History：1973 - 1988
Entering a new era
Embarking on the electronics business by building on imaging technology
Amid the inflationary recession caused by the 1970s oil shocks, SCREEN made its full-scale entry into the electronics business. Expanding its sales of the Scanagraph SG-701, which met printing industry needs for labor-saving and higher quality, SCREEN continued to grow as a comprehensive manufacturer of photographic reproduction equipment. At the same time, the Company strengthened its framework for semiconductor-related equipment development and manufacturing. SCREEN released products targeting the vast sums of semiconductor investment in Japan, such as wafer etching equipment and resist coaters for semiconductor manufacturing. In addition to photographic reproduction and semiconductor-related equipment, SCREEN began manufacturing LCD production equipment and precision masks during this period. By the end of 1980s, SCREEN had surpassed annual sales of ¥100 billion.
| 1973 | Scanagraph SG-701, the first domestically produced direct color scanner, launches, becoming a hit product (GA) |
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| 1975 | EMW-322/411 wafer etching machine for semiconductor manufacturing is developed (SPE) |
| The Hikone Site’s Chemical Equipment Department is reorganized into the Electronics Equipment Department (now the Hikone Site 1KF) as part of efforts to strengthen electronics-related equipment production (Corporate) | |
| 1976 | SCREEN enters the LCD panel manufacturing field with the development of carrier-type surface processing equipment (FT) |
| 1977 | The world’s largest fully automatic printed circuit board production line is jointly developed with Elna Ltd. (PE) |
| 1978 | SCREEN fully enters the semiconductor manufacturing field with the development of the Spinner series photoresist coating equipment for semiconductor manufacturing (SPE) |
| Dainippon Screen (Deutschland) GmbH is established in Hamburg as a sales and service base in Europe (Corporate) | |
| 1979 | Production of precision masks essential to computer displays begins (Precision Components) |
| 1980 | Kumiyama Factory (now the Kumiyama Site) is established (Corporate) |
| New building for the Electronics Equipment Department is completed at the Hikone Site (Corporate) | |
| 1981 |
Sigmagraph 2000, the first page makeup system produced in Japan, is developed, becoming the foundation for SCREEN’s subsequent proactive development of image processing systems (GA) |
| Dainippon Screen (Nederland) B.V. (now SCREEN GP Europe B.V.) is established in Amsterdam (Corporate) | |
| 1982 | Wet station is developed for a major U.S. semiconductor manufacturer and delivered in a batch of 24 units (SPE) |
| 1983 | Dainippon Screen (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd., is established (SPE) |
| 1984 | Scanagraph SG-608 color scanner launches (GA) |
| 1985 | Head Office Research Wing is completed (now the Head Office building) (Corporate) |
| Rakusai Factory (now the Rakusai Site) is completed, bolstering SCREEN’s semiconductor manufacturing equipment production capacity (Corporate) | |
| 1986 | SCREEN enters the semiconductor measurement business with the development of the Lambda Ace STM-602 spectrometric film thickness measuring system (SPE) |
| 1987 | Scanagraph SG-608 surpasses 1,000 units sold (GA) |
| 1988 | Wet station with a fully modular structure is developed (SPE) |
| SPW-812-A single-wafer spin processor is shipped (SPE) |