Epson is celebrating fifty years since the company brought miniaturised printing to the world for the first time at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. The printing timer became the first electronic recording system in the Olympics, changing the course of history. Twenty-five years later, Epson’s 3LCD technology revolutionised the projector market, delivering vibrant and clear images to the most demanding audiences, and turning Epson into the world’s leader in projection, a position it has held since 2001.
Epson was acknowledged at the Thomson Reuters 2013 Top 100 Global Innovator Awards in Japan. Other awards include the IEEE Corporate Innovation Recognition Award, numerous EISA and TIPA awards for imaging products, and the BLI Pick of the Year 2014 for the WorkForce DS-860. In Japan, Epson holds more patents than anyone else in the categories for printers, inkjet technology, projectors, OLED and E-Paper.
Khalil El-Dalu, General Manager, Epson Middle East, says: “We are very proud of our heritage and reputation for leading the way in global innovation. We strive to make Epson’s products better, by investing in research and development so that we can create technologies to provide our customers with unique value. Our commitment is to bring into being something that no one imagined would exist, that answers a fundamental need that has not been met and represents a significant step forward in our customers’ lives.
In the printing market, the printing timer was followed by the launch of the EP-101 in 1968, the world’s first and smallest digital printer that gave the company its name. In 1994, the company introduced the first high-resolution colour inkjet printer – the Epson Stylus Colour – making high-resolution printing in the home possible for the first time. Most recently, products innovations using PrecisionCore, Epson’s most advanced microelectronic printhead technology, have built on Epson’s longstanding reputation for output quality, at the speeds required for industrial and commercial printing. A complete new range of WorkForce printers using PrecisionCore were launched in March 2014, including WorkForce Pro RIPS (Replaceable Ink Pack System) range that can deliver uninterrupted printing for up to 75,000 pages. The recent launch of EcoTank, the first printer with integrated high-capacity refillable ink tanks, provides a complete new printing system, eliminating the need of replacing cartridges and providing ultra low-cost printing.
As for the future, Epson is already developing industrial, multi-material 3D printers. President Minoru Usui said: “Our aim is to create 3D printers that can help to revolutionise the manufacturing and production site. This means creating parts using metals with micron accuracy. We want our machines to make anything.” It will take time to improve the technology and materials, and Mr. Usui expects Epson will launch its first industrial 3D printer within five years.
