Sato shops for VARs

Following the launch of its Prestige Partner Programme (PPP) in April 2010 across Europe, Sato International Europe, vendor of bar-coding, labelling, data collection and Automatic Identification and Data Capture (AIDC) products, is calling for new business partners with to strengthen its network of VARs across Europe.
Sato managing director Brian Lang says the firm can help resellers grow their business within the niche AIDC sector. “Within the three tiers of the European SATO Prestige Partner Programme [Affiliate, Champion and Premier] we are looking for business partners that have market specialisation within our key sectors, and the specific expertise and technical skill required to build and deliver these solutions as part of their overall package,” says Lang.
However, Lang says the firm doesn’t have specific targets for the number of resellers it wants to recruit “because of the different size and capacity of resellers it is difficult to compare like to like.” He says instead Sato has “a number of ambitious internal targets which represent how much we want to grow the business by in certain vertical market sectors.”
In return, Lang says the vendor can offer VARs “a partnership with a company that has a respectable market share and continued sales growth, an extensive range of products and services that can add significant value and attractive margin opportunities for their business, and high-quality support on a local level due to the fact that we have people across Europe delivering sales and technical support and advice.”
The vendor currently has around 100 channel partners in the UK, and Lang tells Channel Pro: “We are very much focused on building on that number at Champion and Premier Partner status.”
The firm’s products range includes thermal barcode and RFID printers, hand labelling systems, consumables, software and connectivity solutions for key sectors including retail, industrial and manufacturing, healthcare, transportation & logistics and government.