Canon/Océ Seem Upbeat About Their Deal

While the nuts and bolts of the transaction will take months to comprehend fully—for us, as well as for them! - as a group, the Océ team seems to be embracing the deal and thinking of the merger in terms of their complementary product lines.

Specifically, they told us that Canon loves their wide format BW and color product portfolio, and their sales reach, while Océ loves Canon's WF color products.

Earlier in the week, the Canon team sent us a letter officially notifying us of their plans to acquire Océ.

Canon’s EVP and General Manager of the Imaging Systems Group wrote, “We see this acquisition as a great opportunity to expand our offerings and better serve the end-users who are your customers… Through this transaction, Canon is looking to bring together our strong offerings in office MFPs with Océ’s outstanding production printing lineup, as well as match our strong LFPs for graphics with Océ’s strong printers for sign display. We believe the two companies are a good fit as both Canon and Océ have technology-driven business models and have corporate cultures that stress the importance of R&D.”

The proof is in the pudding, but it looks like mutual respect and enthusiasm are there for the moment.

6 Students from PEiR Group Members Companies win Crest Scholarships

6 Students from PEiR Group Members Companies win Crest Scholarships




Six students from 6 different PEiR Group Members Companies recently won Crest Foundation Scholarships.

The winners were from the following PEiR Group Members:

1) Acme Blueprinting - Worchester, MA
2) Triangle Reprographics - Orlando, FL
3) HB Digital Arts & Blueprinting - Huntington Beach, CA
4) CadCopy & Supply – Shelby, NC
5) Camelot Business Document Services – Albany, NY
6) Plan and Print Systems – Syracuse, NY

Congratulations to the students and their parents

CREST Foundation Awards $125,000 to 21 Scholars for 2009/2010 Academic Year

This year, the CREST Foundation helped keep college a high priority for 21 ambitious and committed kids by contributing $125,000 toward achieving their educational goals.

These students are children of our industry peers working at reprographics shops throughout the nation. Altogether, the parents of these young scholars represent a collective 326 years in the reprographics industry—that's an average of fifteen years in the business.

This year's student scholars are: Delane Bass, Adam Cook, Jacqueline Corrigan, Ben Deininger, Ericka Dutton, Emma Garza, Anna Goodrich, Michael Hamman, Kyndra Hankins, Nathaniel Hansen, Kelcey Heman, Alexandra Iorfino, Jodi-Ann Kong, Nancy Lopez, Charles Mann IV, Allison McGlamory, Randall Panacek, Jessica Romero, Kaitlyn Stephens, Sara Taylor, and Kelly Wise.

Their parents work at: A&E The Graphics Complex; Ace Blueprinting; Acme Blueprinting; Blair Graphics; Camelot Consulting, Inc.; CAD Copy; Capitol Blueprint; Consolidated Reprographics; Cushing and Company; Duncan-Parnell, Inc.; Dunn Blue; HB Digital Arts & Blue Print; Imaging and Printing Corporation; Peninsula Digital Imaging; Plan and Print Systems, Inc.; Reprographic Consultants; Ridgway's; MBC Precision Imaging; SBD Reprographics; Technigraphics, Inc.; Triangle Reproductions, Inc.

In less than two years, 31 children of reprographics industry employees have received $225,000 from the CREST Foundation to help fund their college educations. This remarkable accomplishment is due entirely to the generous donations of individuals, reprographics companies, industry vendors and financial institutions.
The Foundation gratefully acknowledges KIP America, Oce, Xerox, Canon, Wachovia, Drytac, HP, National-Azon, Spiral Binding, Stone Tapert, National City Commercial Capital, as well as several financial institutions and nearly 20 individuals and family trusts. Without their continued support, these scholarships would not be possible.

This year's recipients were chosen by the CREST Foundation's Selection Committee, whose members include industry veterans Bill E. Thomas, Mike Carter, Cathleen Cushing Duff, John Deermount, and Miguel Garcia.

Report From Rhode Island: ERRA/SRA Addresses Challenges - Comes Up With Solutions, Shares Insight

By Shaun Meany
The PEiR Group

I attended the joint ERRA/SRA convention last week in Newport, RI. The turnout was lower than last year's gathering but the meeting was worthwhile for those of us who decided to attend.

The highlights, for me, were some good educational sessions along with the networking opportunities afforded by my many meetings with industry leaders.

The Keynote Speaker, Jessica Cox, set the tone for the convention with her "Don’t Let Adversity Stand In the Way of Success" messaging. Jessica is truly an amazing person. Born without arms she gave a straightforward, "take no prisoners" talk about her life and how she had overcome what many of us might think was impossible. Jessica drives and has actually gotten her pilot's license. If you think you're up against adversity in this challenging economy Jessica's message hits home. Think about those without work, or prospects, or who may never be in a position to own their own businesses. And then think about Jessica!

I also enjoyed the Construction Industry Forecast presented by McGraw Hill’s Robert Singerline. The outlook for 2010 is expected to be better than 2009 (thank God!) and there are definite bright spots ahead in 2010.

Singerline sees an increase in construction ahead for all all areas of the country in the coming year. South Atlantic, South Central and the West are all expected to see double digit growth. It is important to keep in mind that even with so rosy an outlook the industry is down so low that these positives really do not translate into big numbers - especially when compared to 2006 when construction was at its peak. Residential construction should signal the early stages of a recovery. Next year, Singerline says, there will be continued growth in government projects along with some institutional and non-building construction.

Other sessions I attended but will not delve into deeply (at least in this blog post) focused on Construction Project Delivery Methods and Integrated Project Delivery (IPD). Construction is evolving and new methods (processes and contracts) are being adopted by owners, designers and contractors to maximize productivity and return on investment for stake holders. Check back to POV again for more information about these trends and what they might mean for you and your business.

There's a lot more to consider out there, lately, and I've been reading all of it. In a recent FMI report it was noted that: "As the construction industry responds to the changing economy, technology is expected to emerge as a leading factor that will alter the industry over the next five years. Although maintenance technologies such as GIS and GPS were rated among the least important factors to corporate owners this year, by 2014 technologies such as integrated project delivery will become significantly more important. Other influential factors changing the industry today include globalization, social norms, economics, politics and environmental concerns."

Whew! It's time to get ready and develop a plan to participate with these new initiatives or we might miss the boat!

No reprographics conference can be held without time for entertainment and socializing and Newport was no exception this year. The Newport "Mansion Crawl," where attendees visited incredible getaway “cottages” of the rich and famous, was fun - but humbling!

Next year the ERRA and SRA will formally merge into one organization. They'll be meeing under their new charter on November 3-5, 2010 in Norfolk, VA.

Beautiful part of the country, I hope to see you all there.

Take A Look At The Sub-Hub Upgrade!

Over the past two weeks or so there’s been a quiet sort of buzz building around the newest version of Sub-Hub.

If you’re looking for new ways to get customers off the dime and into bidding take a good hard look.

David Swider, Director of Business Development, has posted a quick primer video on YouTube* and new release notes on sub-hub.com to help you get familiar with the new features and functionality. Click on the screenshot to watch!



Customers can create their own projects now, on the fly, without waiting for the reprographer to do it for them. Just as important, they can upload their own documents, too! This is a very big deal.

There are also new features that allow users to publish, un-publish, and republish projects as project workflows change, and even track a sub’s willingness to bid. In addition, customers can now choose from three different levels of access for different roles in their company, and control who can see or manage what parts of their project. (Sort of a light version of PlanWell permissions.)

Check out the video for more detail on the new upgrade to Sub-Hub.


* If your company server blocks video content, you may not be able to view the video.

BIM & IPD 101: First Of A Series - "The Nail In The Coffin"

By Shaun Meany
The PEiR Group

Over the next few weeks I will be posting a series of articles to Point of View dealing with the impact BIM and, later, IPD (Integrated Project Delivery) will have on the future of the reprographics industry.

There is no doubt that the design and construction industry is embracing these technologies in their attempts to drive down costs and increase productivity. One such technology that is quickly being adopted by architects, engineers and contractors is Building Information Modeling (BIM).

And the following chart may best explain the reason behind this push:

What Is BIM?
BIM is a business management process that uses software to design and develop scaled 3D models of a structure’s components and systems, including material quantities and properties. It can be used throughout the building’s life-cycle — from estimation to construction to operation — to track progress and maintenance.

Why It's Important:
I am sure many of you have heard of BIM and most probably you have customers who are working with it in some capacity or another. If your design consultants are using Bentley Architecture, Graphisoft ArchiCAD, VectorWorks ARCHITECT and Autodesk's Revit and Architectural Desktop they are working with BIM.

But what you might not be aware of is that BIM is rapidly replacing traditional 2D CAD. A recent report by McGraw Hill reported the following statistics:

• Half of the industry is now using BIM or BIM-related tools - 75 percent more than in 2007.
• The U.S. West Coast leads BIM adoption with a 56 percent rate, far ahead of the Northeast (38 percent). Canada closely resembles the North American average at 48 percent.
• Current BIM users of all skill levels expect to double their application of it on projects over the next two years.

So, if you know your design companies are moving towards BIM what can you conclude about your contractors? Yep, they’re moving in the same direction, maybe not as fast but they, too, see the huge benefits of using models to test and plan implementation of building projects.

What can you do as a reprographer to help your customers who are using BIM technologies? Here are a few things:

1. Let them know you understand what BIM is and that you are interested in helping them take advantage of its capabilities.
2. Demonstrate reprographics services that complement BIM technologies - e.g. Color perspectives. 3D Model Printing. FM solutions.
3. Let your clients know that you can host their models in your document management systems.
4. Attend local workshops to learn what challenges users of BIM are facing.

BIM is the new CAD of the 21st century. You must be aware that it has the potential to dramatically change the future of the reprographics industry. For many reprographers BIM will be just another technology to understand and to adapt to.

For those who refuse to adapt and move forward with technology, it may prove to be the proverbial nail in the coffin.

Canon - iPF710 36in Plotter Special.... While Supplies Last

Miguel Gonzalez
National Account Manager
888/550-8543 Ext: 4247
864/277-2859 Direct
864/420-9829 Cell
864/277-2632 Fax
e-mail: mgonzalez@tekgraf.com