The history of AUTEC's achievements in a variety of fields
The wave of audio digitization started to loom in the late 1970s. Audio-Technica, already a world leader in stereo cartridges, sought to break into domains other than audio equipment that would lead the new era. One employee had an idea that matched the approach of the president of the time, Hideo Matsushita: "aiming for original ideas and technology". This resulted in the creation of the Nigirikko home-use sushi maker. The device, which was later patented, was a precursor to rice mat makers around the world. After that, we shifted from home to business and expanded our lineup, establishing AUTEC as the face of Audio-Technica's commercial rice processing brand. Thanks to clean construction and low prices paired with made in Japan quality, our products are used in 50 countries across the globe.
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1984
Taking on new challenges outside audio equipment manufacturing and technology, employee ideas led to the creation of the ASM50 Nigirikko home-use sushi maker, released under the AUTEC brand.
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1985
Completed the fully-equipped commercial Sushi Maker ASM300. Other companies had released large, cumbersome models, but the ASM300 focused on clean, simple design for a compact, low-cost machine.
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1991
Released the commercial Sushi Maker ASM380, which we refined according to customer feedback. Constructed for ease of use, disassembly and cleaning that was well-received, making it a massive hit. Released the automatic vinegared rice mat maker ASM700. Released the commercial Onigiri Maker ASM500.
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1993
Released the compact, tabletop nori roll machine, the Norimaki Maker ASM800.
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1996
Released the commercial Sushi Maker ASM390.
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2000
“Released the nori roll cutter ASM200.
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2001
Released the automatic alignment Sushi Maker ASM3010.
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2006
Released the commercial Sushi Maker ASM410.
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2008
Released the Multi-Nigiri Maker ASM545S, a multi-functional machine capable of making onigiri, rice mats and makunouchi.
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2009
Released the stylish and compact commercial Sushi Maker ASM405.
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2012
Released the commercial rice mat maker ASM780 for perfect vinegared rice with simple operation.
Released the safe and efficient electric Norimaki Cutter ASM250.
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2013
Released the commercial nori roll machine, Norimaki Maker ASM880, with simple operations and flexible settings.
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2015
Released the commercial Norimaki Maker ASM865 for rice mat making.
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2017
Released the high-performance commercial Sushi Maker ASM430 with the industry's first Double Work Mode.
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2018
Released the manual Norimaki Maker ASA190.
Began development of our OBENTO recipes as a part of content provision.
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2019
Released the automatic alignment Sushi Maker ASM460.
*All models and years indicated are for Japanese models.
