A Sweet Career

He may not be making chocolate, but Bob Wamsher has found his work at Hershey Foods to be every bit as important to the quality of the product.

By Bob Neubauer

When you're growing up in Hershey, Pa., where streetlights are shaped like Hershey's Kisses, it's a fair bet that chocolate is going to play some part in your future.

"That was the only game in town, chocolate," remarks Bob Wamsher, manager of Printing Services at Hershey Foods Corp., where he has worked since 1968.

Even so, despite a number of relatives in the chocolate business, Wamsher admits he hadn't given much thought to his career path back when he was a high school senior.

That changed when Hershey representatives came to his school and tested students for co-op jobs. They picked him as one of the five brightest, he says, rewarding him with a mail room job at the plant.

Thus Wamsher began his career at one of the world's most popular chocolate companies. For his first eight months, he sorted and delivered mail, learning his way around the facility. Then an opportunity opened up in the print shop. Wamsher remembers that the in-plant comprised two small Multigraphics 1250 duplicators "and a lot of ladies typing stencils," which were the masters used on the duplicators.

He became one of two press operators, printing one-color forms and letters. Eight years later, a supervisor's position opened up and Wamsher got the job. Four years after that he became manager.

"That's when we started to grow," he says. Wamsher saw the opportunity to do more color work and eventually convinced the company to buy a pair of two-color Multigraphics 1850s. At times the in-plant used them to do four-color work, feeding sheets from one press into the other. A few years later he added two- and four-color Solna presses. By 1980, the in-plant was up to 10 employees.

A New Era

"One of the big [milestones] was when we evolved to the digital side," Wamsher recalls.

It started with black-and-white equipment. Color copiers came next. Then, wide-format ink-jet printers.

One of the reasons the shop has continued to expand, Wamsher says, is because it keeps finding new services it can offer to customers.

"We have difficulty saying no," he laughs. When the company was seeking a less-expensive way to produce acrylic awards, the in-plant researched the process, examined awards being produced by vendors and then started creating them in-house.

"That was a savings for the company," he says.

When wide-format ink-jet printers became available, his department showed the company the possibilities of creating banners and posters. That portion of the in-plant's business boomed. The shop now runs five wide-format printers.

"It's been pretty gratifying to see all the changes through the years," Wamsher says, adding that he's most proud of "all the people that work here in my shop and the massive amount of work" they produce.

His 15 employees have been recognized repeatedly by the company for exceeding production quotas, and customers have presented awards to operators for exceptional work. The in-plant has also won several In-Print awards, presented by IPG and the International Publishing Management Association (IPMA).

Wamsher credits his 10-year membership in IPMA—where he is president of the local chapter—with giving him some of his ideas.

"I'm able to get out and talk to other managers," he says. "There's nothing better than sharing knowledge." (Knowledge isn't all he shares; he's been known to bring piles of Hershey's candy to national IPMA conferences.)

After getting started in printing somewhat unexpectedly as a young man, what does he think of it after all these years? "I think I'll stay," he quips.

A father of five,

with three grandchildren, Wamsher enjoys golfing when he's not at work. As for candy, he's got his preferences there, too.

"Reese's is my favorite," he says.