Today Epson launched the first Innovation Centre on the African continent, following one opened recently in Dubai and a smaller demonstration centre also being opened this week in Cape Town.
The official opening was officially opened by Niel Colquhoun, Epson’s President of the EME region.
Committed to the African Economy:
South African Country Manager, Timothy Thomas at the opening ceremony in Johannesburg this morning commented “So it really does speak to the faith and commitment that Epson has shown in both South Africa as well as the wider region as well”. “Epson Johannesburg has now been designated as an office not only for the Southern Africa region, but also to support the greater, wider Middle East Africa region”.
The innovation centre is a 550 square meter facility with an additional thousand square metre upstairs office facility, that is home to over 80 employees, is a significant expansion by Epson within the region.
“Strategically these offices are really a testament to a lot of what the region is investing into from an infrastructure perspective, from a team perspective, as well as from investing into people as well,” Comments Thomas.
According to Thomas, the Innovation Centre is not just another demonstration facility, but an investment to provide a space to showcase the latest technologies which Epson has to offer, that include a range of both small printing capabilities but also document management software and large format printing.
Investment In Africa Justified
Neil Colquhoun, commenting on the opening and expansion in South Africa said: “It’s a great story about investment in Africa as well, one of the reasons that there’s so many people in this organisation (in South Africa), is that we absolutely love the quality of the people that we get down here”. “We launched a graduate programme down here, we’re absolutely blown away by the quality of the people, so we thought okay let’s open the tap further and let’s move more roles down here”.
Colquhoun commented that over the last 12-18 months, Epson has started to move more roles into the South African structure and office, with great results, highlighting the capability and quality of staffing they have found in South Africa.
History of Time and Excellence
Most people today will know Epsom for its printing and projection products but that was not how Epsom started.
Niel provided an interesting historical background of a Japanese company that started off producing watch mechanisms, and providing quartz watch components for timepieces back in 1942.
And throughout the history of the brand, Epson has according to Niel, integrated the concept of the combination of art and science in manufacturing, and have also embraced the Kaizen approach, which is a Japanese concept that focusses on continuous improvement.
“This is included in all processes – everything from operational excellence, the whole process of developing products, and the goal of zero defect in product manufacturing. It’s an all-encompassing word that talks to always do better, effectively, in a simple way” says Colquhoun.
Key Printer Market Currently
The African market has become a key market for Epson’s ink-well printer range where they have now sold more than 100 million of these printers, and the company also sees much potential for additional products in the Future.
While printers remain the key product for the company in Africa, speaking to some of the senior staff at the launch, they have indicated that Epson has done lots of developments in developing their assembly robotics and see potential in certain markets in Africa for expansion.
There are currently no AI related products in the way of document management products yet, however there are currently developments in this area that would also potentially be suited for African markets.
One of the main advantages, according to Epson is their heat free printer range that reduces much of the electricity consumption in printing. This and the efficiencies of their inkwell printers are set to see the company expand further in Africa, using South Africa as a base for the expansion.
