Brother… From Sewing Machines to Printers

Brother Industries is a company that was founded as Yasui Sewing Machine Co. in 1908, in the country of Japan, by a man named Kanekichi Yasui. In 1925 the name was changed to Yasui Brothers’ Sewing Machine Co. In the beginning the company simply mass manufactured sewing machines, and they started to export the product in 1947.

By the late 1960s, the company had a number of divisions, more name changes, and the company had crossed over into other products and industries as well, including electric appliances, machine tools, business machines, typewriters, and printers. The company made further divisions for telecommunications in the year 1987 and online Karaoke in the year 1992.

Brother Ventures Into Office Equipment

Brother International Corporation is the United States subsidiary of Brother Industries, and this branch started in the year 1954. Products from Brother Industries range widely today, and include multifunction devices, labelers, label printers, printers, fax machines, garment printers, industrial sewing machines, typewriters, stamp creators, consumer sewing machines, gear motors, and machine tools.

There are many different printers made by Brothers, including laser printers using black and white or color, as well as label printers. Label printers by Brother are used in many shipping departments to help with mailing label printing needs, and these models can print different sized labels when connected to a computer or network.

Brother also makes the P-Touch labeler, which is well known. P-Touch labelers are small devices that are held in the hand, and the user inputs the label information to be printed. The device includes a small label cartridge, and a cutter to cut the label after printing.

Fax machines produced by Brother are found all around the world in both businesses and homes. These machines no longer require huge paper roles or depend on very sluggish modem speeds. Brother makes fax machines that will fit in any budget no matter how big or small, and models can include black and white ink jet technology, color inkjet technology, ribbon transfer technology, and laser technology. Top of the line models normally include high capacity memory, dual paper trays, a high speed modem, high-yield toner cartridges, secure fax reception, and network connectivity.

Brother manufactures multi-function products as well, combining different office equipment that is used frequently into one machine. A device with a Multi-Function Center can incorporate scanning,printing, copying, and faxing into one device that is simple to use. A lot of these products may also have a corded telephone handset in addition to offering wireless or Ethernet connectivity.

Brother continues to make sewing machines as well. The current products are a far cry from the first machines, and today’s machine can include automatic needle threading, LCD displays, and digital controls, among other popular options. There are also embroidery machines equipped with USB ports available.

The corporate headquarters for Brothers International is located in Bridgewater, New Jersey. The annual revenue for the company in the year 2006 alone was one and a half billion dollars, proving that Brother products are popular in the United States for many reasons.