Established in 1940, SATO has built a tradition of innovation and service, first in Japan, and more recently around the world. Our late founder, Yo Sato, was a pioneer in the identification industry – one of the first to produce, in 1962, Hand Labelling Systems to help retailers and manufacturers identify and price products economically.

In 1974 SATO developed the world’s first Thermal Transfer Printer, capable of imprinting barcodes and OCR characters. SATO has gone on to become a global leader in the Automatic Identification and Data Collection (AIDC) industry.

Publicly listed in Japan, with group member companies around the world, SATO’s International (outside of Japan) headquarters are in Singapore. SATO is committed to improving customer productivity and efficiency, with the associated reduction in cost, through our unique business model – Data Collection Systems (DCS) and Labelling, which is at the heart of SATO, and the vision that drives our business.

In January 2006, SATO took a direct position in New Zealand and Australia for the first time, acquiring the barcoding business of Checkpoint. This business had previously been acquired by Checkpoint from Meto in late 1999, and includes Quik Stik International, who pioneered the label industry in New Zealand almost 50 years ago.

Later in the year, in June 2006, SATO further demonstrated our commitment to Oceania by acquiring Walker Datavision, one of New Zealand’s foremost providers of data capture solutions and consumables. Walker Datavision offers complete AIDC solutions, with a strong record of success in system analysis, and software design, development, implementation and support.    As a systems integrator of AIDC solutions, aimed particularly at traceability, Walker Datavision nicely complements SATO’s goal of providing DCS and Labelling around the globe.

Our range of AIDC products and services includes RFID Solutions, Barcode Printers and Consumables, Label Design Software, Handheld Terminals, Mobile Computers, Wireless Infrastructure, Labels, Print Engines, Print & Apply Systems, RF Site Surveys, Variable    Print Bureau and Technical Service and Support.