VMS History

Since 1962, VMS's history has been filled with steady growth and milestones that have transformed us into an industry-leading single source provider of graphics printing.

From the VMS archives our employee photo 2004
Union 15
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1962 – VM Corporation Founded.

1982 – VM Corporation reaches $1 Million in Annual Sales. Kahle Family buys VM Corporation, renames it to VM Decal.

1986 – The Kahle’s rename VM Decal to Visual Marking Systems making a formal commitment to ensuring on-time delivery, quality, and supplier warranty programs which add value to the products we sell.

1987 – Relocated from North Royalton Plant (7,000sq. ft.) to Twinsburg (20,000sq. ft.)

1988 – VMS Acquires Velvetone Gallagher of San Francisco, CA. VG Specializes in overlays for Atari Gaming and POP for the oil industry and advertising market.

1990 – 10% annual growth since 1982.

1997 – VMS expands production, adding 30,000 sq. ft. to the existing 20,000 sq. ft.

1998 – VMS becomes among the first ISO:9001 registered printing facilities.

1998 – Digital is Born at VMS with the addition of Epson Wide Format printer.

2002 – VMS Acquires Globe Transportation Graphics, Baltimore, Maryland. Globe was the primary supplier of wayfinding signage, interior and external graphics for the public transportation market. They also specialized in printed POP materials for the advertising market.

2005 – Hermann Kahle Retires and Dolf Kahle becomes CEO. LEAN Enterprise is formally incorporated. All Employees are fully trained and certified in LEAN principles.

2010 – The Digital printing department grows to be 50% of all printing done at VMS with the Analog department carrying the other 50%.

2013 – VMS earns Professional Decal Application Alliance (PDAA) Certification as a Master Certified Installation Member Company. Chief Operations Officer, Ron Gizzo is appointed to PDAA Steering Committee.

2014 – VMS creates a Fleet Division to better serve vehicle graphic and large fleet customers. Opens Second Facility 8,000 sq ft. Installation & Removal Services. VMS becomes a leader in vehicle graphics removal.

2017 – VMS becomes a third generation, family-owned business as Eric Kahle joins the VMS team.

2018 – VMS begins offering decorated apparel and promotional items to their product line and adds another 12,000 sq ft. to their manufacturing footprint to accommodate the additional division.

2022 – VMS celebrates 60 years.

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