Vantec owner Willie Van Wyhe last week at a luncheon hosted by Falls City EDGE said “things are going really well” and the new manufacturing plant would be up and running in early November.

Willie Van Wyhe and his wife, Bev, announced in May the opening of a new production facility in Falls City. The Webster City, Iowa-based company, which supplies custom injection plastic moldings, largely for the Kawasaki engine plant in Maryville, Mo., will employ 25 workers. “We employed as many local workers as we could,” Mr. Van Wyhe said, noting that six newly hired supervisors were currently being trained in Webster City. Van Wyhe said local contractors have helped set up the 40,000 square-foot speculative building and four electricity-driven production machines have been installed. Those machines, which will operate around the clock, were expected to undergo testing this week.

The local plant will immediately produce three semi-truck loads of components daily to Kawasaki, Van Wyhe said, with more to come. Kawasaki plans to outsource more business to Vantec next spring, which will require the implementation of two more machines at the Falls City plant. The building can hold up to 20.

“We see a lot of opportunity here,” Van Wyhe said. “We want this to be a win-win situation for Vantec, our employees and the City of Falls City. We think we can make that happen.” Internal projections, Van Wyhe said, show the FC plant would begin to profit its second year. Van Wyhe expressed his gratitude to the people of Falls City. “We’ve really appreciated all the support we’ve had,” he said. “In fact, that was a big part of our decision (to locate in Falls City). The positive attitude of the community was a big part of it. We really enjoy being here.”

Weeks ago, the brand new plastic injection molding equipment was moved into the Vantec building after shipment from Japan. Bev Van Wyhe explained that Vantec “never thought we’d buy from Japan,” but that the machines “have the right footprint” and will work best for the Vantec process. Moving the machines into the plant was no easy chore. The two biggest units have capacities of 500 tons. The other two are 400 ton and 200 ton. Those large units weighed in at over 61,000 pounds.

Since announcing the location of the new plant in Falls City, the Van Wyhes have been busy converting the spec building into a manufacturing plant, creating office and warehouse space, bathrooms, a break room and the many and varied equipment used in the manufacturing process. The restrooms were made out of cement blocks so workers would have a safe refuge in case of a storm.

The general contractor for the refitting what was a shell of a building (spec building) was from Clear Lake, IA. But much of the work was sub-contracted to local concerns. For example, Jones Air Conditioning, Inc., of Falls City, spent about a month and a half installing plumbing, HVAC and other plant needs. Gary Jones said that “size-wise, this was the largest scale project” his company has ever been involved in. He said four 25-ton (capacity or rating) air conditioners were installed on the Vantec roof. “That’s a lot of air conditioning for a building that size,” Gary said, but explained that the plastic injection molding process creates a lot of heat, requiring lots of cool in the summer months. However, in the winter, the manufacturing area requires little if any heat because of the amount put out in the process. Jones said his company also installed a fluid cooler on the north side of the building, which cools and circulates water back into the equipment to keep it cooled. The French product was the first of its kind ever installed by Jones AC. In addition to installing the plumbing for the men’s and women’s restrooms and showers, Jones also installed floor scrubbers in the plant, piping for the fluid cooler and air piping.

Among other local or area contractors that worked on the project: Triple S Construction; Mezger Construction, Table Rock; Wilson Electric, Auburn; and Dave Hunzeker masonry, Humboldt.

Source: Falls City Journal, October 28, 2008 – Jason Schock

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