Barcode SATO International Establishes New Research & Development (R&D) Team in Singapore

Singapore – March 16, 2004 - Barcode SATO International, a holding company formed in 2001 by SATO Corporation, a public listed company in Japan, today announced the establishment of a new Research & Development (R&D) section specialising in printer firmware customization for the company’s range of automatic identification data capture products and RFID solutions for customers outside of Japan.

Barcode SATO International (BSI), headquartered in Singapore, is already responsible for global sales and marketing operations. The new R&D section will further build out Singapore’s position as the global market window for the company.

“This new section is established as a satellite R&D function with the main R&D function still stationed in Japan, with the objectives of developing, enhancing and customizing the SATO printer firmware to meet the needs of our overseas customers,” explained T. Waki, Managing Director, Barcode SATO International.

“BSI has been expanding steadily over these three years and we are certain that now is the right time to offer this value added service for our customers to help solve their AIDC needs better. This increasingly translates to adapting to customers’ requirements. By setting up this new section, not only is SATO able to offer our customers optimum firmware configuration based on their market needs, we are also able to deliver quicker response time to these requests,” elaborated Mr. Waki.

The automatic identification and data capture market promises to offer increasing value across the supply chain in the coming months and years as RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technologies are developed to complement established barcode systems.

The new R&D section is headed by Mr. Yuji Saito who has more than 12 years of R&D experience. He was recently transferred from SATO Corporation where he started his career with SATO in the automatic label applicator software development team and went on to join the printer software development section.

This move further cements SATO’s commitment to building best-in-class products and services for its customers worldwide and its aim to be the expert of the experts in the Automatic Identification and Data Capture Industry. Beginning with a staff of three, the section is expected to expand quickly in line with BSI’s international market growth.

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About SATO

SATO is a pioneer in the Automatic Identification and Data Collection (AIDC) industry, and the inventor of the world’s first electronic thermal transfer barcode printer. It revolutionised the barcoding industry by introducing the Data Collection System (DCS) and Labelling concept – a total barcode and labelling solutions approach providing high quality barcode printers, scanners/hand held terminals, label design software and consumables. SATO is a public listed company in Japan and has worldwide offices in United States, Germany, United Kingdom, Poland, Belgium, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and China. SATO reported revenues of US$445 million in 2002. SATO stock is traded on first section of Tokyo Stock Exchange. More information can be found at www.sato.co.jp.