20th Anniversary of Gerber’s Celebrated SignmakerIII: Sets Stage for Continued Innovation, Market Leadership

SOUTH WINDSOR, Conn. Twenty years ago last month, Gerber Scientific Products Inc. turned the sign industry upside-down with the debut of its revolutionary Signmaker III: the world’s first low-cost, easy-to-use, automated lettering system.

With that product launch, the company transformed a time-consuming, labor-intensive manual process into a productive craft virtually overnight, totally redefining the concept of sign design and production.

Since then, Gerber has dominated the global graphics landscape, studying customers’ needs and finding unique ways to satisfy them. Currently, it offers an extensive range of affordable, highly sophisticated, yet user-friendly, digital products not only for sign makers, but for graphics and screenprinting professionals, as well… all designed to increase productivity and deliver outstanding quality.

David Logan, founder and first president of Gerber Scientific Products and one of the core engineers responsible for the creation of the Signmaker, recalled the company’s evolution from a research and development operation to a profitable manufacturer and how the Signmaker set the stage for creating the Gerber Scientific Products of today.

“Although we introduced the Signmaker in 1982, Gerber Scientific Products was actually founded two years before, in 1980, as a subsidiary of Gerber Scientific Inc. We were chartered to expand the corporation’s product offerings by entering new markets,” he explained. “Much of our early work involved research and development of original equipment manufacturer (OEM) products to be marketed by other companies.

“Then, in mid-1982, we began exploring the concept of an automated lettering system. In just a few months, the concept became a reality in the form of the Signmaker III, which was introduced to the market in November of that year. And it just took off from there. In retrospect, it’s rather amazing… that one relatively simple product could propel an unknown company into the international manufacturing arena so quickly.”

During Logan’s stewardship as president of Gerber Scientific Products, which ended with his retirement in 1990, he watched the Signmaker III and its successor, the Signmaker IVB, reign supreme as self-contained letter production systems.

“No other company was ever able to truly challenge that technology,” he asserted. “The Signmaker was incredibly successful, and we sold so many. At one point, we were turning them around at the rate of 65 to 70 a week without any automated manufacturing processes. I never saw anything like it.”

Logan, who now sits on the board of directors of Gerber Scientific Products’ parent corporation, Gerber Scientific Inc., and serves as a consultant to its subsidiaries, still enjoys an active role in product development activities. He admits to fond memories of the Gold Rush-type fever spawned by the Signmaker of old. “Everyone wanted one,” he recalled. “It was a crazy time, but what a marvelous ride!”

Gerber Scientific Products Inc. is the world leader in the development and manufacture of computerized sign making and specialty graphics systems, software, materials, and accessories among them the revolutionary GERBER EDGE thermal transfer color imaging system.

The company’s start-to-finish digital design, printing and production products are carefully integrated via its unique Matched Technology System to provide customers with comprehensive engineered solutions for every color printing and dimensional signage need. Based in South Windsor, Conn., Gerber Scientific Products is a wholly owned subsidiary of Gerber Scientific Inc., the world’s leading supplier of high technology systems and solutions that enable mass customization in diverse markets: sign making and specialty graphics, apparel and flexible materials, packaging and commercial printing, and optical lens processing.

Gerber Scientific is a NYSE-listed company (symbol GRB) and employs about 2,300 globally. It also is headquartered in South Windsor.

Signmaker and GERBER EDGE are registered trademarks of Gerber Scientific Products Inc. Matched Technology System is a trademark of Gerber Scientific Products Inc.

Gerber Scientific Products, Inc.
83 Gerber Road
South Windsor, CT 06074
Phone: 860-643-1515
Fax: 860-648-8595
Website URL: www.gspinc.com


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