(Photos above: Mazama Pack & Oregon Stapler | by Jeremy Young-Smith)
Bend, Oregon is home to a family owned, product development, manufacturing and marketing company, TSI Manufacturing LLC, founded in 1985. TSI designs and produces a variety of products for several major brands, including Gregory, Nalgene, Ogio, Osprey, and Swingline. Recently, the company bought into two existing product brands, Mazama for backpack hydration reservoir products and PraxxisPro for office essentials, including staplers and staples.
The Oregon Stapler
The company has made staplers for big brands for over 25 years and decided to bring one back home for production in the USA. The Oregon Stapler (trademark applied) is designed with superb ergonomics, exceptional features, performance and unsurpassed quality.
“This outstanding stapler and the entire PraxxisPro stapler and staples product line were developed to bring back excitement and high quality to a product line which the big brands have ‘cheapened’ to the point where most staplers fail quickly,” said Jeremy Young-Smith, sales & marketing manager of TSI.
A longtime dream of TSI, The Oregon Stapler is the first office desktop stapler built in the USA since the mid-1990s. The company recently started the assembly, testing, packaging and shipping process from their office and warehouse/distribution facility on Fourth Street in Bend.
“PraxxisPro is all about providing lasting, high quality products at reasonable price points,” said Young-Smith.
Certified to staple 2 to 25 sheets of #20-pound copy paper, The Oregon Stapler performs without the risk of jamming. The stapler opens flat for tacking, includes a handy built-in staple remover, and comes with a free box of 1,250 standard staples included in the packaging. Made of steel and zinc, The Oregon Stapler is backed by an unconditional lifetime guarantee. If the stapler fails due to materials or workmanship the company will replace it for only a modest shipping and handling fee.
“The Oregon Stapler is built to be the last stapler you will ever need to buy,” Young-Smith said.
The Oregon Stapler concept started in October 2014, with the assistance of an industrial design company in the Portland area.Throughout 2015 the design evolved in phases to the point where production tooling was started in early 2016, with the first production samples coming available late that year. Initial production quantities were made in March 2017 with the stapler available in classic-black, and frost-white. The Oregon Stapler is available online at Amazon and www.praxxispro.com.
Because their assembly, testing, packaging and shipping are all in-house, PraxxisPro staplers are very competitively priced. The company takes pride in providing superior customer service and currently assembles The Oregon Stapler by hand in their Bend facility. They are committed to keeping their resources local, with two non-functional plastic parts molded in Oregon, and packaging made in Redmond.
Young-Smith anticipates that the company could provide as many as 15-20 jobs in the future.
PraxxisPro Office Essentials offers a stapler exchange program where an individual or business can exchange their old staplers for a very modest fee and receive brand new PraxxisPro staplers in conjunction with an ongoing Staples Express supply program. PraxxisPro supplies staples in nine different colors at highly competitive prices.
Sports-Specific Hydration Products
In addition to office supplies, the Bend facility is home to the design, engineering, marketing and distribution of the Mazama brand of sports-specific hydration products. The company is an innovation leader of the industry with a constant stream of patented and patent-pending reservoir and accessory products.
Mazama Designs, LLC and has been designing and developing sports hydration products since 1993. The company recently introduced a new product line with appealing colors, packaging and features for the recreational and ‘urban warrior’ markets. The line includes some unique backpacks designed around Mazama’s hydration reservoirs, with easy-to-use ‘fill in pack’ configurations. All of their hydration products are universal and will fit into most all major brands of hydration packs.
“The basic concept behind Mazama products is hydration in motion,” said Young-Smith. “We want our hydration products to enhance a person’s experience rather than becoming a hindrance.”
The new ‘BackFlip’ reservoir features a unique flip cap which provides a wide fill-port, with a secure lock to prevent accidental opening during use. The ‘DualBladder’ features a dual-chambered reservoir which ensures that electrolytes and water are both close at hand. With left and right drink tubes the wearer is sure to have instant fluid access. The ‘Axe’ seriesreservoirs feature a low profile top fill closure that opens wide for easy filling, closes tightly to prevent leaks and is easy to clean and dry. The ‘Side stream waist pack’ embodies the Mazama design philosophy of a clean, streamlined products that integrate seamlessly with the activity at hand.
Matt Hoskins is the founder and chief product developer for Mazama. He is an outdoor enthusiast who continually seeks to improve the hydration system by enhancing comfort and convenience so that a person can move with minimal distraction or discomfort during any activity.
“We saw a void in a high end reservoir that is fun, functional and easy to use and at a reasonable price,” said Young-Smith.
Mazama hydration packs are multi-purpose with a low profile design for people who move fast and don’t want to notice the pack on their back. The fluid weight is carried low while side stabilizers hug the pack securely to the body for a comfortable, unhindered fit. The hydration packs come equipped with Mazama’s reservoirs, including patented bite valves, insulated drink tubes and magnetic tube retainer systems.
Mazama produces a full line of accessories to upgrade or replace parts of a hydration pack including drink tubes, pump kits, bite valves and cleaning kits. A new pressurized system along with other new innovations will be introduced at the Summer Outdoor Retailer Show in Salt Lake City July 26–29.
Both Mazama and PraxxisPro products are available for purchase and service locally at retail stores and at the Fourth Street facility. Each company intends to expand their line in 2017 with continued innovation and have their products more readily available at a national level.
TSI Manufacturing LLC
2700 NE Fourth St., Ste 200, Bend, OR 97701
www.MazamaDesigns.com
www.PraxxisPro.com
oregonstapler.com
CEO: Bob Smith
Marketing & Sales: Jeremy Young-Smith for the Mazama brand. Josh Young-Smith for the PraxxisPro brand.
Direct Employees: 7 in the USA, 22 in Hong Kong and China.
Contract Laborers in China: 137
Year Established: TSI (1985, Mazama (2010), PraxxisPro (2014).
Product/Service: Staplers, staples and sports-specific hydration products.
Hot News For Mazama: AXE, BackFlip and Hatch reservoir systems, all incorporating patented/patent-pending technologies.
Hot News For PraxxisPro: The Oregon Stapler (built in Bend) and The Powerhouse electric stapler.
Outlook for Growth: Mazama 2X over 2016 and PraxxisPro 4X over 2016.
Contact: bob.smith@tsimfg.com, josh@tsimfg.com, jeremy@tsimfg.com
1 Comment
David, regarding the stapler, are the parts made in China and then imported to Bend for hand assembly and so forth? What is the origin of the staple fasteners?