Construction of Epson’s newest factory for the manufacture of inkjet printheads is now complete, with the company predicting its production to now quadruple in capacity.
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 labour and save space, minimising in-process inventory and introducing automated transport robots and efficient layouts to reduce the workload on operators.
The construction project for the new factory in Tohoku, Japan began in June 2024 and is built with a total investment of US$33.7 million.
Epson's printing solutions business provides Micro Piezo inkjet technology-based products and services to customers in several markets, including commercial and industrial.
The company expects to see global demand for commercial and industrial inkjet printers to increase, along with an analogue-to-digital technology shift in sectors where the printing media is not paper, such as in digital textile printing.
Epson also expects further growth in the use of its PrecisionCore printheads in commercial and industrial printers, as well as in inkjet multifunction printers with high-speed lineheads.
According to the company, it is strengthening its printhead sales business to accelerate inkjet innovation and expand the applications for digital printing, which it says has a far lower environmental impact than conventional printing.
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.
Epson is now looking to collaborate with partners with new ideas and technologies and is seeking to expand the possibilities of PrecisionCore technology through open innovation.
Recently, Epson launched three new inkjet printheads with enhanced UV ink compatibility to meet the expanding digital printing market in the commercial and industrial sectors.
