David Savastano, Editor07.12.23
Growing up around the ink industry, Carl Hirsch has been involved in virtually every aspect of the ink process, while learning the ropes from his father, Urban Hirsch III, the founder of Ink Systems, Inc. Now president of Ink Systems, Carl is taking all that he has learned about the ink industry and successfully carving his own path.
“My earliest memories included going with my father on late night technical service calls to pressrooms when I was 8 years old," said Carl. “I started working with ink during summers in high school cleaning out ink tubs, mixing and milling, while also learning quality control in the laboratory. After I graduated college in 1997, I traveled to ink room startups for three years, learning batch weighing, color matching, and technical service with conventional sheetfed and UV inks. With Ink Systems, I got to learn the application side of the business at 20 pressrooms in Atlanta, Minneapolis, Chicago, Boston, San Francisco and Providence, and many others. I lived in these cities for several months at a time. Traveling and seeing diverse pressrooms and meeting different people and getting to work with our own employees and customers to solve technical problems was a highlight for me.
“At one point I became an Ink Systems inkroom inplant manager in a large print facility in southern California, and that’s where my interest in UV grew. I came back to the lab so I could understand more about UV on the formulation side,” added Hirsch. “The folding carton packaging industry frequently relies on exotic UV ink and coating design techniques to differentiate products and has become a major focus for our company. There’s an artistic side to it.”
As for career highlights, Carl Hirsch began by talking about the opportunity he has had to work with his father.
“Getting to work with my father, who created the stage I get to operate on, is special,” Carl said. “My dad is an industry icon. He always instilled in me a relentless focus on our customer and the importance of building long term relationships based on trust. He has taught me the importance of integrity, being innovative, and having a strong work ethic. Those are things I have learned and am still learning from my dad.”
A former Pioneer Award and Ault Award recipient himself, Urban notes that his son has handled the pressures of being part of a family-owned business extremely well.
“Carl has just been a wonderful boy and I rate him as that because I never had to bail him out of jail,” joked Urban. “I feel extremely lucky to have him involved since I have had some health issues as of late. He’s come up through the ranks of running mills to batch weighing, worked in-plants and laboratory, and he’s pretty well rounded in ink.
“The most important thing in most any business is relationships, and he’s been working on that with employees, customers and vendors,” Urban added. “It’s tough coming through the family that started the ink company, as there’s more pressure on you, more eyes and ears on you, and he’s handling it well. I’m proud of him.”
As for other influences, Carl spoke about Ink Systems’ two technical managers, Pete Notti and Lisa Fine. “Pete Notti and Lisa Fine are both great technical minds and care about the industry,” Carl said.
Outside of work, Carl enjoys being a full-time parent to his kids, doing wakeboarding, biking and the beach.
Receiving the Pioneer Award definitely is another career highlight for Carl Hirsch.
“I’m very grateful to be acknowledged by my peers and co-workers and hope to be able to impart the knowledge that I received from my father and mentors over the years,” said Carl.
“My earliest memories included going with my father on late night technical service calls to pressrooms when I was 8 years old," said Carl. “I started working with ink during summers in high school cleaning out ink tubs, mixing and milling, while also learning quality control in the laboratory. After I graduated college in 1997, I traveled to ink room startups for three years, learning batch weighing, color matching, and technical service with conventional sheetfed and UV inks. With Ink Systems, I got to learn the application side of the business at 20 pressrooms in Atlanta, Minneapolis, Chicago, Boston, San Francisco and Providence, and many others. I lived in these cities for several months at a time. Traveling and seeing diverse pressrooms and meeting different people and getting to work with our own employees and customers to solve technical problems was a highlight for me.
“At one point I became an Ink Systems inkroom inplant manager in a large print facility in southern California, and that’s where my interest in UV grew. I came back to the lab so I could understand more about UV on the formulation side,” added Hirsch. “The folding carton packaging industry frequently relies on exotic UV ink and coating design techniques to differentiate products and has become a major focus for our company. There’s an artistic side to it.”
As for career highlights, Carl Hirsch began by talking about the opportunity he has had to work with his father.
“Getting to work with my father, who created the stage I get to operate on, is special,” Carl said. “My dad is an industry icon. He always instilled in me a relentless focus on our customer and the importance of building long term relationships based on trust. He has taught me the importance of integrity, being innovative, and having a strong work ethic. Those are things I have learned and am still learning from my dad.”
A former Pioneer Award and Ault Award recipient himself, Urban notes that his son has handled the pressures of being part of a family-owned business extremely well.
“Carl has just been a wonderful boy and I rate him as that because I never had to bail him out of jail,” joked Urban. “I feel extremely lucky to have him involved since I have had some health issues as of late. He’s come up through the ranks of running mills to batch weighing, worked in-plants and laboratory, and he’s pretty well rounded in ink.
“The most important thing in most any business is relationships, and he’s been working on that with employees, customers and vendors,” Urban added. “It’s tough coming through the family that started the ink company, as there’s more pressure on you, more eyes and ears on you, and he’s handling it well. I’m proud of him.”
As for other influences, Carl spoke about Ink Systems’ two technical managers, Pete Notti and Lisa Fine. “Pete Notti and Lisa Fine are both great technical minds and care about the industry,” Carl said.
Outside of work, Carl enjoys being a full-time parent to his kids, doing wakeboarding, biking and the beach.
Receiving the Pioneer Award definitely is another career highlight for Carl Hirsch.
“I’m very grateful to be acknowledged by my peers and co-workers and hope to be able to impart the knowledge that I received from my father and mentors over the years,” said Carl.
