Printronix - History

History

Printronix was founded in 1974 by Robert A. Kleist and business partner Gordon Barrus. Working out of a garage in Playa Del Ray, Calif., the Printronix team developed a revolutionary 300-line-per-minute (LPM) prototype line printer, called the P300 series in just 90 days. At the time, minicomputers were the fastest growing computing segment, and increasing numbers of small businesses were integrating computer systems into their operations. The Printronix group recognized a need for a new type of printer that could accompany the minicomputer into the variety of industrial environments while providing high-speed, high-volume print capacity.

The P300, which introduced "dot matrix" technology to the line printing market. This differed markedly from the printers in use at the time. These were on the whole character band printers, meaning they printed documents one character at a time, much like typewriters. Band printers presented a number of limitations to manufacturers demanding increasing industrial printing capabilities. Band printers could not print graphics, most significantly, could not print bar codes, and were quite expensive. The P300 abandoned serial printing for Printronix's line matrix printing. The P300 translated electronic documents into commands driving a bank of tiny hammers to print small, overlapping dots across an entire line. Merging the dots allowed the P300 to print not only letters and numerals, but also lines, charts, and other graphics. The team developed a new printer technology that could produce multipart printouts, such as invoices, purchase orders, and paychecks, as well as the recently introduced bar coding systems. The P300 was able to print on a variety of paper types; because it used far fewer moving parts than serial printers, it was especially suited to the industrial environment and offered greater durability, easier repair, and high volume capacity.

In 1979, Printronix became the first company in Orange County, Calif., to be publicly traded on the NASDAQ. Throughout the next three decades, Printronix continued to introduce new line matrix printers and extended its industry-leading bar-coding capacity into thermal printing, adding the first in a line of label printers. In the early 1990s, Printronix started development of its Printronix System Architecture (PSA) technology, including an emphasis on developing font sets for the Asian market. By 1993, the company launched the fourth generation of its line matrix technology and, by 1998, it introduced the first line matrix printer to break the 1000 lines per minute barrier.

In January 2008, Printronix was acquired by Vector Capital and became a private company and in 2009 Printronix acquired its closest competitor, TallyGenicom.

After 35 years at the helm, Kleist stepped down as CEO and president turning the reins over to Randy Eisenbach. As chief operating officer, Eisenbach was an instrumental part of the TallyGenicom acquisition team.

As a result of the TallyGenicom acquisition, Printronix now owns the intellectual property for the TallyGenicom line printers. Printronix is able to resell TallyGenicom branded serial matrix and laser printers, supplies and consumables.

This agreement also positioned Printronix to expand into fast-growing markets such as China, India, Africa and the Middle East. Following the acquisition, Printronix launched the first branded TallyGenicom 6600 next generation series of line matrix printers in May 2011. The 6600 family offers print speeds of up to 2,000 lines per minute.

Today, the company offers the Printronix and TallyGenicom brands in industrial, back office, supply chain printing, manufacturing, distribution, retail, banking, healthcare, government and other industries across the globe. Printronix and TallyGenicom printers are used in high-volume print, supply chain and financial processes to produce invoices, bank statements, product shipment and transportation documentation as well as product compliance labels.

The combined brand portfolios include line matrix, thermal and RFID printers, and service management solutions.