Products aimed at battling COVID-19 in offices rewrite the definition of virus protection across Japan.
COVID-19 has accelerated the shift to an office-agnostic work style,. This change has resulted in a reduction in the number of MFPs, printers, and prints in the office, causing damaging dealers’ bottom lines. On the other hand, products to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 are proliferating. These products protect people who must work in the office and people who work in places with a high risk of infection, such as hospitals and long-term care facilities. These products include anti-bacterial/anti-viral sheets and anti-bacterial/anti-viral air purifiers. They can be sold as incremental products to existing customers, and provide an opportunity for dealers to reach new customers—customers who may also purchase MFPs.
Anti-bacterial/Anti-viral Sheets
The anti-bacterial/anti-viral sheet can greatly reduce the risk of being infected with COVID-19 by placing it near devices and surfaces that many people touch. For example, MFP dealers recommend attaching an anti-bacterial/anti-viral sheet near the operation panel of the MFP. In Japan, MFP OEMs are procuring anti-bacterial and anti-viral sheets and supply them to dealers for their own MFPs.
Anti-bacterial/Anti-viral Air Purifiers
Another promising product category is anti-bacterial/anti-viral air purifiers. These devices eliminate COVID-19 when purifying the air in the room. Most of these devices trap bacteria and viruses with a built-in filter. Muratec has introduced an air cleaner that not only catches bacteria and viruses but also decomposes and removes them by combining a photocatalytic filter and UV lamp. This product deodorizes and sterilizes air, creating a safe and secure space by decomposing and removing viruses and bacteria and odors with hybrid photocatalyst technology. Because it has a sterilization function, it can be sold to offices, hospitals and nursing care facilities. Muratec’s air cleaner and sterilizers are exceeding the company’s sales plan and selling so well that Muratec is having difficulty keeping up with demand.
Anti-bacterial/Anti-viral Lighting Equipment
Anti-viral lighting devices developed in Japan from a joint partnership between Ushio Inc. and Toshiba Lighting & Technology Corporation are being sold in the Japanese MFP market. This new ultraviolet device for virus suppression and sterilization can be used safely around people and removes viruses such as COVID-19 using ultraviolet light that is harmless to the human body. The time and limit value that can be irradiated with ultraviolet rays in the presence of a person are set by the guidelines of the American Society for Occupational Health, and this ultraviolet irradiation device controls the irradiation amount by repeatedly turning on and off the light according to the guidelines. Prior to the development of this new technology and the introduction of these new products, the use of radiation from ultraviolet light was restricted to uninhabited spaces. Ushio Inc. sells this device to hospitals as a measure against COVID-19, but MFP OEMs are starting to sell it as well.
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