News

Update on Coronavirus Impact and our Countermeasures

Tokyo, March 23, 2020 – Following from the previous announcement, SATO issues the following update on the current situation regarding the global spread of the coronavirus outbreak, its impact on our Group’s product supply chain and our response.

1. Temporary suspension of operations at our Malaysia factory

With the spread of coronavirus, the Malaysian government announced a two-week travel restriction across the country for companies on March 16 (effective March 18-31). As a result, our Malaysia factory, has been shut down from the 18th, with local staff working from home and operators staying home. The plant is expected to resume operations as soon as the restrictions from the government are lifted. We will continue to monitor the government's official policy and respond accordingly.

2. Impact on our product supply chain

Printers and hardware products

To date, there have been no shortages or delays affecting sales or shipments to customers. We will continue to take every measure to minimize the impact of the shutdown. We are carefully monitoring the risk of prolonged shutdown of our Malaysia factory and the risks associated with operations of other factories. We will take appropriate measures as quickly as possible, promptly reporting on any relevant issues.

Labels and supplies

To date, there has been no impact on the procurement of raw materials or shipment to customers, but production of labels and hardware products have been temporarily suspended at our Malaysia factory. We will take appropriate measures and closely monitor the local situation.

3. Measures for employees

In response to the worldwide spread of infection, we have created the SATO GROUP Global Policy against the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) to prevent infection of employees and prevent the spread of infected individuals and are implementing this globally.

Our basic policy:

Continuation of business activities with the health and safety of employees as top priority

Summary of the global policy:

Working styles:

• Recommendation to work from home
• Recommendation for staggered commuting when possible
• Request to avoid non-urgent business trips
• Request to postpone or cancel non-urgent meetings, exhibitions, seminars, etc.
• Make efforts to keep employee attendance and activity records
• Other items include visits to customers, suppliers and business partners, and what to do when employees or their family members are infected.