TransAct Technologies Incorporated (TransAct) is a global leader in developing and selling software-driven technology and printing solutions for high-growth markets including food service technology, point of sale (‘POS’) automation and casino and gaming.
The company’s products are designed from the ground up based on market and customer requirements and are sold under the BOHA!, AccuDate, Epic, EPICENTRAL, and Ithaca brand names. During 2019, the company launched a new line of products for the...
TransAct Technologies Incorporated (TransAct) is a global leader in developing and selling software-driven technology and printing solutions for high-growth markets including food service technology, point of sale (‘POS’) automation and casino and gaming.
The company’s products are designed from the ground up based on market and customer requirements and are sold under the BOHA!, AccuDate, Epic, EPICENTRAL, and Ithaca brand names. During 2019, the company launched a new line of products for the food service technology market, the BOHA! hardware solutions and companion branded suite of cloud-based applications. The BOHA! software and hardware products help restaurants, convenience stores and food service operators of all sizes automate the food production in the back-of-house operations. Known and respected worldwide for innovative designs and real-world service reliability, the company’s thermal printers and terminals generate top-quality labels, coupons and transaction records such as receipts, tickets and other documents.
The company sells its technology to original equipment manufacturers (‘OEMs’), value-added resellers, and select distributors, as well as directly to end users. The company’s product distribution spans across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, the Caribbean Islands and the South Pacific. The company also offers service, support, labels, spare parts, accessories and printing supplies to the company’s growing worldwide base of products in use by the company’s customers. Through the company’s TransAct Services Group (‘TSG’), the company provides a complete range of supplies and consumables used in the printing activities of customers in the restaurant and hospitality, retail, casino and gaming, and government markets. Through the company’s webstore, www.transactsupplies.com, and the company’s direct selling team, the company addresses the demand for these products.
The company operates in one reportable segment: the design, development, and marketing of software-driven technology and printing solutions for high growth markets; and provides related services, supplies and spare parts. The company’s primary operating, hardware research and development, and U.S. service center is located in Ithaca, New York. In addition, the company has a casino and gaming sales headquarters and software research and development center in Las Vegas, Nevada; a European sales and service center at the company’s subsidiary in the United Kingdom (‘U.K.’); and a sales office located in Macau, China.
In the fourth quarter of 2023, the company completed an asset sale of its Printrex product line.
Products, Services, Markets and Distribution Methods
Printers, Terminals and Other Hardware
TransAct designs, develops and markets a broad array of transaction-based and specialty printers and terminals utilizing thermal printing technology for applications, primarily in the food service technology, POS automation, and casino and gaming markets. The company’s printers and terminals are configurable and offer customers the ability to choose from a variety of features and functions. Options typically include interface configuration, mounting configuration, paper cutting devices and paper handling capacities. The company’s food service technology terminals also offer software configurable menu options and the company’s food service technology market includes sales of optional hardware products, including tablets, temperature sensors and gateways (i.e. access points needed to enable wireless communications).
Food Service Technology (‘FST’)
The company’s primary offering in the food service technology market is the company’s line of BOHA! products, which can combine its latest generation terminal and workstation which includes one or two printers and the company’s BOHA! labeling, timers, and media software. In addition, customers may individually purchase cloud-based software applications that connect to a separate application on a separate mobile device into a solution to automate back-of-house operations in restaurants, convenience stores and food service operations. The additional software offering of BOHA! consists of a variety of individually purchased software-as-a-service (‘SaaS’)-based applications for both Android and iOS operating systems, including applications for, temperature monitoring, temperature taking and creating checklists and task lists. These applications are sold separately, and customers purchase the applications they need for their back-of-house operations. Customers may also purchase associated hardware, such as tablets, temperature sensors and gateways. The BOHA! Terminal and newly-launched Terminal 2 combine an operating system and hardware components in a device that includes a touchscreen and one or two thermal print mechanisms that print easy-to-read food rotation labels, grab-and-go labels, and nutritional labels for prepared foods, and ‘enjoy by’ date labels. The BOHA! WorkStation uses an iPad or Android tablet instead of an integrated touchscreen. The BOHA! Terminal, Terminal 2 and WorkStation are equipped with the TransAct Enterprise Management System to ensure that only approved touchscreen functions are available on the touchscreen device and to allow over-the-air updates to the operating system. BOHA! helps food service establishments and restaurants (including fine dining, casual dining, fast casual and quick-service restaurants, convenience stores, hospitality establishments and contract food service providers) effectively manage food safety and grab-and-go initiatives, as well as automate and manage back-of-house operations. Recurring revenue from BOHA! is generated by software sales, including software subscriptions that are typically charged to customers annually on a per-application basis, as well as sales of labels, extended warranty and service contracts, and technical support services. In the food service technology market, the company uses an internal sales force to solicit sales directly from end users.
In May 2023, the company launched its new BOHA! Terminal 2 (the ‘T2’). The T2 is designed to be a high-end product intended for enterprise customers with increased speed, print resolution and wide-label capability. The company started receiving orders for the T2 in the latter part of 2023 from both the company’s international and domestic markets.
POS Automation
In the POS market, the company sells a printer utilizing thermal printing technology. The company’s POS printer is used primarily by McDonald’s, and to a lesser extent, other quick-service restaurants and are located either at the checkout counter or within self-service kiosks, to print receipts for consumers or print on linerless labels. In the POS market, the company primarily sells its products through a network of domestic and international distributors and resellers. The company uses an internal sales force to manage sales through its distributors and resellers, as well as to solicit sales directly from end-users.
Casino and Gaming
The company sells several models of printers used in slot machines and video lottery terminals (‘VLTs’) and other gaming machines that print tickets or receipts instead of issuing coins (‘ticket-in, ticket-out’ or ‘TITO’) at casinos, racetracks and other gaming venues worldwide. These printers utilize thermal printing technology to print tickets and receipts in monochrome and offer various other features such as jam resistant bezels and a dual port interface that enables casinos to print coupons and promotions.
In addition, the company sells printers using thermal roll-fed printing technology for use in international non-casino establishments, including game types such as Amusements with Prizes, Skills with Prizes, Fixed Odds Betting Terminals, sports betting establishments and other off-premise gaming type machines around the world. The company sells its casino and gaming products primarily (1) to slot machine manufacturers, who incorporate the company’s printers into slot machines and, in turn, sell completed slot machines directly to casinos and other gaming establishments and (2) through distributors. The company also maintains a dedicated internal sales force to solicit sales from slot machine manufacturers and casinos, and to manage sales through the company’s distributors. In the fourth quarter of 2023, the company launched the Epic TR80, its newest casino and gaming printer, which will help the company retain and expand its customer base in the casino and gaming markets.
The company also offers a software solution, the EPICENTRAL Print System, including annual software maintenance, that enables casino operators to create promotional coupons and marketing messages and to print them in real time at the slot machine. With EPICENTRAL, casinos can utilize the system to create multiple promotions and incentives to either increase customer time spent on the casino floor or encourage additional visits to generate more revenue to the casinos.
TSG
Through TSG, the company proactively markets the sale of consumable products (including POS receipt paper, ribbons and other printing supplies), replacement parts, maintenance and repair services, and shipping and handling charges. The company’s maintenance services include the sale of extended warranties, multi-year maintenance contracts, a 24-hour guaranteed replacement product service called TransAct Xpress and other repair services for the company’s non-FST products. Within the United States, the company provides repair services through its service center in Ithaca, New York. Internationally, the company provides repair services through its European service center located in Doncaster, the U.K., and through partners strategically located around the world.
The company also provides customers with telephone sales and technical support, and a personal account representative to handle orders, shipping and general information. Technical and sales support personnel receive training on all the company’s products and services. In addition to personalized telephone and technical support, the company markets and sells consumable products 24 hours a day, seven days a week, via the company’s webstore, www.transactsupplies.com.
Patents and Proprietary Information
As of January 31, 2024, the company held 26 active United States patents and 29 active foreign patents and had seven foreign patent applications and two U.S. patent applications pertaining to the company’s products. The remaining duration of these patents ranges from one to 25 years. During the year ended December 31, 2023, no U.S. patents were issued and two foreign patents were issued. During the year ended December 31, 2023, one United States patent expired and one foreign patent expired.
Trademarks, Service Marks Trade Names and Copyrights
The company owns or has rights to trademarks, service marks, trade names and copyrights that the company uses in connection with the operation of its business, including the company’s corporate names, logos and website names. The trademarks the company owns include TransAct, BOHA!, AccuDate, EPICENTRAL and Ithaca.
Certain Significant Customers
IGT (International Gaming Technology) is the company’s most significant customer. The company sells casino and gaming printers and, prior to 2021, online lottery printers to IGT. Although the company no longer have an agreement to sell lottery printers to IGT, the company expects to continue selling casino and gaming printers to IGT, as well as spare parts for the company’s remaining, but declining, installed base of lottery printers, in the future.
Sales to IGT represented 15% of the company’s total net sales for the year ended December 31, 2023.
Competition
In the food service technology market, the company primarily competes with CrunchTime! Information Systems, Inc. (including its Zenput and Squadle brands), Jolt Software, Avery Dennison Corporation, Ecolab Inc., ITD Food Safety, CMC Daymark, Integrated Control Corp, Digi International, and Toast.
In the POS automation market, the company primarily competes with Epson America, Inc., which holds a dominant market position. The company also competes, to a much lesser extent, with BIXOLON America, Inc., Star Micronics America, Inc. and Citizen - CBM America Corporation.
In the casino and gaming market (principally consisting of slot machine printing, VLT and sports betting transaction and promotional coupon printing), the company competes with several companies, including JCM Global, Nanoptix, Inc., Custom Engineering SPA, Eurocoin, and others.
Research and Development
The company recorded $9.4 million of research and development expenses in 2023.
History
TransAct Technologies Incorporated was founded in 1996. The company was incorporated in 1996.
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