Innovation

A History of Looking Forward

In 1907, while other companies were focused on making paper, Charles Boyd was focused on adding value to it. By adding coatings to his paper, Boyd opened up his customers to a new world of printing techniques, from halftones to gradations. And started a business that hasn’t stopped innovating since.

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Innovation at Work

Every market has its own set of unique challenges and motivations to push the boundaries of coating chemistry and formulations. Here are a few of the areas where we're turning expertise, and love of all things science, into market-changing and downright useful technology.

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2010 - Present

  • Appleton Papers is renamed Appvion, Inc. to better represent a more diversified product line.
  • Appleton Digital Paper, featuring a range of new materials for specialty substrate applications, is launched.
  • To focus more on our expertise in coating formulations and applications, we sign a 15-year supply agreement for Domtar to supply us with uncoated base paper.
  • The Wisconsin Sustainable Business Council awards us with the Green Master Sustainability Award for environmental responsibility.
  • We earn a Business Partner Excellence Award from Procter & Gamble.
  • Troy Corporation contracts Encapsys to supply microencapsulated biocides.
  • We launch a reformulated NCR PAPER* brand Superior carbonless sheet paper, guaranteed to run on all forms of printing equipment.

2000 - 2009

  • Procter & Gamble contracts Encapsys to supply microencapsulated specialty chemicals.
  • We remove BPA from our thermal paper.
  • A $125 million thermal technology expansion project at our West Carrollton facility is completed.
  • Forbes recognizes us as one of the country’s largest private companies.
  • We celebrate 50 years of making carbonless paper.
  • The Technical Association of the Pulp & Paper Industry and Paper Industry Management Association name us Company of the Year.
  • Our company founder, Charles S. Boyd, is inducted into the Paper Industry International Hall of Fame.
  • Employees complete an $810 million buyout of Appleton Papers.
  • Our Roaring Spring mill is approved to produce U.S. Treasury and Government Printing Office security papers.

1990 - 1999

  • We are one of five manufacturing companies to receive a visit as part of the Department of Commerce’s Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.
  • Expansion of the Appleton Plant includes installation of No. 16 coater, No. 17 thermal coater as well as No. 18 and No. 19 coaters.
  • DocuCheck® security papers are introduced.
  • We become the first manufacturer to achieve ISO 9002 certification for the production of thermal paper.
  • NCR PAPER* brand Xero/Form® sheets for high-speed copiers and laser printers are introduced.
  • We begin making our first recycled carbonless paper.

1980 - 1989

  • NCR PAPER* brand Superior is introduced, enhancing the use of color for business forms.
  • Our No. 13 thermal coater comes online.
  • Construction is completed on our first data center.
  • Thermal fax paper is introduced.

1970 - 1979

  • A new high-speed coater doubles speed and output for carbonless paper.
  • We begin making carbonless capsules that are able to produce a black image.
  • New noncarbonless products like scratch-and-sniff paper, time-release aspirins and encapsulated fragrances make use of our microencapsulation technology.
  • Our first coated plastic sheet product, Ascot®, is introduced.

1960 - 1969

  • The world’s first tandem coater is installed to produce carbonless paper.
  • We begin manufacturing thermal paper.
  • A new high-speed, aqueous coater is brought online.

1950 - 1959

  • The world’s first carbonless paper, NCR PAPER* brand, is introduced.
  • We introduce Suedetone greeting card paper.
  • We conduct the first successful production trials of carbonless paper with The National Cash Register Company.
  • NCR chemists Barry Green and Lowell Schleicher invent microencapsulation.

1940 - 1949

  • A laboratory, main office and five warehouses are added to the company.
  • Sales soar on strong demand for our coated “cup” paper for use in cigarette and seed packaging.
  • The U.S. Army uses over 2 million pounds of Superstuff Cover and Woodbine Colored Enamel stock during World War II.

1930 - 1939

  • Air knife coaters begin to replace brush coaters.
  • Empress Offset Enamel, one of the first coated book stock papers for offset printing, is introduced.
  • Currency Cover, a line of coated metallic paper for catalogs, booklets and annual reports, is introduced.
  • Superstuff Cover, designed for use in books with spiral and mechanical bindings, is introduced.

1920 - 1929

  • Woodbine Colored Enamel is introduced.
  • We develop the first coated bond specialty product for use on gelatin roll duplicating equipment.

1910 - 1919

  • Air-circulating equipment is added to speed up the drying of wet coated paper.
  • We enter the specialties market for the first time with the introduction of White Porcelain Enamel Shelf Paper.

1900 - 1909

  • Charles Boyd founds The Appleton Coated Paper Company on May 13, 1907 in Appleton, Wisconsin.

Labels & Product Identification

Excellent bar-code contrast and resistance at high printing speeds.

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Online Lottery Tickets

Quick, secure printing at high levels of durability and legibility.

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Secure Documents

Enhanced fraud deterrence through advanced overt and covert features.

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NCR Paper* Brand Carbonless

The original, and still the best-selling, carbonless paper in the world.

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