Anderson & Vreeland Celebrates 50th Anniversary

BRYAN, Ohio—Anderson & Vreeland (A&V), a leading supplier of flexo prepress equipment and materials, marks a milestone in January, 2011—a half-century of supplying platemaking equipment and materials to the flexographic industry.

In January, 1961, Wesley Anderson and Howard Vreeland, Sr. joined together to form a company that has become one of the foremost flexographic prepress suppliers. The business more than doubled projected sales in its first year. A&V began growing with the industry it served, opening an Atlanta facility in 1964 and a West Covina, California facility in 1969. Elk Grove Village, Illinois soon followed and a nationwide sales/distribution network was established.

In the 1960s, A&V supplied rubber and matrix, the main application for making flexo printing plates. The company also serviced and manufactured equipment used in the rubber platemaking process, including hydraulic molding presses.

In the mid-1970s, sheet polymer material was introduced to the flexo industry. Anderson & Vreeland quickly became an innovative leader in the manufacture of equipment that processed photopolymer plates. The company addressed environmental and ecological issues long before it was fashionable to do so, introducing fumeless plate processors, UV-light detack units, and environmentally-safe washout alternatives to the harmful chemicals used to process flexo plates. In the late 1990s, Anderson & Vreeland introduced Cosmolight®, said to be the world’s first water-wash flexo plate from Toyobo. A&V also introduced the equipment required to process water-wash flexo plates, reducing the industry’s reliance on solvent-wash plates.

Anderson & Vreeland recognized the growing importance of digital technology in improving the productivity and quality of flexo, and introduced the first complete laser-imaged computer-to-plate system for water-wash flexo plates in 2002, along with digital plate materials.

Anderson & Vreeland continues to introduce new products that improve plate quality, efficiency and the environment, from companies including Epson, EskoArtwork, GMG Color and Stork Prints. At the same time, A&V prides itself on long-standing relationships with industry leaders including 3M, Flint Group, Rogers, Tesa and Toyobo.

Anderson & Vreeland will celebrate its 50-year history throughout 2011. “We’d like to thank our customers, representatives, suppliers and associates for their faithfulness and support,” said Howard Vreeland, Jr., Chairman of the Board for A&V. “The past 50 years have been very good to us. We can’t wait to show you what the future holds,” he added.