Newly-restructured Tensor International will replace two towers of a complex existing single-width press line in an order notable more for its context than its size.
Signature Graphics in Portland, Oregon, is buying the T-400BE towers to replace existing ‘legacy’ towers on a 15-tower, seven-folder line.
What the customer describes as a “tough” supplier decision is seen as an invaluable vote of confidence by Mike Pavone, chief operating officer and sales vice president of the company created early this year from a combination of key former Tensor Group employees and the involvement of Swedish automation specialist DCOS.
The press itself has a 546mm cut-off and a range of features to provide enhanced dot reproduction and greater registration controls, including pre-loaded bearing-mounted eccentrics, bearers on the blanket and plate cylinders, and helical drive gears for smoother gear movement.
Signature executive vice president Dan Dutton says the company was “very familiar” with Tensor equipment and had enjoyed solid success it. But he says, “We had a tough decision to make on our choice of supplier with this upgrade project.”
A visit to the team in Woodridge, Illinois, delivered “a confident sense of the new company’s determined commitment” to deliver an excellent product while standing behind service and parts programmes.
Pavone says the trust is invaluable: “We are proud to support them in every way possible as they continue to expand into an exciting and prosperous future.”
Signature produces commercial-quality inserts, catalogues, coupon books, and high-volume newspapers on the complex line. Established in 1984, the company is one of the largest printers in the Pacific Northwest.
• Tensor will colocate with manroland web systems at Graph Expo in Chicago, October 7-10.