Akita Epson Corporation, a group company of Epson, will invest a total of approximately 3.5 billion yen (24.1 million USD) in the construction of a new factory on the Akita Epson lot to increase production capacity of printheads for inkjet printers. Construction work on the new factory began in November 2022 and is scheduled for completion in December 2023. This investment will approximately triple Akita Epson’s current printhead production capacity.
The new factory will be used to manufacture and assemble inkjet printheads, the core devices used in inkjet printers. The investment plan will ensure that Epson has enough production space to meet the predicted future growth in demand. It will also enable Epson to strengthen its product line-up and expand printhead sales to third parties, with a view to increasing the supply of inkjet printers equipped with cutting-edge PrecisionCore MicroTFP printheads.
PrecisionCore MicroTFP printheads are critical components that determine the image quality and speed of an inkjet printer. Equipped with an array of individually controlled nozzles, they are capable of ejecting 50,000 tiny ink droplets per second, with droplet sizes as small as several picolitres (a picolitre is one trillionth of a litre).
The new facility will be constructed adjacent to the existing factory. By consolidating PrecisionCore MicroTFP printhead production at Akita Epson, the company aims to maximise efficiency. In addition, production equipment and processes will be arranged to further increase human productivity and space productivity.
As a production site with high technological capabilities, Akita Epson works closely with other Epson R&D sites. It shares the advanced production technology and know-how it gains through the production of core devices with Epson’s worldwide production sites to help maximise manufacturing capabilities across the group.
Epson earns an A from CDP for sustainability
In other news, Epson has been placed on the prestigious A List for climate change by international environmental non-profit CDP, which evaluates companies’ environmental activities on behalf of more than 680 institutional investors worldwide with a combined US$130 trillion in assets. The results of the questionnaires are also used to assess companies in terms of environmental performance for the world’s leading socially responsible investment (SRI) indexes used by ESG investors.
Out of the more than 10,000 companies that were evaluated, Epson was one of a small number to receive an A listing, an acknowledgment that Epson is a leader in sustainability.
In addition to being an important statement to institutional investors making ESG investment decisions, Epson believes that this prestigious listing sends a powerful message to customers looking for environmentally conscious products and services, as well as to business partners and other stakeholders.
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The new factory is scheduled for completion in December 2023