Inside Web Printing Controls

Our Commitment

Web Printing Controls Co., Inc. (WPC) is the industry leader in developing and manufacturing microprocessor controlled real-time closed loop automation equipment for the printing industry. WPC systems are used throughout the world to Improve Productivity through Integrated Products that deliver the highest quality print and greatest waste reduction possible. As an engineering and development driven company, WPC is committed to turning visions, thoughts and ideas into reality. Our award winning technologies represent the leading edge in bridging the gap between science and the craft of printing.

Our Company

The WPC Team based out of Illinois. WPC has an Engineering and Corporate Headquarters in Lake Barrington, a 150,000 sq. ft. state of the art manufacturing facility in Fairfield, and a field service division in West Chicago. WPC also maintains a worldwide presence through a network of representatives located around the planet. Having just celebrated our 38th year of providing quality products and services, the WPC Team has grown to more than 120 employees around the country.

Our Story

WPC was founded on October 1, 1971 by Dean Fetherling. Dean, who worked in the printing press equipment and services industry for a number of years, was able to take advantage of his practical experience combined with his knowledge of pressroom needs and problems to develop new and improved press auxiliary equipment. In 1976, Herman Gnuechtel, now WPC’s President, joined Dean as Chief Electronics Engineer and WPC began its pursuit of excellence and leadership in its industry. By 1978, WPC had started manufacturing printed circuit boards in a 1,200 sq. ft. manufacturing facility located in Fairfield, Illinois and the Chicago operations had expanded into a 1,800 square foot facility located in Bensenville, Illinois. Within two years, the demand for WPC products and services required the company to relocate its Fairfield operations into a larger 12,000 square foot facility. At this time WPC was hard pressed to meet customer demand for its Web Guides, Cutoff Controls and Infra-Red Web Break Detectors.

It wasn’t much longer before WPC had to add additional personnel and space to meet ever-increasing demand for its products and services. During 1984, the Chicago operations were relocated to its current location in Lake Barrington and the Fairfield facility added an additional 23,000 sq. ft., bringing the total manufacturing space to 35,000 square feet.

By the end of 1989, the Fairfield facility had been expanded again with an additional 60,000 square feet to meet the needs of the an expanded product line, which now included WPC’s award winning Color to Color Register system. WPC’s Color to Color Register (CCR) system was innovative in its ability to automatically control high speed color registration using the industry’s smallest register marks. The Lake Barrington office was also expanded during this time period to accommodate WPC’s increased commitment to the research and development of future generations of microprocessor controlled real-time automation equipment.

In 1989, WPC acquired the assets of Mako-Tek, a company located in Downers Grove, Illinois that provided consulting, engineering, mechanical services and in-line finishing systems to the printing industry. The absorption of Mako-Tek into WPC allowed WPC to expand its engineering and press services capabilities and to offer a complementary line of in-line finishing equipment. In 1998, the operations of what was Mako-Tek were restructured and renamed as WPC Machinery Corp., with the manufacturing operations being consolidated into the Fairfield facility and the engineering and press services being moved to a smaller facility located in West Chicago. By the end of 1998, the Fairfield facility had been expanded to it present size of 150,000 sq. ft. to accommodate the space requirements of the newly relocated manufacturing operations of WPC Machinery Corporation and production of WPC’s latest product offerings. During the 1990’s WPC embarked on the development of a number of revolutionary products to provide further improvements in quality and productivity. These new products included the Closed Loop Color (CLC) system which scans the moving web in real-time and automatically adjusts the amount of ink being applied to meet target density levels and provide production control data that can be used for customer quality assurance, error tracking, and maintenance trending. Other new products included WPC’s Ribbon Control System which automatically aligns ribbons laterally and circumferentially and maintains accurate ribbon register throughout the press run. The Color Desk System which controls ink zones individually, by selectable group, or all together resulting in reduced make ready time and reduced waste.

By 2000, WPC had began to provide customers with a single user interface whereby the customer could monitor and manage color density, color register, web alignment and ribbon alignment from one workstation. WPC’s new Process Manager accomplished this by not only eliminating multiple workstations and reducing manning requirements, but allowed pressmen to focus their attention on the critical information necessary to achieve faster make ready, improved quality and increased productivity. Furthermore, the Process Manager allows customers to save and dispatch specific print job configuration files directly to the equipment before the press even starts up. WPC’s Process Manager provides customers with the convenience and efficiency of obtaining state of the art controls from one press controls manufacturer. With the success the CLC System received from WPC’s customers it wasn’t long before the CLC Plus System followed suite. CLC Plus scans a color bar from the moving web to adjust both color register and inking to target density values. Fast color register together with Color Control and Color Management data collection help WPC customers to make more productive decisions. The result is reduced waste, improved quality and greater productivity.

By combining all the benefits of WPC’s award winning CCR and the CLC System, WPC had once again moved ahead of the curve in improving the way its customers meet their target productivity goals. The easy to use, low maintenance, high speed design of the CLC Plus system insures that WPC customers can expect substantial reductions in color density and color register waste on make-ready, restart, and repeat job make-readies.

Our Future

WPC currently offers the most comprehensive line of auxiliary press equipment and services available anywhere in the world. The future looks strong as we continue to work with our customers in our quest to improve print quality, increase productivity and reduce waste.

What was once the vision of a few has become a reality due to the talents of the many.