Labeling Innovations from Weber

90 Years and Just Getting Started

This year, we celebrated our 90^th anniversary–a truly momentous occasion. As we interviewed customers and employees throughout 2022 as part of the celebration, one thing became clear. Labeling excellence starts with excellent service. Whether it’s how we treat our employees, how we support our customers or the technologies we provide, at Weber, we work in service to others.

Read on to explore some of the highlights from this year’s celebration.

Our Customers Are the Best–Plain and Simple

At Weber, we don’t look at our customers like a transaction, we look at our partnership as a shared path and at our customers’ success as our own. We were thrilled to hear what some of them had to say about us!

Jeremia Steves from Boar’s Head shared, “Great folks with great solutions–plain and simple. Weber has experience within the space and does a great job of connecting customers' needs with executable solutions.”

The Future of Our Legacy

After 90 years in business, we continue to look for ways to innovate and carry our legacy of labeling excellence into the future.

We’re not just thinking about what’s now – we’re thinking about what’s next. As our business continues to expand, we work towards meeting current and anticipated needs of our customers, who make it all possible.

Read on to learn more about how we’re continuing our legacy.

Making print-apply labeling more efficient

At Weber, we’re setting a new standard for print-apply labeling. By moving to more customer-based solutions, our products will be the most robust, hard-working systems available. And with a more modular feel for expanded versatility, we’re giving our customers the flexibility they require. For instance, our Model 4050 label printer-applicator is a modular high-speed system that is more energy efficient than previous models, easier to service and will be the new standard of print-apply labeling.

“It's a team effort–that's why we're here 90 years."

To celebrate our 90^th anniversary, we asked some of our employees what this milestone means to them. We were flattered to hear that they believe in us as much as we care about them–a testament to why we’re still in business after all these years.

Here’s what they had to say:

Our President/CEO Doug Weber, the grandson of Joseph Weber Sr, said, “It’s something we can be very proud of. This isn’t just something one individual, one person can do, but really, it’s the whole organization–those that preceded us and those that will be part of our future.”

Watch Doug and his sister Connie’s full interview 

"Everybody here is great to work with, and we do so well together as a team,” said Jim Vanderwiel, our Manager of Systems Engineering. “It's not just an individual, it's a team effort by the company–that's why we're here 90 years."

Listen to Jim’s testimonial

“Weber has always been a very iconic company,” said Harrison Chien, our Vice President of Sales & Marketing. “It's a company I’ve always admired throughout my career, and being here is being part of this group, part of the family. There’s a lot of pride that I think our employees and especially myself have, and it’s a testament, really, to the Weber family.”

See the full interview 

Oscar Altergot, our Senior Press Operator, said, “When Mr. Weber started this company, he had a goal to produce high quality equipment and labels for the customers. And 90 years later, here we are, still doing the same thing.”

Hear what else Oscar had to say

“The years that people have worked for Weber certainly makes me feel good about working for Weber–because I feel needed,” said William Laboy, Lead Field Service Engineer. “I feel that they appreciate everything you do for them.”

Listen to William’s full interview 

Todd Peterson, Production Manager, shared, “I’ve been here over 36 years, I've had my wife working here, I’ve had my son working here, I've had my daughter-in-law working here. So, at one time, there were four of us working here in this plant. Weber’s 90 years means a lot to us. We’re a very grateful family.”

See what else Todd had to say

"Great folks with great solutions – plain and simple."

For 90 years, we’ve been committed to building lasting partnerships that promote growth at Weber. From offering a range of labeling solutions to our unmatched service and support, we aim to provide our customers with the best experience possible. We do this by bringing technologies to market that improve packaging automation, product identification and brand recognition.

As we have grown as a company and the technologies we provide have continued to evolve, it has been amazing to watch our customers grow alongside us, and we look forward to a future of continued growth.

But don’t take it from us – our incredible customers say it best!

Here’s what some of them are saying:

“Weber has really helped out a lot. It’s been a great relationship. I’m saving about six cents per can by labeling instead of using shrink. A pallet of 100 cases saves me $600 per pallet. Times 10-20 pallets a month, that pays my rent!”

 - Monte Summer, Owner, 2 Fools Cider

💡Read more about 2 Fools Cider on our blog, Constant Improvement Leads To Cidery Success.

“Great service, Weber knows the importance in what we do and quickly respond to keep us up and running.”

 - Louis Deering, Abbott Diagnostics

“We knew right away that we had a good solution with the Weber system. We liked everything about it, including the footprint of the machine itself and the fact that Weber manufactured labels, too.

The Weber system is very efficient. It's very fast and it just keeps on working. And our labels look great. We’re very satisfied.”

 - Tim Smothers, Owner, Julian Pies

💡Read more about Julian Pies and watch a video, A Labeling Solution As Easy As Pie!

“Very reliable company. My orders are on time and accurate.”

 - Dawn Sellner, Kraft Heinz Co.     

“Great folks with great solutions–plain and simple. Weber has experience within space and does a great job of connecting customers' needs with executable solutions.”

 - Jeremiah Stevens, Boar’s Head

As we celebrate 90 years since opening our doors at Weber, it’s a great time to look back at where we’ve come from! A lot has changed since 1932, and our product offerings are no exception. From handprinters 90 years ago, to label printer applicators today, Weber is constantly evolving with the world around it.

Read on to explore some of the highlights of Weber’s product offerings through the years!

1938

In 1938, Joseph Weber Sr. introduced the first handprinter, the Tag-O-Graph Jr. This handprinter was a small curved block of wood to which Joseph affixed a glass handle, a cheesecloth ink pad and a framed mimeograph stencil. It’s amazing to look back at the original design and see how far printing has come since!

1947

As the mid-point of the 20^th century approached, Weber launched its first mechanical addressing machine, a hand-operated device developed by James Thomas that printed an address from a paper “ad-roll” rather than a stencil. This machine was used to print hang tags that identified products, prices, or address information on packages.

1964

The Stenmark stencil preparation system is introduced to make stencils for handprinters and labelers. This allowed for printing larger type in variety of fonts for easier product identification. It was basically a stencil typewriter!

1972

Model 40 label printer introduced, which was marketed as a small and economical label printer that could print 105 labels per minute. Also known as "Green Machines", this system used a stencil or interchangeable type slugs to print onto dry-adhesive rolls of paper that, when slit into individual labels, could be put on products.

1984

As technology began to rapidly advance, the Legitronic 1700 electronic labeling system featuring a computer terminal and dot matrix printer was introduced. Variable label information was printed onto pressure-sensitive labels after being formatted by the computer program.

1998

The Model 5100, Weber’s first label printer applicator designed and built in-house, went on the market. This built-in-the-USA print-apply system was designed to use Zebra print engines. A wide-range of label application arms allowed it to apply one or two labels to the sides of passing cartons or products.

2022

Weber keeps innovating with a range of high-speed labeling systems. The new high-speed modular Model 4050 label printer applicator is introduced along with the Legi-Flex high-speed vision-alignment labeling system for distribution centers. These systems, along with the high-speed Alpha HSM label applicator, show Weber's dedication to the ever-changing requirements of the packaging industry.

And we’re just getting started!

Want to learn more about Weber’s history and what we can do for you? Subscribe to follow us on social media and sign up for our newsletter! (top right) You won’t want to miss joining in the fun of our 90^th anniversary celebration!