Facilities News
Epson Begins Construction of Print head Factory

Seiko Epson Corporation held a ceremony to launch the construction of a new factory at its Hirooka Office in Shiojiri, Japan. The factory, which is scheduled to begin operations in the first half of the 2018 fiscal year, will produce the company’s PrecisionCore print heads, the core devices in Epson’s inkjet printers.

Epson will conduct R&D and focus on production engineering at the facility, which, in the future, will roughly triple Epson’s current print head production capacity.

Initially launched in October 2010, sales of PrecisionCore print heads had reached as many as 15 million units worldwide as of June 2016. In the commercial and industrial sectors, Epson expects to see an accelerating shift from traditional analogue printing to inkjet printing solutions in areas such as signage, textiles and product labels.

Epson’s Hirooka Office works closely with its production sites worldwide. The investment in the new factory is part of Epson’s plans to further reinforce its R&D and production platform through the 2020 fiscal year.

Epson’s inkjet-based printing solutions business leverages original Micro Piezo inkjet technology for home, office, commercial, and industrial markets. The new factory will handle the front-end manufacturing process for PrecisionCore print heads, high-capacity ink tank printers, and commercial and industrial printers.