Ken Kidd Honored As TLMI Converter of the Year
October 21, 2011
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Ken Kidd, recently retired CEO of WS Packaging Inc., has been selected as the 2011 TLMI Converter of the Year. This honor caps off a career of more than 45 years in the tag and label industry. The award was presented at the TLMI Annual Meeting held in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Kidd first got into the label printing industry working for a small label company in the Cincinnati area. Here he got a well-rounded education in the label printing business—starting out in shipping and packaging, learning to run a printing press, and working in the office ordering materials and planning jobs.
In 1970, he and three partners—Tom Braig and Earl and Jim Gettelfinger—started a label printing company, Superior Tape & Label, in the Cincinnati area. They purchased a new 3-color, 6-inch CI press, installed it in a rented 1,200 sq. ft. garage.
With its low overhead, and “good, hard working, dedicated people,” the company’s business started to ramp up. After two years, the company moved into a 5,000 sq. ft. facility and after an additional four years, it expanded to 11,000 sq. ft. By this time, the company had four presses—three CI presses and a new, inline 6-color Webtron 650. The company’s primary business included dairy, juice, and food labeling supporting the tri-state region of Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio.
It was also during the mid-1970s that the company achieved two significant milestones that made big impact on the company’s success. It expanded to provide label application equipment and become more of a one-stop shop for its customers. This also was the impetus for a name change for the company, to Superior Label Systems. The company also developed an in-line film lamination process, called Supergard, that allowed it to provide an economical solution for its customers, who themselves were starting to ride the wave of the plastics revolution.
The business grew steadily during the 1980s and 1990s, starting in 1980 with a move to a new 25,000 sq. ft. facility in Mason, Ohio. In 1987, it started up a greenfield site in Dallas, followed by an additional location in Phoenix, Ariz. in 1995. By the end of the 1990s, Superior Label Systems had sales of about $50 million, more than 350 employees at four plants, an outside board of directors, and a private-equity partner.
Kidd first got into the label printing industry working for a small label company in the Cincinnati area. Here he got a well-rounded education in the label printing business—starting out in shipping and packaging, learning to run a printing press, and working in the office ordering materials and planning jobs.
In 1970, he and three partners—Tom Braig and Earl and Jim Gettelfinger—started a label printing company, Superior Tape & Label, in the Cincinnati area. They purchased a new 3-color, 6-inch CI press, installed it in a rented 1,200 sq. ft. garage.
With its low overhead, and “good, hard working, dedicated people,” the company’s business started to ramp up. After two years, the company moved into a 5,000 sq. ft. facility and after an additional four years, it expanded to 11,000 sq. ft. By this time, the company had four presses—three CI presses and a new, inline 6-color Webtron 650. The company’s primary business included dairy, juice, and food labeling supporting the tri-state region of Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio.
It was also during the mid-1970s that the company achieved two significant milestones that made big impact on the company’s success. It expanded to provide label application equipment and become more of a one-stop shop for its customers. This also was the impetus for a name change for the company, to Superior Label Systems. The company also developed an in-line film lamination process, called Supergard, that allowed it to provide an economical solution for its customers, who themselves were starting to ride the wave of the plastics revolution.
The business grew steadily during the 1980s and 1990s, starting in 1980 with a move to a new 25,000 sq. ft. facility in Mason, Ohio. In 1987, it started up a greenfield site in Dallas, followed by an additional location in Phoenix, Ariz. in 1995. By the end of the 1990s, Superior Label Systems had sales of about $50 million, more than 350 employees at four plants, an outside board of directors, and a private-equity partner.
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