Ingram's May 2024

treasurer. Later, Dick would become the only three-term mayor of Kansas City. His love for KC knew no bounds. Dick served as our region’s best ambassador, championing Kansas City both nationally and globally. accident. It results from the culture, which from Tension’s founding centers around high standards of excellence, finding a better way, respect for the individual, and giving back to its com munities. In the mid-2000s, Tension further formalized its quality focus by integrating Lean Sigma into its operations. A plain envelope can get lost sitting in a mailbox among a sea of white envelopes. Tension understood from the beginning that its customers would benefit by mailing envelopes that help them stand out and get opened. Today, Tension is able to create high-end direct mail envelopes with specialized finishes, foil, emboss ing, and other unique print techniques that are proven to get results. envelopes but also for what goes inside them, as well as other printed products,” stated Bill. Tension’s King of Prussia location, acquired in 2022, produces all varieties of printed products, including direct mail inserts such as buck slips and forms, and creates other printed products like booklets and brochures. While our product breadth helps set us apart, Tension further distin guishes itself with its Tension Design Group, a dedicated, in-house art department with in-depth understand ing of the manufacturing equipment, printing processes, and printing speci fications for our customers’ designs. Tension Packaging & Automation: Evolving Our Core Business Beyond Envelopes In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Tension capitalized on its expertise in direct mail marketing by providing customers with envelopes as it began Building Quality into Every Product Quality does not happen by Evolving Business “More and more, our customers started asking us not only for the

Berkowitz & Company Associates in front of an early Kansas City, Mo. location, prior to moving to 819 E 19th Street.

to grow its internet retail business. Drawing on its engineering center of excellence, it was a further natural extension of Tension’s business to begin to design and build the machin ery that helped customers automate their processes for packaging orders for delivery. Today, Tension’s Packaging & Automation division provides order fulfillment equipment and technolo gy, software, consumables, service, support, and design solutions for the ecommerce and pharmacy industries. Tension’s growth in ecommerce and pharmacy was boosted by acquisitions that give the company the opportunity

to design, engineer, and build its own automation systems in-house.

Setting Ourselves Apart

Tension’s products and processes could not exist without its people, as it is the strong culture that drives successful outcomes for our custom ers. “We have been in business for well more than a century,” states Bill. “We incorporate the best of what has made us successful in the past while adapting to the changing landscape as we move forward. This drives a spirit of ingenuity and teamwork among our associates and allows us to fulfill our mission to be a trusted partner to our customers.” l

Dick, Bert and Bill Berkley stand in front of the iconic Tension Envelopes sign in 2012.

INGRAM’S SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION