The year was 1975. A young entrepreneur named F.W. (Fritz) Zschietzschmann began manufacturing custom labels in a small warehouse at the corner of 14th and McGee in downtown Kansas City, Missouri. With a handful of employees and equipment that was nearly obsolete, Z-International was born.

Forward the clock to the year 2000. It's 7:00am Monday morning in the heart of America and press operators at Z-International are starting another week of work where they will convert thousands of kilometers of paper into pressure sensitive labels and other office products for consumers throughout the world. Soon, Zschietzschmann will check in with operations near Frankfurt Germany for daily sales and production data. Before the day is finished Z's staff will contact customers and vendors on five continents by telephone, fax and e-mail to sell, buy and market a wide variety of office products.