Greg Hrinya, Editor07.13.20
General Data Company, Inc.
4354 Ferguson Drive, Cincinnati, OH USA 45245
www.general-data.com
The label converters that make up this diverse industry often rely on ingenuity and persistence to get their business off the ground. No two stories are the same, and many companies endure humble beginnings in their journey. In the case of General Data Company, its rich heritage can be traced back to a garage in Pittsburgh, PA.
Pete Wenzel established General Data in his garage in 1981, with an initial focus on the distribution and sales of line and matrix printers and other related equipment. Wenzel quickly identified another lucrative business: barcode technology. As the barcode industry grew, General Data became a national distributor, integrator and service provider for barcode printing, scanning and automated data collection equipment.
During this time, Wenzel brought additional partners into the business, including an Indianapolis, IN-based label converter and a sales team located in Cincinnati, OH.
In 1993, the three partners made the strategic decision to consolidate the Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Indianapolis locations into one company. Clermont County, OH, was chosen as the central hub, where a 45,000 square foot manufacturing, sales and distribution facility would be constructed. All of General Data’s operations were subsequently moved there, and the site still serves as the company’s corporate headquarters to this day.
In 2004, Wenzel made another calculated move. He opted to buy out his partners to become sole owner of the company, and Wenzel embarked on a mission to make strategic investments in infrastructure, equipment, personnel and acquisitions in order to fuel General Data’s growth.
“Back when I started, if I knew then what some of the challenges would be, would I do it all over again? I believe that when your objective is to grow a business, not taking risks is the only strategy that is certain to fail every time,” states Wenzel. “Growing a business successfully also involves assembling a great team, moving forward with a purpose, and never standing still.”
Since that time, General Data has grown its geographical footprint by adding new buildings and label converting and coating equipment. The company has also expanded its presence in numerous industries and markets, which has provided a significant growth in revenue and profits, even through the 2008-2009 recession.
“Label converting and printing came as a natural extension of the growth of the barcode identification and data collection industry,” explains Wenzel. “I envisioned General Data to be a total solutions provider for all aspects of barcode labeling, printing, and data collection. At that time, becoming a label converter was a key piece to achieving that.”
General Data boasts three Cincinnati-based facilities for label manufacturing, toll and custom coating, assembly of healthcare instruments, distribution, equipment service and general offices. Plus, the company has a prime label and shrink sleeve manufacturing plant in Atlanta, GA.
General Data’s reach extends throughout the country, as it provides customers with sales and service locations throughout the Midwest, Northeast, Southeast and California. Since Wenzel launched his business in a Pittsburgh garage, the company has brought in 350 employees. In addition to Wenzel, who serves as president and CEO, General Data’s leadership team includes Michele Marsh, COO, David Clark, VP of Manufacturing, John Finger, VP of R&D and Coating, Grant Grooms, VP of Sales, Ralph Moher, VP of Marketing, Bill Vasques, VP of Software and Systems Development, and Dave Yearout, VP of Service.
This leadership help has promoted a host of core principles, including customer service. “To be successful, a business must always put their customers first,” says Ralph Moher, VP of Marketing. “This has always been a fundamental tenet of how General Data operates, and it starts with ownership and senior management. But it also takes a commitment to hiring, training and empowering the right people in the right positions to turn that tenet into something that is practiced every day. From the day they are hired, all employees from all departments in all divisions make customer service and customer satisfaction their focus.”
Industrial reach
General Data prides itself on its ability to serve a wide range of markets, all while using data and automation to optimize its product offerings. General Data’s breadth of solutions includes paper and film-based labels and tags for printing using direct thermal, thermal transfer, laser and industrial inkjet printers. These can be supplied either blank or pre-printed. Plus, the company offers custom and specialty labels designed for specific applications or harsh environments.
“We produce these durable labels using a number of different combinations of facestocks, adhesives and topcoats,” says Wenzel. “These labels are designed and tested in our in-house R&D and testing lab. We also offer digital inkjet printing in addition to traditional flexo printing. We have digital inkjet label printing capabilities for short runs, highly customized work, sequential numbering, laser diecutting and more.”
General Data’s prime and product packaging labels feature any number of colors, with enhancements such as foils, holographic films, tactile coatings and shrink sleeve packaging.
The company’s labels are used in various industries, including manufacturing, automotive, food and beverage, distribution, consumer goods, and healthcare. In addition, its labels are sold through a network of channel partners, which include distributors and value-added resellers.
“General Data is known in the industry as being one of the premier suppliers of labeling solutions for harsh environments or other difficult-to-label applications,” says Moher. “For this reason, our customers regularly bring us the tough jobs that other label manufacturers cannot provide an adequate solution for. Our team – including our customer support, R&D and manufacturing teams – then work closely with the customer to produce a labeling solution that meets the requirements of the application at a price point that provides real ROI to the customer. General Data is able to do this because of the investments it has made in the right people, equipment and infrastructure necessary for developing labeling solutions for these unique applications. It’s just another example of General Data’s customer-centric philosophy, where finding creative ways to help customers solve their unique business challenges is a key driver for our success.”
General Data’s product and service offerings go well beyond label manufacturing, which illustrates the company’s versatility. The company also specializes in toll and custom coating, providing an array of varnishing, laminating and adhesive options. These include hot melt, acrylic freezer-grade, emulsion, patterned and UV solutions.
Its office printing systems and supplies include office laser, inkjet and MFP printers, and programs designed to help companies manage their office printing processes and control their overall spend on office printing. General Data’s printer supplies include toner, ink and thermal transfer ribbons.
“We also manufacture and distribute various histology instruments and supplies, including tissue cassette printers, slide printers, water baths, paraffin dispensers, slide stainers, reagents, stains and other supplies,” explains Wenzel. “We pioneered the use of barcode technology for the identification and tracking of tissue samples in the histology lab, and are recognized as the world leader in that technology.”
In addition, General Data’s software and systems development team provides both out-of-the-box and customized software solutions for label printing, automation, asset tracking, and other applications for both industrial and healthcare markets.
General Data’s ability to innovate has extended to the COVID-19 pandemic. As an essential business for critical industries including healthcare, food manufacturing, processing, distribution and more, the team discussed other ways it could potentially help customers in these critical areas. General Data is now supplying PPE and other items, such as antimicrobial film, to help its customers maintain a safe and healthy work environment and comply with back-to-work regulations.
Age of automation
Since 1981, General Data has been proactive in integrating the latest technological advancements into its product suite. Going beyond labels, the converter specializes in barcode technology, RFID, industrial automation, scanning, and data capture equipment sales and systems integration. This product suite features barcode scanners, data capture devices, printers, print/apply systems, and wireless networks for the industrial and healthcare markets.
These products have been complemented by the latest printing technology. General Data currently runs 12 high-speed flexographic presses with the capability to print up to 10 colors on paper or film substrates. Plus, the company runs two digital color presses for short-run printing at an affordable cost. These presses are equipped with laser diecutters and can add varnishes or laminates for added durability.
General Data has leaned on several key supplier partners, including Nilpeter, Lemu Group and ETI Converting, to automate its processes and future-proof the company’s business.
“We have purchased several presses from Nilpeter, all based off the experiences with our first machine,” says David Clark, VP of manufacturing at General Data. “Nilpeter has been a valued partner with General Data and has been willing to take our recommendations of improvements to their engineering teams, adding our adaptations to their future models.”
The relationship between the two companies dates back to 1994, a handful of years before Nilpeter’s acquisition of Rotopress. Given that partnership, and Nilpeter’s willingness to work with its customers, General Data has continued to purchase Nilpeter presses for its shop floor and integrate them with other equipment, such as butt splicers, turrets, digital units, coaters, etc.
“We have recently added and upgraded to a new Nilpeter 13’’ FB-Line press,” notes Clark. “The press itself is great, very operator friendly, and you can easily run high-quality labels off these presses. We have transitioned all our healthcare labels to the new FB press. The automatic registration is easy to work with and you can run any high-quality flexo job out there. Nilpeter presses are one of the easiest presses for operators to learn and use to their full potential.”
General Data also has ETI Cohesios for high-speed production of thermal transfer and direct thermal stock labels in a single pass. This allows for the customization of adhesives, liners and facestocks. General Data also has two toll coaters for custom coating of adhesives, varnishes and laminates.
After months of research and evaluation, General Data selected Lemu Group USA to outfit its facilities with the latest turret rewinder technology. With Lemu’s new technologies, General Data is able to focus on maximizing skilled positions while facilitating growth in its workforce and additional areas. Lemu Group’s concept and technology advancement enable General Data to easily train a group of press operators. With this potential to train and reassign skilled workers “where needed,” the company has created a more balanced workload to better handle customer demand.
“General Data’s partnership with Lemu came through months of researching and evaluation,” explains Clark. “Lemu offered a well-built machine on a solid foundation, which enabled us to customize and configure our machine. Speed and production throughput will increase significantly on a variety of materials and finished roll sizes options. Our choice was to look forward in our current business and prepare for growth in future market segments. The specifications we decided and collaborated with Lemu will work well for several areas that we currently serve and new market segments in our future.”
“Within the label converting industry, the established skill is slowly retiring, and the new emerging workforce has a different set of skills,” states Wenzel. “General Data will continue to pursue bringing automation for certain job functions so we can concentrate on training the areas where that skill is most effective. A solid in-house training, coupled with external expertise, furthers our growth. There are still challenges but integrating the new technologies with the evolving training practices gives General Data that better vision for growth.”
Acquisitions
In order to continue fostering business growth, Wenzel and his team have placed a premium on acquisitions. General Data has made acquisitions based on its strategy of expanding its market presence, as well as its capabilities and product offerings, to service both current and new markets.
“The acquisitions the company has made have enabled General Data to better serve our customers by offering a more comprehensive portfolio of products and services and enhance our ability to help our customers reduce costs and increase efficiencies,” says Wenzel.
Most recently, General Data acquired AmeriGraph Packaging Group, an Atlanta-based producer of high-end prime labels and shrink sleeve packaging for consumer goods and food products. This addition also serves as General Data's new southeast distribution center, enabling it to better serve and support customers in the southeast US.
“AmeriGraph has a well-earned reputation of providing superior customer service, as well as an underlying commitment to producing excellent quality, high-end technical products,” says Wenzel. “Their product knowledge and manufacturing expertise give us the critical knowledge and market access needed to successfully compete in this segment.”
General Data also acquired Color Label Solutions Inc., a value-added reseller and integrator specializing in on-demand color label printing solutions, in 2019. The San Clemente, CA-based company provides products for applications such as GHS labeling, manufacturing, food labeling, product labeling, access control, and the cannabis industry.
“Color Label Solutions has become a preferred provider of color label printing solutions to a number of markets, including the fast-growing cannabis market,” states Wenzel. “Bringing them on board gives us the critical knowledge and market access needed to grow this business.”
General Data’s other acquisitions include Data Support, Inc., a New York-based provider of barcode data collection and tracking solutions, and Triangle Biomedical Sciences Inc., a manufacturer and supplier of instrumentation, reagents and consumables for the clinical and research pathology marketplace in North Carolina.
“General Data will continue to pursue growth through expansion, infrastructure investment and strategic acquisitions in areas that make sense. Our acquisition of AmeriGraph in Atlanta gives us a strong presence in the prime labels and shrink film market, and enables us to offer additional options to our clients not only for the immediate growth, but sustained future growth in the segment,” adds Wenzel.
4354 Ferguson Drive, Cincinnati, OH USA 45245
www.general-data.com
The label converters that make up this diverse industry often rely on ingenuity and persistence to get their business off the ground. No two stories are the same, and many companies endure humble beginnings in their journey. In the case of General Data Company, its rich heritage can be traced back to a garage in Pittsburgh, PA.
Pete Wenzel established General Data in his garage in 1981, with an initial focus on the distribution and sales of line and matrix printers and other related equipment. Wenzel quickly identified another lucrative business: barcode technology. As the barcode industry grew, General Data became a national distributor, integrator and service provider for barcode printing, scanning and automated data collection equipment.
During this time, Wenzel brought additional partners into the business, including an Indianapolis, IN-based label converter and a sales team located in Cincinnati, OH.
In 1993, the three partners made the strategic decision to consolidate the Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Indianapolis locations into one company. Clermont County, OH, was chosen as the central hub, where a 45,000 square foot manufacturing, sales and distribution facility would be constructed. All of General Data’s operations were subsequently moved there, and the site still serves as the company’s corporate headquarters to this day.
In 2004, Wenzel made another calculated move. He opted to buy out his partners to become sole owner of the company, and Wenzel embarked on a mission to make strategic investments in infrastructure, equipment, personnel and acquisitions in order to fuel General Data’s growth.
“Back when I started, if I knew then what some of the challenges would be, would I do it all over again? I believe that when your objective is to grow a business, not taking risks is the only strategy that is certain to fail every time,” states Wenzel. “Growing a business successfully also involves assembling a great team, moving forward with a purpose, and never standing still.”
Since that time, General Data has grown its geographical footprint by adding new buildings and label converting and coating equipment. The company has also expanded its presence in numerous industries and markets, which has provided a significant growth in revenue and profits, even through the 2008-2009 recession.
“Label converting and printing came as a natural extension of the growth of the barcode identification and data collection industry,” explains Wenzel. “I envisioned General Data to be a total solutions provider for all aspects of barcode labeling, printing, and data collection. At that time, becoming a label converter was a key piece to achieving that.”
General Data boasts three Cincinnati-based facilities for label manufacturing, toll and custom coating, assembly of healthcare instruments, distribution, equipment service and general offices. Plus, the company has a prime label and shrink sleeve manufacturing plant in Atlanta, GA.
General Data’s reach extends throughout the country, as it provides customers with sales and service locations throughout the Midwest, Northeast, Southeast and California. Since Wenzel launched his business in a Pittsburgh garage, the company has brought in 350 employees. In addition to Wenzel, who serves as president and CEO, General Data’s leadership team includes Michele Marsh, COO, David Clark, VP of Manufacturing, John Finger, VP of R&D and Coating, Grant Grooms, VP of Sales, Ralph Moher, VP of Marketing, Bill Vasques, VP of Software and Systems Development, and Dave Yearout, VP of Service.
This leadership help has promoted a host of core principles, including customer service. “To be successful, a business must always put their customers first,” says Ralph Moher, VP of Marketing. “This has always been a fundamental tenet of how General Data operates, and it starts with ownership and senior management. But it also takes a commitment to hiring, training and empowering the right people in the right positions to turn that tenet into something that is practiced every day. From the day they are hired, all employees from all departments in all divisions make customer service and customer satisfaction their focus.”
Industrial reach
General Data prides itself on its ability to serve a wide range of markets, all while using data and automation to optimize its product offerings. General Data’s breadth of solutions includes paper and film-based labels and tags for printing using direct thermal, thermal transfer, laser and industrial inkjet printers. These can be supplied either blank or pre-printed. Plus, the company offers custom and specialty labels designed for specific applications or harsh environments.
“We produce these durable labels using a number of different combinations of facestocks, adhesives and topcoats,” says Wenzel. “These labels are designed and tested in our in-house R&D and testing lab. We also offer digital inkjet printing in addition to traditional flexo printing. We have digital inkjet label printing capabilities for short runs, highly customized work, sequential numbering, laser diecutting and more.”
General Data’s prime and product packaging labels feature any number of colors, with enhancements such as foils, holographic films, tactile coatings and shrink sleeve packaging.
The company’s labels are used in various industries, including manufacturing, automotive, food and beverage, distribution, consumer goods, and healthcare. In addition, its labels are sold through a network of channel partners, which include distributors and value-added resellers.
“General Data is known in the industry as being one of the premier suppliers of labeling solutions for harsh environments or other difficult-to-label applications,” says Moher. “For this reason, our customers regularly bring us the tough jobs that other label manufacturers cannot provide an adequate solution for. Our team – including our customer support, R&D and manufacturing teams – then work closely with the customer to produce a labeling solution that meets the requirements of the application at a price point that provides real ROI to the customer. General Data is able to do this because of the investments it has made in the right people, equipment and infrastructure necessary for developing labeling solutions for these unique applications. It’s just another example of General Data’s customer-centric philosophy, where finding creative ways to help customers solve their unique business challenges is a key driver for our success.”
General Data’s product and service offerings go well beyond label manufacturing, which illustrates the company’s versatility. The company also specializes in toll and custom coating, providing an array of varnishing, laminating and adhesive options. These include hot melt, acrylic freezer-grade, emulsion, patterned and UV solutions.
Its office printing systems and supplies include office laser, inkjet and MFP printers, and programs designed to help companies manage their office printing processes and control their overall spend on office printing. General Data’s printer supplies include toner, ink and thermal transfer ribbons.
“We also manufacture and distribute various histology instruments and supplies, including tissue cassette printers, slide printers, water baths, paraffin dispensers, slide stainers, reagents, stains and other supplies,” explains Wenzel. “We pioneered the use of barcode technology for the identification and tracking of tissue samples in the histology lab, and are recognized as the world leader in that technology.”
In addition, General Data’s software and systems development team provides both out-of-the-box and customized software solutions for label printing, automation, asset tracking, and other applications for both industrial and healthcare markets.
General Data’s ability to innovate has extended to the COVID-19 pandemic. As an essential business for critical industries including healthcare, food manufacturing, processing, distribution and more, the team discussed other ways it could potentially help customers in these critical areas. General Data is now supplying PPE and other items, such as antimicrobial film, to help its customers maintain a safe and healthy work environment and comply with back-to-work regulations.
Age of automation
Since 1981, General Data has been proactive in integrating the latest technological advancements into its product suite. Going beyond labels, the converter specializes in barcode technology, RFID, industrial automation, scanning, and data capture equipment sales and systems integration. This product suite features barcode scanners, data capture devices, printers, print/apply systems, and wireless networks for the industrial and healthcare markets.
These products have been complemented by the latest printing technology. General Data currently runs 12 high-speed flexographic presses with the capability to print up to 10 colors on paper or film substrates. Plus, the company runs two digital color presses for short-run printing at an affordable cost. These presses are equipped with laser diecutters and can add varnishes or laminates for added durability.
General Data has leaned on several key supplier partners, including Nilpeter, Lemu Group and ETI Converting, to automate its processes and future-proof the company’s business.
“We have purchased several presses from Nilpeter, all based off the experiences with our first machine,” says David Clark, VP of manufacturing at General Data. “Nilpeter has been a valued partner with General Data and has been willing to take our recommendations of improvements to their engineering teams, adding our adaptations to their future models.”
The relationship between the two companies dates back to 1994, a handful of years before Nilpeter’s acquisition of Rotopress. Given that partnership, and Nilpeter’s willingness to work with its customers, General Data has continued to purchase Nilpeter presses for its shop floor and integrate them with other equipment, such as butt splicers, turrets, digital units, coaters, etc.
“We have recently added and upgraded to a new Nilpeter 13’’ FB-Line press,” notes Clark. “The press itself is great, very operator friendly, and you can easily run high-quality labels off these presses. We have transitioned all our healthcare labels to the new FB press. The automatic registration is easy to work with and you can run any high-quality flexo job out there. Nilpeter presses are one of the easiest presses for operators to learn and use to their full potential.”
General Data also has ETI Cohesios for high-speed production of thermal transfer and direct thermal stock labels in a single pass. This allows for the customization of adhesives, liners and facestocks. General Data also has two toll coaters for custom coating of adhesives, varnishes and laminates.
After months of research and evaluation, General Data selected Lemu Group USA to outfit its facilities with the latest turret rewinder technology. With Lemu’s new technologies, General Data is able to focus on maximizing skilled positions while facilitating growth in its workforce and additional areas. Lemu Group’s concept and technology advancement enable General Data to easily train a group of press operators. With this potential to train and reassign skilled workers “where needed,” the company has created a more balanced workload to better handle customer demand.
“General Data’s partnership with Lemu came through months of researching and evaluation,” explains Clark. “Lemu offered a well-built machine on a solid foundation, which enabled us to customize and configure our machine. Speed and production throughput will increase significantly on a variety of materials and finished roll sizes options. Our choice was to look forward in our current business and prepare for growth in future market segments. The specifications we decided and collaborated with Lemu will work well for several areas that we currently serve and new market segments in our future.”
“Within the label converting industry, the established skill is slowly retiring, and the new emerging workforce has a different set of skills,” states Wenzel. “General Data will continue to pursue bringing automation for certain job functions so we can concentrate on training the areas where that skill is most effective. A solid in-house training, coupled with external expertise, furthers our growth. There are still challenges but integrating the new technologies with the evolving training practices gives General Data that better vision for growth.”
Acquisitions
In order to continue fostering business growth, Wenzel and his team have placed a premium on acquisitions. General Data has made acquisitions based on its strategy of expanding its market presence, as well as its capabilities and product offerings, to service both current and new markets.
“The acquisitions the company has made have enabled General Data to better serve our customers by offering a more comprehensive portfolio of products and services and enhance our ability to help our customers reduce costs and increase efficiencies,” says Wenzel.
Most recently, General Data acquired AmeriGraph Packaging Group, an Atlanta-based producer of high-end prime labels and shrink sleeve packaging for consumer goods and food products. This addition also serves as General Data's new southeast distribution center, enabling it to better serve and support customers in the southeast US.
“AmeriGraph has a well-earned reputation of providing superior customer service, as well as an underlying commitment to producing excellent quality, high-end technical products,” says Wenzel. “Their product knowledge and manufacturing expertise give us the critical knowledge and market access needed to successfully compete in this segment.”
General Data also acquired Color Label Solutions Inc., a value-added reseller and integrator specializing in on-demand color label printing solutions, in 2019. The San Clemente, CA-based company provides products for applications such as GHS labeling, manufacturing, food labeling, product labeling, access control, and the cannabis industry.
“Color Label Solutions has become a preferred provider of color label printing solutions to a number of markets, including the fast-growing cannabis market,” states Wenzel. “Bringing them on board gives us the critical knowledge and market access needed to grow this business.”
General Data’s other acquisitions include Data Support, Inc., a New York-based provider of barcode data collection and tracking solutions, and Triangle Biomedical Sciences Inc., a manufacturer and supplier of instrumentation, reagents and consumables for the clinical and research pathology marketplace in North Carolina.
“General Data will continue to pursue growth through expansion, infrastructure investment and strategic acquisitions in areas that make sense. Our acquisition of AmeriGraph in Atlanta gives us a strong presence in the prime labels and shrink film market, and enables us to offer additional options to our clients not only for the immediate growth, but sustained future growth in the segment,” adds Wenzel.
