DNP to add capacity in U.S. facilities

DNP launched the manufacture and marketing of thermal transfer ribbons used in facsimile machines and word processors in the early 1980s. At present, the Company maintains manufacturing and sales bases not only in Japan, but also in the U.S. and Europe. DNP now operates the thermal transfer ribbon business on a global scale, and as a result of a high quality product lineup has captured a top class market share. The company is seeing increased demand for thermal transfer ribbons used in bar codes at retail and manufacturing sites, particularly from the Americas that account for in excess of 40 percent of global usage, and further market expansion is expected going forward.

The manufacture of thermal transfer ribbons comprises two major processes, the manufacture of the jumbo roll, which takes film substrates and applies thermal transfer materials to them, and the post-processing phase in which the ribbon is cut to match desired product size then packaged. DNP mainly produces thermal transfer ribbons targeting the Americas market at the Pittsburgh plant, but has had to import additional jumbo rolls from Japan to meet demand so it has now been decided to add an additional coating line at this facility and double production capacity at the plant. DNP said it aims to strengthen its competitive powers in the Americas, where further market expansion is anticipated, by strengthening the integrated production system at the Pittsburgh plant, and achieving significant reductions in production lead time.