Filmet

Three generations of entrepreneurs and innovators have guided Filmet to the successful company it is today. In 1910 Vincent Bachelder started the business as a hobby shop and portrait studio targeting department stores as clients. When Vincent died, his son Vernon changed the business to a commercial photographic lab. In the mid-50's, it evolved from commercial photography to processing for others. Filmet was the first company in Pittsburgh to adopt color photography. In the early 70's, Filmet teamed with Mactac to develop pressure adhesive which is still used today. Rick Bachelder, Vernon's son, became president in 1980 and quickly moved the company in a new direction by recognizing the changes in the photographic industry. In 1984, he purchased Filmet's first electronic equipment. The year 2001 was another critical one, as he began investing in wide-format inkjet printers to replace the traditional photographic process. Filmet was the fourth facility in the world to have a Vutek 3360, 8-color 10-ft. wide printer. In March of 2002, Filmet purchased a Vutek PressVu UV printer becoming only the third company worldwide to have one. In August 2003, Filmet purchased their second PressVu and moved into their new 65,000 sq. ft. building. No other site at that time had two PressVus. Continuing the rapid expansion into the latest technology, Filmet purchased FabriVu in March 2004 becoming the third facility in the world to install one. This transformation moved Filmet from the $1 billion photographic industry into the $55 billion point-of-purchase industry. Filmet's commitment to its customers combined with decades of expertise has made the Filmet imaging team one of the industry's finest.