What Is Martel Instruments and What Does the Company Do?

Updated

Martel Instruments is a UK-based manufacturer of industrial thermal printers and electronic data solutions, based in Durham, England. The company builds customisable, industry-grade printing hardware — including panel printers, portable and handheld printers, and bespoke printers — along with printer consumables and electronic data transfer products. It serves OEMs and industrial customers that need printing or data output integrated into their own equipment, rather than off-the-shelf consumer devices.

What Martel Instruments makes

The product range falls into three broad areas.

Printed data solutions

  • Panel printers — durable thermal printers manufactured entirely in the UK, designed for integration into industrial and OEM equipment. Available in 2 inch, 3 inch and 4 inch variants, with a range of panel widths, panel depths and connection options.
  • Portable and handheld printers — mobile thermal printers, also UK-manufactured, offered with various connectivity options. Applications named on the site include receipt printers, Bluetooth thermal printers, ticket printers, label printers and wireless handheld printers.
  • Bespoke printers — custom printing hardware built around a specific equipment or application requirement.
  • Printer consumables — thermographic paper rolls and label rolls in various sizes, described as always in stock and available for quick order.

Electronic data solutions

Alongside printing hardware, Martel supplies electronic data transfer products. The site names Vida, LabBox, LabBox Calculator and Vida Connect-It as part of this line, and describes an in-house technology powering its electronic data transfer solutions.

Industry focus

The site lists applications including air conditioning equipment, blood gas analysis and laboratory environments — a laboratory and instrumentation slant that shows up repeatedly in the company's blog and event activity.

Who it is for

Martel Instruments is aimed at organisations that need printing or data capture built into their own products or workflows, not at general consumers. Two groups stand out:

  • OEMs and equipment manufacturers that want a printer integrated into a machine, panel or instrument.
  • Laboratory and industrial operations that need reliable output of test results, labels, tickets or receipts, and are looking at reducing manual data entry.

If you simply need a desktop printer for an office, this is not the category of supplier you are looking for. If you are designing or maintaining equipment that must produce a printed or electronic record, it is.

What makes the company different

The recurring theme across the site is in-house capability. Martel states that its own engineers, designers and software developers can build customised solutions for electronic and printed data outputs, tailored to OEM products. Manufacturing is described as taking place entirely in the UK, with a factory in Durham. For buyers, that combination matters in two practical ways: customisation is handled by the same team that builds the hardware, and the supply chain is domestic rather than outsourced.

The company also publishes white papers and blog content — for example on the hidden costs of manual data entry in modern laboratories, and on parallel printing — and exhibits at laboratory industry events such as Future Labs Live USA and London Lab Live.

How to decide whether to contact them

Your situation Likely fit
You need a thermal printer integrated into OEM or panel equipment Yes — panel printers are built for this
You need mobile, Bluetooth or handheld printing for tickets, labels or receipts Yes — portable and handheld range
You need a custom printing or data output solution Yes — in-house design and engineering
You need thermographic paper or label rolls Yes — consumables stocked for quick order
You need a general office or home printer No — this is an industrial/OEM supplier
You need laboratory data capture rather than printing Worth exploring — Vida and LabBox products

To move forward, the site offers separate contact routes for engineers, sales/NPD and distributors, plus a general contact form, phone number (+44 (0)1207 290266) and email. Choosing the right route depends on whether your enquiry is technical, commercial or channel-related. Drivers and white papers are also available for download if you want to check compatibility or read the technical background before making contact.