SATO Corporation, Japan, was established in 1940 to manufacture and sell packaging machinery. The U.S. subsidiary was established in 1977 and eventually became SATO America, Inc. in 1987.

Since SATO's 1979 introduction of the world's first thermal transfer barcode printer, SATO has continued to be in the forefront of thermal printing technologies. The company's product line includes direct thermal and thermal transfer printers, OEM print engines, printer accessories, label design software, labels and thermal transfer ribbons. Today, SATO continues its tradition of designing and manufacturing high quality industrial printers that deliver reliable performance with each print job.

In anticipation of U.S. retailer and government RFID adoption mandates, in 2006 SATO America began working to integrate RFID into bar code labels and the company's line of tabletop and OEM printers.