Waukesha | Founded: 1974
Industry: Manufacturing
Employees: 165 | 2024 projected sales: $70 million
KDV Label is a label manufacturer for consumer end markets, including food and beverage, health and beauty, automotive and specialty consumer goods.
How has your company navigated the challenges of the past few years?
Keith Walz, president and CEO: “The cost of raw materials has increased an unprecedented amount in the label industry in a very short period of time. While challenging, it was an opportunity for us to showcase our ability to proactively work with customers to minimize impact. Investing the time to truly understand their needs and objectives allows us to adjust their label program, including order patterns and material constructions.
“We are not immune to labor challenges either. We have worked to introduce more flexibility, built out additional training programs and increased our investment in wages and benefits by over 20% over the past few years. We will continue to invest in our workforce, training and automation throughout the business.”
What’s new at your company and are you planning any major changes in the coming years?
“We will make leaps in both sustainability offerings and digital printing capabilities. Both areas are changing rapidly in the label industry, and we have been working diligently to not only support our customers, but also be in a position to help guide and advance their packaging.”
What one thing would you change to make Milwaukee and southeastern Wisconsin better?
“Bring more industry conventions to Milwaukee to showcase economic development and the great atmosphere.”
