Resellers have often commented on how much they liked our R-400 barcode printer. Even so, many could not carry the R-400 since it requires ribbons coated on the inside, which are different than the outside coated ribbons these resellers stock. This has long been an issue with standard 360 meter ribbons—there are users for both types of coating. Now Argox provides a printer for both. Our R-400 printer uses inside coated ribbons, and the new R-400K printer uses outside coated ribbons. The R-400K printer solves the headache for resellers who only stock ribbons with the outside coating.

In addition to using 360 meter outside coated ribbons for its industry-standard 6-inch OD media capacity, the R-400K has a fast print speed of 6ips, and is based on a 32-bit CPU for superior performance and efficient 2MB RAM and 1MB Flash memory for faster form processing.

Argox is phasing out the AS-8210 near range scanner in favor of the AS-8250 long range scanner. The AS-8250 provides customers with more benefits, including a 200mm scanning range, smaller size, and greater cost effectiveness.

Attendance at the CeBIT show in March was down compared with previous years. The ease of obtaining information on the Internet has made its impact felt, as it has on many recent trade shows. Argox stood out at the show since we were the only barcode printer and scanner manufacturer with a booth. While attendees stopping by were relatively few, the discussions we had were meaningful—the serious visitors still came to the show. Some observations are that Eastern European attendance continues to climb, and interest in wireless scanners is growing. Argox plans to be there next year, since we believe that meeting directly with customers and potential customers is still the best way to do business.

This was the second year Argox exhibited at the March Labelshow in Moscow. The show specializes in AIDC products, and we were one of 200 exhibitors. Many distributors/resellers came to our booth for product inquiries. Visitors came from places such as Italy and Siberia and industries such as health care and food processing. We could see the Argox brand is becoming well-known in Russia and Eastern Europe, and these areas have great potential as future markets for Argox. We were told the weather was unusually cold this year, but success at the exhibition and building new partnerships brought its own warmth to the Argox booth. We wish to give a special thanks to our many good friends in Russia who provided great support during our stay in Moscow.

In 1999 Argox began to face the challenges of hiring more people. Employees numbered less than 30 and there was still no company culture to speak of. The partners talked about creating a unique company personality. Over a series of discussions they decided that over the next few years they would try and shape the company so that it would represent the following three characteristics: energetic, friendly, and great customer support.

The partners did not want to emphasize hi-tech or high quality, because today customers take that as a given. They didn't want the company to be thought of in the same way as a typical big-time supplier, demanding orders from customers. They were not pushing for fast growth; they thought it should happen naturally.

With these three values—energetic, friendly, and great customer support—the partners started to build a company culture. First, they knew that selecting the right people was the key to building a great organization, and they began to find people who were energetic and friendly. Next, the partners tried to nurture attitudes and behavior and would often stay close to employees to make sure they upheld the desired values. This was often difficult for the partners, since Taiwan management styles tend to be tough. The partners are also straightforward, technical types, which made it even harder. But friendliness is behavior they would need to personally demonstrate for it to become part of the company culture. Needless to say a lot of time was spent on internal communication. This was the challenge, but is Argox there yet? We leave the answer to our readers—have we succeeded in becoming an energetic, friendly company with great customer support? We welcome your comments and suggestions.