When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020 demand for Epson ink cartridges and ink bottles soared as more people suddenly started working from home. To keep up with demand Epson’s Hillsboro site added a second shift and hired more than 40 people, never missing a shipment. That experience reflects on the importance of businesses like Epson, whose Hillsboro facility produces all of ink and ink cartridges the company sells in the western hemisphere.
The facility, which now covers about 182,000 square feet, was established in 1986 to manufacture dot matrix printers as well as circuit boards. In the nearly four decades since, it has evolved along with printer technology – which is to say rapidly.
By 1999, the facility had shifted from manufacturing printers to ink cartridges, a formerly labor-intensive process Epson has streamlined through automation. Epson’s Japanese parent company, the Seiko Epson Corporation, produces a wide range of products, including printers, quartz-based microdevices, projectors, and industrial robots. The Hillsboro facility employs the company’s own robots extensively, and the enhanced efficiency has allowed Epson to move some cartridge production from Asia to Oregon, says Jaime Ramsey, director of general affairs.
Epson continues to manufacture ink cartridges – and is the world’s only manufacturer of several older cartridges – and is expanding to produce ink and ink bottles for its popular EcoTank printers. These printers use high-capacity, refillable ink tanks rather than cartridges, which reduces Epson’s carbon footprint, cartridge waste, and lowers consumer ink cost.
In 2017, Epson moved its ink cartridge packaging and logistics center from Texas to Hillsboro. The facility now blends ink components; manufactures cartridge components and ink bottles; assembles and fills cartridges and bottles; and packages products for distribution throughout the world.
The facility’s constant evolution requires continuous retooling and investment, says Ramsey, and Epson is committed to the site. In 2023, it bought the property on which the facility sits. Epson employs about 350 people in Oregon.
Epson employs about 350 people at its Hillsboro site.
Epson has increased efficiency by using the company’s own robots to automate some production processes.