Heinz Joseph Gerber, Inventor and Founder of Gerber Scientific, Inc.

Previously I worked in a sign shop in Oakland. I learned to plot, cut, weed (removing excess vinyl surrounding letters), and apply vinyl to a variety of substrates. At the time the shop used state-of-the-art Gerber vinyl cutting equipment. This thing cut a letter in the blink of an eye. On this cutter watching a roll of vinyl and a tiny blade stay synced was like watching one of those wacky ballroom dance competitions. You wonder, will the fast moving couple suddenly tangle up and they fall to the floor in a massive knot?

As a new manager for the real estate company I was about to face 300 in-house customers who were preparing for a bi-annual show and convention. The Gerber 4B vinyl cutter made moves and noises that foretold my immediate future. Between lousy time management and the Gerber 4B my stress level was off the chart, and things got ugly fast. Angry customers and irate management blew up my phone. I barely survived the event and the job. After the event I proposed a budget for new equipment with help from a sympathetic marketing director. Management was very skeptical, but they approved my budget. The new cutting equipment was lightning fast, and it worked with a Mac. For the next event all eyes were on me to get the job done, and I did, beyond expectations. For the first time in its existence the sign shop was profitable. For subsequent events the shop remained profitable.