Fujifilm Japan factory[zt]

Fujifilm Japan factory tour report
Friday, 5 July 2002 21:35 GMT

Last week I attended a trip to Japan organized by Fujifilm UK. This trip included an extensive tour of the Fujifilm manufacturing plant at Sendai, Japan. This is the place where the majority of Fujifilm digital cameras are made. This brief report is designed to give you an insight into what is involved in the manufacture of a Fujifilm digital camera and how Fujifilm have built an advantage over others.
Fujifilm Japan factory tour
Fujifilm's main manufacturing and assembly plant is located in Sendai, Japan, approximately 220 miles north of Tokyo. At this location you will find Fujifilm Photonix who are responsible for the manufacture of almost all of Fujifilm's digital camera range as well as Fujifilm Microdevices who design and manufacture SuperCCD, DSP image processing chips as well as interface units such as USB and IEEE 1394 (Firewire). The only major part of the typical Fujifilm digital camera which isn't manufactured here are the lens units.
Fujifilm PhotonixFujifilm Photonix was established in December 1990 and is the primary location for the manufacture of Fujifilm digital cameras. Fujifilm Photonix also manufacture other products such as the all-in-one photo printers, however 80% of their output are digital cameras. The only cameras not made at Sendai are the lower end A series digital cameras which are currently being assembled at a plant in China (although component parts are made in Japan).
The Fujifilm Photonix Company has been responsible for the majority of Fujifilm digital camera since the DS-100 back in 1991. It has an average of 308 employees, factory units have a total floor area of 24,616 m² and the company has annual sales of 75,800 million Yen (approx. $618 million). During peak periods (such as the approach to Christmas) the number of employees can swell to up to 400.
Circuit Board Assembly
The initial stage of manufacture carried out by Fujifilm Photonix is circuit board assembly. They run a variety of assembly machines which operate by first pasting solder cream onto a printed circuit board, placing components on this paste at high speed, inspecting the placed components (again at high speed) and then baking the solder until it hardens. Each board is then checked manually and faulty boards are detected and repaired.
Final Camera Assembly