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| Value Press -AWT | ||
| John Bilyeu, production manager | ||
| Council Bluffs, Iowa | ||
You can't categorize John Bilyeu as an impulse shopper. He wouldn't have lasted 17 years in the printing business, nor would he be in management. Bilyeu, production manager at Value Press-AWT in Council Bluffs, Iowa, need only look to the company name for inspiration when buying the presses for his outfit. His latest acquisition is the result of the same tried-and-true buying method he's used through the years-thorough research. Bilyeu was searching for new presses for the expanding Value Press-AWT operation, and his mission was the same one his peers throughout the industry embark on when in the same situation-how to make a buy that would maximize value without losing quality. He was looking for reliability from dependable sources. "Word of mouth carries a lot of weight in this business," says Bilyeu. "We rely on reputation and we'll call other printers and check on certain machines." On Bilyeu's plate was the choice of going after a two-color press or outfitting two single-color presses with an additional color head. In the end, Bilyeu used a blueprint for success he'd seen used by a printing company in Kansas City and chose two Ryobi 2800 presses, each fitted with a Townsend AE T-51 Swing-Away head. "We bought the identical package that they have," says Bilyeu. "They're real impressed with the durability of the Ryobi-Townsend combination compared to other presses." Bilyeu's new presses are used to service the business card, business forms and letterhead production at Value Press-AWT. In the fall of last year, Value Press added an AWT franchise to their Council Bluffs, Iowa location. Business cards are the main focus of the new presses, which utilize computer-to-plate technology, and that, has helped Value Press-AWT handle an ever-increasing workload. "We're finding a niche," says Bilyeu, whose company, with 25 employees and 14 presses, is a brokerage house for nearly 100 printing shops across the United States. |
 The financial advantages of going with the two, single-color presses was a factor in the decision Bilyeu made, but he wasn't going to sacrifice quality. He says the quality of the Ryobi-Townsend T-51 combo mirrors that of a two-color press. "You can't tell the difference between a two-color press and the Ryobi with a T-51 AE. It's got to look good and it does." Bilyeu is training a new press operator on the new presses, and one aspect of the combo that is receiving good reviews is the lack of maintenance when tackling a job. "We had a T-51 on our Multigraphics but it didn't have the swing-away head. The new ones are a lot easier. Sometimes, he'll just use the T-51 instead of the Ryobi because of the register-on-the-fly feature." Bilyeu says his operators like the swing-away head because it can be moved to provide easy access to the press when changing paper sizes or performing maintenance. That's part of the value he researched when making his decision to go with the Ryobi-Townsend combination. The T-51's adjustable tail clamp lets the presses keep rolling. "We use a lot of different stock and some of it can be very expensive," says Bilyeu. "That feature really saves us time and money." And value is especially key in a year when the economy is beginning to slow and the business an election year brings has come and gone. Bilyeu subscribes to the notion that business card production increases during sluggish economy times as people increase their pursuit of new business. Whether that trend materializes or not, his company is ready to handle the demand. |
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