On January 16, 2024, Olympus Corporation, a major precision equipment manufacturer, announced the construction of a new building at its Nagano Plant (Tatsuno-cho, Nagano Prefecture), its main manufacturing base for medical equipment.
The new building is a three-story structure with a total floor area of 16,368m2 and a site area of approximately 8 hectares. The total investment will be approximately 9.8 billion yen. The company plans to produce small electronic components for medical endoscopes and aims to start operations in September.
The plant that manufactures small electronic components for endoscopes is aging, so the new building was constructed in an effort to relocate functions and establish a stable production and supply system.
Olympus developed the world’s first practical gastrocamera in 1950, and accounts for 70% of the world market share in the manufacture of gastrointestinal endoscopes.
The parts manufactured at the Nagano Plant include medical lenses for endoscopes, molded parts, electronic parts, etc. The new building will utilize the technology, skills, and infrastructure cultivated to date to support the domestic production system for endoscopes as a manufacturing base for key components of medical equipment.