fasson the first fifty years - avery dennison · fasson > the first fifty years ... fifty years...

Fasson > The First Fifty Years

Fifty years ago, Avery Dennison - then known

as the Avery Adhesive Label Corporation - began operating

a base materials plant in Painesville, Ohio. The fl edgling

Avery Paper operation was soon renamed Fasson - to suggest

“fasten on” or “fast on”.

That event marked a strategic new direction for the Company:

to sell, not fully-made labels, but pressure-sensitive base materials

directly to printers, converters and label manufacturers.

With the founding of Fasson, a new capability, and a powerful

new brand, was created - one that would greatly impact,

strengthen and expand not only the Company, but the entire

pressure-sensitive industry.

FASSON’S EARLY ADVERTISEMENT.

Avery Dennison Roll Materials EuropeLammenschansweg 140P.O.Box 282300 AA LeidenThe NetherlandsTel +31 71 579 41 00Fax +31 71 579 41 80

Central EuropeAvery Dennison Materials GmbHZ.Hd Marketing ServicesBembergstrasse 1-442103 WuppertalGermanyTel +49 202 490-383Fax +49 202 490-247

Northern EuropeAvery Dennison Materials UK Ltd.Nelson Way, Nelson Park EastCramlingtonNorthumberland, NE23 1JREnglandTel +44 1670 714 222Fax +44 1670 739 393

www.europe.fasson.com

Eastern Europe & International SouthAvery Dennison Praha, spol. s r.o.Mezi Uvozy 2431/2193 00 Praha 9Czech RepublicTel +420 281 02 1111Fax +420 281 02 1139

Southern EuropeAvery Dennison Materials France S.a.r.l.Zone Industrielle38560 Champ-sur-DracFranceTel +33 476 337633Fax +33 476 687850

The birth of innovation

Pressure-sensitive technology was still so new when

Fasson began that most of the workforce started with

no experience in the fi eld. Early Fasson assignments

included several large-scale orders for industry,

involving such challenges as keeping the presses

running for weeks on end, mixing large batches of

adhesives consistently and coating on vinyl. These

“learning experiences” took the fl edgling new

division far afi eld from the Company’s simple label-

making operations, just as Stan Avery had hoped it

would. As orders piled in, coating presses got bigger

and the staff more confi dent — and experimental.

Thus, the tradition for innovation was born.

“The people at Painesville were simply the most

wonderful group that I’ve ever had the privilege

of working with... They had fun making some-

thing happen.”

BILL ZIMMERMAN – FASSON GENERAL MANAGER, 1959

“The Company then had no regular scheduling

procedures. We’d take an order slip into the

plant and set it on the bench. Then the guys

would look at it and fi gure out how much we

needed of each ingredient. It was like cooking

up one pot of stew at a time.”

CAL MILLER – FASSON EMPLOYEE, 1955

A FASSON CULTURE OF TEAMWORK, EFFICIENCY AND PROBLEM SOLVING DEVELOPED OVER THE YEARS.

CLOCKWISE FROM UPPER LEFT: CHUCK MILLER MAPS OUT STRATEGY FOR EUROPE; THE FIRST LEIDEN STAFF; EUROPEAN HEADQUARTERS; AND FASSON SALES MEETING.

Building a customer base

Very early, Fasson decided to broaden its customer base

rather than rely solely on its few large industrial accounts.

There was a general consensus within the division that

pressure-sensitive labels could be used by just about

anyone. But when the marketing program began, Fasson

salespeople found they had to spend more time explaining

the basic idea of using pressure-sensitive materials than

actually selling the material. Sheet printers found this new-

fangled material a bother. It stuck together. It was hard

to run. And it was expensive. Taking another approach,

salespeople started going directly to the user, which

turned out to be an easier sale. Before long, printers were

inundated with requests for “pressure-sensitive” labels.

“I went out to see Fasson in Painesville in my

second week with Avery. I began to smell the

opportunities for growth in the materials side of

the business. In the label business, you’d really

fi ght for a $200 order. On the materials side,

with one sales call you could sell a broad range

of products to the same customer. And you could

sell to all the different label makers.”

CHUCK MILLER, RETIRED CHAIRMAN AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER,

UPON JOINING THE COMPANY IN 1964.

PLANT MANAGER BILL DODGE (TOP) AND EARLY PAINESVILLE OPERATIONS.

“For 25 years, people have been telling us we’ve

saturated the [pressure-sensitive] market — that

we ought to diversify or start making other kinds

of labels. At any point along the way, we could

have agreed. But we haven’t, and we won’t.”

FOUNDER STAN AVERY, 1968

Strengthening the organization

The early Fasson organization was blessed with

visionary and resourceful leaders. Bill Dodge, Fasson’s

fi rst plant manager — “Mr. Fasson” around Painesville,

Ohio — was well respected throughout the expanding

Fasson organization. The division’s management style

grew to refl ect Bill’s combination of curiosity about how

things worked, dedication to making things work better,

commitment to conducting business the right way and

his quiet way of motivating others to fi nd solutions for

even the most unbeatable challenges. With the business

quickly growing into a worldwide organization, and under

the Company’s decentralized management philosophy, the

expanding ranks of Fasson managers, not only duplicated

these basic principles, they enriched it with new ideas,

varied cultural perspectives and added strengths and

capabilities that now permeate the Company’s worldwide

pressure-sensitive adhesive businesses.

Expanding technology

In the days when no one knew anything about pressure-

sensitives and had no experience manufacturing these

new materials, “experts” were made on the manufactur-

ing fl oor through trial and error. As such, Fasson has al-

ways provided a welcoming home to tinkerers, chemists,

engineers and scientists. Even more amazing, many of

these recruits went on to manage operations — bringing

with them a profound respect for the technology behind

the materials that made applications into successful

products. Because of this technological bent, the Fas-

son organization also explored more effective release

coatings, non-solvent recovery systems and environ-

ment-friendly adhesives — continually expanding the

organization’s capabilities and technical leadership.

“We used to say that our business was just a state of mind.

It wasn’t an ordinary business, like making shoes. People

have had shoes for thousands of years. In our business,

we created products and sold them where there was no

product before. So it was always new and interesting.”

BILL DODGE – “MR. FASSON,” FIRST PLANT MANAGER AND

GENERAL MANAGER FROM 1964 TO 1976

INNOVATIONS IN COATING, PROCESS ENGINEERING AND QUALITY CONTROL WERE APPLIED THROUGHOUT FASSON'S FACILITIES.

FASSON REPUTATION FOR LEADING-EDGE PRESSURE-SENSITIVE TECHNOLOGIES APPEALED TO ANALYSTS AND DREW TALENTED RESEARCH CHEMISTS TO THE GROWING ORGANIZATION.

The next 50 years

In 50 years, Fasson has grown from one operation

to approximately 30 manufacturing facilities,

65 distribution centers and 40 sales offi ces in

32 countries around the world. From its fi rst year sales

of $70,000, the materials side of the business has

grown to become the largest part of Avery

Dennison. For 50 years, the men and women behind

the Fasson brand have worked together to create a

strong tradition of innovation, excellence and listening

to the customer, enabling Fasson to lead the way in

expanding the capabilities of pressure-sensitive

technology — a tradition that will undoubtedly

continue for the next 50 years.

Ensuring quality and service

With a long history of overcoming tough manufacturing

challenges, it’s no wonder that Fasson embraced and

adapted every new method that came along to ensure

consistency and enable the fast, reliable delivery of

top-quality products anywhere in the world. From

statistical process control to all of the methods in the

organization’s current Six Sigma processes, the focus

on excellence continues.

“The men and women in our Fasson organization

have built a truly global franchise on a 50-year

tradition of quality, service and innovation.”

PHIL NEAL – CHAIRMAN AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

THE EXCITEMENT OF WORKING FOR A RAPIDLY GROWING ORGANIZATION IS VERY MUCH ALIVE AMONG FASSON EMPLOYEES AROUND THE WORLD.

FASSON’S FIRST ADHESIVE-MAKING EQUIPMENT.

Meeting market needs

Geographic expansion became an important factor in

Fasson’s early market leadership, beginning with

branch plants across the United States. Production

facilities in Europe followed, fi rst to provide base

materials for European licensees, and then to include

all label converters. Before long, Fasson materials

were a catalyst for expanding the pressure-sensitive

markets in Canada, Mexico, South America, South

Africa and Australia. More recently, the Fasson brand

has been introduced into the emerging markets

of Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America.

thing happen.”

The next 50 years

thing happen.”

The next 50 years

thing happen.”

The next 50 years

fasson the first fifty years - avery dennison · fasson > the first fifty years ... fifty years...

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