TOKYO, Japan - Akita Epson Corporation, a group company of Seiko Epson Corporation (TSE: 6724, "Epson"), has held a ceremony to celebrate the completion of a new factory. Epson invested approximately 3.4 billion yen on the construction of the plant, which will triple Akita Epson's current printhead production capacity. Construction began in October 2015 and the new plant went online earlier this month.
Epson provides printers and services based on original Micro Piezo inkjet technology to customers in the home, office, commercial, and industrial markets. The printheads produced at the new Akita Epson factory will be the core devices to be used in Epson's high-capacity ink tank printers and business inkjet printers.
Epson's high-capacity ink tank printers meet the needs of customers for low-cost prints with genuine Epson print quality. Initially launched in October 2010, sales of these products had reached as many as 15 million units worldwide as of June 2016. The office market is also seeing annual growth in demand for high-speed business inkjet printers that produce outstanding image quality at a lower cost per print and lower energy consumption than laser printers.
"Akita Epson is an important domestic production site with advanced technological capability and a close working relationship with Epson's corporate R&D function," said Takashi Mitsui, president of Akita Epson. "We make a significant contribution to the manufacturing capability of the entire Epson Group, sharing with Epson's overseas manufacturing plants the technical expertise we have gained from manufacturing core devices. By using Epson's original production equipment and automating and rationalizing production lines, the new plant will further raise our production capability."
Epson is committed to advancing its original technologies and to delighting customers by exceeding their expectations with products and services based on original core devices.
Profile of the New Akita Epson factory
| Address | 1 Dannoue, Iwasaki, Yuzawa, Akita Prefecture, Japan 012-0801 |
|---|---|
| Operations | Manufacture and assembly of printheads for inkjet printers (including PrecisionCore printheads) |
| Floor area | Building area: 4,679m² Total floor area: 10,593m² |
| Structure | Three-floor steel framed building |
| Employees | 30 or more (new regular employees) |
Akita Epson corporate profile (as of June 1, 2016)
| Company name | Akita Epson Corporation |
|---|---|
| Address | 1 Dannoue, Iwasaki, Yuzawa, Akita Prefecture, Japan 012-0801 |
| President | Takashi Mitsui |
| Beginning of operations | June 20, 1986 |
| Employees | 593 |
| Capital | 80,000,000 yen (Akita Epson is a wholly owned subsidiary of Seiko Epson Corporation) |
| Operations |
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Inkjet printer printheads
Micro Piezo printheads eject droplets of ink via mechanical pressure. This mechanical pressure is created when piezoelectric elements in the print heads contract in response to an applied voltage. Two main characteristics set Epson's technology apart from other inkjet printing systems. The first is that Micro Piezo printing systems do not use heat to eject the ink droplets. The second is that they precisely control the volume of ink contained in each ink droplet.