What are your core strengths?
Mutoh Industry was established upon the development of the Drafter®, which is a platform used for designing. The Drafter allows you to create architectural designs by placing your paper over the top. That was our starting point, which led to MUTOH becoming a holding company.
Mutoh Industry, founded in 1970, has grown tremendously over the last 70 years. Actually, this Drafter has been named by Mutoh as our registered trademark.Commonly it is known by its generic name; a drafter. We used to have 50% of the market share for drafting stations and drafting boards, but the move towards digital technology has made paper-based design obsolete. Drafters and drafting station in general remain legacy products, despite the changing market.
In order to keep up with the digitalization trend, we developed a product that prints CAD designs. Moreover, inkjet was introduced in Japan. So we integrated this technology in our printers in order to create our unique line of printers. These inkjet printers started out as 2D but have evolved to 3D.
Would you please introduce us to your software business, and explain the synergies that you have been able to achieve between your software business and printer manufacturing business.
We are a software and hardware manufacturer. Our primary product is an integrated large-format printer. We can accommodate any ink type, whether it is water-based, eco-solvent, or UV. We also have a technology based on micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) in printer heads. A head can also contain between 1600-3200 spray nozzles. The chemical is released through this nozzle. To do so, we use a thin membrane which covers each nozzle. The head is vibrated at approximately 25,000 vibrations per sec. The uniqueness of our product lies in the special algorithm we developed to accommodate the waveforms of vibrations. It allows the thin, flexible membrane to move easily and efficiently.
When printing, the head is usually positioned on the carriage and moves both left and right. The media and head are separated by a gap of 0.5-1mm as the head moves. The gap between the media and the head must be the same as the head moves, or the ink won’t be applied accurately. More precision is needed the larger the gap between the media and the head. Our technology is able make very fine adjustments to this 1.0mm difference as the head moves right or left. It is important to always land at the same point in order to print consistently high quality prints. Our ability to combine the strengths and expertise of Japanese electronic and mechanical manufacturing with Japanese chemical manufacturing allows us to produce high-quality printing. It is important to fine-tune these elements to achieve the best results from a large-scale printer.
You must have spoken to many companies about the essence of Japanese business. monozukuriJapanese have a core competency in fine tuning. monozukuri. It was possible that your Japanese TV back in the day was a tube television. This tube TV was equipped with a complex wiring system which allowed for electronic magnetic waves. In the automotive sector, anybody can make a body but only Japanese firms such as Toyota or Honda have sophisticated technology to build complex engines. Until now, Japanese carmakers have been able to excel in this environment. But, that is changing with the arrival of EVs.
What I have just explained is the amalgamation of Japanese “fine-tuning technology”, and for products such as printers the technology needs to be precise without leeway. Japan will remain a dominant power with this fine-tuning ability. Let’s take a product like our large format printer, and let’s say that it takes 10 hours to manufacture in the factory. You might wonder what we do with those 5 hours that are left over. We use this time to fine-tune and check things like the cartridge and head. We spend considerable time on this process of fine tuning. This is the reason why we only have factories in Japan. Our production would have been possible if we had only assembled the cars, but it requires an engineering expertise that is only available in Japan.
Can you tell us how your printers perform better than conventional eco-solvents?
Solvent inks are generally not eco-friendly. They contain volatile organic compound (VOCs), and they emit a chemical vapour when they dry. Inks containing solvent have been used for many years, particularly when printing large displays and signs. This is probably because solvent ink has a high resistance to the sun. If you have an outdoor advertisement and it only lasts a week or two, quite frankly that isn’t good enough. This is why solvent inks are preferred, but there is also eco-friendly ink that has the same performance.
A new ink we are looking at is UV ink. This ink dries immediately and is stabilized by UV light after printing, making it eco-friendly. However, it doesn’t have a strong resistance against sunlight so we have yet to utilize it for printing signage. It is possible to print on a limited number of media with water-based eco-friendly ink. Normal paper will work, but magazine papers with a shine won’t absorb the ink. Each ink is unique. Sakata Inks, DIC Corporation and other ink manufacturers are among our partners. This isn’t limited to just Japanese companies, and we have partnerships with overseas ink manufacturers. When we receive new inks, we change our printers’ waveform and ink to ensure that they can spread the ink effectively. In the next two to three years, we plan to switch to eco-friendly inks.
Tell us more about international collaboration and its importance for your business. Are you looking for ways to partner with companies overseas?
We are always open to new partnerships and we’re always on the lookout for them. I am unable to go into specifics about the partnerships that we have, but we are in a partnership with a Florida based American company, STS. We produce OEM products on their behalf. STS produces direct-to film (DTF), which was formerly known as direct-to garments or DTG. In Europe we also have OEM agreements with partners, and an agent who conducts sales for us.
3D printers have been creating a lot buzz in the industry due to their high potential for growth and the fact that they could be powerful tools in the hands. monozukuri Manufacturers that are interested in a production model with a higher mix and lower volume. Could you tell us more about the role that your 3D printing machines will play in business?
Currently, 3D printing is a huge boom. However, it has not yet proven to be profitable. We are an agent for a large-scale American 3D printing firm. Unfortunately, right now we don’t see much utilization of 3D printing in Japanese manufacturing sites, and I think there is little incorporation because the quality and precision are not quite there yet. It isn’t high enough to cater to the demands of Japanese monozukuri. We are a 3D-printer dealer and we do use 3D printing, but only to produce parts with a lower level of sophistication. Our focus on 3D printers isn’t large-scale, but rather mid- to small-scale printers.
The ML/MF Series is our 3D printer line. A unit costs between JPY 1-2,000,000. It uses solidifying technologies to cure ink using light. The price of our small-scale printers is between JPY 500 000 and JPY 1,000,000. These units utilize filament technology that melts and compiles resin. This spring, we will be launching a low-scale version of the model using cutting edge technology.
What can you tell us about your UV dimming technology. What are the main applications of this technology that your customers can unlock?
With this UV LED lamp dimming technique, the UV lights on the printer’s head can be controlled. You can change the time it takes for the resin to cure by changing the number and intensity of the lamps. By adjusting the curing period, we can spread the resin further or cure it more quickly. Our printers can now print braille. There is a law in the US that requires braille to be on all hotel doors. We are able extrude and highlight the substrate by altering the curing time. We are now trying to add value to our products through the integration of VerteLith software, which helps our customers in their workflow.
VerteLith is used to produce braille-dotted characters. Our VerteLith is also used for car wrappings, which are quite popular in the US. You first print the design on polycarbonate with eco-friendly solvents, and then laminate it to hide the print. In the past, you would have to wait until the eco-solvent dried before laminating. Otherwise, gasses will be released during the drying process. This will cause bubbles and gaps to appear on the wrap. Our UV printer and our software allows us to reduce the time required for drying. We are able, in essence, to speed up the car wrapping process.
What is the current direction of international strategy?
At the moment, we are focusing on North America as well as Europe and Australia. Each location has a Mutoh representative. These are Mutoh America; Mutoh Europe; and Mutoh Australia. We are focused on the developed world because we do not just sell printers but also ink. When we sell to Asia to countries like China, they tend to purchase only the printer and not ink. They are trying to save money and will therefore buy inferior ink. This business style is not for us.
Imagine we return in four years and repeat this interview. What goals and aspirations do you have for the next 4 Years?
Firstly, I can’t assure you that I will still be the president in 4 years’ time. Mutoh, a Japanese printer manufacturer, is currently ranked 6th in the world. Hewlett Packard is ranked number one. Our business strategy is to create unique, niche technologies which can help us solidify our place amongst our loyal customers. We know our position on the market and we are not able to compete in all aspects with these big players. Our business strategy is to develop unique and niche technologies that can solidify our position among our loyal customers.