Direct mail production company Mailworks, Inc. this month installed a new RYOBI 924A offset printing press at its new Texas facility. The press was sold by Ferrostaal, one of the world's largest distributors of printing and packaging equipment.

Mailworks took delivery of the high-speed, 36-inch press at its Hutto, TX, facility northeast of Austin in late August. By early this month, the press was running at full capacity "printing profitable paper."

It is the second RYOBI 924A for Mailworks. The company has a RYOBI 924A press at its Spring Valley, CA, headquarters east of San Diego, that's been in production an average of 50 hours weekly since early 2008. Mailworks designs, produces and delivers direct mail and last year conducted more than 10,000 print campaigns for small businesses across the U.S.

The installation of the new 8-up Ryobi press at the Mailworks Texas center came none too soon, said owner Robert Hodges. His company has recorded 25% average annual revenue growth and strong profitability over the last seven years. Demand for Mailworks products and services is strong despite challenging U.S. economic conditions.

The RYOBI 924A press delivers a 31% total annual cost savings versus similarly equipped 40-inch presses, according to an audit by equipment supplier Print & Finishing Solutions of Placentia, CA. The reasons: reduced energy consumption, reduced use of aluminum plates, paper and chemicals, plus a compact footprint.

For Hodges, the hard financial savings prime the bottom line. That, together with the press's high reliability, consistently strong print quality and the financial stability of Ryobi, were more than enough to convince him that his next new press would also be a Ryobi. "It's really all about the economics: Ryobi is a 'bang-for-buck' decision. They've got 'bang-for-buck' presses."

Mailworks was established in 1987 to ensure quality, affordable and timely production of customized direct mail pieces. Today, the company handles all aspects of the direct mail process to final delivery.

Mailworks started business with an 11x17 offset duplicator, then quickly moved to 2-up and 6-up used European presses. But relatively slow run speeds and near hour-long makereadies were capping production.

In 2007, Hodges decided to start looking for a new flagship production press, and by 2008, the first RYOBI 924 was installed.

"Demand for our services actually increased as U.S. economic conditions worsened," Hodges says. "Our clients found that the economy forced them to pay much closer attention to their marketing costs-and, today, that's the new normal."

With the first Ryobi installed in 2008, production of printed pieces doubled per man-hour. Makereadies fell to an average of six minutes. And business at Mailworks skyrocketed.

"Even in a good economy, not many companies have been able to sustain mid-20s annual growth rate for seven to eight consecutive years," Hodges explains. "Not coincidentally, right after we got the first Ryobi, we had a 54% revenue growth year, and then a 30% growth year after that."

"Without question, the RYOBI 924 is a key driver of our success. When it came time to decide on a flagship press for our Texas center, I knew we'd be going with the same make and model."

Both Ryobi presses were sold by Robert Ordway and Kian Hemmen at Print & Finishing Solutions, which represents Ferrostaal in California and Hawaii. PFS has provided equipment and services to Mailworks for the last eight years. Information on PFS is at www.printfs.com.