The technology that forms the core of ECOSYS is the amorphous silicon drum. Kyocera Mita was the first to utilise this drum in small business printers in place of the OPC drum type that had been used in printers and copiers up until that time. Compared to the OPC drum, which consumes surface resin at a fast pace, the hardness of amorphous silicon drums allow a lifespan 30 to 50 times longer. OPC drums require changing after 30,000 to 50,000 printed pages, whereas the amorphous silicon drum does not require changing until 300,000 to 500,000 pages of print.

Because it is a "toner only" design it greatly reduces the effort and time required in the business world for changing parts. However, at that time amorphous silicon drums were only for large-format machines, and in making their use available for small-format business printers several issues had to be addressed. The development project was able to resolve these numerous issues and achieve commercialisation of the product.

 

What kept the project in high spirits were the decisive words of the management team: "The environment will become an important consideration from now on". We want to provide our unique, superlative technology as was used in the amorphous silicon drum to as many people as possible in the form of our products. This line of thinking was connected to the release of the First ECOSYS Printer.