Walcar founder and print veteran Wal Sadlo is calling it a career after 53 years, selling his print machinery reselling business to sales manager Ben Sam.

Sadlo says he is leaving Walcar in the capable hands of the next generation who will drive the business forward.

“It was time to call it a day. A stroke two years ago hastened the decision to find new owners for the business,” he says.

“It is time to go and leave the company in the capable hands of highly educated, service-orientated young people led by Ben, who will take the company into a successful future.

“Despite leaving the company I will still stay in touch with the industry. With more than 50 years of close involvement it is hard to get it out of your blood.”

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Sam, who has been Walcar national sales manager for the past year, says he plans to expand the business both in its product range and geographic coverage.

“We have mainly focused on NSW but I want to take it to a national customer base, and add products like 3D printers, and consumables for offset press maintenance, which we have not done much of,” he says.

Sam says the expansion plan is to establish and train dealers in other states that can act semi-autonomously, with one already chosen in Melbourne though the details are still being worked out.

“I want to be in this industry a long time, I have always had a passion for print machines,” he says.

He says Sadlo will remain with the business as a mentor.

Sadlo reflects on his time in the industry, where spent 23 years as a printer and the past 30 in machinery sales, where technological change has been constant.

“I’ve seen the industry evolve from a craft industry to a highly automated computerised industry, which could not have been foreseen 40 years ago,” he says.

“If we had not kept up with the rapid technological changes we would not be here today. I attended every drupa exhibition since 1977 except for one. I travelled to Printing Exhibitions in the UK, Chicago in the USA, Osaka in Japan and Beijing in China.

“Although offset printing still dominates the market; digital printing is rapidly increasing every year. On the horizon are high-speed inkjet presses that will replace the current A3-B1 offset presses in the commercial and packaging sectors.”

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