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Alan Shipman, CEO of ID Technology, in front of some of the company’s equipment. (Fort Worth Report | Bob Francis) <\/p>\nMost people are looking for specific items when they enter a grocery store \u2013 carrots, soft drinks or cheese. That\u2019s not the case for Alan Shipman. He\u2019s looking at labels and the printing of expiration dates.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI go in and I\u2019m looking at everything but the products there,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m looking at labels, product codes, everything and saying, \u2018We did this one,\u2019 \u2018I wonder who did this one?,\u2019 \u2018We could have done this label better.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Shipman is CEO of Fort Worth-based ID Technology, a ProMach product brand that works on labeling, coding and marking solutions. ID Technology\u2019s products and services help companies increase efficiency, ensure compliance and improve product traceability, he said.<\/p>\n
Now celebrating its 30th anniversary, ID Technology is rapidly expanding both nationally and internationally.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The company\u2019s headquarters is doubling its facility footprint, enabling expanded production capacity, enhanced manufacturing capabilities and adding more customer support.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile,\u00a0 expansions of its sites in York, Pennsylvania, and Edmonton, Alberta, have been completed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Shipman said ID Technology has seen a more than 20% compound annual growth rate over the last 30 years, driven by customer demand for innovative, high-quality labeling and coding solutions. He pointed to increases in Amazon and other vendors shipping products directly to consumers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery one of those boxes needs a label and companies need a way to track that product,\u201d said Shipman. \u201cThat\u2019s our market.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
But it is not just letters, numbers and symbols on packages. ID Technology also has the ability to \u201cprint\u201d RFID tags, which are basically chips that can track packages.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a long way for a company started in Fort Worth in 1995 with just eight employees and $1.8 million in revenue in its initial year. It was doing well, but it was hardly printing money, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was founded by Bob Zuilhof, who retired in 2014. According to company legend, Zuilhof maxed out his credit cards to purchase the machinery to start the company.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If he did, it proved a good investment. ID Technology now has 1,200 employees and expects to top $450 million, most likely hitting $500 million, this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Shipman, then working for Accenture Consulting, met Zuilhof and thought it was an interesting business model with both products and service to sell.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That mix proved effective with INC. Magazine recognizing ID Technology as one of the fastest-growing businesses in the United States in 1997 and 1998.<\/p>\n
Shipman said the company\u2019s history features several key moments, but the one that set it apart from competitors was in 2000 with the introduction of its own printer applicator \u2014 the Model 250.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe set a goal to sell 250 units in 2002 and ended up at 275,\u201d Shipman said. \u201cWithin just a few years, we became the leading printer applicator manufacturer in the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n
That also made ID Technology a fully-integrated company offering businesses printing solutions they could use on their own or providing it as a service. The company also sells the consumables used in its printer products.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat really set us apart,\u201d Shipman said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At ID Technology\u2019s customer center in north Fort Worth at 5051 N. Sylvania Ave., customers can receive a quick demonstration of the various services the company can provide.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been really helpful because we have multiple technologies we can demonstrate here,\u201d Shipman said. \u201cWe bring in customers almost weekly, and they invariably say they didn\u2019t know what all we did.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Alan Shipman, CEO of ID Technology, in front of some of the company’s equipment. (Fort Worth Report | Bob Francis) <\/p>\n
While printing a labeling seems pretty by-the-book, Shipman notes that each product and packaging requires a different label or code.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt can be challenging, but that keeps it interesting,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And it is not just printing. There is laser etching, which the company also does.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The company\u2019s location has proven an advantage for customer visits as well, Shipman added\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNow they all want to see the Stockyards, and we\u2019re not far, so that\u2019s been great for us,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Shipman joined the company, then just ID Technology in 1995, initially as a regional manager before becoming vice president of sales. He was named president in 2013.<\/p>\n
In 2002, ID Technology was acquired by Cincinatti-based ProMach, a company that provides packaging and processing solution brands for manufacturers. ID Technology is part of ProMach\u2019s labeling and coding business line.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That gave ID Technology the ability to expand its footprint and also to make acquisitions, as it did recently adding Cincinatti-based KelCode Solutions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Shipman said most people don\u2019t think about who prints those labels, product codes and expiration dates that we use everyday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt might look like a mundane business to some, but it\u2019s changing all the time,\u201d Shipman said. \u201cInnovation is a key part of what we do and why we\u2019ve been successful.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n