In many industries, people don’t give label printing much thought. They simply print, stick and forget. One notable exception is Edward Lee, senior manager at Argox. As the project lead on the new Argox AIP range, Lee and his team have spent the past two years thinking about little else but label printing.
Their thinking has been informed at every stage by feedback from Argox customers, and this is apparent in the capabilities of the AIP series of label printers from Argox – a new generation of barcode printers designed with multiple sectors very much in mind.
The changing face of label printing
Argox has always been highly attuned to what its customers are looking for, and the changing nature of conversations around label and barcode printing has influenced the capabilities and design of the AIP series. Speed and reliability are taken as read, while questions around price point have now coalesced around cost-effectiveness and added value.
Efficient business processes demand failsafe connectivity and easy integration into existing systems architecture. This is a further illustration of the shift in emphasis from unit cost to total cost of ownership. Barcode printers from Argox that offer plug-and-play functionality save users the most precious commodity of all: time.
Not the last step, but every step
Label printers have traditionally been seen as the last step in a multistep process, the culmination of which is the production of a label using data that the printer has been fed. Today’s label printers are an integral part of business information flows rather than a snapshot of the data available at any given moment.
A label printer for every business
In developing the AIP series, Argox has been mindful that no two businesses are the same – and this extends to the specifications they require from a label printer. This insight lay behind the inclusion of different resolutions across the models in the range, with customers able to select the dots-per-inch (DPI) level that best matches the level of detail they need.
It’s a question of balancing cost against specifications, and avoiding two common traps: paying for over-specification and under-investing in a labelling solution by focusing purely on the sticker price.
As South Africa continues to embrace e-commerce, and the country’s logistics sector expands at pace, the requirements of these industries have been key drivers in the development of the barcode printers in the Argox AIP series.
Parameters such as stock-keeping unit (SKU) volumes, speed of turnover and the need to ensure traceability at every stage of the delivery journey are accelerating barcode printer innovation, while manufacturers are looking to solutions providers such as Argox to help them manage inventory, reduce shrinkage and tackle the proliferation of brand-eroding counterfeit goods.
The AIP series from Argox in detail
To meet these needs, Argox has drawn on its decades of experience in label printing to deliver a range of printers that offer a choice of resolutions to suit each customer’s needs.
In addition, Argox has emphasised driver compatibility (including with Windows and BarTender software) to ease integration into existing set-ups. Direct font downloading to the printer memory saves time compared with standard bitmap conversion, while specialised encoding capabilities are delivered by built-in support for a variety of label stocks and select tracking or radio-frequency identification (RFID) encoding.
Each AIP series label printer from Argox comes with advanced status monitoring, so users are always aware of performance metrics and can address any issues before they become problems.
It’s this combination of compatibility and innovation that equips the Argox AIP series label printers for customers’ current and future needs. As Lee advises, potential customers should view their printer purchases over a longer time horizon and ask how their investment will serve the needs of their enterprises in three to five years’ time.
Unconventional wisdom
In the same way that the good is the enemy of the great, Lee maintains that purchasing any technology – and especially label printers – based solely on current needs could prove to be a limiting factor. Instead, the Argox AIP series offers South African companies barcode printers that will support future opportunities and remove obstacles to growth rather than put restrictions in place.
In short, the Argox AIP series of label printers brings future-proof integration, connectivity, flexibility and ease of use to multiple industry sectors, meeting customers’ needs today while allowing for growth tomorrow.
You can experience the Argox AIP series and explore the capabilities of these barcode label printers at the Kemtek GT 2026 Connected Intelligence Tour in Durban, Cape Town and Johannesburg in October 2026.
For more information, contact Riaan de Koker, auto-ID product manager at Kemtek, by e-mail at [email protected] or on +27 (0)11 624 8030. Connect with him on LinkedIn.
