WestCamp Completes Acquisition of Lake Graphics Label and Sign
February 27, 2025 – West-Camp Press, Inc. announces the acquisition of Lake Graphics Label and Sign Co. Inc. to support its growing customer base in the Cleveland market and expand its capabilities in labels.
WestCamp was founded in 1961 as an offset commercial printer and has grown into a marketing and graphics provider, covering traditional offset, cut sheet digital, and grand format. The company became 100% employee-owned in 2015 and since 2017, WestCamp has been the Preferred Display Graphics Partner of the Cleveland Browns.
Rob Morris, WestCamp CEO, stated,
“We are very enthusiastic about adding Lake Graphics. Mark and his team have done a great job of building and expanding their business. The Cleveland market is an exciting place to be and it is time to grow our presence here. With WestCamp’s strength and stability along with Lake Graphics’ knowledge of the people and customers, we will be able to provide a premier service and product to Cleveland.”
Lake Graphics was formed in 2009 as a wide-format printer and added labels to the mix in 2013. Mark Tangry, Lake Graphics President, commented,
“Joining with WestCamp is the perfect step for us. We have known the WestCamp team for years and being aware of how they do business makes this an easy move. We are doing well for a small shop, but WestCamp means we can confidently handle the larger jobs and increases the offerings we can provide to our customers.”
With the acquisition on, WestCamp triples its production space in Cleveland. In addition to keeping all of the current employees the combined companies are adding more personnel. Lake Graphics will operate as a division of WestCamp.
WestCamp Accelerates Its Folding Carton Production With New Koenig & Bauer Allpro 110 Folder Gluer
Since this past spring, the new Allpro 110 folder gluer has expanded WestCamp’s abilities and provided new solutions for its customers
Allpro handles a wide range of substrates from cartonboard to corrugated and individually designed configurations
At top speeds of 400m/min, the Allpro 110 folder gluer can produce a variety of complex carton jobs that demonstrates its flexibility, efficiency, and versatility
Left to right: Robert Morris, WestCamp’s President and CEO; and Steve Chappelear WestCamp’s Director of Manufacturing; have seen the new Koenig & Bauer’s Allpro 110 folder gluer expand the firm’s abilities and provide new solutions for its customers | © Koenig & Bauer
With more than 60 years of printing experience and an outstanding reputation as a successful commercial printer, WestCamp prides itself on producing the highest quality marketing materials for its customers and operating the latest technology by its team of expert craftsmen in two production facilities: Westerville (a suburb of Columbus, Ohio) and Cleveland, Ohio totaling more than 100,000 square feet. As the firm has grown from its commercial printing leadership role to naturally expand into the fast-growing folding carton market, management has selectively chosen cutting edge technology to enable high-speed turnaround and unfailing accuracy. This past spring, the firm added a Koenig & Bauer Allpro 110 folder gluer to its capabilities in Westerville, OH.
“Traditional commercial print is good, steady work but other segments provide more growth, innovations, and creativity,” says Robert Morris, WestCamp’s President and CEO. “The packaging market provides increased opportunities and a natural expansion coupled with our existing capabilities. When our customers began to ask about folding carton production, we explored a move into adding packaging work to our mix. We found that we already had in place all the steps leading up to the folder gluer so the Allpro 110 was an easy addition.”
Known as the most versatile folder gluer in the world, the Allpro 110 allows its users to exceed production requirements, maximize productivity and profitability, and produce endless carton box design possibilities. These include straight line, double wall, crash lock and optional four- and six-corner with single finger servo fold for high-speed precision as well as inner partition, Z-fold, conical crash lock and CD boxes at a maximum belt speed of 400 m/min.
When Morris was asked what the most important feature of a folder gluer is: automation, flexibility, sustainability, quality, efficiency, or speed, his answer was “yes” to all of them. “We are a production shop, so whatever folder gluer we chose needed to have excellent speed because that is expected in all of our areas. We’re also known for our high-quality so our folding cartons need to match the rest of what we do.”
Since its installation this past spring, operators at WestCamp appreciate the Allpro’s unique array of features. The Allpro 110’s fully automatic processes combined with its memory functions are helping WestCamp’s operators achieve the shortest possible makeready times. An intuitive, touchscreen-based operating concept provides folder gluer operators with exceptional ease of operation while high-precision processes reduce the amount of waste.
“Whenever we invest in new equipment, we always research our possibilities, preferably looking at no less than three choices,” says Morris. “Since this was a new area for us, we looked at even more possibilities. We wanted a machine that could produce whatever we dreamt up to create. The Allpro 110 had more flexibility than any other we could find.”
Not only was Morris pleased with the Allpro 110 but the backing and commitment of Koenig & Bauer. “Choosing this equipment from Koenig & Bauer was simple,” he says. “They have a great reputation and the Allpro delivers our type of high-quality product. The availability of Koenig & Bauer’s knowledgeable and caring staff made entering this new area a comfortable transition. Everyone at Koenig & Bauer has been great to work with and very supportive.”
To date, the Allpro 110 folder gluer has addressed the needs of WestCamp’s customers. “Our current customers come first before we target new markets. The Allpro is expanding our abilities to deliver our customer’s message and allow their vision to come to life. It’s one more effective means in our arsenal to provide collaborative solutions which are coordinated within a customer’s overall campaign.”
Article published by Koenig & Bauer (US) October 2024