By Graham K. Rogers

Like a lot of companies, Epson has moved a lot of its operations to offshore sites, taking advantage of economic benefits that a particular location may provide. The company has recently announced that it is investing ¥12.3 billion more in its manufacturing subsidiary - Epson Precision (Philippines) Inc. - and will construct new factory premises to allow an increase in output of inkjet printers and 3LCD projectors.

The new premises, using the most up to date technology will be online by the spring of 2017. Plans for the plant include a solar power generation system on the roof of the plant, with a capacity of 3,000 kWh, reducing power consumption by some 50%.

With the need for more printers growing, particularly in China, Indonesia and the Philippines, the company will have to increase production to meet expected demand for ink-tank and inkjet printers, along with more production of projectors to meet expected demand.

Epson Precision (Philippines) Inc. (blue area shows planned site of new plant)

More information about the plans are available in a press release from Epson.

Graham K. Rogers teaches at the Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol University in Thailand where he is also Assistant Dean. He wrote in the Bangkok Post, Database supplement on IT subjects. For the last seven years of Database he wrote a column on Apple and Macs. He is now continuing that in the Bangkok Post supplement, Life.