Shima Seiki Mfg., Ltd. has accepted investments from Fast Retailing Co., Ltd. in its wholly owned subsidiary, Innovation Factory Co., Ltd., and changed the subsidiary into a joint-venture company.
The equity share is 51% for Shima Seiki and 49% for Fast Retailing.Innovation Factory will carry out joint developments and the manufacture of high-quality, value-added WholeGarment knit products with an aim at establishing a new production system utilizing knit production technologies.
Innovation Factory was originally established in December 2015 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Shima Seiki, and a factory for manufacturing WholeGarment products commenced operations in April this year. The joint venture will now produce WholeGarment products for the Fast Retailing Group, principally UNIQLO.
In the future, Innovation Factory is expected to function as the lead factory in the production of innovative knit products for the Fast Retailing Group.