Company History

In 2003 Stanford celebrated 60 years of service to the flexible packaging industry. Since it's inception in 1943, Stanford has earned the respect of converters everywhere for providing quality equipment backed by the finest customer service available in the industry.

The company was founded as a supplier of web guides and tension controls. The company's founder, W.T. "Dutch" Stanford - an entrepreneur and innovator - ran the company for several years prior to forming a management partnership with his sons, Wayne and Bud. Stanford Engineering, as it was then known, remained a family business until 1964 when it was purchased by the New Jersey based press manufacturer, Wood Industries Inc.

While web guides, unwind/rewind stands and automatic tension controls fueled much of Stanford's growth during the early years, in the fall of 1953 the company shipped the first Doctor Machine^® - an invention of Dutch Stanford's and still a registered trademark of the company. With the release of the Doctor Machine^® began a period of rapid growth for the Stanford Company. Following three building expansions and the forging of symbiotic relationships with key players in the marketplace, it was not long before Stanford's product line had expanded to include turret unwinds/rewinds and duplex differential slitter rewinders.

The purchase by Wood Industries heralded a new phase in Stanford's development and brought about a change in focus. The 1960s, the 1970s and the 1980s saw the company get more and more involved in the printing press business. In 1968 Stanford became the US sales agent for the Swiss-based Gallus Press line. This was complimented in 1970 with Wood's purchase of the Vandenberg Press Company and its subsequent move from Cincinnati, Ohio to Salem. Stanford's involvement in the printing industry was strengthened even further in 1972 with the relocation of the Ashton Press Company from Montreal, Canada to Stanford's facility in Salem. In 1979, the German-based MAN Roland - also a press manufacturer - acquired Wood Industries and Stanford became known as the Stanford Division of MAN Roland.

The MAN Roland era lasted from 1979 until January 2000. During this 20 year period, Stanford designed and built a wide array of equipment including automatic flying splice turret slitter rewinders, reversible and single direction Doctor Machines®, narrow web flexographic printing presses, offset business form presses and label inspection rewinders. While Stanford enjoyed considerable success marketing printing presses, it remained true to its roots and maintained a steadfast interest in slitter rewinders and Doctor Machines^®. In 1982 Stanford was the first company to offer an affordable computer controlled slitter rewinder. Stanford was also one of the first to offer a wide web cantilevered slitter rewinder with unloading tree.

In 2000, Stanford came under new ownership and became Stanford Products LLC. Fresh new leadership would begin a transformation that is still taking place. The company has revisited its engineering roots and is using past successes to design the machines required of today's demanding converting operations.

Stanford Products Headquarters - Salem, IL, USA

Stanford is still located in the small rural community of Salem, Illinois - its home for over 60 years. Since November 2001 we are in a new purpose-built manufacturing facility, which has enormous practical and symbolic significance as Stanford embarks on its most recent phase of development. The first expansion to this new facility was completed in 2005. The excitement is palpable as the talents of employees with 30 and 40 years experience is blended with a younger generation of talented engineers eager to provide the technologies necessary to maintain a leadership role in our marketplace.

Among the most recent developments to emerge from Stanford's engineering department is a new line of Shrink Sleeve finishing equipment launched to the market in September 2004.

The Stanford of today is immensely proud of its past. We are proud of our reputation and we strive daily to serve our customers with the standards they have come to expect from us. The Stanford of today is also forward looking and ambitious. We've taken all the valuable traditions that have placed us at the forefront of the industry for 60 years and combined them with the renewed vigor of an expanded engineering department and sales force to reaffirm Stanford's position as an innovative leader in the manufacture of converting equipment.