Epson PaperLab Dry-Process Office Papermaking System Receives Good Design Gold Award

Seiko Epson Corporation (TSE: 6724, “Epson”) is proud to announce that its PaperLab A-8000 dry-process office papermaking system^*1 has been awarded the Good Design Gold Award (METI Minister Award).

This award is presented to the design judged by the Good Design Award Judging Committee to be particularly outstanding among the Good Design Best 100, which are selected from all 2017 Good Design Award recipients (4,495 entries). The winner is selected based on a comprehensive evaluation of criteria including the design’s potential as a solution for social issues, future applicability, and level of completion.

Kazuhiro Ichikawa, executive officer and deputy general administrative manager, Corporate Research & Development Division, involved in the development of the PaperLab A-8000 says, “It is a great honor to receive such a highly regarded award. I think this is recognition of the PaperLab A-8000’s concept to ”change the future of paper.“ As a communications tool, paper has universal value in that it is easily comprehensible, easily visible, and easily portable. At the same time, paper creates an environmental and confidentiality management burden, meaning that some concerns come with its use. By applying dry fiber technology, Epson is proposing the A-8000 as the world’s first^*2 office papermaking system that enables the processing and creation of paper locally, in the amount you need and when you need it. Epson is committed to promoting a zero-waste society.”

“This is the first time our company has received the Good Design Gold Award. This is affirmation that Epson’s promotion of a zero-waste society has great value and also recognition of all our work planning and designing the PaperLab as a product to provide that value. The PaperLab represents our commitment to pioneering new markets and I am committed to growing this product into a major business segment,” says Masahiko Kobayashi, design director for the PaperLab A-8000, in Epson’s Manufacturing Process Technology Development Department.

Judges’ comments

Refer to October 4 news release.

http://global.epson.com/newsroom/2017/news_20171004.html

PaperLab A-8000

http://global.epson.com/innovation/paperlab/

^*1 A small amount of water is used to maintain a certain level of humidity inside the system.

^*2 PaperLab is the first office papermaking system to use a dry process, per Epson research conducted in November 2016.

Good Design Awards

The Good Design Award is a comprehensive design-promotion system that picks good design out of a variety of unfolding phenomena. It is hosted by the Japan Institute for Design Promotion, a public interest incorporated foundation. It’s precursor, the Good Design Selection System (or G Mark System), was founded in 1957 by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (the current Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry), and has been engaged in this work for about 60 years.
Recipients of a Good Design Award are granted use of the G Mark symbol, which has been an emblem of good design for over half a century. http://http://www.g-mark.org/?locale=en

About Epson
Epson is a global technology leader dedicated to connecting people, things and information with its original efficient, compact and precision technologies. With a lineup that ranges from inkjet printers and digital printing systems to 3LCD projectors, smart glasses, sensing systems and industrial robots, the company is focused on driving innovations and exceeding customer expectations in inkjet, visual communications, wearables and robotics.
Led by the Japan-based Seiko Epson Corporation, the Epson Group comprises more than 80,000 employees in 86 companies around the world, and is proud of its contributions to the communities in which it operates and its ongoing efforts to reduce environmental impacts. http://global.epson.com/