Pentel
Pentel Co., Ltd. is a privately held Japanese manufacturing company of stationery products. The company name was derived from the trademark used for one of their first widely known products, a portmanteau of the English words painting and pastel, but has since been interpreted as a combination of the words pen and tell. Pentel is also the inventor of non-permanent marker technology. Most Pentel products are manufactured in Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Brazil, Mexico, and France.
The company is regarded as the inventor of the fibre-tipped pen in 1963. Nowadays, Pentel produces a wide range of products that include writing implements, art materials and office goods.
History
The company was founded in 1946 as "Japan Stationery Limited" in Tokyo by Yukio Horie, with the purpose of manufacturing crayons and pastels. The first products for sale were released in 1951, followed by pencils in 1960. Demand for a Sign Pen was so extraordinary that the Tokyo factories could not supply all requests. The Sign Pen was one of Pentel's most successful products with more than two billion units sold.In 1971 the company changed its name to "Pentel Co. Ltd." and one year later, the green rollerball pen with water-based ink, was launched. Horie remained as President of the company until his death in 2010.
In the 2010s, Pentel launched the "Pocket Brush", a fudepen that used replaceable waterproof
Products
Stationery
Product lines include Sharp Kerry, Sharp P200 series, Multi 8, Twist-Erase, Q-Erase, Quicker Clicker, Graph 1000, Graphgear, Smash, Orenz, OrenzNero ; Ain and Hi-Polymer ; Energel ; Floatune, Vicuña ; RSVP, Pentel Pen, and Sign Pen.Range of products manufactured by Pentel includes:
| Type | Products |
| Writing implements | Rollerball pens, gel pens, ballpoint pens, mechanical pencils, fountain pens, marker pens, highlighters, brush pens,pencils,colour pencils, refills |
| Art materials | Oil pastels, crayons, watercolors |
| Office supplies | Erasers, correction fluids, correction tapes, glues |
Other products
Pentel produces and sells electronic devices and production equipment in addition to stationery.- Electronic equipment – Touch panel, digitizer, touch switch, electronic pen
- Production equipment – for industrial robots, industrial automatic assembly machines, precision dies for injection molding, precision hand presses
- OEM supply – Cosmetic parts, stationery, office supplies, medical equipment