Interview
STRAIGHT TALK WITH EPSON
Shihab Ahmed Zubair, Epson’s regional Sales Manager
MEPrinter September - October 2020
Label printer was one range of products that experienced growth during Coronavirus crisis
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There is no doubt within world of digital printing Epson is a powerhouse. The company is a major manufacturer of printers as well as projectors and industrial robots. As part of our ongoing interview series with top managers of global graphic arts companies we caught up with Shihab Ahmed Zubair, Epson’s regional sales manager. During our extensive Q&A session Zubair offered a rather clear picture of Epson’s portfolio as well company’s post Covid recovery strategy. In January, Epson launched its first industrial direct to garment printer. First of all, why did it take Epson so long to enter this market and does Epson plan to focus more on this market? Epson actually entered this market back in 2003 when we launched the Monna Lisa 160B Inkjet Textile Printer, which was jointly developed in collaboration with leading Italian textile manufacturing equipment manufacturer, Robustelli S.R.L., now part of our Group. The new release is not only a culmination of our longstanding experience in the field but also the first of many products that we aim to introduce for this important market segment. What about soft signage and textile? Following the launch
of Epson’s first fluorescent ink, dye-sublimation, textile printing solution in 2019, are there any plan in the works to launch new products for textile printing? While Epson launched the first Dye-Sublimation printer in 2012, we were already a major contributor to the segment, as most of the major players in the market at the time were utilizing our print head technology as part of their own solutions. In that same year, the company decided to enter the market with two new products, the F6000 and F7000, which were the first in the industry to be fully manufactured by a single vendor. And from that time, we continued the development of our range and with the launch of the F9400H, Epson’s first dye sublimation printing solution, we are now able to highlight two genuine fluorescent inks — yellow and pink. These bring bright and vivid colors to the production of sportswear, workwear, and fashion items. We’re continuing to work on new products that will bring a host of other features to the table, including higher productivity and the capability to print at bigger sizes. What is Epson’s strategy to engage with its customers during post-COVID recovery? Over the course of the ongoing global crisis, we continued to engage with our customers, remaining in constant dialogue throughout. As part of that engagement, Epson conducted several training sessions with our clients, highlighting different ways they could use our technologies to keep their operations moving, while at the same time generating new business and introducing novel solutions that would enable them to meet the demand in the market. We will continue to work closely with our clients to build and implement an effective post-COVID-19 recovery plan together. Please explain how COVID 19 impacted Epson and what was Epson’s contribution to the healthcare industry to overcome
the crisis? Did Epson also manufacture masks? Like many other industries, we were affected by both the lockdown and the economic impact of the ongoing global crisis. Factories and partners around the world helped with production of face visors and masks. As part of our efforts to generate new business during this difficult time, we discovered a new opportunity within the creative mask manufacturing space with many of our F-Series products being utilized to produce customized face masks. Recently Epson launched a number of portable label makers, do you see many opportunities in this market? Label printers was one range of products that experienced growth during this crisis. This was due to the increasing need for customized colored, short run labels, as well as a need for effective mobile solutions such as our portable label makers. In particular, our on-demand ColorWorks label printers have been used to support labelling for the growing take-away food business and also in labelling for gels and hand sanitizers. In which way Epson is involved in augmented reality technology? Epson launched its MOVERIO Smart Glasses in 2011, and the technology is now in its third generation of development. The glasses have found real case uses in the commercial environment as well as in tourism and leisure. Here are some examples: - Remote technical assistance. Epson’s Moverio Augmented Reality smart glasses are now used widely in remote assistance, a demand that has grown in recent years, where the glasses deliver better productivity, lower costs, improved customer service and – importantly – a much reduced carbon footprint. There ae users now in pharmaceuticals (Marchesini), rubber manufacturing (Saargummi), railway manufacturing (Siemens), food
