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Brother Industries, Ltd.
Native name
ブラザー工業株式会社
Burazā Kōgyō Kabushiki-gaisha
Company typePublic
TYO: 6448
IndustryPrinters, machinery
Founded1908; 116 years ago (1908) (as Yasui Sewing Machine Co.)
FounderKanekichi Yasui
HeadquartersNagoya, Aichi, Japan
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Toshikazu Koike [jp] (Chairman)
Ichiro Sasaki [jp] (President)
ProductsComputer printers
Multi-function printers
Desktop computers
Fax machines
Industrial sewing machines
Typewriters
Knitting machines
Domestic appliances
Machine tools
RevenueIncrease ¥822.93 billion (2023)[1]
Decrease ¥49.79 billion (2023)[1]
Decrease ¥31.66 billion (2023)[1]
Total assetsIncrease ¥896.11 billion (2023)[1]
Total equityIncrease ¥668.12 billion (2023)[1]
Number of employees
40,538 (2023)[1]
Websiteglobal.brother

Brother Industries, Ltd. (stylized in lowercase) (Japanese: ブラザー工業株式会社, Hepburn: Burazā Kōgyō Kabushiki-gaisha) is a Japanese multinational electronics and electrical equipment company headquartered in Nagoya, Japan. Its products include printers, multifunction printers, desktop computers, consumer and industrial sewing machines, large machine tools, label printers, typewriters, fax machines, and other computer-related electronics.[2][3] Brother distributes its products both under its own name and under OEM agreements with other companies.

History

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Brother's history began in 1908 when it was originally called Yasui Sewing Machine Co in Nagoya, Japan.[4] The company name derives from an early sewing machine model, the Brother, which itself was named for the Yasui brothers, Masayoshi and Jitsuichi.[5] In 1955, Brother International Corporation (US) was established as their first overseas sales affiliate. In 1958 a European regional sales company was established in Dublin. The corporate name was changed to Brother Industries, Ltd. in 1962. Brother entered the printer market during its long association with Centronics.[6]

In 1968, the company moved its UK headquarters to Audenshaw, Manchester, after acquiring the Jones Sewing Machine Company, a long-established British sewing machine maker.[7]

In March 2005, "Brother Communication Space" (now the Brother Museum), a corporate museum that also serves as a public relations facility, opened in Nagoya.

In December 2011, Brother diversified its offerings by acquiring Nefsis, an innovator in web-based remote collaboration and conferencing software.[8]

1960s Brother De Luxe manual typewriter

Brother competed heavily in the worldwide typewriter market, initially with its personal manual typewriters from its Nagoya factory and later with its own factories abroad (e.g., UK, USA), competing with brands that had dominated the international typewriter market—including with Japan's Silver Seiko Ltd. and others. In the 1960s and 1970s, Brother, along with Japanese companies Silver Seiko and Nakajima, were frequent targets of antidumping campaigns in the United States and Europe—for their low-priced manual typewriters.[9] In November 2012, Brother announced that it had built the last UK-made typewriter at its north Wales factory. It had made 5.9 million typewriters in its Wrexham factory since it opened in 1985. Brother donated the last machine to London's Science Museum.[10]

In September 2022, Brother celebrated a production milestone of 70 million home sewing machines made since mass production started in 1932.[11]

Sewing and embroidery machines

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Brother Innov-is V7 computerised Sewing/Quilting/Embroidery machine

In 2010, the sewing divisions of Brother Industries around Europe were consolidated into one larger company called "Brother Sewing Machines Europe GmbH". With a turnover in excess of €80 million, it is the fourth-largest company under the Brother Industries Ltd umbrella of organisations.

Brother Industries manufactures mechanical sewing machines in Zhuhai, China and computerised sewing and embroidery machines in Taiwan. A new sewing machine factory was opened in 2012 in Đồng Nai province, Vietnam, which is the largest single-brand sewing machine factory in the world.[12]

In September 2012, Brother Industries manufactured their 50 millionth home sewing machine.[4][13]

In May 2017, Brother Industries manufactured their 60 millionth home sewing machine.

As for industrial sewing machines, Brother introduced S-7300A "NEXIO"[1] is the world's first lockstitch sewing machine which adopts the Electronic Feed. NEXIO are world's first IoT applicable industrial sewing machines [2]. The visualisation by connecting sewing machine and computer technology enables the customer to analyze, manage processes and speed up productivity improvement and maintenance work.

History

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In 1908, Kanekichi Yasui established Yasui Sewing and Co. that provided repair services and parts for sewing machines. Meanwhile, Masayoshi Yasui inherited his company and renamed it to Yasui Brothers' Sewing Machine Co.[14]

In 1928, the company's first product was a chain stitch sewing machine capable of producing straw hats. The machine was popular for its durability compared to German machines at the time.

They introduced and began mass production of home sewing machines in 1932, when Jitsuichi Yasui, Masayoshi's younger brother and co-founder of their company, succeeded in developing shuttle hooks.

In 1934, they were renamed Nippon Sewing Machine Manufacturing Co. which they subsequently manufacture industrial sewing machines in 1936.

Their 200 HA-1 domestic straight stitching sewing machines were exported to Shanghai, being requested by the Japanese government.

In 1979, they introduced and manufactured their first computerised sewing machine called ZZ3-B820 "Opus 8".[15]

They started making commercial/multi needle sewing machines in 2003 with the introduction of the PR-600. 2010 marked their introduction of a PC design and editing software on their sewing/embroidery machines (Innov-is I) called PE-Design.

In 2013, they introduce a home cutting machine named the CM550DX.

For the Japanese market, Brother introduced a sewing and embroidery combination machine called Parie in 2017.[16]

On 7 August 2018, Brother officially revealed their new 2019 sewing machine product lineup[17] at their Back To Business Dealer Conference held annually in Orlando, Florida to commemorate Brother's 100th anniversary since its inception in 1908. The newest top-of-the-line Brother sewing/embroidery/quilting machine is the Luminaire Innov-ìs XP-1. It features StitchVision technology, which uses light projections to virtually preview a stitch accurately and precisely, as well as a 10.6" by 16" maximum embroidery area.[18]

Other products

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Brother P-Touch 540 label printer
Wireless multifunction printer Brother DCP-J315W

Brother diversified into manufacturing printers, label printers, MFCs, garment printers, music sequencers, manufacturing/machine tools, and Joysound karaokes in the 1960s.

Brother Industries, for an unknown period of time, produced many different word processor machines,[19] but there is hardly any information backed up online regarding these products.

Advertising and sponsorship

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Brother sponsored Manchester City Football Club from 1987 until 1999, which is one of the longest unbroken sponsorship deals of any English football club.[4]

Brother launched their first integrated, pan-European advertising campaign in Autumn 2010 for their A3 printer range. Titled '141%', referring to the ratio between paper sizes A3 and A4.

In 2019 Brother's UK subsidiary became co-sponsor of the Vitus Pro Cycling Team, with the team's name officially becoming "Vitus Pro Cycling Team, Powered By Brother UK".[20]

In 2019, Brother announced their co-sponsorship of the Japan Pavilion at the Expo 2020 in UAE.[21]

Research and manufacturing locations

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  • Mizuho Factory (Mizuho Ward, Nagoya)
  • Hoshizaki Factory (Minami Ward, Nagoya)
  • Minato Factory (Minato Ward, Nagoya)
  • Taoyuan Factory (Mizuho Ward, Nagoya)
  • Kariya Factory (Kariya City, Aichi Prefecture)
  • Technology Development Center (Mizuho Ward, Nagoya)
  • Logistics center (Minami Ward, Nagoya)

Overseas headquarters are located in the following countries.

Philanthropy

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In 2017, Brother donated US$50,000 to the American Red Cross in response to damage caused by Hurricane Harvey. [22]

In 2018, Brother donated ¥100 million towards relief efforts following the 2018 Indonesia earthquake.

In 2021, Brother Industries donated €110,000 to the German Red Cross and other organisations in response to damage caused by the 2021 European floods, while Brother International (Belgium) donated €10,000 to the Belgian Red Cross.[23]

In 2022, Brother donated €500,000 to UNHCR to support its humanitarian relief efforts in Ukraine and neighboring countries.[24] Later that year, Brother donated ¥2,000,000 to the non-profit organisation Japan Platform in response to the 2022 Pakistan Floods.[25]

In 2023, Brother donated ¥2 million to the non-profit corporation Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) to support people affected by the 2023 Afghanistan earthquake.[26]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f "Highlights of Consolidated Results for Fiscal Year ended March 31, 2024" (PDF). Brother Industries. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
  2. ^ "Brother Corporate Data". Retrieved 4 October 2012.
  3. ^ Soumithri, Mamidipudi (11 March 2015). "Japan's Brother Industries to buy UK's Domino Printing for $1.55 billion". Reuters. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  4. ^ a b c Stuart D.B. Picken (19 December 2016). Historical Dictionary of Japanese Business. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 75. ISBN 978-1-4422-5589-0.
  5. ^ "History - 100 years innovation". Brother.
  6. ^ Brother Industries history
  7. ^ "History". Brother NORDICS (in Estonian). Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  8. ^ "Brother - Nefsis". corumgroup.com. Corum Group. 22 February 2013. Retrieved 24 July 2014.
  9. ^ Lockett, James K. "EEC Antidumping Law and Trade Policy after Ballbearings II Discretionary Decisions Masquerading as Legal Process". Northwestern.
  10. ^ "UK's 'Last Typewriter' produced". BBC News. 20 November 2012. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
  11. ^ "Sept. 15, 2022 Home-SewingMachines 70 Million | Brother". global.brother. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
  12. ^ "Brother establishes a new factory of home sewing machine in Vietnam" (PDF). Brother. Retrieved 21 April 2013.[permanent dead link]
  13. ^ "September 25, 2012 Accumulated production of home sewing machines has reached 50 million units". Brother.com. 25 September 2012. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
  14. ^ "History & Legacy - Brother Philippines". brother.com.ph. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  15. ^ "1970s | Brother Group History | Corporate Information | Brother". brother.com. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  16. ^ "parie（パリエ） | 刺しゅう用ミシン | 家庭用ミシン | ブラザー" (in Japanese). Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  17. ^ Ellsaesser, Cathy (5 July 2018). "It's Coming! New For 2019 Brother Sewing and Embroidery". rockymountainsewing.com. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  18. ^ "Luminaire Innov-ís XP1". Brother International. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  19. ^ "Brother WP2400 Support". www.brother-usa.com. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
  20. ^ Evans, Josh (27 November 2018). "Vitus Pro Cycling's 2019 Vitus ZX1 Team Aero Disc - Gallery". cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  21. ^ "Jul.29,2019 Brother cosponsors the Japan pavilion/Dubai Expo". global.brother. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
  22. ^ "September 6, 2017 Brother Donates 50,000 USD to Hurricane Harvey Relief in the United States | Brother". global.brother. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
  23. ^ "July 27, 2021 Donation for Flood Damage in Europe | Brother". global.brother. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
  24. ^ "March 10, 2022 Donation to Ukraine | Brother". global.brother. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
  25. ^ "Oct 11, 2022 Donation for flood in Pakistan | Brother". global.brother. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
  26. ^ "November. 13, 2023 Donation for Afghanistan | Brother". global.brother. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
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