IRIS KOREA Co., Ltd., belonging to the IRIS group led by IRIS OHYAMA Inc., decided to establish a manufacturing facility for home appliances, called "Matsushima Facility" (Songdo Facility in Korean), in Inchon city, South Korea, and held a signing ceremony for a memorandum of understanding about the new facility on June 1.

The purpose to establish "Matsushima Facility"

1. Strengthen home appliance production and supply system in Korea:

IRIS KOREA, established in May 1988, is located in Gunpo city, Korea. In 2003, its distribution center was established there and IRIS KOREA has undertaken the role of a logistic base for some products, including wooden furniture, interior supplies (plastic containers and mattresses), manufactured in Dalian Facility in China.

In recent years, our sales via e-commerce have been growing. Especially, home appliances such as circulator fans are selling well in Korea and we are expecting to expand those sales continuously. Establishing a new manufacturing facility for home appliances, which has the most up-to-date automation equipment, enables us to strengthen its production and supply system in order to deal with expansion of home appliance business in Korea.

2. Aggressive approach to Korean e-commerce market:

In Internet shopping, a physical distribution cost will be high because customers spread over the whole land (Korea). However, having two bases in Korea can make an e-commerce distribution system more and more efficient. Furthermore, we can expand a lineup of e-commerce merchandise by building an automated warehouse with space for 24,920 pallets. It also can help us establish a supply system to satisfy various customer needs.

Information on IRIS KOREA Co., Ltd.:

Established: May 1988

Chairman: Akihiro Ohyama

President: Sungon Song

Headquarters: Gunpo city, Kyeonggi province, Korea

Base: Distribution center

Number of employees: 41 (as of January 2017)

Information on "Matsushima Facility":

Location: Incheon city, Yeonsu-gu, Songdo-dong 215-1

Land area: 27,619 m2

Floor space: 44,794 m2

Automated warehouse: 24,920 pallets

Overhead investments: About 7,500 million yen (land: about 2,000 mil. yen; building: about 5,500 mil. yen)

Produced items: Home appliances (circulator fans, mattress dryers and air purifiers)

Sales plan: 5,000 million yen

Number of employees to be hired: 100

Opening: October 2018

(Image: http://prw.kyodonews.jp/prwfile/release/M104427/201705312286/_prw_PI1fl_X3mAJ90P.png)