Formerly known as Singapore Time Pte Ltd, the company was established on 12 September 1973, the first overseas subsidiary of the Seiko Instruments Inc., Japan. The Company started as a first fully integrated watch manufacturer which handled the complete manufacturing and assembling processes from the commercial raw material to the finished products. In 1974, a total of 89 employees were trained in the then Daini Seikosha of Japan on the different types of skills for the mass production of watches. The Company went into production towards the end of 1974. On 19 March 1976, the Company was officially opened by the then Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew. In 1988, the Company was renamed Seiko Instruments Singapore Pte Ltd (SIS) – reflecting an expanded outlook and the new corporate identity of the Seiko Instruments Group.

Initially, ladies’ watches, children’s watches and stop watches were assembled. With the passage of time, the sophistication of the industry is emphasized. The parent company, Seiko Instruments Inc. (SII) Japan, has diversified interests in different products. Printers, Network Components and Scientific Instruments are examples of product diversification which joined the SIS family.

Printer Manufacturing Division was first established in Singapore as Micro Device Singapore Pte Ltd (MDS) in 1997 as one of the overseas thermal printer manufacturers for the print system. MDS merged with SIS as one family in 2000.

In 1990, Instruments Technology (Johor) Sdn. Bhd (INTECH) in Larkin, Johor was set up as a subsidiary of SIS. With the increase in the transference of labour intensive processes from SIS, INTECH expanded with two more buildings at Tebrau, Johor in April 2001 and December 2003 respectively.

In 2006, a research and development base was established in Singapore to conduct joint research with national research institutes under Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR).