MESA, Ariz. — Hogue Printing Solutions is known for housing the most advanced equipment in the printing industry, keeping all aspects of a printing job on-site. A new seven-color Mitsubishi Diamond 3000TP Tandem Perfector fits neatly into the $15 million company’s production workflow. “We print a lot of four-over-one and five-over-one applications,” explained Stan Hogue, a fifth-generation printer and president of the family-owned firm. “We also produce two-over-two commercial printing and higher-end four- and five-color marketing brochures and annual reports. Our packaging division prints everything from a clay-coated news fact sheet all the way to a cosmetic box. Both ends of the spectrum require a very high-volume press and a high-quality press because, regardless of the substrate, the client expects finished products to look perfect.” Founded in 1962, Hogue Printing is a leader in the realm of folding cartons, blister cards, header cards and clamshell inserts. The company counts retail manufacturers, pharmaceutical firms, cosmetics companies and makers of electronics among its many clients. At present, 50 percent of Hogue Printing’s business is concentrated on packaging, with commercial projects accounting for 35 percent and digital printing representing 15 percent. The Tandem Perfector, a 40-inch dedicated sheetfed perfecting press, is available with up to six front-side printing units and up to six reverse-side units. Hogue Printing configured its press for two-over-five printing with an inline tower coater after the final printing unit. The Tandem Perfector is unique in that it prints both sides of the sheet in one pass without flipping the sheet. “It is our workhorse,” Hogue said. “We use it for every sheetfed application that we print for.” Packaging has become a major growth market for Hogue Printing, and the company selected the Mitsubishi press over other presses because of its ability to perfect board stock with high quality. “We print a large volume of blister cards that require four and five colors on one side, one color on the other side and a coating at the end,” Hogue said. “We couldn’t find a press that could do that. The conventional perfectors on the market couldn’t consistently flip the 24-point board we use and register the way we needed it to.” One of the biggest advantages of the Tandem Perfector, specifically in packaging, is its ability to switch from thin substrates to thick substrates without having to do a complete gripper transfer changeover. “Makeready is extremely fast regardless of the sheet thickness, and that is a real big asset for us in the packaging side of our business,” Hogue said. But the company also discovered that the press fits very well with its commercial printing. “We actually run as much commercial work on the Tandem Perfector as we do packaging because of the low set-up times, high print quality and absence of ghosting,” Hogue noted. “I would recommend the Tandem Perfector to anybody who is looking for that application.”