Brother Sales Co., Ltd. (President: Yasui Koichi), a domestic sales subsidiary of Brother Industries, Ltd. (President: Ichiro Sasaki), collaborates with Oita Godo Shimbun Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Oita City, Oita Prefecture; President: Nagano Keiichi) to remotely print printers^*1A demonstration test of a newspaper distribution service using the function will begin in early June.

In collaboration with the Oita Godo Shimbun, Brother will conduct a demonstration experiment to distribute newspaper data published by the Oita Godo Shimbun with a printer for monitor households selected from newspaper subscribers in the 3 regions within Oita prefecture from the beginning of 2024/6. By lending and installing Brother printers capable of remote printing from a remote location to monitor households, monitors can browse newspapers that are automatically printed from the loaned printer. In the demonstration experiment, we will verify whether it is possible to reduce the workload and cost of newspaper delivery in depopulated areas such as mountainous areas while responding to the needs of subscribers who “want to read newspapers on paper.” At the same time, we will verify newspaper data suitable for distribution and verify the stability of system operation.
Brother will explore the possibility of a new business model utilizing printing technology through this demonstration experiment.

You can view the concept of this demonstration experiment on video. (This video is on YouTube)

In an interview with the Oita Godo Shimbun, which Brother conducted in advance during the demonstration experiment, I heard that it is a major issue that regions where it is difficult to maintain newspaper delivery due to the increase in depopulated areas due to the declining birthrate and aging population and the associated decrease in newspaper subscribers have declined. As depopulation progresses and the number of subscribers decreases, delivery costs per case increase, making it difficult to continue business in that region. Drone delivery experiments are also being carried out, but I heard that it is difficult to immediately connect it to the business. A digital edition of the Oita Godo Shimbun has also been published, but since it is impossible to fulfill the requests of many elderly subscribers in depopulated areas to “read newspapers on paper,” Brother examined solutions utilizing Brother's remote printing function in order to resolve bottlenecks for both businesses and customers based on these issues.

The Oita Godo Shimbun, which is collaborating in this demonstration experiment, publishes the Oita Godo Shimbun, the only prefectural newspaper in Oita prefecture, and has set “thorough community-based” as its corporate philosophy, and has continued to create newspapers closely related to the local community since it was first published in Meiji 19.
It aims to be a future creation enterprise with bases in various parts of the prefecture and pursues comprehensive information media that is responsible for Oita's information and culture, and promotes community-based contact not only through reporting, but also through events and various businesses. In order to realize our corporate motto “Enrich Oita Prefecture,” we are also proceeding with SDGs initiatives and future projects for Oita.