Ferdinand Rüesch was born in 1924 and began his professional training as an apprentice mechanic in his father’s workshop, which manufactured machines and scales. After completing his military service, and active service during the Second World War, he spent two years at the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce (Business School) in Neuchâtel.

In 1949 he graduated from the Cantonal Technical College in Burgdorf as a mechanical engineer. After gaining practical experience with a number of English printing machine manufacturers, the young engineer joined his father’s business where he worked in Sales and was also involved in the assembly and commissioning of machinery in America.

When he took over his father’s business in early 1953, he began constructing reel-fed machines for self-adhesive labels. In 1957 he introduced the prototype of a translative machine system, precursor of the Q 33 (later the Gallus T 180), which was still being sold until the mid-1990s.

The features which were his top priorities back then, namely modular construction and a high technical standard, are still the defining characteristics of Gallus products today, and they set the benchmark for the whole industry, according to the company.

With the Gallus V 330, Gallus A 160, Gallus R 160, Gallus R 200 and Gallus R 250 machine systems for making self-adhesive labels and similar products, the St. Gallen-based company established itself as one of the world’s leading providers of reel-fed label-printing machines.

A message from Gallus states, “His former employees have lost their erstwhile leader, who put the preservation of their jobs before his own private interests and who was always there for them, even in difficult times – an entrepreneur such as him is seldom found nowadays.”

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