Varlink's 8th annual Meet the Manufacturer event a triumph

Varlink's 8th annual Meet the Manufacturer (MTM) event was a major success attracting a record number of reseller partners on Wednesday 27th February to the Hilton hotel Warwick. MTM has become a key date in many resellers' diaries with nearly a 40% increase in attendance numbers compared to 2012.

Gavin Sever Business Manager for Brother, who were the Main Event Sponsor, commented that "This year's MTM was a fantastic success. Our stand was noticeably busier than previous years, and the delegates were of an extremely high-calibre."

Eric Hardman, Business Development Manager at Mallon Technology described his experience "As a first time visitor to MTM, Varlink's event allowed me to engage directly with key vendors providing me with the opportunity for a hands-on review of the latest solutions. MTM13 took the guesswork out of product portfolio selection as Varlink stock industry leading brands for rugged hardware and solutions and are now our distribution partner of choice."

MTM13 welcomed a multitude of new suppliers including Extricom, designer and manufacturer of an award-winning enterprise Wireless LAN system, and SOTI who displayed their Enterprise Mobile Device Management solution through an interactive demonstration.

New to the UK and exclusive to Varlink, Gen2Wave showcased the RP1100 low cost but high specification rugged PDA which is 30% smaller and lighter than other full featured rugged PDAs. The highly competitive TS3 and VR7 rugged Smartphones from SEALS, and MioWORK's range of pocket sized tablets were debuted.

Also new to the UK, Q-Guide launched their queue management solutions; the Q-Guide 200, Q-Guide 400 and 400+, a system which turns any queue from chaos to order, ideal for retail markets, small public areas, dental practises and pharmacies.

EPoS Distributor, Varlink's specialist retail sales division, solidified their relationship with NEC, premium point of sale terminal manufacturer, hosting the NEC launch event. Delegates learnt about the NEC Accredited Partner Program, experienced a product demonstration of the TWINPOS G5 terminal and met key personnel from NEC.

The breadth of Varlink's tablet offering was evident as vendors showcased products including the highly anticipated V-T500 smart and tough Android tablet from Casio, Fujitsu's flexible STYLISTIC Q572 Windows 8 tablet, Mitac and MioWORK's rugged yet affordable tablets, PartnerTech's OT 200 table side hospitality terminal plus delegates saw the ultra rugged Yuma 2 from Trimble.

MTM13 marked the UK launch of Janam's first outside the four walls handheld terminal - the XT85 - combining a small lightweight form factor with a fully rugged design.
Innovative additions from Zebra were also presented. The ZT200 Series mid-range printer has a smaller than average footprint ideal for manufacturing, transportation and logistics environments. The brand new ZXP Series 7 card printer delivers high quality performance for exceptional value and the iMZ Series mobile printers, which support Bluetooth connectivity to Apple iOS, Android, WinMobile and BlackBerry platforms, were also on show.

As delegates navigated through 4 distinct technology zones; Rugged, Auto ID, Tablet and EPOS, they met with 30 exhibitors including Bixolon, Brother, Datalogic, Getac, Opticon, Orient, PartnerTech, Posiflex, Psion (now part of Motorola Solutions), Seagull Scientific, and Zebex.

Complementary product and service providers were amongst the exhibitors, offering essential networking opportunities and added value, enabling delegates to forge valuable new business relationships.

Attendees met with GeoPal and Yes Europa, providers of mobile workforce management software solutions for Android operating systems, Systemslink 2 the leading supplier of leather and synthetic case, PSI specialist out of warranty service provider, an expert telecoms supplier – YETI, plus point of sale software solutions from AlfaRichi and Cervello-POS.

Mike Pullon, Varlink CEO, commented "Feedback from our guests and exhibitors indicates that MTM13 was a success. We have been able to put together Mobile Computing and EPoS solution providers looking for new products and ideas with manufacturers that have them."

Varlink's annual awards and Appreciation Dinner, sponsored by Psion (now part of Motorola Solutions), took place at the historic and awe inspiring venue of Warwick Castle where popular performer Lucy Porter hosted the evening and presented outstanding achievement awards to Varlink and EPoS Distributor customers and to Zebra and Posiflex who were Voted the manufacturers who had the most positive impact on Varlink customers.