04 - 05 - 2020
The unprecedented public health situation linked to the COVID-19 virus is still ongoing. As we announced in mid-March, Armor Office Printing has reorganised its teams to ensure that service continues unhindered and that safety measures and health-related restrictions are respected.
In this second press release, we would like to tell you about the initiatives we have implemented and our collective success. It is also an opportunity for us to practise transparency by sharing our strategy for the next few weeks with you.
See picture of the measures implemented throughout this crisis
Our entire team is and will remain mobilised. We have kept all our business departments open, including sales, supply chain, collection, customer service, sales administration, accounts and marketing. Our services have been tailored specifically to meet your needs and, by extension, to sustain our business. We are here to assist you and support you during these extraordinary times. Working with our suppliers and trusted service providers, we are rising to this challenge and rolling out some highly original solutions. With this in mind, we have strategised how we can best continue to serve you:
Together, we have found the right logistical solutions.
One-off orders tailored to your needs have been placed and delivered using multi-channel logistical solutions.
We have reorganised our delivery services as required. We have prioritised drop shipping so that goods are delivered directly to your customers, making service easier, cutting out middlemen and optimising timeframes.
We have made up for delivery delays by mobilising all the business’ different departments and optimising processes.
Together, we have honoured your orders by making sure our products remain constantly available.
All our market’s operators, including OEMs, have experienced real supply difficulties due to the situation of factories in Asia. Regular supply lines have been maintained in all our procurement, supplies and empty cartridge collection departments, as well as in our factories in Europe and Morocco, in our French distribution centre and within our French transport service. We are managing to deliver to all our subsidiary partners across Europe, albeit with slightly extended timeframes given the situation.
We are stepping up to the plate and honouring all our back orders. We are able to deliver our printer consumables to our most loyal partners.
In the current context, our empty cartridge collection service has become even more strategically important, as it will help us to ensure remanufactured products remain available in the coming months.
The product stock-outs we are having to remedy are linked to high demand for certain inkjet products (orders have grown by 200% compared to April 2019), resulting in lower stock levels and longer supply timeframes. Our job will be to analyse the situation product by product in order to formulate the right strategy going forward.
Because of the measures we have implemented, the scarcity of empty ink cartridges and the increased costs of both transportation and some components, we have had to review the prices of some of our products and technology.
This health crisis has been an ordeal for us all. The French government’s recent announcements have suggested that normal life may gradually resume from 11th May.
As your trusted partner, you can count on us to meet your customers’ sustainable printing needs. Our newly consolidated stock is ready to ship out to businesses as they reopen. We are here to support you and adapt our services to your needs. Together, we will find the right compromise for each individual case so that our businesses can get up and running again.
During this period, it is also vital to consider innovation. New products and services are being designed so that we remain a pioneering force in terms of both sustainability and strategy. The market is moving in this direction, and Europe is taking positive steps around remanufacturing, which we will to inform you about in due course. Opportunities are out there!
For nearly 100 years, our mid-sized French business has adapted to its partners’ needs and supported their everyday work. The fight against the current health crisis is still very much underway but, together, we will create some great opportunities for the future.
We wish you and your loved ones the very best. Sincerely,
Gerwald VAN DER GIJP
Managing Director – Directeur Général
ARMOR OFFICE PRINTING
