Avery Dennison Produces Stamps and More


There are only four places in the United States that make postage stamps for the US Postal Service, and one of those is the Avery Dennison plant in Clinton, South Carolina. In a 86,000 square foot factory, around 115 people work to produce more than 11 billion stamps each year.

Originally the factory made labels for cigarettes and soup cans, but it began making stamps in 1992 when the CEO of the newly merged Avery and Dennison no longer wanted, for ethical reasons, to print cigarette labels. Today, the Clinton plant has expanded to print stamps, battery labels, and tags that use radio frequency identification technology.

The stamps made in Clinton have a federally backed value, so the USPS requires that two security barriers separate the plant’s stamp-printing section from the other areas. Another postal requirement states that Avery Dennison must account for each quarter-inch of material in the plant. As Bob Lomber, plant manager says, "We are dealing in currency."

As they are produced the stamps travel a 135-foot-long, 10-color press, and automated cameras take photographs and monitor for errors in registration or color, which backs up the human inspectors. Because counterfeiting is such a concern, many stamps feature microprinting and contain phosphor ink. The light-sensitive phosphor ink enables mail-sorting machines to detect which corner the stamp has been placed on an envelope.

The newly printed stamps are separated by shallow blades making them into individual stamps before they are then cut into sheets, rolls or large coils before being packed for shipping.

When workers package sheets of 100 stamps, labels cannot be printed for a box until a scale verifies it has a proper weight for its quantity. Then the box is closed with tape that reads, "Warning: This carton has been sealed with pilfer proof tape."

With billions of stamps being produced and used each year, the Postal Service is wary of misprints. Stamp collectors always look mistakes, valuing stamps that make it out of the factory with defects such as missing perforations or absent or upside-down colors. So far, quality control has been top-notch at the Clinton facility, and Avery Dennison has a stellar record, producing none of the memorable misprints.

Stamps also are made in Greensboro, N.C.; Buffalo, N.Y.; and Columbus, Wis.