First came the printing press...
Recently, the A&E network selected printing press inventor Johann Gutenberg as the #1 person of the last 2,000 years for his contributions to the advancement of civilization.
Ray Roper, president and CEO of Printing Industries of America, Inc. praised the decision, saying "In honoring Gutenberg, A&E has recognized the indispensable impact he had on
our industry as well as the immense value our industry has had on the overall course of history."
Roper also remarked that, "History is often seen as the struggle between ideas. But it's only those ideas
that have been effectively promoted and distributed which have entered that struggle. The printing industry has been the leading means of communicating and distributing those ideas since Johann Gutenberg..."
Gutenberg was ranked as the top historical figure in A&E's four-hour special, "Biography of the Millennium," which honored 100 of the world's most significant inventors,
leaders, and philosophers of the past 20 centuries. Printing industry icon Benjamin Franklin also made the list, coming in at #68.
Printing and the printed word has become the
cornerstone of communication for the entire modern world. In the past when reading and writing didn't exist for the common person, occupations were limited mostly to manual labor. Education was limited to a
select few. Royalty, persons of wealth, and those involved in commerce hired scholars to read to them or handle their financial matters.
By the mid-15th century, Gutenberg
developed the concept of movable type and in about blended together the technologies of paper, oil-based ink, and the humble wine-press to print books. A considerable number of scribe monks were downsized,
but even the Church considered print to be "a divinely inspired invention" since it put prayer books in the hands of parish priest, and assured uniform copies of decrees. Bookmaking became a business, the
Dark Ages ended and the Renaissance began, and the world began to change in ways that had never existed before. Today, individual interaction and communication continue to be enhanced by computers, memory
systems, and global highways -- all of which require a population that can read and write. And thanks to Gutenberg, most of the modern world is able to perform these basic functions.
Then came packaging... Almost everything bought and sold today is encased in some sort of packaging: boxes, bags, plastic, glass, paper, etc. The first
throw-away style packaging appeared around 1550, about a hundred years after Gutenberg introduced moveable type. In the mid-16th century, German papermakers printed
fancy paper labels and used them to wrap around their better paper products. At about the same time, pictorial labels were introduced by a Venetian cloth maker on bales of material.
By the early 1700s, printed paper labels were common on medicine bottles and on bottles of wine. The designs
became more and more ornate, and found their way onto consumer products like tobacco and gloves. Despite the effectiveness of this style of promotion, all the designs
were engraved by hand so it wasn't until more than a century later that printing technology advanced to the point that mass production of labels and wrappings was possible.
By the end of the 19th century, pre-packaging of such commodities as tea and spices was common practice, and the great boom in packaging was born. Huge advertising
campaigns soon erupted as manufacturers and merchants attempted to sway customers' buying habits before they ever stepped into a store. Even a hundred years ago, advertising moved merchandise, and everybody
understood the advantages of using attractive models, children, and cute animals to promote a product's image. Then came Form Flo Equipment Manufacturers, and our
AV-PRO added value processing and finishing system! 
Gutenberg could never have anticipated such modern markets as insurance, education, fund raising, travel, health, and sports. He couldn't have foreseen the need for
business forms, club cards, ID cards, and parking lot passes. However, what Gutenberg began with his converted wine press, Form Flo is happy to continue with its product for the brand new 21st century – the
AV-PRO added value processing and finishing system.
Specifically created to provide an effective solution for integrated cards, labels, and windows, one-part enhanced products, and added value products, the modular AV-PRO is virtually unlimited in the possibilities it offers. It can be
configured to create a one-of-a-kind system to meet the needs of whatever application or opportunity presents itself to our client. At Form Flo, we believe the "Y" in Y2K stands for "yes."
So, Happy New Year and Happy New Millennium. And we'd like to offer a special thanks to Johann Gutenberg. Johann, we couldn't have done it without you! 
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