SATO Europe Appoints New Managing Director

SINGAPORE – December 15, 2003 – Barcode SATO International Pte Ltd. (BSI), the holding company for SATO Corporation’s overseas sales offices, today announced the appointment of Patrick Frimat as the new Managing Director for one of its group member companies, SATO Europe NV.

Mr. Frimat’s responsibilities include spearheading growth and establishing a greater presence for SATO Europe. His immediate primary focus will be on further strengthening SATO’s service level to its customers in Europe.

Said Mr. Frimat: “SATO has always been recognized by our customers and business partners as a friendly and easy company to work with. This is what we believe sets SATO Europe apart from the other AIDC providers. With this vision, I also plan on expanding our Brussels office, focusing on the technical and marketing departments to bring more presence and support to our partners. We want to offer all our customers and partners an unmatched level of expertise for total identification solutions including hardware, software and consumables.”

Backing Mr. Frimat’s solid plans is his extensive technical experience garnered from the key positions he has held in various multinational companies. For a period of seven years, he served Axiohm Transactions, an established company in the specialty printer business, offering solutions ranging from OEM print module to complete lines of package products Solutions.
Starting off as a project leader with the engineering division, Mr. Frimat eventually rose to become Vice President of North American Sales. In this position, Mr. Frimat developed sales support and channels in North America, implemented successful customer relations management campaigns, and boosted revenues to an impressive record in the industry. Later, Mr Frimat went on to share his expertise with a wholly-owned subsidiary of Axiohm, Cognitive Solutions Inc., located in Golden, Colorado.

Cognitive Solutions develops desktop and mobile barcode printers and media (labels) and other identification solutions. Mr. Frimat was responsible for the coordination of the merger of Axiohm’s barcode printer division (based in Paso Robles, California) and the label/media division (based in Golden, Colorado). He was in charge of new product lines and offerings, and promptly directed this new division to enjoy an impressive increase in revenue worldwide.

Barcode SATO International’s Managing Director, Mr. Waki, comments that “SATO Europe has enjoyed a strong presence in Europe and we are very excited with the appointment of Mr. Frimat as the new Managing Director. Having worked and travelled extensively in France and US, Mr. Frimat will definitely be able to serve the European market well. More importantly, we are certain that SATO Europe will be under great leadership, benefiting from Mr. Frimat’s in-depth AIDC knowledge and technical skills, as well as his extensive sales and marketing knowledge. SATO has been and still is, very committed and focused in developing our overseas markets. We believe Mr. Frimat will be able to serve our European customers and business partners well.”

Mr. Frimat holds two Masters Degrees in Electrical Engineering, from the University of California and the École Supérieure d’Électricité (Supélec) of France. He is a French citizen but is effectively bilingual in French and English. He was also awarded the “Lavoisier” Scholarship by the French Government. He can be reached at 32 (0)-2-788-80-00 or Patrick.frimat@sato-europe.com.

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About Barcode SATO International (BSI)

Barcode SATO International (BSI), the global sales headquarters of SATO Corporation, is a world leader of automatic identification products including barcode printers. BSI was incorporated in 2001 to oversee and support sales, marketing and customer service activities at all group member companies. As part of its expansion plans, BSI is rapidly strengthening its own team, as well as that of its overseas group member companies. BSI is the driving force behind SATO Corporation’s global branding strategy and expansion into new markets and territories.


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.