50 Years Wölco
Wölco was established on October 2, 1962.
In the era of the first manned space flight and kidney-shaped coffee tables, Rolf Wölfle drew on his great flair for sales to found his label printing shop. In a defunct seal printing plant in Ehningen, Germany, he laid the foundation for a company that, 50 years later, would be successful all over the world. When he registered the company at Ehningen Town Hall, the mayor at the time didn’t think he had much of a chance, because two other entrepreneurs had already tried unsuccessfully to set up companies. However, Rolf Wölfle had an idea that he wanted to make a reality — producing labels in a single step without any manual intervention. In his first “company car,” a tiny NSU Prinz, he personally visited technical and business decision makers to convince them of the efficiency and advantages of his process. Right from the beginning, this type of forward-thinking management ensured the success of the company Wölco. Just two years after the company was founded, a special machine was purchased for switching from wet-glued labels to self-adhesive ones. Expansion soon made a new corporate building necessary, and with the introduction of brilliant new UV color technology, Wölco continued on its innovative path. The early 1970s brought the first developments in printing and stamping synthetic label stock and the purchase of a modern 4-color semi-rotary printing press.
