SATO Corporation Expands Human Resources at Overseas Subsidiaries

Expansion of Personnel in Production and Technology Divisions brings Asia Workforce to 276

JAPAN, Nikkan Kogyo Shinbun – August 29, 2003. SATO Corporation has announced that it will expand its overseas operations, increasing employees in overseas subsidiaries with an emphasis on Asia. By March 2004, the company plans to expand its workforce in Asia to 276, an increase of 25 employees, in sales, technology and production divisions. As of June this year, Sato had 59 more employees in sales-related divisions in Asia than it had at March 2002. In the future, Sato aims to increase production volumes in Asia, so the next human resource expansion will centre on production- and technology-related divisions.

In its mid-term management strategy, SATO sets the goal of raising overseas sales to 20 billion yen, from 9.4 billion in fiscal 2002 (ended March 2002), by the close of fiscal 2006. As a part of this plan, in fiscal 2002 the company strengthened its sales capabilities by establishing new sales centres and restructuring its existing sales network in Europe, the United States and the Peoples Republic of China. A total of 59 people, 30 in sales offices, 10 in marketing, and 19 in customer service, were hired. In particular, 31 were added in Europe, where new sales offices and distribution centres were established.

This fall, SATO will commence production in Thailand of consumables, such as labels, and it also plans to build a second factory to begin manufacturing printers from fiscal 2004. These moves are the main reason for the workforce increase in the Asian region. The company will also expand its North American consumables production capabilities in fiscal 2004, and commence production of these goods in Europe in fiscal 2006. As a result, SATO is committed to pursuing further manpower reinforcement in the future.

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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.