KYOCERA to Open New Fully Automated Factory in China to Increase Production of OPC Drums

Osaka, Japan - October 16, 2017 - Kyocera Document Solutions Inc. (President: Norihiko Ina), one of the world's leading document solutions companies, has begun expanding its Shilong Plant in China to enhance production capacity of OPC* drums used in multifunctional products (MFPs) and printers. With the second plant scheduled to start production in late May 2018, the Plant's total production capacity of OPC drums is expected to exceed 2.5 times the current capacity by 2020.

The company's manufacturing subsidiary in China, Kyocera Document Technology (Dongguan) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter, "the Plant"), produces OPC drums (consumables) in addition to MFPs and printers. With orders increasing for color MFPs and printers which are sold in more than 140 countries around the world, Kyocera aims to enhance its production of drums mounted on low- to medium-speed machines and thus decided to expand the Plant to secure the required production capacity.

Contrary to common multilayer, negative charge-type OPC drums, Kyocera's proprietary drums retain a high image quality for a long time. By introducing highly productive and fully automated production lines, Kyocera will develop a production system that efficiently and flexibly responds to increasing orders. In addition, by building a fully automated production system that is far less affected by possible hikes in labor costs, Kyocera will be able to provide a stable supply of high-quality products to customers all over the world.

Furthermore, we will actively promote measures to utilize the Internet of Things (IoT), such as visualizing various types of site information including operating conditions of production lines, in order to automatically provide feedback and make improvements based on the collected data.