Focusing on the future of the name plate industry, promote the on-demand production. Further great design is the market demand.

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■MITAKA SEIHAN CO., LTD.（Toyokawa city, Aichi）
Industry: Nameplate (metal, resin) production, Sticker and label creation etc.

Installed printer: UV curing inkjet printer "UJF-605C"

Left: Mr. Akihiro Takasu (CEO)
Right: Mr. Taichi Takasu (Director in charge of sales)

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【Accepting order of the whole process ― processing material to making into product】
In April, 2005, MITAKA SEIHAN marked the 50th annivarsary of its foundation. They take care of the several kind of printing services, including name plate, sticker, and label. Not only the printing services but also deal with everyting from the pre-process, such as the material processing, to manufacuring the material, is thier business.
Now, they have three bases in Toyokawa city, and the three bases deal with different works. The three bases play different roles: the main factory covers sheet-metal processing, alumite dyeing, serigraph, and offset printing; Noguchi business office takes care of DTP and printing production work; Makino factory handles the metal printing. It is a rare case that a company can cover several area including sheet-metal processing, painting, and printing.
In the three areas above, the Mimaki's products are introduced in DTP and printing production work departments. This time we visited the Noguchi office.

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【The name plate is the indispensable important signature】
On the floor of the printing production work, one "UJF-605C" was in full operation. This group makes the prototype of the name plate (the key sheet for attaching on the panel sheet and touch panel). Especially, they take care of the name plate for the wide range of industrial products such as copy machine, remote control, medical equipment, woodworking tool, hydraulic pump, and fish detector. The finished products are mainly divided into metal products and resin products, and depending on the environment, the durability is questioned. For example, the warning label attached to mahcines should be made in consideration of the severe condition of temperature or light resistance. In addition to the visibility of the products, how to keep the durability is a part that requires the company's know-how. We asked Mr. Takasu (CEO) about the reason why he introduced Mimaki's product and about its usability.

"We had been using serigraph to make prototype, and we had to make plates for each color no matter how the prototype is simple. To reduce the cost and the production time, we wanted to have the inkjet printer. Also, as we take care of the prototype, we are often asked to change the design of the prototype. In that case, we had to create plates again. However, taking advantage of the inkjet printer, we can promptly respond to changing the design. As a result, our work efficiency was increased, and the quick turn around became possible."

After introducing UJF-605C, they use inkjet printer for the limited production of diversified products, and use serigraph for the products which require only one or two colors.

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【We want to create the next generation name plate】
As of the quality of the printing, we asked Mr. Taichi Takasu who is the second brother of the CEO taking charge of the sales.
"The expression of the gradation is better than serigraph. The quality is fine enough for creating the prototype, since the image quality is comparable to the offset printing. These days, the name plate has several designs, and colorfulness tends to be preferred. So we want to propose key sheet with taking the fullest use of the gradation expressed by the inkjet printer."

In fact, several designs of the samples are proposed at the exhibition of the name plate industry. With this trend of the times, MITAKA SEIHAN needed to have the staffs who have the strong design skills more than ever. The name plate industry is facing an age of the on-demand. As the company anticipated this trend, they started recieving order thorugh the web site. They are trying to have the clients throughout the country, and after few years, they are going to start ordering on the online store.

Also in the near future, they are planning to have a new building, and consolidate three offices into one office by integrating or setting up the new departments. "Putting one foot in front of the other, we are thingking of creating the next generation name plate." MITAKA SEIHAN which has been in business for 50 years is now making a new start.

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