Ferguson, who has been director of ProGraphics at the Epson Europe business for nine years, has now stepped up to the expanded role of executive director, professional printing and robotics.

Epson has more than 55,000 robots installed at factories worldwide, and aims to grow that part of its business into a ¥100bn (£770m) operation within the next decade. It is currently ranked eighth in the top ten of robotics manufacturers.

Ferguson said there was “considerable technology transfer” between the firm’s inkjet printing and robotics R&D and added that the firm’s Surepress inkjet label press already incorporated Epson’s own robotic technology.

“Our specialism is in small, very precise robots used for precision manufacturing” Ferguson said. “We have some highly accurate sensing technology that is able to handle fragile parts.”

Ferguson said that potential printing industry applications for the Epson technology included the logistics of moving between one process and another.

“Processes and the gaps in between processes are areas of interest,” he added. “It’s not always the case that robotics will speed things up, but it is 99.9% reliable so the error rate is much lower, and a robot will run all day.”

Epson robots typically cost between €10,000-€30,000 (£8,700-£26,000) depending on the type of sensing and controller technology being used.

Epson Europe’s robotics business currently has sales of circa €25m and is “growing fast” at around 10% a year, Ferguson said.

Rob Clark, senior vice president of Epson Europe, said: “Duncan’s appointment strengthens our senior team at a time when we are growing our business across all sectors.”

The Japanese manufacturer is investing €50m in expanding its European presence with plans in place to open four new offices on the continent in Berlin, Munich, Lisbon and Madrid.

Epson’s EMEA business employs 1,700 staff and had sales of €1.6bn in 2015.