KYOCERA Document Solutions
European healthcare is experiencing rapid technological change, and that change is placing new pressure on the systems working behind clinical care. At Kyocera, we’ve spent decades responding to pressure of this kind. That has meant shifting our business from hardware manufacturing towards broader information management.
This article will walk you through this evolution in several stages: the history behind the move into solutions, how document management integration works with the systems you already run, and what that means for cybersecurity, remote monitoring, AI and the European Health Data Space.
By its end, we hope you’ll see how our Kyocera philosophy can help you find the solutions you’re searching for.
A History Shaped by Responding to Change
1959: precision engineering, and why uptime matters in a ward
Kyocera began in 1959 as Kyoto Ceramic Co., Ltd., a fine ceramics manufacturer in Kyoto with 28 employees. That engineering background shaped our approach to precision and durability, a discipline that feeds directly into our printing and imaging hardware. This has made Kyocera healthcare print and document solutions a top choice in a sector where reliability is a lifeline for patients.
The clearest early expression of Kyocera’s discipline came in 1992, with the first ECOSYS printer, the FS-1500. It was built around long-life components, allowing a device to print 300,000 pages with only toner replacement. A later ECOSYS model, in 1997, became the first printer in the world to be awarded Germany’s Blue Angel eco-label.
Designing for durability was an unusual commercial position at the time, and it came directly out of the materials background. For a clinical estate it also changed the maintenance profile: fewer consumable changes and fewer engineer visits into controlled areas, in buildings where access is restricted and downtime is measured in patients waiting.
1992–2012: from consumables to the document layer
The document business itself arrived by acquisition. We acquired Mita Industrial Company in 2000, a copier manufacturer whose own technology heritage runs back to 1934, and the business became Kyocera Mita Corporation.
Our printer division was unified with it the following year, and in 2012 the combined operation was renamed Kyocera Document Solutions. Europe has been part of that story throughout: we marked fifty years in the region in 2023, coordinated today through Kyocera Document Solutions Europe Management B.V.
That gave us valuable expertise in a basic fact: European healthcare is not one market but twenty-seven, each with its own procurement rules, record systems and clinical languages. We answered the need for complete systems with document management integration: software and workflow services that turn printers into entry points for wider information management. The same instinct showed up in hardware in 2020, when the TASKalfa Pro 15000c became our first production inkjet press.
Why healthcare became a focus
Healthcare became one of the verticals where this expansion mattered most, given how document-heavy clinical work remains even as it digitises. That work produces records that must move safely between departments and, increasingly, between countries.
That’s why we developed software like Kyocera Capture Manager to automate scanning and convert files to searchable text. Likewise, Kyocera Cloud Capture allows you to scan documents directly from a Kyocera Multifunction Printer.
The portfolio that includes these products emerged from sustained R&D investment, run through centres including the global headquarters R&D centre in Osaka and a research site in San Francisco. The output is externally visible: in 2023 Clarivate named Kyocera among its Top 100 Global Innovators for the seventh consecutive year.
Scale that fits a fragmented Europe
Global scale plays a role here, too. Kyocera Document Solutions today spans 98 group companies worldwide. That presence across multiple regions means exposure to varied healthcare systems, which feeds directly back into product development. It has allowed us to build flexible solutions that adapt across markets, which suits Europe and its often fragmented systems.
A Human-Centric Approach to Complex Systems
We understand that none of this technology matters if the people using it every day find it difficult to operate. Healthcare staff are already strapped for time and need systems that meet their needs straight away. That’s why, with our human-centric approach, each of our systems and devices aims to make our cutting-edge features totally intuitive.
As the European healthcare sector evolves, we’ll continue our research to ensure we’re both ahead of the curve and staying true to our principles: to do the right thing as a human being for the world around us.
After all: When knowledge moves faster, care improves.
- Healthcare Workforce and Cross-Border Care
- Five Trends Reshaping European Healthcare
- Success for Kyocera Customers
Kyocera Philosophy FAQs
Common questions on Kyocera healthcare solutions and document management integration.
- FAQ
Doing the right thing as a human being — durable engineering and systems built around the people using them every day.
Kyocera began in 1959 as Kyoto Ceramic. It acquired Mita in 2000 and became Kyocera Document Solutions in 2012.
ECOSYS used long-life components from 1992, cutting consumable changes and engineer visits into restricted clinical areas.
Software and workflow services layered onto print, so printers become entry points for capturing, routing and storing records.
98 group companies worldwide and fifty years in Europe, so solutions flex to local procurement rules, record systems and languages.
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