Making the leap from charts and markers recording supplies to casino slot machine tickets and undustrial inkjet inks and equipment has proven a lucrative jump indeed for Buffalo, N.Y.-based Graphic Controls.

The company as founded was a manufacturer of replacement papers and pens for industrial recording instruments that monitor information, such as temperature, pressure and specialty papers for machines that measure oceanographic and meteorological activities. As Peter O'Loughlin, Graphic Controls' Director of Sales and Marketing, explains, "These are specialized products: the wrong pen and paper combination can ruin data if the pen bleeds or the paper smudges. One of Graphic Controls trademark features is matching the right pen and ink with the proper paper type." Despite the fact that recording devices are slowly being replaced by digital equipment, this has remained the company's primary source of business over the years because analog recorder's results are as accurate as digital, but cannot be manipulated.

Graphic Controls next used its ink expertise to produce inks for use in industrial coding and marking applications. The ink products can be used for a variety of specialized functions such as printing graphics, bar codes and packaging codes. Graphic Controls' ink predominantly serve the food and beverage, health and beauty aid and construction markets. Graphic Controls has been successful in supplying inks for a number of different printers. This reverse engineering allowed the company to make ink that is compatible with the printers of most OEMs.