Pernix was founded 7 years ago by Gianpaolo Carrer who has great experience in the printer and barcode printer markets. In 2000 he founded Pernix and started collaboration with Printronix Inc. to distribute barcode label printers for use in a large range of applications including industrial, mechanical, electronics, food, clothing, logistics, courier services, and manufacturing.

Pernix imports, distributes, installs and provides technical assistance nationwide for professional systems of printing, bar code label printers, logistics, data collection and automatic identification.

Pernix has worked successfully for several years in the printing label industry in the professional, logistic and warehouse fields. We suggest solutions that include printers, barcode readers, labels, automatic label print apply systems, RFID solutions, and logistic and traceability software.

The main operative headquarters is based in the Northeast of Italy, quite near Venice, in a highly industrialized region, with plenty of enterprises and entrepreneurs providing Italian high technology and products. Pernix operates throughout the country directly through the headquarters close to Venice. A network of resellers and commissioned agents guarantees coverage nationwide.

The working organization is made up of highly qualified personnel with a large knowledge base acquired from experience in the printing and auto ID field. Direct partnerships with some important multinationals, like Argox, guarantee international awareness of new technologies, to foresee and evolve with new trends in advance of the market. The company has grown continually since it was founded thanks to the knowledge and the experience of its highly qualified personnel.

The company's technical assistance has a capillary structure that covers all the country. It is highly qualified and guarantees and satisfies customers on time and with efficiency for all the issues about installation and after-sales.

The direct partnership with the manufacturers and the continuous training courses held at our headquarters grant a deep knowledge of the products and of related maintenance activities. Before each product is distributed, it must be carefully analyzed by technical staff that, in collaboration with the manufacturer, equip the warehouse with spare parts and train the personnel for the laboratory repair and maintenance onsite.

Precise management of the warehouse allows us to always have spare parts available, offering back-up service or substitute machines when needed.

And, of course, we complete the line of the products with consumables. We provide a high quality standard supply of original consumables for impact; laser and thermal transfer printers and we distribute only multi-coated thermal transfer ribbons to provide maximum durability for print heads.

Labels complete the offer, they are realized by an excellent technical staff that studies ideal solutions and personalizes applications from paper label to special 3M supports, UL VDE CSA CE validated labels, and composed modules for laser and thermal transfer.

Partnership with important manufacturers of materials and their deep knowledge of common issues, allow us to satisfy needs of difficult adhesion, mechanical and chemical resistance.

A high quality product "Made in Italy" is guaranteed from the quality control system which starts from raw materials to manufacturing and then packing. Continuous investment in production control systems and constant research and development allow us to offer companies innovative products with high performance that respect Italian and European laws for toxicity. The full product range is always available in stock for immediate delivery with daily shipments all over Italy.

Our customers are mainly large end-users and major accounts working in different environments such as retail, fashion, medical equipment, courier services, etc.

Today we are working with almost 200 large end-users, plus many small and medium companies even if large end-users in Italy are not as big as large end-users in the U.S. Basically in Italy 80- 90% of companies are medium-small and only 10-20% are considered large companies. This creates a fragmented market difficult to provide for and follow in an efficient way.

What are the most popular applications for Argox products in your part of the world?

Thanks to the versatility of Argox printers and the several emulations available, we are able to replace a wide range of competitive printers and take business away from competitors.

Retail applications are the most popular, followed by food industry, electronics, pharmaceuticals and chemicals. We are not focused on a single channel but we apply our efforts to all areas.

We heard you have an interesting warehouse application for an Argox label printer. Can you tell us about it?

Yes, it's for one of the most important European groups producing electrical components. We installed the Argox X-1000 with a PC onto a forklift. The X-1000 was powered with 12V using a special adapter that connected the forklift's battery directly to the motherboard. The operator would reach a location where he would use a barcode reader to read barcodes and then immediately print out labels to replace the old labels.

For the bar code business in your markets, what changes do you expect over the next 5 years?

Everybody is talking about RFID, and we are too. We think that the slow adoption of RFID UHF, especially in Italy, is caused by multiple factors, first of all the usage is limited to indoor applications, and then there are difficulties that companies meet in redesigning the processes for this new technology and evaluating the benefits provided.

This means that we will continue using barcode technology, and RFID will absolutely not replace the barcode, RFID will work together with barcode applications, and will move parallel. We expect benefits in the future, but nobody can say exactly what kind of benefits.

Mainly, companies operating large distribution have to move. If they decide to adopt RFID UHF technology, then RFID will get started. The future means it will be two to three years before we can benefit from RFID solutions. That means we still have to follow standard barcode applications. We believe we will continue to use barcode for the next several years.

What the market needs from printers is connectivity. The new generation of printers should have standard connections such as USB, NET, BT, WI-FI, or the capability to add it on demand. Also we believe printers should be RFID ready for the future. Barcode still represents 100% of our applications, but RFID will happen in the future.

For barcode printers we need mobility and interface capability. We are used to working with end-users and their applications. We install printers with WiFi, so we need that application with Argox printers. I think that would be a good market for the future. Competitors are having many requests for mobility—small printers with a battery and WiFi and it must have wireless inside.

When did you begin doing business with Argox? How did it start?

In 2003 we started to approach Argox printers and test the machines. For us, the emulation was very important and we were able to replace competitors' printers without changing software. Argox did a great job. We tested the X-1000 and X-2000 for several months and we got a good response from the market and from the technical guys. They approved the quality. After that we really have had no problems at all. No mechanical problems, no software problems, nothing. When we requested some improvements, Argox gave us a very, very fast response time. It was incredible. Argox is the top, number one in response time to clear any kind of situation, to help in any kind of problem.

What has impressed you most about doing business with Argox?

Argox has people who react. They are increasing the line with new models. They are able to listen, that's important. So we decided to invest one week of our time and money here in Taipei, because we believe in this company and this market. During the last three years they have maintained what they have promised and, another thing is that they are available 12 hours per day.

Last year we closed a big deal with the X-2000 series: 70 machines was the first order, replacing a competitor's printers with DPL emulation. At the beginning we had a problem with emulation, Argox reacted immediately. We reported the problem on Friday evening and on Monday morning we had a solution. It was incredible. They worked over the weekend for us. We thank them. It was fantastic. I appreciate their work.

To another customer, we sold a G-6000 to replace a competitive printer but the customer sent a claim to us because the printer was too noisy for operating in the office environment. We tested it and the machine was noisy compared to the competitor's machine. We sent a claim to Argox and said to do your best to reduce the noise. Argox changed a mechanical part inside. In two weeks they saved the situation, reduced the noise, made the modification, and sent a modification for all the machines we have installed. It was fantastic. The customers were very happy and he ordered four more machines. To change a mechanical part in two weeks: incredible.

Another thing working with Argox is that they have improved their machines a lot in the past three years, before the quality was good, now it is perfect.

Now we consider Argox a strategic partner. We are preparing to support Argox better, and improve our business together. To inform Argox on the European and Italian markets so they can understand it easily. They are not as close to the market as we are. We are well prepared in the medium-high end of the market. Argox is very strong in the medium-low market. When we combine our experience we can be successful in 100% of the market. Normally I think a company that is producing printers or other machines must approach all the market. We cannot offer to sell to only one segment because we will lose. Our competitors are all selling a complete line, we should do the same.

What do you think of our current sales team?

We think Argox's sales team is very efficient in supporting our demands. Answers are always fast and precise and it is easy to perceive how much everyone loves their job and client satisfaction is their main goal. This allows us to be on the same wavelength to face and solve problems, both commercial and technical.

We decided to work with Argox because of their products, technical support, good staff, good relationships, committed people, and a complete line of products. Argox is becoming one important player for us.

Do you have any suggestions to help Argox improve?

I suggest that Argox improve their marketing related to their company. The Argox brand name is not well-known enough, that's one point. For us it is difficult, everybody knows our competitors, but few know Argox. I understand Argox has done ODM for ten years, but Pernix is selling Argox with its brand name — not relabeled — with its original brand name. For this reason it is important to have a known brand name on the market.

If Argox wants to improve the existing market, opening a reseller channel, they must also raise their marketing activities globally to support the indirect channel. For example they should implement marketing and sales-oriented material, like detailed presentations and descriptions of each product. Argox needs marketing to understand what competitors are doing. We also want to supply Argox with much more information because we are next to the market everyday, and compete against people in the same field.

We have to work together and give Argox as much information as possible, and we expect Argox to do the same. What we need now from Argox, in the near future, are new printers for the medium-high end with full emulation, which would complete the line.