Tailored Solutions

Early adopter

One company that got into the game in the early days of shrink labeling is Gilbreth, a label printer located in Croydon, Pa. Gilbreth, founded in 1961 as an importer of tubing and chemicals, began printing shrink sleeves in the early 1980s. According to Lori Stevens, vice president of business services, the company began printing tamper bands in response to the Tylenol product-tampering scare. “We started in shrink sleeves with the development of tamper-evident bands for security purposes and moved to printing full-body sleeves,” relates Stevens. “During the 1980s, Gilbreth began supplying Duracell with battery sleeves, which became our stepping stone to grow the full-body shrink sleeve business.”