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William D. "Bill" Comerford, moved to California in February, 1955, to work for Jack. Bill served as VP Operations for most of his 45 year career while moving with his family, first to Ohio, and then to North Carolina opening and managing WRE facilities. He was Board Chairman through the 80's and 90's and President through most of the 90's until his retirement in 2000. He still serves on the Board of Directors.
Donalda M. "Donnie" Comerford, grew up in "the trade" as Jack's daughter. She moved to California in 1955 with her husband, Bill, and moved with family to Ohio and North Carolina to set up and manage the offices of these new start-ups. Donnie worked 44 years as WRE's Secretary/Treasurer, served on the Board of Directors, and managed the corporate offices until her retirement in 1999. She retired from the Board in 2002.
Robert A. "Bob" MacKay, grew up in "the trade" as Jack's eldest son. Bob worked most of his career in the original California facility then moved to North Carolina in the 1980's. He was President of WRE through most of the 1980's and early 1990's. Three of Bob's sons are currently active in WRE/ColorTech management including our President, W. Brent MacKay.
The decade of the 1950s was an exciting time at Western Roto Engravers. Under Jack MacKay's leadership, WRE began redefining the gravure engraving market.
WRE began the development of a new engraving technique known as Direct Transfer to address the inconsistencies prevalent with the Carbon Tissue engraving process, that was commonly used at the time. WRE moved from its original facility in Oakland, CA, to a new plant in Berkeley, CA, where WRE/ColorTech still operates, today.
By the end of the decade, Jack and WRE were well on the way to perfecting the Direct Transfer process...the future looked very bright for Western Roto Engravers!
In the 1960s, Western Roto Engravers continued to perfect the Direct Transfer process and made dramatic progress in servicing the packaging industry. By the end of the decade, many competitors were abandoning Carbon Tissue in favor of this superior process.
Management at WRE decided that expansion to multiple sites in North America was right for our business, so new facilities in Ohio and North Carolina were opened. WRE cylinders were recognized for superior quality and, following Jack's example, WRE's service was second to none.
By the end of the decade, WRE had three strong strategically located engraving facilities.
In the 1970s, Western Roto Engravers' three facilities all grew to major operations. The Ohio operation was spun off to Jack's partners and the MacKay/Comerford families became the sole owners. Ohio Gravure Service was acquired in 1979 and we were again going strong with three plants.
Also in the 1970s, WRE expanded its capabilities dramatically in prepress and became known as the leader in developing process imagery using conventional film techniques. The Greensboro, NC, facility expanded to a second building for prepress production and became the corporate color center.
Dramatic improvements in etching techniques made our Direct Transfer process the industry standard for accurate and consistent image fidelity and color.
In the 1980s, Western Roto Engravers' prepress capabilities grew dramatically and the ColorTech Prepress division was formed. WRE led the way in moving the packaging industry from traditional film processes to digital imaging with a major Scitex installation in Greensboro, NC.
Improvements to the Direct Transfer process continued and it became the mainstay of the engraving industry, but an emerging computer based technology was on the rise. Electromechanical Engraving became a viable alternative to Direct Transfer with developments by Ohio Electronic Engraving. WRE was an early adopter of this technology. The stage was set for a totally digital prepress/engraving process and again, WRE was leading the way.
The pace of progress continued at a remarkable rate, as the 1990s began. WRE continued expansion adding electromechanical engraving and digital prepress to all of our sites and expanding to the current six full service facilities operating today. Our name was changed to WRE/ColorTech to reflect our full range of services.
With its Accessible Process workflow, WRE was the first to adopt a totally open, Postscript based, workflow for prepress and direct digital engraving. This eliminated the need for expensive proprietary prepress systems and gave our customers unprecedented access to high quality production art files that were accessible on their own desktop systems. This led the way to the first viable artwork management systems that are prevalent today.
Led by Jack's grandson, Brent MacKay, the third generation of MacKay/Comerford owners are all actively involved in continuing Jack's heritage of pioneering and innovation.
Our efforts are focused on continually improving our products and services to support all of our gravure cylinder and prepress clients. We continue to develop new processes, workflows, and products with our clients needs, both present and future, as our guiding star. This commitment is no better exemplified than by our 2004 Engraving Automation Project. Jack's legacy continues, not just in his progeny, but in the very culture and spirit of WRE/ColorTech. In the 2000s...the future looks very bright for Western Roto Engravers!
