Get to Know Baldwin and Its Century of Innovation

Fueled by 100 years of innovation, Baldwin Technology Company Inc. is a leading global manufacturer and supplier of innovative process automation, equipment, parts service and consumables for a number of industries. Baldwin not only provides new equipment to its customers, but also dedicates resources to maintaining and servicing existing equipment with quality replacement parts, highly engineered consumables and engineering services that include upgrades and retrofits in addition to regular maintenance.

Baldwin Technology was founded in 1918 in Baldwin, New York, by William Gegenheimer, a pioneering printer and press service technician. Gegenheimer invented the Baldwin Press Washer, which unlocked the potential of offset printing by reducing cleaning time from hours to minutes. This was the first of many process innovations that Baldwin presented to each of its customers in the early days of its 100-plus year history.

William’s son, Harold Gegenheimer, joined the business and, in the beginning of the 1960s, he became Baldwin’s president. He was later joined by Wendell Smith and under their joint leadership they targeted international expansion, beginning with Japan in 1968, followed by rapid acceleration into key markets such as China, Germany and the U.K.

A key year for Baldwin was in 1976, when the company launched the Automatic Blanket Cleaning System, a technology that automatically cleans all of the blankets in a printing press, improving press uptime, print quality and printer safety. This product also received the Graphic Arts Technical Foundation Award in the mid-1980s for a product expected to have significant impact on the printing industry over the next five years, which it truly did and continues to do both in print and now in other industries as well.

In 1983, Wendell Smith and a group of Baldwin’s other Baldwin leaders made a management buyout of the company. And in 1987, they took the company public.

The following years were marked by significant growth and a flurry of acquisitions, including Kansa Corp., Enkel Corp., Stobb, Misomex and several more.

In 1993, Gerald Nathe was elected president of Baldwin and led the acquisition of the Acrotec Group in 1995. At the same time, Baldwin presented another groundbreaking product innovation to its customers -- a pre-impregnated cleaning platform for its Automatic Blanket Cleaning System. Called Prepac, it made the cleaning process faster, cleaner and environmentally friendly, while simplifying printers’ work and making it safer.

Another major milestone came in 2012, when BW Forsyth Partners, the investment arm of multi-billion-dollar global manufacturing and engineering consulting firm Barry-Wehmiller, acquired all the shares in the company and took Baldwin private.

With a new owner, Baldwin’s strategic business-planning process quickly changed from short-term to long-term financial stability. This allowed the company to reposition itself and invest in a business model with the objective to drive growth not only in print, but also in other industrial processes.

The first acquisition accomplished under new ownership was in 2014 when Baldwin acquired Web Printing Controls Inc., a manufacturer of vision technology for the newspaper and commercial web applications. This acquisition was followed by several other key additions, including Air Motion Systems, the world’s number one LED UV curing system provider in 2017,  which combined with Baldwin Technology's UV and IR divisions, created the AMS Spectral UV business segment. The joined entity serves as the world's leading manufacturer of LED-UV curing systems for commercial sheetfed offset printing, and a number of other markets.

Other strategic acquisitions in 2017 included Ahlbrandt, a leading manufacturer of high-energy corona technology for the packaging industry, and PC Industries, a manufacturer of state-of-the-art vision inspection systems for the printing, converting, packaging, pharmaceutical and security printing industries. And, finally, QuadTech, a leading manufacturer of vision inspection technology for offset and packaging.

These acquisitions have further strengthened Baldwin’s presence in the print industry, but more importantly for its future growth by positioning Baldwin to quickly build a strong presence in the packaging space, which is a growing part of global print.

Baldwin’s Vision System segment was formed in 2018, uniting PC Industries, Web Printing Controls and QuadTech and provides a portfolio of vision systems that are among the industry's most advanced core management inspection technology solutions that helps its customers to achieve print quality perfection.

Baldwin’s senior leadership team, led by chief executive officer Joe Kline who took the helm in January 2020, is focused on continuing to grow in print while diversifying into new industries by bringing technology from its print portfolio into new industrial processes outside of the print market.

During the past couple of years, Baldwin has established its support for surface cleaning technology into the film extrusion applications. The company has also taken its precision spray technology and developed and positioned it into the textile finishing and tissue industries. Baldwin has also brought its high-energy LED-UV technology into the electronics industry.

All of these endeavors add future growth opportunities and possibilities that are new chapters to be written. The common theme that continues to unite Baldwin’s vision across all of its segments is its commitment to cutting-edge innovation to automate workflows and to manage the increasing complexity and quality standards of its manufacturing customers and end users.

Baldwin is headquartered in St. Louis, MO, with operations located in 14 locations in 10 countries and an extensive global sales and service infrastructure designed to provide our customers with fast and efficient service.

Our vision: Transforming Business through the Power of Human Potential.