Avery Dennison

Avery Dennison Corporation is a United States-based multinational materials and manufacturing company whose products help identify, decorate, protect, track, and organize physical goods. Its portfolio is centered on pressure-sensitive adhesive materials, self-adhesive label stock, graphic and reflective films, specialty tapes, apparel labels and embellishments, radio-frequency identification products, and medical materials. The company serves consumer packaged goods, retail, apparel, logistics, transportation, healthcare, industrial, automotive, and other markets. The business originated in Los Angeles in 1935, when Ray Stanton Avery and his wife established Kum Kleen Products. Avery's early innovation was the development and commercialization of self-adhesive labeling materials, which helped create a new category of labels that could be applied without separate wet glue. The enterprise changed its name several times as its product range and corporate structure expanded, becoming Avery Adhesives in 1937, Avery Adhesive Label Corp. in 1946, Avery Adhesive Products in 1958, Avery Products Corporation in 1964, and Avery International Corporation in 1976. H. Russell Smith became Avery's business partner in 1946 and played a major role in building the company. During a long period of leadership, Smith helped establish the label-materials business, expand operations in the United States and Europe, develop research capabilities, and prepare the company for public ownership. Avery International was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in the late 1960s and appeared on the Fortune 500 in the 1970s. The current company name dates from 1990, when Avery International merged with Dennison Manufacturing Company. Dennison traced its roots to an 1844 Maine business founded by Andrew Dennison and his son Aaron Lufkin Dennison. That heritage added a long-established industrial and labeling lineage to Avery's pressure-sensitive materials expertise. Avery Dennison later broadened its activities through acquisitions, investments, and internal development in RFID, apparel identification, specialty films, medical materials, retail pricing systems, and digital product data. Avery Dennison is organized principally around a Materials Group and a Solutions Group. Materials activities include label and graphic materials, reflective products, functional films, tapes, and other coated or converted materials. Solutions activities include apparel branding, retail tags and tickets, RFID inlays and transponders, pricing and shelf-edge systems, identification products, and related software and services. The company also operates Avery Dennison Medical, which supplies materials and components used by medical-device manufacturers, including tapes, films, wound-care materials, and sensor-related products. The company once operated a substantial office and consumer-products division under the Avery name, selling binders, file labels, name badges, and printable media. It sold that division and its Designed and Engineered Solutions business to CCL Industries in 2013, while retaining the Avery Dennison corporate identity and historical brand. More recent growth has emphasized connected products, intelligent packaging, linerless labels, textile circularity, retail automation, and digital identification. Its atma.io platform, launched in 2021, is intended to connect physical products with digital records and product identities. Avery Dennison remains an active global supplier with operations in more than 50 countries.

Avery Dennison began in Los Angeles in 1935 as Kum Kleen Products, founded by Ray Stanton Avery and his wife. The company developed self-adhesive labeling materials, a technology that helped transform labeling by allowing labels to be applied without wet glue. It became Avery Adhesives in 1937 and was incorporated as Avery Adhesive Label Corp. in 1946. H. Russell Smith joined that year as Avery's partner and became an important force in professionalizing the business, expanding its label-materials operations, building research capacity, and establishing overseas activities. The company adopted the names Avery Adhesive Products in 1958, Avery Products Corporation in 1964, and Avery International Corporation in 1976. It entered the public markets during the 1960s and later became a Fortune 500 company. Its first overseas subsidiary was established in the Netherlands in 1955, marking the beginning of a broader international operating footprint. Dennison Manufacturing supplied the other major strand of the present company’s history. Founded in Maine in 1844 by Andrew Dennison and Aaron Lufkin Dennison, the business developed from jewelry and watch boxes into a significant industrial enterprise. It later became associated with labeling and related manufactured products. Avery International merged with Dennison Manufacturing in 1990, creating Avery Dennison. In 1982, Avery Dennison established a dedicated office-products division selling binders, file labels, name badges, and printable media under the Avery brand. The division benefited from the spread of personal computers, which increased demand for user-printed labels and office materials. As electronic communication reduced demand for some conventional office products, Avery Dennison sold the division and its Designed and Engineered Solutions business to CCL Industries in 2013. The company subsequently concentrated more heavily on industrial materials, labeling, apparel identification, RFID, medical products, and specialty converting. Major transactions included Paxar in 2007; Mactac and Ink Mill in 2016; Finesse Medical, Hanita Coatings, and Yongle Tape in 2017; and the RFID transponder business of Smartrac in 2020. Investments in flexible electronics, battery-free sensing, vehicle-wrap technology, textile recycling, and operational software complemented the acquisitions. Avery Dennison launched atma.io in 2021 to manage digital identities and data associated with physical products. It also added ACPO, Vestcom, JDC Solutions, and ZippyYum that year. In 2022 it acquired TexTrace and Catchpoint's linerless-label technology. In 2023 it invested in Circ and acquired Thermopatch, Lion Brothers, and Silver Crystal Group, strengthening its position in textile circularity, apparel embellishment, workwear, sports apparel, and hospitality labeling. The company now operates through Materials Group and Solutions Group activities and serves customers across global consumer, industrial, retail, apparel, logistics, healthcare, and transportation markets.

1. 2021atma.io launched

   The company introduced a digital product-cloud platform for product identity and data management.

   Source
2. 2020Smartrac RFID business acquired

   Avery Dennison expanded its RFID transponder portfolio.

   Source
3. 2013Office-products business divested

   CCL Industries acquired Avery Dennison's Office and Consumer Products and Designed and Engineered Solutions businesses.

   Source
4. 2007Paxar acquired

   The acquisition expanded apparel branding and retail identification capabilities.

   Source
5. 1990Merger with Dennison Manufacturing

   Avery International merged with Dennison Manufacturing and adopted the Avery Dennison name.

   Source
6. 1982Office and Consumer Products division created

   A dedicated Avery-branded office-products business was established.

   Source
7. 1976Renamed Avery International Corporation

   The company adopted the Avery International name and joined the Fortune 500 era.

   Source
8. 1967New York Stock Exchange listing

   The company was led onto the New York Stock Exchange during Russell Smith's tenure.

   Source
9. 1955First overseas subsidiary

   Avery established its first foreign subsidiary in the Netherlands.

   Source
10. 1946Incorporation and Russell Smith partnership

    The company was incorporated and H. Russell Smith joined as a major business partner.

    Source
11. 1937Name changed to Avery Adhesives

    The renamed company continued developing adhesive and self-adhesive labeling materials.

    Source
12. 1935Company founded as Kum Kleen Products

    Ray Stanton Avery and his wife established the business in Los Angeles, California.

    Source

A global materials-science and identification-technology partner focused on functional, connected, and increasingly sustainable labeling, packaging, apparel, retail, and healthcare solutions.

• Pressure-sensitive label materialsMaterials

  These materials combine face stocks, adhesives, and liners to produce self-adhesive labels for consumer goods, logistics, industrial products, healthcare, and retail. Avery Dennison supplies constructions designed for different surfaces, temperatures, durability requirements, print processes, and regulatory conditions. Fasson is one of the company's principal label-materials brands.

• Graphic and reflective materialsMaterials

  The portfolio includes films and other materials used for vehicle graphics, signage, commercial displays, architectural applications, and reflective road and transportation products. Products are developed for visual impact, outdoor durability, convertibility, and specialized performance requirements.

• RFID inlays and transpondersIdentification technology2007

  Avery Dennison designs RFID inlays, labels, tags, and transponders that allow products to be identified and tracked through radio-frequency communication. Applications include apparel, retail inventory, logistics, supply-chain visibility, authentication, and connected packaging. The company expanded this business through the acquisition of Paxar and the Smartrac RFID transponder business.

• Apparel branding and embellishmentsBranding solutions

  The Solutions Group supplies woven and printed labels, hangtags, tickets, transfers, patches, embellishments, fasteners, and related systems for apparel and footwear brands. These products provide brand presentation, care and content information, personalization, authentication, and inventory functionality across clothing and textile supply chains.

• Avery Dennison Medical and Vancive materialsMedical materials

  The medical business supplies tapes, securement materials, barrier films, wound-care components, wearable-sensor materials, and other specialty converted products to medical-device and healthcare-product manufacturers. Its offerings are designed around skin contact, adhesion, breathability, protection, and reliable device attachment.

• atma.ioDigital product platform2021

  atma.io is a digital product-cloud platform intended to connect physical products with digital identities and associated data. It supports applications such as traceability, product information, supply-chain visibility, authentication, sustainability reporting, and consumer engagement when combined with identifiers such as RFID or other printed and electronic technologies.

• 2021Launch atma.ioProduct launch

  Brands and supply chains increasingly required digital identities, traceability, and data connected to physical products.

  What changed. Avery Dennison launched atma.io as a digital product-cloud platform.

  Aftermath. The initiative extended the company from physical labeling and identification materials into software-enabled product data and connected-product services.

  Source
• 2013Divest office and consumer productsStrategy

  The office-products market was changing as electronic communication reduced demand for some conventional office and mail-related products.

  What changed. Avery Dennison sold its Office and Consumer Products and Designed and Engineered Solutions businesses to CCL Industries.

  Aftermath. The company retained the Avery name and corporate identity while focusing more strongly on materials, identification, RFID, healthcare, and industrial solutions.

  Source
• 1990Merge with Dennison ManufacturingM&A

  Avery International and the long-established Dennison Manufacturing business brought together complementary histories in adhesive materials, labels, and industrial products.

  What changed. The companies merged and the combined enterprise adopted the Avery Dennison name.

  Aftermath. The merger created the corporate identity used by the company today and broadened its historical industrial base.

  Source

• 2023Avery Dennison expands apparel and sports branding portfolio

  The company acquired Thermopatch, Lion Brothers, and Silver Crystal Group, extending its labeling, embellishment, transfer, and customized sports-apparel capabilities.

  M&A
  Source
• 2022Avery Dennison acquires TexTrace and Catchpoint linerless-label technology

  The transactions added sewn and inserted textile RFID capabilities and linerless label technology.

  M&AProduct generation
  Source
• 2021Avery Dennison launches atma.io

  The company introduced a digital product-cloud business intended to create and manage identities and data for physical products.

  Product launch
  Source
• 2020Avery Dennison acquires Smartrac RFID transponder business

  The transaction expanded Avery Dennison's RFID inlay and transponder capabilities for connected products and supply chains.

  M&AProduct generation
  Source
• 2017Avery Dennison acquires Finesse Medical, Hanita Coatings, and Yongle Tape

  These acquisitions strengthened healthcare materials, specialty films, laminates, and specialty tapes.

  M&A
  Source
• 2016Avery Dennison acquires Mactac and Ink Mill

  The transactions broadened the company's specialty materials and ink capabilities, including applications for reflective media.

  M&A
  Source
• 2013Office and Consumer Products business sold to CCL Industries

  Avery Dennison completed the divestiture of its office and consumer-products division and Designed and Engineered Solutions business.

  M&A
  Source
• 2012Avery Dennison and 3M settle patent and antitrust litigation

  The companies resolved multiple disputes concerning patents and competition issues related to retroreflective sheeting after litigation over Avery Dennison's OmniCube product.

  LawsuitOther
  Source
• 2007Avery Dennison acquires Paxar

  The acquisition expanded Avery Dennison's apparel branding, identification, and supply-chain tracking activities.

  M&A
  Source

1. Avery Dennison
2. Avery Dennison corporate website
3. Avery Dennison leadership
4. atma.io