Construction of a new factory (building no 6) at Tohoku Epson Corporation, a group company of Seiko Epson Corporation, which began in June 2024 has now been completed. Built with a total investment of 5.1-billion yen, the completion of the new factory approximately quadruple Tohoku Epson’s future printhead production capacity.
Epson’s printing solutions business provides Micro Piezo inkjet technology-based products and services to customers in the office, home, commercial and industrial markets. The company expects to see sustained global demand for inkjet printers based on current growth in high-speed units for the office and on continued demand for high-capacity ink tank printers for the home and office in emerging markets.
Demand for commercial and industrial inkjet printers is increasing along with an analog-to-digital technology shift in sectors where the printing media is not paper, such as in digital textile printing. Many commercial and industrial inkjet printers are now using PrecisionCore MicroTFP printheads*. These printheads can be flexibly adapted for different applications by assembling MicroTFP print chips in various combinations.
Epson expects further growth in the use of PrecisionCore printheads in commercial and industrial printers as well as in inkjet multifunction printers with high-speed lineheads.
Epson is strengthening its printhead sales business to accelerate inkjet innovation and expand the applications for digital printing, which has a far lower environmental impact than conventional printing. The range of printing applications continues to expand along with emerging needs in areas such as electronics and bioprinting. Epson is looking to collaborate with partners with new ideas and technologies and is seeking to expand the possibilities of PrecisionCore technology through open innovation.
Tohoku Epson began manufacturing CHIPS printheads in 1995. It launched volume production of PrecisionCore printheads in June 2013 on an automated assembly line that makes extensive use of Epson robots. It has been accumulating expertise in printhead production and building a solid base of production technology, increasing its competitive advantage as a domestic production site.
Like Building No. 10 at Akita Epson, construction on which was completed in December 2023, the new building at Tohoku Epson will serve to further expand domestic production capacity for the back-end process and thereby accommodate increased production investment in the front-end process for Micro TFP print chips at the Hirooka Office in Nagano Prefecture.
To ensure stable production, each of the two sites in the Tohoku region will be allocated responsibility for different models, but to ensure business continuity, both sites will be able to flexibly adapt to production fluctuations with production lines for the most popular models and with shared lines. This will enable Epson to strengthen its product lineup in response to future demand for inkjet printers equipped with PrecisionCore printheads.
The new building is adjacent to the existing printhead production facility and is designed to enable more efficient operations, from component processing to assembly. In addition, the new process design aims to reduce labor and save space, minimizing in-process inventory and introducing automated transport robots and efficient layouts to reduce the workload on operators. An energy-efficient stratified air-handling system has also been installed to reduce both energy consumption and costs. This facility is an example of a factory of the future. It addresses challenges facing the manufacturing industry by offering improved working conditions, including less night shift labor, along with streamlined, high-efficiency production.
Tohoku Epson aims to contribute to the development and harmony of the local community as a corporate citizen rooted in the region.
