As the business inkjet printer market continues on an upward trajectory, Epson recognizes the strength of its inkjet technology and has committed to investing in it. IDC recently reported that within the market, more than 255,000 color A3 MFP units are shipped annually in North America. Epson will triple printhead production capacity and has reaffirmed its commitment to PrecisionCore Heat-Free inkjet technology and developing sustainable technologies. This charge is backed by a previously announced $712.5-million investment over 10 years.

As part of this investment, Akita Epson Corp., a group company of Seiko Epson Corp., has committed approximately $25.1 million toward 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.

"From environmental to workflow efficiencies, inkjet provides several benefits over the legacy laser machines," said Mark Mathews, vice president of North America commercial sales and marketing, Epson America Inc. "From our experience, where inkjet goes, it wins, and Epson recognizes this incredible opportunity to disrupt the market. Epson is focused on changing the way we consume energy and is committed to providing innovative and efficient PrecisionCore Heat-Free print solutions. Looking ahead, we believe this increase in production will have a large impact within this market that will justify the investment."

Epson's printing solutions business provides products and services based on original micro piezo inkjet technology to customers in the office, home, commercial and industrial markets. Global demand for inkjet printers in the office and home inkjet printer markets is forecast to continue growing over the medium and long terms. The need for distributed printing that arose with COVID-19 is helping to fuel this demand, as is the strong demand for high-capacity ink tank printers in North America and other developed economies.

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 lineup and expand printhead sales to third parties, with a view to increasing the supply of inkjet printers equipped with cutting-edge PrecisionCore MicroTFP printheads.

Epson PrecisionCore Heat-Free technology benefits include:

• Time saved with consistent high-speed printing: Heat-Free technology requires no heat to warm up when it is switched on or awoken from sleep. This means printing starts immediately.
• Low power consumption saves energy and money: Heat-Free technology has low power consumption because it does not use heat to warm up. Inkjets have no fuse unit to heat.
• Fewer replacement parts: Laser printers typically have more consumables and require periodic replacement of the drum, transfer belt and fuse in many cases. Thanks to Heat-Free Technology, Epson inkjet printers use fewer parts that need replacing.
• Less intervention increases productivity: The Heat-Free structure of Epson inkjet printers means that there are fewer parts that can fail, which reduces the amount of intervention required.