMS. This new business, which already has its own dedicated team, can take advantage of existing speciality coating and screen-printing equipment, whilst planning to invest in new resources over the coming years.

A "smart" material is a material designed to be sensitive, tailorable and scalable. The ramping up of the development of this technology, which appeared in the 1980s2, has only just begun, thanks to advances in applications related to the Internet of Things (IoT) and human/machine interfaces, as well as the availability of new materials.
"The smart materials market can expect a CAGR growth rate of 7.1% over the 2023-2030 period, with a projected market size of 115.4 billion dollars by 20301. ARMOR SMART FILMS is an emerging business, but one that is perfectly tailored to our specialized know-how in coating fine layers onto thin film. We believe it has great potential. We expect to record turnover of around €50M within 5 to 10 years, and create dozens of jobs in the process" states Hubert de Boisredon, ARMOR GROUP Chairman and CEO.

A wide range of sectors, such as MedTech (medical technology firms), GreenTech (environmental and energy transition firms) and information and communication technology are concerned by the creation and production of smart films. The outlook for industrial and business development is highly-promising, with applications linked to motion detectors, transducers, membranes for renewable energy production, desalination, capturing carbon and producing hydrogen using electrolysis.
"The smart films that we are co-creating with our customers can be found everywhere, in motion detectors, soles of footwear and even hydrogen power plants. There's no limit to what's possible." adds Pierre Guichard, Head of R&D, Industrial Operations.

To support these state-of-the-art innovations, ARMOR SMART FILMS delivers three levels of complementary services: R&D, prototyping and large-scale production. As well as drawing on ARMOR GROUP's historic roll-to-roll coating know-how, the industrial company also leverages its sheet-to-sheet printing and processes, through flat or rotary screen-printing.

"What inspires us with this new business is to forge strong partnerships with our customers by providing them with our formulation and coating know-how for their projects and their innovations" states Christophe Derennes, Industrial Director of ARMOR SMART FILMS.