Foundational Values Meet Forward-Thinking Innovation: Ross Hutchison Takes the Reins as President of Universal Engraving

On February 1, Ross Hutchison took the reins as President of Universal Engraving, Inc. (UE)—a position held by his father, Larry, and grandfather, company founder Glenn E. Hutchison. Universal Engraving is one of the world’s largest foil and emboss die makers, whose engraved dies and systems are used to enhance thousands of diverse products every day.

Under Ross Hutchison’s leadership, UE will continue to revolutionize the embossing and foil stamping industry with new ways to maximize customer uptime, productivity and profitability.

“Our guiding philosophy is to ‘never stop innovating,’” said Hutchison. “While the latest innovation may seem like the final step in a long journey, it’s in fact just the beginning of a new one. Innovation should be for the benefit of the customer, not just for the company doing the
innovating.”

The latest innovations from UE include Econofoil® 2mm dies, which typically cost between 40-60% less than engraved brass hot stamping cylinders, and the SpeedChase®, which can deliver 50-30-12 (50% reduction in die changeover and makeready, 30% faster run rates, and a
12% reduction in die cost).

Above all else, Hutchison wants to continue to provide unrivaled accuracy and timeliness for all of UE’s customer-partners.

“It is imperative that we maintain the highest tolerances, as well as extreme precision and unparalleled image integrity,” he said.

Hutchison feels confident in achieving his goals by relying on the well-established Universal Engraving operations team, managed by Todd Rima (UE VP of Operations and Sales) and Austin Hutchison (UE VP of Manufacturing—North America).

Larry Hutchison will continue to play a role in the business, while Glenn E. Hutchison will take a reduced role. This will allow Ross Hutchison to draw upon their resources and maintain the relationships they built with customers over the years.

“We believe in being a true partner to our customers—someone they can trust and rely on,” he said. “Universal Engraving has always been an innovative company. If a client wants something to happen—no matter how difficult it may be—the team will do everything in their power to make it happen.”

Hutchison’s commitment to the family business and the foil stamping and embossing industry will help Universal Engraving continue to delight their customer-partners—for generations to come.