By moving its manufacturing centre to Japan, I-Pro’s engineering and manufacturing teams expect to be better positioned to cooperate, design, test, and build industry-leading products faster than ever. The close proximity of design and manufacturing teams will enable I-Pro to speed up time to market and shorten delivery times so that partners can complete jobs on time and on budget.

The new Japanese manufacturing centre will enable I-Pro to introduce new “agile production” engineering initiatives that will enable the company to implement a high-mix low volume strategy which enables processes such as made-to-order manufacturing. This will allow I-Pro to standardise the production of core camera modules while implementing a high level of customisation to meet customers’ unique requirements. By leveraging similar components across designs, I-Pro will be able to improve efficiency and significantly reduce manufacturing time while increasing number of models compared to traditional manufacturing methods.

With the new manufacturing facility being closely located close to Narita airport, I-Pro will be able to ensure a faster and more reliable supply chain while reducing overall freight costs.

“We are very excited to begin manufacturing in Japan again. This important move will enable us to build upon our 60-year history of Japanese manufacturing excellence with Panasonic while ushering in a new era of make-to-order manufacturing supported by quality-driven Japanese R&D culture,” said Bill Brennan, President, I-Pro Americas.