EIKI (pronounced "A-key") Industrial Co. Ltd. was formed in Osaka, Japan in 1953 to manufacture and market audiovisual equipment. The name is derived from the combination of two Japanese words: "EI" which means "picture", and “KI” which means "machine". EIKI is, literally, the "picture machine" company. Each of the four founding partners brought his own special, complimentary skills to the organization ... engineering, manufacture, sales and finance ... resulting in a company with an extremely sound foundation. The Company decided to concentrate on 16mm film projectors, and within a decade had established the EIKI brand domestically as a superior product. With this success, the EIKI Company began forming export links with OEM distributors around the world. The EIKI Company has been responsible for many innovative breakthroughs, perhaps the most dramatic being the modularization of the 16mm projector. Since inception the projector had become not only more sophisticated, but also more complicated and costly to manufacture and maintain. Applying simple concepts, EIKI engineers designed a projector that utilized about half the moving parts of popular projectors of the day, and put 80% of those moving parts on 4 modules (sub-assemblies). The result was a projector that cost less to manufacture, was far more reliable, and much easier to repair than any other. This focus on quality made EIKI the largest selling 16mm projector in the world, and is the cornerstone of the Company. A new factory was built around the modular design concept which permitted a dramatic increase in productivity. Meanwhile, a sophisticated sales network was established across Japan, and an export infrastructure created to support worldwide distribution. In 1974 EIKI opened EIKI International, Inc. to distribute its products in the United States. In 1986, the Company acquired the business unit of the Bell & Howell company that had originated the audio visual industry some 50 years earlier. In 1988, EIKI Canada was created as a subsidiary of EIKI International, Inc. And in 1995, EIKI Deutschland, GmbH. became the Company's first wholly-owned European office. Since 1997 EIKI Czech started its operations in Central and Eastern Europe aimed at establishing a network of EIKI dealers all over the area. Today the EIKI brand can be found on both traditional audio visual products such as overhead projectors and audio cassette recorders, and newer technologies such as liquid crystal video and computer data projectors. Wherever it's found, it's a promise of quality. EIKI supplies data/video projectors, LCD displays, EIKI Control System and AV equipment.