The plant will open in spring 2017, use solar power for half of its electricity consumption, and require 20,000 staff.
Epson’s Filipino plant – the new site is marked out in blue
The announcement from Epson noted that its subsidiary, Epson Precision (Philippines) Inc., will “construct a new plant for increasing inkjet printer and 3LCD project production volumes” at its existing site in Batanga, with ¥12.3 billion ($10.3 million/€8.3 million) to be invested in the plant’s “state-of-the-art” facilities. The OEM added that it will be “constructed inside the existing site by the early part of 2017”, with operations “slated to begin” in spring that year.
Epson revealed in turn that it plans to “install a mega solar power generation system” on the roof of the new building, which will utilise its approximate capacity of 3,000 kWh to “reduce overall daytime electricity consumption […] by half”. The decision to extend the plant comes from Epson’s implementation of its “mid-range business plan”, which has determined its current inkjet printer and projector manufacturing sites – in China, Indonesia and the Philippines – are “insufficient to meet expected demand”.
In terms of inkjet printers specifically, Epson has predicted the need to “significantly boost production capacity” for the high-capacity ink tank printers it produces, which are “currently experiencing rapid growth”, as well as for office inkjets, which are said to be making “steady inroads into the market”. The OEM also referred to the growth in demand for projectors in business and education, and that it believes its growth in this market will “surpass” its competitors.
Finally, it noted that the workforce at the current site – which is 12,500 – will expand to 20,000 to “respond to the planned increase in production”, while the construction of the new plant “will have no material impact” on the OEM’s results at the end of the financial year. The new site will take up 100,000 square metres of the site’s 230,000 square metre footprint, with the existing buildings only taking up 85,000 square metres.