Family-owned Weber continues making its mark known globally

By Maya R. Payne
Medill News Service

Posted Wednesday, November 09, 2005

In 1932, Joseph Weber made a business of stamping ink onto boxes by hand. It was revolutionary and marked the beginning of Weber Marking Systems Inc.’s foray into identification systems.

His son, Joseph Weber Jr., carried on the tradition with technological investments and global expansion. Under his watch, the company has grown with $90 million in sales with 1,000 employees and 50,000 customers worldwide. Ownership remains in the family.
Weber Jr., 73, is the company’s chairman. His son, Doug Weber, 42, is vice president for international sales.

Weber Jr. led the company during its most exciting phases of its development, moving it into new geographic and technological territory, said Roy Webb, national sales manager for Mark Andy Inc., a printing press manufacturer in St. Louis.

Mark Andy has supplied Weber since the 1960s, providing presses for Weber’s 13 manufacturing facilities in 11 countries, including England, Turkey and Thailand.

“They’ve moved very aggressively into the international market and have expanded their organization to be a global company,” Webb said. “As they’ve grown, the intimacy of the organization has never changed.”

The two companies’ closeness over the years has been manifested in idea sharing and equipment testing.

“Because they’ve been such a big customer and we have a very trusting relationship, we share technologies with each other and if it works there, we might consider putting it into mass production for the industry,” Webb said.

In August, Dennis McGrath, 57, was named Weber’s president and CEO. A Weber employee since 1972, McGrath said the company has a strong customer focus.

“In an era of mergers and acquisitions, it’s kind of refreshing to have a family-owned company that started in 1932 that is still vibrant today with the same principles,” McGrath said.

Weber once had a distributor network, but decided in the late 1970s to shift to a direct sales organization. The transition was complete by the late 1980s, McGrath said.

Weber invests about $1 million in research and development annually. Capital investment is between $3 million and $7 million, McGrath said.

Graphic artists design labels, which cover products’ direct packaging with branding and consumer-oriented information like nutritional facts or usage warnings. They also produce negatives, separations and plates in-house to boost efficiency and ensure quality.

Media products specialists at Weber help customers select the best laminate, face stock, adhesive and liner for their products.

After all, the optimal adhesive to hold a prescription drug’s fine print in place may be a poor match for the freezing, heat and moisture a food label encounters.

It’s the research and development staff’s task to figure that out. They test face stocks and adhesives on a range of materials in varying temperatures to find the optimal combinations. Before labels are shipped to customers, the quality assurance department runs elasticity, tensile strength and release value tests to make sure the products peel properly and aren’t easily torn.

The company also makes software and equipment that allow customers to print complete labels in their own facilities or to update preprinted labels with variable information. The U.S. technical support staff responds to customers’ hardware, software, label and ink inquiries. In-house and field service technicians make repairs and perform preventive maintenance.

The service bureau prints bar-coded labels with sequential numbering. It is a very small part of the business, but it adds value for clients who aren’t ready to invest in labeling equipment.

While regional competition has intensified over the last 10 to 15 years, nationally the industry has experienced some consolidation with companies like Chicago-based R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co. acquiring other players in the label business.

The loss of manufacturing jobs to Mexico, China and Indonesia is another major challenge facing the U.S. labeling industry, McGrath said.

When operations move out of the country, so do labels. McGrath’s strategy is to focus on manufacturing that will stay in the United States, like foods, pharmaceuticals, medical devices and beverages.

The company also is “looking at opportunities” in South America and Asia as its international sales have grown more rapidly than domestic sales in recent years, McGrath said.
Similarly, Weber feels the pinch when major American industries undergo painful restructuring. Delphi Corp., a Weber customer, filed the auto industry’s largest corporate bankruptcy Oct. 8.

“They used to be our No. 1 customer four or five years ago,” McGrath said.

Despite the challenges of American industry and the emergence of regional rivals, the company hopes to continue steady annual revenue growth of 4 percent to 8 percent by investing in new technologies, like Radio Frequency Identification, or RFID.

“We hope to be right at the forefront of this,” McGrath said.

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