News Releases

Notice Regarding Fire at Konica Minolta Supplies Manufacturing’s Tatsuno Factory (third notice)

July 8, 2021

Tokyo (July 8, 2021) – Regarding the fire that broke out at Tatsuno Factory of Konica Minolta Supplies Manufacturing Co., Ltd., on July 6, the updated information as of 3pm today is underlined below. We will keep posting further updates.

  1. Location where fire broke out
    Second floor, Production Building
    4333-1, Oaza Inatomi Aza Shiromae, Tatsuno, Kamiina-gun, Nagano Prefecture
  2. Occurrence of fire
    Around 5:54pm, sound of explosion was heard and a fire from a unit of production equipment was confirmed.
    Around 6:00pm, firefighters started working on the fire. It took time for them to enter the area because of thick smoke. When the firefighters entered, the fire had gone.
    At 8:40pm, after waiting for the heated equipment to cool down naturally, the fire department completed their work.
  3. Damages
    There was no injury or casualty. There was no physical damage to the building. A unit of production equipment was burned out. Outside of the factory’s perimeter, there have been no reports of physical damage at this time.
  4. Results of on-site inspection
    The local fire department and police department began on-site inspection at 9am on July 8 and finished around noon.
    The inspection identified that the source of the fire was a unit of equipment on the second floor of Production Building for a part of the production process.
    Within the equipment a dust explosion occurred. The cause is assumed to be static electricity.
    The production equipment was the only equipment that burned out, which accounts for 2% of the total equipment in the factory. Damage to other equipment was not recognized.
     While approval of the fire department to resume production was given, Konica Minolta Supplies Manufacturing will once again thoroughly confirm safety within the company.
  5. Effects on production and shipment
    Konica Minolta Supplies Manufacturing’s Kofu Factory, located in Kofu, Yamanashi Prefecture, also produces toner for the Group. Including inventories, we will take all possible measures to avoid any inconvenience to our customers and the markets.

The Konica Minolta Group sincerely addresses the incident and works on securing safety in the area. We will thoroughly investigate the cause and work to prevent the recurrence.

Overview of Tatsuno Factory
- Operation started in 2007
- Production items: toner for multi-functional peripherals (MFPs) and other equipment
- Ground area: 46,641 square meters
- Number of employees: 44