Fujifilm Dimatix, a wholly owned subsidiary of Fujifilm Corporation, and leading global manufacturer and supplier of piezoelectric, drop-on-demand industrial inkjet printheads, has announced that the company’s current president, Steve Billow, has also been appointed chief executive officer effective 1 April, 2023 following the announcement of Martin Schoeppler’s retirement.
Schoeppler joined Fujifilm Dimatix in 2004, became CEO and president in May 2008, and following his retirement as CEO, will remain a senior advisor to the company.
“During Martin’s nearly 20 years with the company, including a remarkable 15 years as CEO, Fujifilm Dimatix grew into one of the world’s foremost industrial printhead powerhouses. The collaborative spirit with which Martin led the company’s growth and customer success will continue,” said Billow. “Out of the many business initiatives and new products created and introduced during Martin’s tenure as CEO, the introduction of the Dimatix Starfire SG print head family and Dimatix Samba Mems-based printhead portfolio stand out and apart in reliability, quality, and productivity. These will remain key drivers of our continued success as we expand into additional industry segments such as packaging, commercial, textile, 3D print, and printed electronics markets.”
Billow joined Fujifilm Dimatix as President in October 2022, bringing to his position deep expertise in inkjet technology and strong experience driving technology-based programs from concept through commercialization.
“Steve has already stood out as a leader at Fujifilm Dimatix with his rich industry experience and technology background, as well as being a former printhead customer,” said Schoeppler. “The company will continue to excel under Steve’s leadership and I wish him the very best in his expanded role.”
Prior to his appointment as Fujifilm Dimatix president in October of last year, Billow was president at Desktop Metal. Previously, he was vice president and chief technology officer at EFI Inkjet Solutions for 8 years and also chief technology officer at Jetrion.
Billow was also employed at Eastman Kodak for over 20 years in numerous R&D roles at various facilities in several countries where he supported the early technical development of Kodak’s printheads, print engines, and inkjet systems.
Looking ahead, Billow is focused on the advanced development of sputtered piezoelectric Mems technology as well as expanding the reach of the company’s bulk piezo product lines.
“Our Mems technology is an industry leader in performance and will be further leveraged to lift inkjet to unprecedented heights of speed, quality and productivity,” said Billow. “The speed with which this has come together is a direct result of our corporate-wide commitment to robustness, reliability, ruggedness and productivity that have always been the hallmark of our core piezo printhead technologies.”
Adds Billow, “On behalf of all of us at Fujifilm, we’d like to congratulate and thank Martin for his tremendous achievements and leadership throughout his career at Fujifilm.”
