Tohoku Epson Completes Construction on Inkjet Printhead Factory

Construction of a new factory (Building No. 6) at Tohoku Epson Corporation, a group company of Seiko Epson Corporation, that began in June 2024 has now been completed.

Built with a total investment of 5.1 billion yen ($343.5 million), the completion of the new factory will 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.

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 line heads.

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.

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.