Point of View

PEiR Group Member Academy Reprographics Selected as One of New Mexico's Best Places to Work

2011-12-22T08:01:00.000-08:00

PEiR Group member Academy Reprographics was recently named as one of the Best Places to Work in New Mexico for 2011 by The New Mexico Business Weekly Magazine.

The annual list recognizes the top Small Businesses in the New Mexico area with 10-25 local employees. Academy Reprographics placed 4th on the list.

Thank You and Happy Holidays from CREST Foundation!

2011-12-21T07:50:00.000-08:00

Dear CREST Foundation Supporters and Friends,

First of all, thank you. With your help, we have been able to accomplish much in just three and a half years. Because of you, CREST Foundation has bestowed over $455,000 in scholarship awards to 68 bright and determined young college students! We are delighted to report that 19 scholarships were granted for the 2011/2012 school year to children whose parents work in the reprographics industry.

Now we ask you to help us build this foundation to do even more. CREST cannot continue this vital mission without you. We all know families who are struggling with financial hardships. Many children feel the pressure of these financial times as they weigh their choice of a college education. We receive messages of thanks from students affirming that having the support of their parents’ industry, in addition to the scholarship money, has given them a tremendous boost to strive further.

The attached Thank You is an expression of gratitude from this year’s CREST recipients who convey in their own words what a CREST scholarship award means to them. We will share more of these voices with you over the coming months and ask you to consider making an annual gift this year.

We want to wish all of you a warm, joyful holiday season with your family and friends and the very best for a healthy, peaceful, and prosperous New Year!

Sincerely,
Janine Brandel
CREST Foundation, Inc.
info@crestfoundation.org
http://www.crestfoundation.org/
877-872-6995

The mission of the CREST Foundation is to fund and award scholarships to children of reprographics industry employees who wish to pursue a better education but who lack the financial means to do so.

PEIR Group Member Recognized by North Carolina Governor

2011-08-09T10:19:00.000-07:00

PEiR Group Member LSG Recognized by North Carolina Governor

In the governor’s address she mentions how she is supporting small businesses and how PEiR Group member, Wayne Branch (LSG) , has transformed his business from simply a printer to a full service digitally enabled service company!

Watch the video:

Follow ARC Technologies

2011-05-23T14:51:00.001-07:00

Social Media Update

To help PEIR Group Members and our other technology partners and their clients stay up to date on the latest news on ARC technologies we have created the following social media sites. Click the logo to access the site.

http://twitter.com/#!/arctechtweets

http://www.facebook.com/arctechnology

www.youtube.com/arctechnologytube

Manage Your Social Media Efforts with Ease

2011-04-21T16:59:00.000-07:00

Social Media is a great way for small businesses to improve their brand awareness and at the same time improve their level of customer service. Today, more than any time in the past, it is imperative to stay close to your customers and to monitor their feelings about your products and services. Also, it is important to stay in touch with what your customers are thinking about and doing!

Using social sites like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter can help but, how do you use and manage them? These social networks are very powerful, low cost and extremely effective at keeping you in touch with the needs and interests of your customers and industry. However, many of you fail to understand or to take advantage of these technology initiatives.

Why you may ask? It is probably because you don’t know how to use these tools efficiently. For many it seems to be so confusing and for others they cannot see spending the time to stay informed on what is going on in the social network world and at the same time contribute and share tweets, photos, videos and links.

There are some great tools that can help and outlined below are a few I would suggest you consider:

A couple of ones I would suggest checking out are: TweekDeck and Seesmic. These are fantastic applications that allow small businesses to use Personal Computers, Smartphone’s and PADs to search and seek out what people are saying about their businesses and to join in on the conversations. Both of these products are so easy to use and are available for free. The idea, behind these tools, is to make it easy for a business or person to connect and share relevant content across all the major social platforms like Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Foursquare, Google Buzz and others; all within one application eliminating the time consuming efforts involved with posting to each social network site separately!

So if you think you would like to use social media more effectively and efficiently to communicate with your customers and prospects consider using one of these tools mentioned above. And, if you don’t have a Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook account for your business, you absolutely must!

Shaun

Cloud Computing has Started a Revolution

2011-04-11T13:17:00.000-07:00

Over the last few months I have made mention of the Cloud and how it will become a major talk track among businesses in 2011. As a follow up to my previous articles (outlined in the list below) I would like to share some interesting marketing points that EMC has been using in their advertising about their Cloud Strategy!

EMC has been advertising almost every week in Bloomberg’s BusinessWeek throughout 2011. Not only has EMC been evangelizing about the Cloud but many of the other leading technology players like Microsoft, IBM, HP, Oracle, Google, Amazon, Dell and Apple are too!

But this one advertising article I read, in the March 28- April 3, 2011 edition of BusinessWeek really summed up what the Cloud means for businesses and why it will be the next big shift in technology for the masses.

EMC begins their article by reminding the reader that all of us are using the Cloud today whether we realize it or not. The ad states “You probably did some cloud computing this week. The last time you posted a photo to Facebook, sent an email with Google account or bought something on Amazon.com, you put a finger in the cloud.”

The article goes on to describe what Cloud computing is and sights the key advantages of Cloud Computing and why it is such an exciting platform and that is should not be overlook by anyone especially businesses. Some of the advantages of Cloud Computing is highlighted below.

Key Benefits of the Cloud:

Pay as You Go
Leaner and Greener
Cloud is Power to the People

Terms you will want to get become familiar with:

SaaS (Software as a Service or Software on Demand)
Paas (Platform as a Service)
IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service)

If you want to read the full article/advertisement please click the link here or read the March 28th edition of BusinessWeek or, better yet, subscribe to the Cloud based version of BusinessWeek by using the application called Zinio. Zinio is my preferred app to use with my iPad, iPhone and PC as it is one of the best ways to read your favorite magazines (electronically) and have them available anytime and anyplace.

So do not overlook the opportunities to position your business on the cloud and be prepared to talk to your customers intelligently about your ability to offer solutions that involve the cloud in some way or another. If you don’t someone else will.

Sincerely …..Shaun Meany

PEiR and PlanWell to Share Social Media Marketing Experiences

2011-03-30T16:32:00.000-07:00

Social Media Update

To help our members become more aware of the features, advantages and benefits of social media and social networking, the PEiR Group team will be implementing a variety of social networking initiatives to demonstrate that all sized reprographic businesses need to embrace this revolutionary "technology approach" to marketing.

First it is important to get a good understanding of what social media actually is! According to wikipedia "social media is web-based technologies that turn communication into interactive dialogues".

What web-based technologies you may ask? Maybe you shouldn't? There are literally thousands of providers of these technologies but for our purposes we have narrowed them down to just the following few:

PEiR Group's Web Site http://www.peirgroup.com/
PEiR's Point of View Blog http://peirgrouppointofview.blogspot.com/
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/arctechnology
Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/arctechtweets
Twitter http://twitter.com/thepeirgroup

All of these social media sites offer the capability for us (or you) to communicate an appropriate message about product and services information to folks who want want to be informed but do not want to read emails or ordinary mailings because they are; too busy, out of date or not specific to their particular needs or interests. Social media allows us to reach our unique audience of customers in real time 24/7/360 anywhere in the world; by using both the web and mobile computing devices like iPhone, Blackberry's, iPads and Laptops that are connected to the Internet wirelessly.

Social Media is not about posting propaganda and advertising about your products and services on web sites but rather; Social Media is about how you can be of service to your customers and prospects.

One of the most important components in successful social media marketing implementation is building "social authority". Social authority is developed when an individual or organization establishes themselves as an "expert" in their given field or area, thereby becoming an " influencer" in that field or area.

As an industry influencer , the PEiR Group is well positioned to help share information on the trends, best practices, business strategies and technologies that reprographers are evaluating and adopting in their businesses for the future. How do we get that message to our target audience? Social Media!

I have posted the links to our social media sites above, please take a few moments to note and visit them, follow, and comment on what you think. I will also be updating the Point of View Blog on our next social media effort!

How can we help you??

Best regards,

Shaun Meany

A Major New Release of AbacusPCR "Print Cost Recovery and Print Tracking Software" is Announced

2011-03-29T11:32:00.000-07:00

Today PlanWell Technologies is pleased to announce a major upgrade to its Abacus PCR print cost recovery software. Used for keeping track of printing costs and reimbursable print jobs in both an office or professional print production environment, the Company highlighted the software’s new features and functionality while maintaining the easy-to-use interface that has been a hallmark of the application since its general release in 2008.

“Once users see how much money they can recover by tracking reimbursable print costs, demand for expanded tracking capabilities spikes quickly,” said Jonathan Styrlund, product manager for Abacus PCR. “While simplicity is the key to Abacus’s popularity, once users see the potential for greater profitability, they want to capture more and different kinds of data and greater interactivity with other systems. Our new functions go a long way toward addressing those needs.”

New features in the latest release include:

Print Retrieval – allows administrators to hold print jobs in a printer’s queue until the recipient is physically at the printer to retrieve them in order to avoid forgotten or wasted printing, and to increase security for confidential documents.
Rules-Based Printing – sets permissions and parameters for jobs to be printed on higher-cost devices.
Color Recognition – detects color print jobs even when sent to [multi-function] printing equipment.
Cisco Call Manager Integration – allows the ability to track job-related phone calls and other non-printing functions such as laser cutters [and other finishing equipment].
Third-Party Integration – includes the ability to assign project information from applications such as Newforma and PlanWell EWO to reduce redundant data entry and enhance the level of detail assigned to a print job. Printing equipment from Konica/Minolta and Sharp have also been added to the equipment Abacus can track.

For a complete list of the features and capabilities of Abacus PCR, visit http://www.abacuspcr.com/.

If you would like to join us for a webinar that hightlights the newest features of AbacusPCR 3.5 please sign-up by visting the following link.

Thanks.....Shaun

Offer "Self Managed" Project Workspace Solutions to Your AEC Clients

2011-03-21T10:07:00.001-07:00

The document management needs of the AEC marketplace are changing and reprographers who fail to acknowledge these changes will be challenged to survive in the years ahead.

Over the last several years we have seen more and more AEC end-users starting to adopt low-cost file sharing tools that are diminishing the needs and value of traditional reprographic offerings, even On-line Plan Rooms.

Owners, GC’s, Sub’s and Design Professionals are aggressively moving towards using self managed solutions for distributing critical project information to project stake holders. Many are choosing to use CD’s, E-mail, FTP and web-based technologies like: BaseCamp, iSqft, SmartBidNet, Yousendit, BoxNet, DropBox, FileGenius, and a slew of others products to share and exchange project documents digitally.

Questions that you need to ask :

If you are experiencing these workflow changes with your key clients, what are you doing to stay relevant?
Does your existing plan room offering meet the needs of your clients today?
Are you having a difficult time getting your customers to pay for your plan room services?

Many plan rooms offered by reprographers today are mostly Repro-Centric (developed by reprographers for managing files at the repro-shop along with a web component for end-users to view and order prints and digital files). Although plan rooms are still a valuable offering from reprographers, I hear almost every day that posting and organizing documents into plan rooms is being done at a loss or with the hope of future print or download orders. This is a very risky business model for reprographers!

AEC end-users who were once comfortable using plan rooms and paying for digital services are now resisting paying for these tools and services and are now requesting the use of these services for free (due mainly to some repro companies who have not charged for digital services or subscriptions to their plan rooms). Others are just not interested in using plan rooms at all and are looking at using inexpensive managed file transfer (MFT) solutions mentioned above; by-passing the reprographer all together.

If you are struggling to overcome these challenges you might want to take a look at what PlanWell's Development Team has been working on to respond to these new paradigms.

The reality is, many AEC end-users want the ability to manage and distribute project information themselves. More and more, Project Managers are asking for tools that simplify the process of notifying and distributing documents to select team members.

Reprographers who respond by offering these capabilities will have an opportunity to remain valuable to their AEC customers. Reprographers who fail to introduce these capabilities will be overlooked by the AEC community because the services they offer are not relevant to the workflow needs of today!

To learn more about The “New PlanWell Solution” click here:

Sincerely

Shaun Meany

Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Should be a Wake-Up Call for Disaster Preparedness

2011-03-17T16:01:00.000-07:00

It is always after a catastrophic event that one begins to think about disaster preparedness and what should be done to mitigate costs and losses when and if it should ever happen. Last week’s earthquake, tsunami, nuclear power plant explosions and radiation leaks certainly woke up the citizens of Japan, and it too, should be a reminder to all of us that we need to have a disaster preparedness plan for our businesses as well as for our personal lives.

It’s hard to imagine what the true cost of this disaster will equate to in dollars, lives and the environment. Insurers and reinsurers estimate losses somewhere between $12 billion to $25 billion; some other experts think the costs will be in the neighborhood of several trillion dollars. Most of these estimated losses come from damages to property and human lives but what are the costs associated to other things like businesses that were totally wiped off the face of the earth, radiation contamination to the environment, and jobs and future incomes of the disabled and injured? What about tourism and food exports? The list of lost revenues is endless.

Natural disasters are difficult and almost always impossible to prevent. But one thing we can all be assured of; disasters seem to strike at the most inopportune times. In the case of the Japan earthquake and tsunami, science might have been able to give the people in the impact area (Sendai) better warning and strategies to evacuate in a timely and orderly manner. However, from what I have read, tsunami waves began to hit the coast of northern Japan in as little as 30 minutes after the first earthquake. Not much time for anyone to evacuate from the area. Estimates are as high as 15,000 dead or missing.

So what can we learn from this disaster? Communities, individuals, businesses need to be prepared for the unexpected. Whether it is a fire, flood, hurricane, earthquake, tsunami, tornado, monsoon, or nuclear explosion we all need to have contingencies for responding to the unexpected.

Communities need to prepare their citizens with up to date evacuation routes, secure shelters with access to fresh water, toilets and rations for up to 72 hours.

Individuals need to be prepared by keeping an emergency kit up to date. Have non-perishable food, water, warm clothes and bedding to last three days or longer? Supplies need to be in a place where you can get at them easily?

Businesses need to have their businesses prepared to operate virtually. This means the records, data and information that are required to continue the business needs to be backed-up, secured and available within 72 hours. Businesses who fail to prepare for data and record recovery will most probably cease to exist.

Also, with disaster come opportunities. Yes, I said opportunities. As reprographers we have an opportunity to help your clients, as trusted advisors, develop prudent disaster preparedness strategies for their firm’s continued operations. Start a conversation with your clients about strategies for helping them develop a disaster preparedness plan; offer to convert paper records to digital records, store documents off-site at secure (redundant) data centers that are backed up with UPS and diesel generators—these are are just a few example where you can start.

So in closing, don’t wait until you experience your own disaster to start developing a strategy for disaster preparedness; take some action today, while it is still fresh in your mind, make a plan for you, your family, your business and your customer to be prepared for the unexpected. You will be glad you did!

Also please join me in saying a prayer for all those who perished or lost love ones in the disaster in Japan.

Sincerely,

Shaun Meany

PEiR Group Member LSG is Recognized as Progressive Small Business by Governor of North Carolina

2011-02-17T15:58:00.000-08:00

Please take a few moments to watch the short video clip of a section of the State of the State Address by North Carolina's 73rd Governor, Beverly Eaves Perdue.

North Carolina's Governor Perdue

Click Here to View the Video on LSG's Web Site

In the governor’s address she mentions how she is supporting small businesses and how PEiR Group member, Wayne Branch, has transformed his business from simply a printer to a full service digitally enabled service company!

Congratulations Wayne and the rest of the team at LSG!

Shaun

A Successful Sales Story “Selling Software as a Service” PlanWell Collaborate

2011-02-08T09:19:00.000-08:00

One of the fastest growing and most successful, privately owned, minority Class ‘A’ general contractors in the US Mid-Atlantic region, has made the commitment to invest in PlanWell. This progressive GC has the proven abilities and track record to take on some of the most challenging of construction projects in the area. They are committed to meeting their clients’ goals by making investments in education, technology and their employees, so they are able to avoid costly delays, keep projects in budget and deliver high-quality work.

Solution Selling Process:

This GC was interested in online construction technology. When they were initially contacted, PlanWell and BidCaster were discussed. However, after doing a thorough and complete needs assessment of their company and total document workflow, the sales consultant found a further opportunity to also introduce PlanWell Collaborate.

The client was quick to realize that many of the current administrative processes that they were engaging in on a daily basis were antiquated and needed to be overhauled. This administrative workflow was taking focus away from their core focus, which was delivering high quality projects within budget.

The client immediately saw how PlanWell Collaborate (PWC) could help in their project and document workflow. Prior to the actual product Solution presentation, the client obviously researched the application in some detail. During the initial presentation of PWC, the client actually stepped through each of the main points of PWC and explained how it would be used and what benefit he would receive from it. In fact, the client more or less presented the application to the PlanWell Reseller instead of the other way around. It was a most interesting (yet refreshing) demo!

Besides using PWC, the client still intends on using both PlanWell and BidCaster throughout each project for most current set tracking, addenda and bulletin tracking as well as bid solicitation functionality.

Sales Objections and Solutions:

The sales consultant demonstrated Planwell Collaborate and Planwell / BidCaster to show them all the attributes each application had to offer their company. There were so many things the GC’s employees could utilize from PlanWell that they did not know where to begin. For example, should they phase in their network system? Do they get Collaborate in first? Would bringing in printing equipment at this stage be premature to their work flow needs, to mention just a few.

Eventually it was agreed that the GC needed PlanWell Collaborate right away because of all their immediate needs to order prints and to move/organize files. When the sales team discussed them using Bidcaster and staffing opportunities (staffed FM) for their bid packages they loved the idea of us putting a person (staffed FM) in their office to help with administrative process of PW/PWC we thought they were going to flip out. They said “can we start on Monday”!

So the solution for them after the initial PWC phase was implemented was a manned FM with new network system, new computers, small format printers and a Color Wave 600 to run all their design build packages.

The great thing about establishing a partnership with your customers is that once they see your product, they realized the potential in convincing their clients to use your solution. In fact, this GC was so positive about the workflow and the benefits that they brought one of their clients in to sit in on Planwell Collaborate presentation. They too were blown away by the product, so much so, that they are trying out the product and if all goes well, they too will be purchasing 15 seats.

Learnings:

PlanWell Collaborate has tremendous versatility as it can be used in all phases on a projects life-cycle, in this case the GC found great benefit in using PWC in helping them to manage the following processes:

Project E-mail storage and archive
Daily project logs and project specific calendars
Virtual storage location for meeting minutes, owner and architect information, prime contractor information, payment records, RFI, ASI, etc.
Storage location for all project documentation with integrated file viewer

Opportunities with Account:

PlanWell Collaborate was just the beginning with this account. As noted above, this account has turned into a staffed FM, which will include PlanWell Collaborate, PlanWell / BidCaster, and printing services as well. In addition, the reprographer will be providing both large format and small format printing equipment as well as a complete network structure (including servers, backup devices, etc). Furthermore, the GC has already gotten the PlanWell Reseller in front of other clients to present PlanWell Collaborate and those clients have initially committed to a trial working.

Today many reprographers are finding out that talking to customers about workflow and technology solutions, that solve real business problems, can provide significant opportunities to grow market share and revenues, are you ?

Sincerely

Shaun Meany

"Cloud Printing Services" Reprographics on the Cloud

2011-01-14T16:18:00.000-08:00

The economy has had a major impact on the AEC industry over the last couple of years and as a result has forced many AEC firms to change the way they do business. The Great Recession has been a wake-up call for almost all firms in the Design and Construction Industry. Companies have been pressured to reevaluate their core competencies, work behaviors and workflow processes; all with the intent to keep costs down, increase productivity and stay alive.

While most AEC businesses are cutting costs many are looking for project opportunities outside of their traditional geographic areas. As your customers become more digitally savvy and begin to realize the power and efficiencies of using the Internet (Cloud) as a cost effective means of sharing and distributing project information the need for traditional local reprographic printing is going to continue to contract. Your customers will use the cloud to participate and manage projects anywhere in the world.

What does this mean for the future of reprographics? You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to project the impact this change in behavior will have on your current and future revenues. The basic premise that many of you began your reprographics business (production equipment offering centralized production printing and distribution) is being challenged on a variety of fronts.

First, clients are working with application software to create digital documents and they are sending print ready files (emailing or FTPing PDF files) out for distribution-- diminishing the demand for traditional production volumes of reprographic services like scanning, copying and printing.

Secondly, printer manufacturers continue to introduce low cost MFP devices (both LF and SF) with the goal of having convenience MFP’s in all firms of any size; again further eroding the demand for centralized production printing.

Thirdly, the advent of widely available mobile devices with interactive displays and significant computing power has redefined how people request and receive documents and marketing collateral, but has not eliminated their need for relevant printed materials (Garner). This last challenge should actually be viewed by reprographers as an opportunity.

The fact that printing will still be demanded is a good thing. The problem is, it may not be printed in the volumes of the the past or in your repro shop at all but; rather at the customer’s office or maybe in some repro shop across the country or across the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean.

So, in order to address this new paradigm shift, reprographers need to think about the opportunities to provide some type of Cloud Printing Services.

Cloud Printing Services (CPS) is a buzz word that you might want to start introducing to your customers. According to Gartner, Cloud Printing will grow to a multi-billion dollar industry in the US alone. If you want to ride the wave and let your customers leverage the power of the Cloud you should promote digital document distribution and cloud printing to your customers.

Here is what Gartner is saying about Cloud Printing.

“Cloud printing services (CPS), driven by the commoditization of print and the growth of electronic communications, has changed how, when and where people access print. CPS's "anywhere, anytime access" will drive rapid acceptance by global 1,000 companies. Print technology providers must anticipate the reduction in print volumes as pages transition to video and voice messaging by partnering with the leading players in unified communications and collaboration (UCC) to provide users with a complete solution that includes context-enriched content.”

Summary

To help our members and other reprographers position their businesses on the Cloud the PEiR Group has been busy developing Cloud Solutions for the AEC market that can be marketed by the Reprographics Industry. The solutions involve Cloud Computing Technologies (PlanWell Enterprise, PlanWell Collaborate SubHub and iShipDocs) education and training (best practices for sales and production personnel) and professional services (support , customization, advanced training and consulting).

If you are interested in knowing more about Cloud Printing Services click here for our whitepaper.

Thanks ….Shaun

2011 the Year to Emphasize your Managed Services

2011-01-07T09:55:00.000-08:00

Managed Services

If you are looking to expand your sales in 2011 and want to increase your margins and get away from selling commoditized printing services maybe it is time to market your company as a provider of various managed services. What are managed services you might ask and why do I care?

Wikipedia describes managed services as the practice of outsourcing day-to-day related management responsibility as a strategic method for improved effective and efficient operations.

A managed service is not really a new concept but it is being marketed and promoted in all types of industries in slightly different ways.

One managed service that most of you are probably familiar with and one that the PEiR Group has been talking about lately is Managed Print Services. Managed Print Services (MPS) involves managing hardcopy device fleets (copiers, printers, multifunction devices, and fax machines) in a unified fashion. While this can be done internally, the term is typically associated with outsourcing the fleet to an external vendor. There are typically three stages in the customers’ adoption of outsourcing:

Control: During this phase MPS implementations are focused upon gaining control of the fleet.
Optimize: At this point, the implementation is focused upon optimizing the fleet by trying to ensure that hardcopy assets are deployed in the optimal manner.
Enhance: In the final phase, customers move beyond optimization of the fleet to actually enhancing the capabilities of the fleet by using document management and document workflow to improve basic business processes such as processing loan applications, or other paper intensive processes.

Another related term being promoted by IT companies is Managed Service Provider (MSP). A managed services provider is an outsourcing company that delivers and manages network-based services, offers technical knowledge and expertise, applications, and equipment.

A new managed service term that is quickly being promoted by the Commercial Printer Industry is Marketing Service Providers (MSPs). Marketing Service Providers offer a range of hosted marketing services that embed marketing technology and software offerings. These offerings include proprietary marketing databases, predictive modeling, vertical marketing and data expertise, email delivery and assurance, and marketing program design and support.

Construction Document Management Services (CDMS) is a managed service that more and more reprographers are beginning to offer but, as far as I know, the industry has not coined it as a bona fide managed service, which I believe we should.

My definition of Construction Document Management Services involves providing a solution that combines managed services (i.e. cloud based technologies and services) with AEC industry specific software as a service (i.e. content management, bid management, project collaboration and construction management software) that enables project teams to securely store and file, retrieve and exchange, communicate and distribute construction related content and other project related information to project stake holders and finally professional services (installation, training and customization) all with the goal of increasing project team productivity, cost savings and on-time project delivery.

So if you don’t think that managed services are important for you and your business maybe it is time you did. I will add to this concept in future postings!

Best…..Shaun

PEiR to Power Sales with New 2011 Theme

2011-01-04T16:13:00.000-08:00

Over the last few years The PEIR Group has used centralized themes to help our members focus and rally their businesses toward facing specific trends, challenges and practices in the reprographics industry.

In 2010 our theme was Innovate 2010. The idea behind this theme was to help our members and us (The PEiR Group) to review and assess how things were being done in all key functional areas of our businesses and to identify areas that could be run more efficient or ways that our customers could be better served.

Many of you were innovators on a variety of fronts: introducing new products and services to existing customers; identifying new markets and clients to serve were some of the most successful innovative approaches we observed in 2010.

In 2009 and 2008 our theme was Strategic Moves. What strategic moves were made back then you may ask? Many reprographers recognized the need to position their companies towards subcontractors and general contractors. Others realized the need to move into display graphics and make investments in flatbed printers and electronic cutters.

As we look back over the last 12 months, I think you will all agree, 2010 was one hell of a year for reprographic companies and their AEC customers!

In the US, many reprographers experienced double digit declines in revenues due to the Great Recession. Some repro firms were fortunate in 2010 and had small declines or in some cases small increases in sales. In talking with those company owners who reversed the industry trends most attributed their good fortune to their unique markets and/or their diverse mix of customers and services.

Throughout 2010 the recession had a major impact on all sectors of the Global Economy. In the US, the unemployment rate began the year at 10% and remained steady for most of the year. Just recently the economy is beginning to show signs of growth—however it is not coming from the AEC marketplace.

The US construction industry’s unemployment rate began 2010 at 24.7% (highest on record since 1976) and ended the year somewhere around 18% (the highest of any industry and roughly double the overall unemployment rate).

The Architectural and Design community also suffered significantly in 2010. Unemployment statistics for architects indicate that approximately 13% of all architects are unemployed and in some communities, like Phoenix, 20% of the architects are unemployed. As the year progressed the AIA’s outlook for Architects was mixed; November Architect Billing Index began to climb to 46 but in December the index dropped 3 points to 43 (indicating that there are still more building jobs finishing than starting).

So what is in store for reprographers in 2011? The beginning of a whole new business cycle (recovery)! The big run up in construction projects has ended and the new normal is what we can expect. This means projects will begin to be reintroduced to investors, design firms will begin doing a lot more preliminary project design, construction companies will be going anywhere they need to, to find new projects and, everyone will be in need of marketing and sales support.

In order for reprographers to be successful in 2011 and beyond, they will need to stay close to their existing customers, prospect for new customers and new projects and develop new products and services that are relevant and purposeful to the project stake holders.

Reprographers must realize that technology (digital files and the internet) has disrupted the reprographics industry; new digital workflows are being implemented throughout the project life-cycle and as a result drastically reducing the need for prints. Reprographers who think that print volumes will return, as in past economic recoveries, will be in for a real shock.

So what should a reprographer do? Reprographers need to have a sales culture that empowers their employees to sell other stuff besides printing. What stuff and how? We will get to this in later posts!

I think we all agree sales are the key to your company’s success. If you noticed (above) sales and marketing is key for your customer’s success also. So if we all agree sales is vital for success; how do we learn to be more effective at selling and at the same time helping our customers become more successful?

This is where our theme of SalesPower2011 comes into play.

The PEiR Group will be sharing strategies and offering training programs to help improve your overall sales effectiveness. However, in order to be successful in sales, it is essential to have the right products and services that your customers are looking for. So in addition to sales help, The PEiR Group will be sharing ideas and strategies for selling the right combination of products and services that will help your customers be more successful!

So let’s not dwell on the past and let’s get out and talk to our customers and prospects and find out what they are doing and identify some of the challenges that they are facing and how you are postioned to help solve them.

Happy New Year...Shaun Meany

PlanWell Collaborate & AbacusPCR Awarded BERTL's BEST

2011-01-03T15:50:00.000-08:00

If you are familiar with BERTL you know that it is recognized as one of the leading business equipment research and testing labs in the world. Manufacturers like Xerox, Oce, Canon, KIP, HP and others submit their products to BERTL for evaluation every year.

A BERTL’S BEST Award is a big deal to these manufactures’ as this rating helps to raise the credibility and competitive positioning of their products in certain market segments.

Today we are pleased to announce that BERTL has tested and rated several of ARC’s software products and has given them BERTL BEST ratings in their respective market segments.

AbacusPCR was awarded Best Print Tracking Solution in the marketplace in 2010.

According to BERTL, AbacusPCR:

Is a fast, comprehensive and easy to use cost recovery tool.
Tracks all printers and copiers by; user, project, client or custom criteria as business requires.
Has the ability to import or export any data for easy integration with any accounting system, ERP or other Business Management Tools.
Integrates with on-board technologies of devices manufactured by KIP, Océ, Canon, Ricoh/Savin and Konica Minolta.

PlanWell Collaborate was recognized as 2010’s Best AEC Project Management and Collaboration Tool.

According to BERTL, PlanWell Collaborate’s strengths are as follows:

Cloud based project management application requires no hardware, software or training.
Unique and Innovative Integration with Outlook allows for an efficient Project Team Communication tool.
All notifications reviews, comment distributions can be done through Outlook.
The project calendar can be cross-referenced with the team's calendars.
Notices can also be sent to non-team members through this system.
Visual updates allow all team members to actually see the progress of the project.
Knowledge base is accessible to all project team members on the cloud which eliminates time consuming documentation.

For the complete BERTL Report on PlanWell Collaborate click here!

Who is BERTL?
The Business Equipment Research and Test Laboratories Inc., (BERTL) is an independent testing laboratory whose purpose is to provide objective, independent product evaluation reports and comparative analyses on imaging devices and software workflow solutions.

In order for reprographers to offset the declines in traditional printing they need to introduce new and relevant services to their AEC clients. Software tools like AbacusPCR and PlanWell Collaborate are examples of best in class technologies that can go a long way in helping reprographers diversify their businesses, while at the same time, generating high margin sales.
Let us know your thoughts! Shaun

CREST Foundation Awards $145,000 to 18 Students for 2010/2011 Academic Year

2011-01-03T15:45:00.000-08:00

With budget cuts in education and the uncertainty on the employment and economic fronts, pursuing a college education is a difficult challenge for many qualified students.

This year, the CREST Foundation provided a boost to the educational dreams of 18 highly motivated and deserving kids by contributing $145,000 toward their college expenses. We are especially thrilled to announce that many of these aspiring college students will be the first generation in their family to achieve this goal.

In the past 30 months, 49 children of reprographic industry employees have received $370,000 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. CREST gratefully acknowledges all of our donors since the inception of the foundation, expressing sincere thanks for special contributions in 2010 from Xerox, Océ and Wachovia Securities.

This year's student scholars are: Delane Bass, Zachary Bergers, Kate Borghgraef, Jacqueline Corrigan, Antoinette de Pinto, Hannah Dean-Wood, Ericka Dutton, Emma Garza, Anna Goodrich, Mackenzie Heman, Kelcey Heman, Alexandra Iorfino, Charles Mann IV, Brittany Pham, Krystina Pingel, Evan Stalcup, Casie Sultzbaugh and Sara Taylor.

These students are children of our industry peers working at reprographics shops throughout the nation. Altogether, the parents of our CREST Foundation scholars represent a collective 410 years in the reprographics industry—an amazing testament to this business. Their tenure ranges from 6 to 30 years.

Their parents work at: A&E The Graphics Complex; Acme Blueprint Co. Inc.; BHFX, LLC; Blair Graphics; CAD Copy; City Blueprint Company; City Blue Technologies, LLC; Consolidated Reprographics; Duncan-Parnell, Inc.; Ford Graphics; HB Digital Arts & Blue Print; Imaging Technologies; Plan and Print Systems, Inc.; Print-O-Stat, Inc.; SBD Reprographics; Veenstra Reproductions and Western Blue.

The need for assistance with higher education expenses will continue to increase as funding is limited. Please join us and key industry sponsors including KIP, Canon, Xerox, Océ, and HP with your support. Encourage children of our industry employees to widen their opportunities through higher education and blossom into tomorrow's leaders.

This year's recipients were chosen by the CREST Foundation's Selection Committee, whose members for 2010 include industry veterans Mike Carter, Cathleen Cushing Duff, John Deermount, and Miguel Garcia.

For more information on CREST Foundation, please join us on the CREST Foundation web site at www.crestfoundation.org.

HP and Canon Announce Game Changing Wide Format Technical MFP Devices

2010-10-26T09:53:00.001-07:00

There has been some game changing announcements from the manufacturers of inkjet plotters recently. Both HP and Canon have introduced new technical inkjet devices that are giving LED technologies a run for the money.

Upon attending HP’s open house last week, I learned of (2) new technical cad printer models; the HP T2300 eMFP and the HP T7100. Both of these new printers are breakthrough products--for there price performance, speed, versatility and total cost of ownership.

The HP T2300 MFP is a T1200 (2) roll plotter (42 or 60 inches) with a fully integrated Scanner (36”) for scanning and copying color documents. Included with the hardware comes new software tools that let users scan and print to and from the Cloud! It also allows users to walk up to the device with a laptop or a USB drive and print or capture documents with a simple user friendly interface. Something like an iphone interface. Street price for the basic 42” MFP system starts around $8,500.

Video of the HP T2300 eMFP: click here

The HP T7100 is a fast, multi-roll technical printer that can print up to 4 “D” size prints a minute. Not only is the system extremely fast, but the cost to print in monochrome is less than comparable LED systems from Oce, KIP and Xerox. HP shared a TCO chart that showed that the cost to print color on the T7100 is significantly less than the cost to print on Oce’s Plot and Color Waves. The HP T7100 can be configured to meet the needs of your most demanding customers: monochrome or color, additional rolls, external hard drives, postscript, stackers and scanner/copier. The street price of the T7100 starts at $8500 (monochrome). Check the PEiR Group's web site (vendor partners/Hp) for special promotions pricing and other information on these exciting new products.

Not to be out done, Canon has responded to the new HP announcements by introducing its own price performance technical MFP solutions. Canon has introduced a family of MFP products that combines the complete line of Canon technical iPF plotters (iPF 710, iPF 750, iPF 755, iPF810 and iPF825) with an integrated 42" scanner that allows users to scan to file and make full color copies. The street price for the basic iPf710 MFP is $7,500--Unbelievable. Check the PEiR Group's web site (vendor partners/Canon) for pricing and other information.

If you are NOT reselling HP or Canon technical printers you need to! These new products are so cost effective and offer so many capabilities your customers will have a hard time not installing one in his or her office. HP estimates that there are over 70,000 potential Designjet upgrades available in the US market alone.

The PEiR Group offers one of the best equipment vendor programs in the reprographics industry. If you want to grow revenues and make good margins on equipment, supplies and service please take advantage of our HP and Canon reseller programs.

In these challenging economic times Reprographers need to be more proactive if they are to control their markets and customer base. I suggest for those of you who do not offer printers/copiers solutions to your customers please reconsider. The PEiR Group can help you develop a sales program to make these products available to your customers; either on a FM or Purchase Program.

If you fail to realize these fundamental changes in the marketplace, you might find that one of your best customers just bought a new print/scan/copy solution from one of your local competitors and they may never be back!

Shaun

On the Road with Fellow Reprographers (Part 1) BIM

2010-10-25T15:28:00.000-07:00

Over the last month and a half I have been traveling to a variety of regions in North America, visiting with reprographers and learning about their challenges and what they are doing to position their companies for the future.

In my next few articles in “Point of View” I will be sharing some of my observations and experiences from these trips along with some updates on what the PEiR Group will be doing to help our members develop strategies to grow their businesses.

In late September I went to San Diego to attend the (WRA) Western Reprographics Association annual convention. The attendance was light but the networking opportunities were great and some of educational sessions were extremely interesting.

One educational session I found most enlightening was a presentation on BIM (building information modeling) from Chuck Goodman from iPda (integrated Process design associates). Chuck’s company, iPda, is a design firm that has been working with BIM for several years and has developed a BIM solution that helps owners, AEC firms and others; leverage the technologies and processes used with BIM. iPda helps project stakeholders strategize on how to implement BIM so that the benefits of BIM can be maximized in all stages of a project’s lifecycle (design, bid, build and operate).

Today many in our industry think that software tools like Revit, Bentley Microstation or Graphisoft are BIM but in reality they are just that, tools.

When implemented properly, BIM can save owners millions. BIM helps design and construction companies build a project virtually which allows project team members to do a variety of “what if’s” before a single hole is dug in the ground; eliminating change orders, reducing inventory and material costs, conducting water and electrical cost analysis, scheduling labor more accurately and a whole lot more. A few of the biggest issues that many who want to embrace BIM are struggling with are:

Knowledgeable personnel capable of understanding and implementing BIM.
Multiple tools are used to develop BIM projects and there is a technological challenge of making these various tools all work in one model. i\If BIM is to become truly effective there is a necessity for the software tools to interoperate. That means that the BIM model needs to be accessed and updated by multiple disciplines regardless of the software manufacture (Autodesk, Bentley, Graphicsoft) .
BIM Models are huge and to be effective they need to have the abilitiy for all team members to access the model, so it can be kept up to date with all pertinent data.

Possible Solutions

BIM Knowledge Transfer and Technology Outsourcing Services

Companies like iPda offer expertise and outsourcing of personnel to help owners, designers and contractors ramp up and implement BIM. As reprographers we need to position ourselves to take advantage of the opportunities to team with companies like iPda to market their services to our own clients; TOS (Technology Outsourcing Services).

IFC

To address the need for multiple team members to update the BIM model with various preferred software tools, a new file format has been developed, its called IFC. The Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) data model is a neutral and open specification that is not controlled by a single vendor or group of vendors. It is an object oriented file format with a data model developed by buildingSMART - an international alliance of built environment sector professionals, contractors, suppliers and client groups who promote the benefits of interoperability and open standards for information sharing in the building industry, and is a commonly used format for Building Information Modeling (BIM). The IFC model specification (ISO-PAS 16739) is available at http://www.iai-tech.org/.

BIM Servers

BIM models are huge and multiple team members need to securely access, add, change and delete sections of the model as needed. In the not too distant future there will be a need for a provider to host and manage BIM models in the Cloud. As an industry reprographers are perfectly positioned to offer BIM Hosting Services but, it will require us to understand BIM and the technologies required to support this initiative and, how do we can charge for these services.

I will continue to add more about my travels so please check back on a regular basis.

Sincerely, Shaun Meany

From the Road with Fellow Reprographers (Part 2) Color in Construction

2010-10-25T15:20:00.000-07:00

This is my second article related to my recent roads trips around the country. If you read my previous post you learned that I have been attending a variety of industry events along with visiting with reprographers to learn about their challenges and their strategies for success in the future.

As I promised, I am sharing some of the more valuable information I learned along the way and at the same time I want to reinforce the message that there are opportunities “still to be had” in these challenging economic times.

I recently headed to Dallas, Texas to attend the Central Reprographics Association (CRA) Conference. Overall the attitude of the attendees was fairly optimistic, a little better than those who attended the WRA in San Diego. The attendance was a bit light but there was good educational material presented and there were plenty of opportunities to network and exchange ideas.

Like I said, the educational sessions were great. There were several educational sessions that I attended but the presentation from Peter Lawrence (Océ) Where's the Color? Sales Opportunities in the construction project lifecycle was particularly insightful!

Peter is a very knowledgeable guy and has been around this industry for some time, since the days of PageMasters. It was interesting to hear his perspective on where he sees the applications and benefits of color for the construction industry.

Peter sees color being used in several areas in construction:

Construction documents that are produced in color can be more accurate and more trustworthy; color can transform rich 3D data set into a powerful guide for the installers.
Color can reduce errors by 80%. Color can reduce direct costs (errors and changes) and also the associated litigation cost of errors and omissions.
The Document coordination process might be much easier to tackle if the construction documents were in color.
Scan As Built’s in color; these hard-copy records usually have color mark-ups and notes (color markers. pens or pencils) about changes that were made over time. Capturing this color data is critical for records keeping purposes.

As an industry we need to help educate our customers on the benefits of using color. If you are interested in learning more about the opportunities for color in the construction industry please visit Peter’s blog at http://colorforconstruction.com/.

Shaun

PlanWell Collaborate is Offically Released

2010-09-16T09:32:00.000-07:00

Today PlanWell Collaborate is officially released. If you have not yet heard about PlanWell Collaborate (PWC) you will very soon! After many months of research and development ARC has released PlanWell Collaborate; a game changing application for the AEC marketplace.

PlanWell Collaborate is a cost-effective and easy-to-use Web 2.0-based application that accelerates project team coordination and improves file sharing; PlanWell Collaborate replaces inefficient project management tools like FTP, email or spreadsheets. With PlanWell Collaborate, project teams can easily share documents, increase team accountability, and reduce delays without the complexity and steep learning curve associated with traditional project management software.

PlanWell Collaborate can be used independently or inside Microsoft Outlook(R) to create a working environment that is easy-to-use, familiar and immediately accessible. Project communication and document sharing happens in real time inside a central project portal, so projects start fast and stay on track with current information. With no software to install and a cost-effective software-as-a-service pricing model, users can be added or removed from the project as their participation is required.

Because PWC is completely a cloud based solution it has significant appeal to any business entity that is project centric.

PlanWell Collaborate will be sold and supported by a select number of PWC certified reprographers who understand how design and construction project teams use documents to communicate and collaborate.

PlanWell Collaborate is available as software-as-a-service (Saas) for individuals, project teams and business enterprises of all sizes. Standard pricing is set at $25/seat per month.

For more information or a 30-day free trial, visit http://www.planwellcollaborate.com/, or call your PEiR Group representative at (925) 658-0200.

Staying On Top of Copyright Rules

2010-09-13T16:41:00.000-07:00

“Can you copy these four pages out of this book for me? ”More importantly, does everyone at your front desk know the right answer?

U.S. copyright law is remarkably strict!

Making a single copy of a copyrighted work without authorization of the copyright owner can get you in trouble, even if you believed that the work wasn’t protected or thought that you had permission of the copyright owner.

Penalties can be severe and can include lost profits, damage claims up to $150,000, attorney’s fees, and more.

Knowing what you can do and what you can’t with copyrighted material is a serious legal issue, and anyone in your business who comes into contact with customers should know the basics.

Luckily, it’s easy to educate them.

The PEiR Group has posted training material on copyright issues on the PEiR Group's intranet. To find these documents visit the members resources area under best practices library: sales/tech/prod/ .

In the materials, you’ll find information on how to protect yourselves from liability issues, what circumstances require a written release from liability, as well as useful documents to have within reach when customers come to the counter with a magazine, book or photo in hand.

Please join your PEiR’s at the SGIA Expo in Las Vegas October 13-15

2010-08-26T11:41:00.000-07:00

This is a reminder to all PEiR Group Members that we will be hosting a Color Graphics Sales and Technology Conference in conjunction with the SGIA Expo on October 13 and 14 in Las Vegas.

"As wide-format digital printing continues to emerge, new markets and applications are being developed continually and new uses for the technology are being discovered. There is a lot to be said for adopting a technology during its emergence phase. Being early to the right markets can generate new business, and the margins are better when emerging technologies are needed." (source: American Printer)

According to a SGIA “Trends Survey” report (figure 1) several wide format imaging market segments are predicting growth, these include: government agencies, health care services, corporate branding and retail.

If you are not prepared to address these market segments with your wide format color graphics services or you want to learn how to expand your wide format color business then you will want to attend the PEiR Group Color Graphics Sales and Technology Conference along with visiting the SGIA Expo.

I am sure all of you can all find excuses why you cannot come to Las Vegas in October but, let me remind you of this very important point. Can you not afford to attend? If you want to know what your competitors are doing in wide format and where they see the opportunities you need to come to Las Vegas.

The SGIA Expo historically attracts over 22,000 attendees and every vendor who supplies anything to do with wide format output. Combining a PEIR Conference with the SGIA expo allows you to learn about sales strategies for selling your display graphics and to experience firsthand some of the new technologies and applications that your customers will be interested in knowing more about.

More reasons why you should attend:

1. We negotiated a great deal at the MGM Hotel ($100)
2. Low Conference Fee ($135 Includes access to SGIA Convention, monorail pass and dinner at the SGIA)
3. Experience the latest developments in Wide Format Color Technologies and Applications
4. Attend the largest Wide Format Print Convention in the world.
5. Learn what your competitors are doing in WF Color.
6. Selling WF Color in Vertical Markets
7. Learn How to Sell at Higher Prices

To register or to request more information about the PEiR Group Color Graphics Sales and Technology Conference or the SGIA Expo click here:

Do you have a High School Senior that is planning on attending college?

2010-08-26T11:37:00.000-07:00

If you have a High School Senior there is a four-year scholarship program offered by Coca-Cola to 250 high school seniors. The application period is open from August 1 to October 31 — it’s a pretty tight window, but there are very few restrictions on applicants.

The application requirements are simple, and this is a merit based scholarship.
So if you have a senior in high school, the Coke program is where you should look now.

Application Information is available here:
Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation — Applications open from 8/1/2010 thru 10/31/2010
https://www.coca-colascholars.org/cokeWeb/page.jsp?navigation=15

SGIA Survey Shows Retail As Leading Market for Imagers

2010-08-26T09:27:00.001-07:00

"The survey shows strong evidence that specialty imagers - garment decorators and graphics producers alike - are exploring new markets and opportunities as a way to bolster their businesses," said Dan Marx, SGIA's Vice President of Markets and Technologies. "Further, the survey shows how specialty imaging companies are using sales, management and production initiatives to strengthen their competitive advantage."

According to the US report, about 71 percent of imagers agree that referrals are a very effective way to attract new customers, while only about 3 percent rely on online directory listings for new business. To increase their competitive advantage in production, 37.6 percent of all imagers are adding finishing capabilities to their businesses - up from 29.1 percent in 2009.

The survey also concludes that retail (direct and indirect through ad agencies) continues to be the leading market for graphic imagers (75.7 percent). For garment decorators, educational institutions (77 percent) and corporate branding (72 percent) are among the primary markets served.

Quark Promote Update

2010-08-23T21:05:00.001-07:00

Quark Promote — a new direction for Quark (read full article)
This is a follow-up on an eariler blog posting regarding Quark Promote. Check out the new improvements to the Quark print partners program!

Managed Print Services

2010-08-03T09:42:00.000-07:00

Many of you have heard of Managed Print Services, or MPS but I would guess that many of you have not thought about the effect that MPS will have on your business in the near future.

As a way of providing you with a frame of reference for MPS in general, take a look at the graphic above. It’s from the research firm, Photizo Group, and helps explain important aspects of the future of MPS.

Things to keep in mind:

First, the overall market for professional print services isn’t projected to grow that much in the coming years.
Second, while the market isn’t likely to grow as a whole, it will be changing dramatically. Over the next four years, your customers will be aggressively converting from buying and managing their own printers, to outsourcing all print services through MPS. How aggressively is the market likely to convert? The graph above shows that $50 billion of the traditional print services market will be moving to MPS by 2013!
Third, this means that your share of the market will come under attack from other print providers, especially equipment manufacturers and equipment resellers who will tell your customers, “Hey, we do all your other printing, why don’t we throw in your wide-format work, too?”
Fourth, wide-format printing is only a small part of this overall market, so even though the market isn’t growing, your share of the print market can increase dramatically by pursuing MPS. Why? Because for every wide-format printer in a typical office, there are frequently 10 additional small format or multi-function devices!

The observations above go a long way in answering at least two fundamental questions about your strategic direction with regard to MPS:

Q: Why should you consider pursuing MPS?
A: The overall print services market isn’t projected to grow aggressively. As such, you need to defend the market share you have, and grow aggressively inside the overall market. You can do this by converting the FM business you have to MPS, and leveraging your strengths to capture new business through your MPS offering.
Q: Why is there such a sense of urgency on MPS?
A: The conversion of the market is happening fast — $50 billion of converted business is projected in less than four years. If you don’t capture this business, someone else will take it from you.

* At its simplest, MPS is managing hard copy device fleets (copiers, printers, multifunction devices, and fax machines) in a unified fashion. Essentially, this means a client outsources ALL of their printing resources to you – you run their on-site printing, off-site printing and document management & storage.

Thanks............Shaun

Sell Software to Grow Sales and Profits

2010-07-16T11:27:00.001-07:00

As the economy continues to linger in the doldrums many reprographers are struggling to make ends meet. For some reprographers, revenues are down as much as 50 percent from the industry highs of 2008 and profitability, of any amount, is becoming difficult to realize. What more, Reprographers are struggling to develop strategies to survive. The AEC clients reprographers serve are fraught with the same economic realities and are dramatically changing their organizations in size and the ways they do business. Demand for traditional printing and other services are down as your clients continue to adopt digital workflows to save costs and improve productivity.

Recessions become catalysts for change -- for everyone and every business. If you do not realize that you need to embrace change you have the prospect of becoming irrelevant when the economy returns to somewhat normal. As business leaders, it is extremely important that you strategize on ways that you can re-position your company’s message and resources so you will be prepared to offer the right products and services that your marketplace with need after it experiences the paradigm shift that will result.

The profiles of the companies that survive the recession will likely be smaller but more efficient. If you agree with this conclusion then you might want to develop a strategy for your companies to offer solutions that will allow your customers to do more with less. This is where software becomes an ally to your business strategy. Offering a range of tools to help your customers to do things more efficiently with less labor has significant value to companies. Take Microsoft, Google, Apple, IBM, Salesforce.com and a host of other software vendors they are all growing at astronomically rates during the recession. Why? Do they know something that you don’t? I believe they know that people today and in the future will want convenient tools that are internet enabled to conduct business any time and any place. People are willing to pay to use internet enabled tools and this is where reprographers need to make a leap to selling software as a new revenue generating area for their businesses.

The beautiful thing about selling software it is very profitable and in some cases requires very little cost to sell. The trend in software today is selling Software as a Service (SaaS). You might ask, what is SaaS? Software as a Service is the idea of selling the use of software that runs over the internet and users subscribe or rent to use of the software by a user/seat licenses on a per month or per year basis. The software can be acquired immediately with minimal costs and IT infrastructure for the customer.

More and more companies want SaaS. Users want to be able to use technology when they want it, where they want it. The revenues from SaaS are often reoccurring and can add significantly to your company’s profitability month after month; year after year.

If you are interested in learning about software products you can sell to your AEC clients attend one of the PEiR Group’s webinars by visiting this link.

Don’t let the current economy make you numb and unable to develop strategies for your company’s future success. Take a few moments to see the world as it is changing around you, look at the trends, make some conclusions and take some action.

Best

Shaun Meany

PEiR Group 2010 Executive Conference Recap

2010-05-28T15:27:00.000-07:00

Last week The PEiR Group held its 2010 annual executive conference in Palm Springs, CA. Given the economy and the location we still had a good turnout, about 30 companies and over 40 attendees at the conference. Even though many of our members could not travel to Palm Springs this year (for various reasons) we were pleasantly honored by having several of our international members in attendance: Tony Militano , Tony Smith and Gerry Brust of Carbon Copy, in Calgary Canada, Kieran Obrien of HOBS in the UK and Frank Veltman of Creffield Digital Print in Melbourne Australia.

Outlined below is a summary of some of the key topics, presentations and discussions that took place.

The meeting was held right after the IRgA Convention at The Renaissance Palm Springs which was a beautiful resort. It made for a long week for some of us who attended the IRgA but the weather was fantastic and there was plenty of time to socialize with others from our industry. As usual I got the opportunity to play some golf at one of Palm Spring’s most famous courses, The Classic, where the PGA’s Bob Hope Classic is played.

By the way the PEiR conference was way better than my golf game!

The first day of the conference we had a special welcoming from Suri the CEO of ARC to share with us his vision on the future of our industry. Suri talked about the unprecedented declines in print volumes for reprographic companies and what he believes are the revenue opportunities for reprographers in the future. Specifically Suri discussed the costs of technologies and that these costs need to be recouped by our industry if we are to survive. He stated “If our revenues are only related to print and print services (and we include the technology with the price of the print) the future does not look so good. But if we realize that printing is declining and our technology investments are growing we must stop and think about the way we charge for our technologies! Suri stated that ARC will begin to focus on selling technology for its own benefits and will not be including the technologies with the print services for free. He basically projects that there will be six major revenue buckets for reprographers: (1) Printing, (2) Digital and Content management services, (3) FM & Managed Print Services, (4) Software Licensing and (5) Outsourced Technology Services (like CAD, R2V & BIM) and (6) Equipment and Supplies.

After Suri’s talk, several of our vendor/partners, who were in Palm Springs for the IRgA, stayed and shared some ideas on what they are doing to help PEiR members generate new revenue opportunities. Spiral Binding, Nashua, Océ, KIP, Canon and Wynit all had some interesting products and services that you should look into. The vendor/partner presentations are located in the Member Resources/Executive Library on the PEiR Group’s new web site.

Kumar Wiratunga closed the Friday night session with an introduction of PlanWell Collaborate that is planned to be released to PEiR members in the 4th quarter of the year. PlanWell Collaborate will use a SaaS (software as a service) licensing model. Licensing will be sold on a per seat basis, something new for our industry but a growing trend in the software world. Keep a lookout for webinars and other announcements on PlanWell Collaborate as we get closer to general release.

Dinner on Friday was at a local steak house, The Falls, we had a great time and based on the comments from the group the food and wine was delicious.

Saturday was a full day. We began the meeting with a presentation from the President of the SGIA, Michael Robertson, who shared some interesting trends and applications in LF color imaging or display graphics. Michael showed research that indicated that UV Curable technology is the hottest growing technology in wide format color. FYI, the PEiR Group will be attending the SGIA Expo in Las Vegas, October 13-15; so if you are looking to expand your sales in wide format color you will want to consider joining other members at the SGIA Expo. More details of this event will be coming in the near future.

Following Michael Robertson’s discussion, was a presentation from Paul Stout, a seasoned construction PM who discussed the Paradigm Shift taking place in the construction world and how this paradigm shift could create opportunities for reprographers who offer technology and support services to the AEC marketplace. Many of the members commented that this was a very enlightening presentation so please take a few moments to review Paul’s presentation; it is located in the Executive Library as well.

Océ presented on wide format color. They did a group exercise that I thought was very educational and helpful in illustrating the benefits of using more color in the AEC workflow; they handed (2) sheets of the same architectural drawing to each group. Sheet (1) was a B&W drawing with some toilets and sinks. They asked each of the groups to count the number of sinks. Each group concluded various counts almost all varied from 7-11 sinks. Then they passed out sheet (2) the same drawing that highlighted the sinks in color. Each group easily counted the exact number of sinks. The conclusion, color helps users become more accurate and efficient. Talk to your Oce rep about this exercise and show it to your customers as well. Maybe you can start generating more demand for LF Color output with ideas like this one, from our friends at Océ.

After the Océ presentation, Beth Dobson (Meridian-aka Prolog) and Kumar Wiratunga introduced Meridian as a strategic partner for PlanWell and the capabilities that the PlanWell Prolog DataBridge will offer our members who use PlanWell Enterprise. Many of the members were extremely excited to learn of the opportunities in selling to some of the AEC world that uses Meridian products like Prolog and Proliance.

After lunch we had a presentation on Managed Print Services (MPS) from Jon Styrlund, who shared his vision as to where reprographers can position themselves in this rapidly growing printing trend. Jon said that MPS is growing so fast that if we do not respond to this trend by becoming MPS providers we will lose many of our customers to the vendors that do. Who are the vendors you may ask?

Here is just a small list:

Oce
Xerox
Canon
Konica Minolta
IKON
Ricoh
IBM
ARC
HP
Almost every copier dealer

The final session of the conference was presented by Mahil Maurice and he discussed the future and what is the cloud and what is cloud printing. As more and more content is on the internet (cloud) there will and is a growing need to have printing on the cloud. There are currently several cloud printing technology solutions becoming mainstream and ishipdocs has the potential to be positioned as a major player; only if reprographers can get a grasp of the concept and understand what it can mean for their businesses. This is an area we will be spending more time to help our members understand in the months ahead.

What a conference. Here are some of the comments we received from those who attended:

“MPS and Prolog are the two areas that will impact my business immediately!”
“Webinars and market insights is great, helps small shops keep up with what the rest of the world is doing!”
“Suri’s presentation was excellent. Overall the PEiR Conference was better than the IRgA.
The Océ presentation; showing differences of color vs b&w was excellent!”
“Paul Stout of Power Summit was Excellent! He was not a sales pitch or skewed statistics. He was real, from the field/industry and informative…made the whole trip worth my while!”
“I have always appreciated the transparency of ARC. I mean the way ARC shares their vision of the industry and what they see down the road!”
“Congrats for putting together another excellent conference!”
“Everything discussed regarding color was fabulous!”
“Beth from Prolog was Excellent!”

If you want the presentations from the conference just visit the PEiR Group’s website and go to the Member Resources/Executive Library and download the 2010 Executive Conference presentations that you are interested in.

Thanks for your continued support and have a safe Memorial Weekend! Shaun Meany

Update on 2010 IRgA Convention

2010-05-25T06:08:00.000-07:00

The IRgA Tradeshow and Convention opened this week in Palm Springs with about 400 people attending, including vendors. Attendance was roughly flat to 2009’s event in Pittsburgh, but there were more reprographers than vendors this year than last.

While the show ended up being more about industry relations than a sharply focused sales environment, there were a few notable things to talk about from vendors, including the PEIR Group’s PlanWell Collaborate, Sub-Hub, AbacusPCR, ishipdocs and KIP’s introduction of a new FM-oriented machine – the 700m, which has Abacus built into the controller – and new products from HP and a few of the scanner vendors on the floor.

The event got raves on its education program.

One of our members pulled me aside and told me he thought it was the best curriculum he’d seen in years, and several others from other company's echoed the sentiment. I sat in on several sessions, and I’d have to agree. Even the economist was a good speaker! Many of the presentations will be posted to the IRgA’s website in the coming weeks.

The CREST Foundation – Children of Reprographic Employees Scholarship Trust – co-sponsored the opening night reception and Janine Brandel’s opening remarks impressed the crowd with the number of kids the organization has helped, and emphasized how passionately the foundation believes in the cause. I’ll post some of that information in a future post.

The IRgA announced that next year’s event will be in Las Vegas.

The PEiR Group Launches New Web Portal

2010-05-17T11:37:00.000-07:00

In our on-going quest to keep our members informed and up to date on the latest trends, opportunities, events and technologies that impact the reprographics industry we are pleased to announce the introduction of our new web portal.

Our new portal incorporates the latest technologies in web features and functions and will allow us to communicate in a more effective way. The new site is the same web address as before (http://www.peirgroup.com/) but with a whole new look and feel.

Notice you will see a user login on the right side and also a new feature called: My Profile. This new feature will allow all of our members to interact with the web portal as well as with others in the PEiR Group Community

We will be hosting several orientation webinars in the next few weeks; after we return from this week's IRgA Convention and The PEiR Group's Executive Conference in Palm Springs. For those who are adventurous and want to get to know the new web site now; we are sending out usernames and passwords this week. So, once you get your username please login and start playing around.

We are anxious to get your feed back; and to make it easy for you, there is a feedback link on the every page that will allow you to comment on the new web site and let us know what you think!

Best Regards

Shaun

$225,000 Dollars Helps Send Our Kids To College

2010-05-01T06:20:00.000-07:00

Sending our kids to college is no easy feat. While our children might have the ambition, they don’t always have the money.

But if you’re reading this, you and your peers can offer your kids a good chance at financial assistance for their college careers.

In April of 2008, ARC was the prime mover in starting the CREST Foundation. It was formed to support the educational objectives of the children of our industry’s employees, primarily through financial support.

The CREST Foundation awarded $225,000 in scholarships to 31 recipients over the past two years.
In less than a year, the organization created an independent board of directors that included some of the biggest names in the industry, and established itself as a government-recognized non-profit organization.
At the 2010 IRgA opening reception held in Palm Springs (see article), Janine Brandel, the Executive Director of the CREST Foundation (see photo above), shared some of the foundation’s achievements over the past two years.

Budget for 2010/2011 scholarships is $150,000.
Current application session open through May 31, 2010 for the 2010-2011 school year.
Parents of CREST scholarship recipients work for 27 reprographics companies with a ombined total of 500+ years in the reprographics industry.
CREST recipients live in 12 states, attend 24 schools.
All CREST Foundation staff volunteer their time so every dollar of donations goes toward scholarships – every one!
PEiR Group Members have received $85,000 in CREST Scholarship Funds.
100% of donor funds received went to scholarship awards for children whose parents work in the reprographics industry.

Did you know this?

I work with Janine on CREST from time to time, and yet even I hadn’t realized how effective this program has been helping to send our kids to school!
Please spread the word with your peers and staff. It’s such a great program, and the foundation has capacity for new students this year.
For more info, visit the webpage at http://www.crestfoundation.org/. Download the flyers. Post them on your bulletin boards in the shop.
Make a difference in our childrens’ education through the CREST Foundation.

Tracking Documents With Printable Technology

2010-04-15T08:23:00.000-07:00

Okay, time for some trippy future nerdy stuff.

What if you could track every piece of paper you printed? Know where it went, and detect it within 10 meters or so with a small electronic reader?

Would you want to if you could? Some of our customers might, and soon, there may be some technology to help them do it.

The idea is the same one that works in automatic toll transponders that beam your car’s information to a reader in the toll booth as you whiz through (angering all those poor slobs lined up like cattle in the manual lanes). Actually, it’s used with cattle, too. Transponders are frequently used to track the whereabouts of livestock .

The technology is called Radio Frequency Identification or RFID, and merchants like Wal-Mart are sending a clear signal to the marketplace that they’d like to put them on all of their products for tracking, inventory and even checkout purposes.

But because current RFID tags are made with silicon, and cost about 50 cents each to produce, it’s not yet cost effective.

But a collaboration by researchers at Sunchon National University in Suncheon, South Korea and Rice University in Texas has yielded a new RFID tag that can be PRINTED DIRECTLY on paper or plastic packaging, eliminating the need for silicon, and bringing the cost down to three cents a tag. The researchers developed a semiconducting ink, made with carbon nanotubes, capable of holding an electric charge.

At three-cents, it’s still pricey for tracking individual pieces of paper, but the researchers are looking to bring it down to one cent in the near future. Some of our friends at Xerox think this is a no brainer for our business.

Francois Ragnet, writing in his blog “The Future of Documents,” said “…At [one cent], and (needless to say) once this capability becomes available in office printers, that will make paper document tracking a reality…Just like we are thinking twice today before printing in color because it adds value to our documents (for a few pennies), we will also ask ourselves whether we want our documents to be fully traceable (for the same order of magnitude).”

Game-changer? Could be. What do you think?

"Shaun's Corner "First Quarter Update

2010-03-30T21:25:00.000-07:00

Dear PEiR Members

I recently decided to get more active with the construction industry and have joined both the local and national American General Contractors Association (AGC). I also have been meeting with a wide assortment of members from the construction industry, both General Contractors and Sub-contractors, to learn how we reprographers can become better equipped to serve this particular industry.

In pursuit of this goal I attended a variety of local and national construction events to learn more about the needs and challenges of the construction industry.

One such activity was a workshop called Successful Negotiating in the Construction Environment offered by the local AGC Chapter of Northern California.

This workshop was developed by the AGC to help their members learn a more systematic approach for negotiating. It was interesting to learn that the culture of the construction industry expects almost everything to be negotiated. Sub’s and GC ‘s are constantly negotiating during all phases of a construction project. I learned that, as reprographers, we must be prepared to negotiate whenever working with representatives of the construction industry.

Last week in Orlando, I attended the National AGC Convention where approximately 1,000 industry representatives met to discuss the future of construction and their plans for stimulating construction projects and increasing construction jobs. It was a pertinent topic given that today, estimates suggest the construction industry has 29-30% unemployment.

As an exhibitor at the convention (we were showing PlanWell and Sub-Hub) it was clear that many attendees were finally realizing that they are in a new era. Some, if not most, of these professionals have never experienced a down-turn of this magnitude in their entire careers. Several GC’s who stopped by the booth claimed that they have not had to hard bid (vs. negotiated bid) for more than 20 years. Today they have been forced to do so, just to survive. Many GC’s stated they have lost bids when they have bid at or slightly below their real costs.

When you are calling on the construction industry, it is important to be empathetic, but also resourceful. It you explain ways that your services can help keep costs down and reduce errors there are opportunities to be had.

Despite the industry challenges I did hear of some sweet spots in the industry. Civil Construction is doing well ( mass transit, urban rail, superfast trains, airports, waste water, nuclear power, wind, and solar ), as are Data Centers.

Color also seems to be on the minds of construction companies. Applications for color are growing exponentially. Since the future will be more design-build and focused on integrated project delivery, projects will need to be rendered in realistic color, bid documents will contain more photos, and drawings and schedules will require more color to communicate well.

On a side note, I also got to talk with reprographers themselves in my travels to the Midwest, Northeast and Southeast. Many have indicated that their investments in LF and SF Color seem to be beginning to pay off. As a matter of fact, more than a couple of reprographers have told me that this month’s sales projections (March) are tracking for one of their best sales months in years. Most explain the up-tick in sales to their efforts to market color to both the AEC and Non-AEC markets.

While it’s early in the year to start saying things are looking up, keeping your ear to the ground will serve you well throughout 2010. Whether the reprographics industry manages to crawl out of the recession this year or next, knowing what your customers are dealing with and where the opportunities are will serve you well.

PEiR Group 2010 Executive Conference Agenda and Registration

2010-03-26T15:56:00.000-07:00

Mark your calendars for May 21-22!

The PEiR Group is proud to announce our 7th Annual Executive Conference to be held at the Renaissance Palm Springs Hotel.

In an effort to support and strengthen the reprographics industry the PEiR Group Executive Conference will be held in conjunction with the annual IRgA Convention (May 19-21).

The PEiR Group's Executive Conference will begin at the tail-end of the IRgA Convention and will be exclusive to our members and vendor partners.

Please click here to access the registration form; and here for the agenda
This year, we are offering an Early Bird Special. Register between now and April 1st for only $199/person. Since we are hosting this conference in conjunction with the 2010 IRgA you should book your rooms as soon as possible as space will be limited.

I believe this year is one of the most important times in our history that every member make a sincere effort to attend this years conference. Never has our industry been in more need of the sharing of good ideas and fellowship. We at the PEiR Group will do everything in our power to make sure the time you spend away from your business will be rewarded with valuable content and networking opportunities.

I look forward to seeing you in Palm Springs! Shaun

PEiR Group Executive Conference Keynote Speaker

2010-03-26T15:19:00.000-07:00

Paul Stout is a construction project manager, estimator, LEED Accredited Professional, facilitator, seminar instructor, and the AGC of America's 2009 National Instructor of the Year. He brings more than twenty-three years of practical, hands-on construction experience to the arena.

From Laborer to Project Manager, Paul advanced through the ranks to learn the industry from inside to out. This progression of personal and career growth included lab, supervisor, and management for hundreds of projects. He was a crew Foreman or Project Manager for more than ten years. Paul has managed projects from the position of both Subcontractor and Prime Contractor (GC).

At our upcoming Executive Conference Paul will share ideas on how reprographers can approach construction companies with new products and services that will drive productivity and save costs!

PEiR Group/Canon 2nd Qtr Programs & Promotions Webinar

2010-03-26T10:56:00.000-07:00

Topic: PEiR / Canon - 2nd Quarter Promotions

Host: Richard Reamer

Date & Time: April 8, 2010 2:30 pm (Eastern Daylight Time)

To register for the online event

_______________________________

1) Go to here

2) Click "Register"

3) On the registration form, enter your information and the click "Submit"

To attend this web seminar, you must enroll prior to the day of the event by clicking on the link above and entering your information.

Once you have enrolled, you will receive an email message confirming you enrollment and instructions that will include a password (imagePROGRAF1) to join the event.

_______________________________

For assistance

_______________________________

You can contact Richard Reamer at rreamer@cusa.canon.com

Océ Accepting Applications for its Third Annual "Green Reprographer of the Year" Award

2010-03-26T08:51:00.000-07:00

Oce' is now accepting applications for "Green Reprographer of the Year" Award. Applications are being accepted now till April 16th, 2010.

For details go here.

You Posted That On Your Facebook Page?!

2010-03-25T16:47:00.000-07:00

I read an article from one of my colleagues the other day, Kari Fairbanks, who wrote recently on the use of Facebook, and how a post that we might consider personal can cast a shadow over our professional lives.

She wrote:

“I joined Facebook initially to see if there was a way to blend it into the workplace. My friend list includes many company employees and competitors’ employees I’ve gotten to know over the years. I quickly found myself embarrassed and disappointed with many posts made by people I consider to be in a position of leadership.

Here are a few examples:”

“Tough day. No one listens. Cough, cough. I may be sick tomorrow.”
“Have worked 32 of last 36 hours. No respect and no appreciation.”
“What do you do when the execs won’t listen?”

“The second quote above was made by a competitor’s VP! Do you think he thought about the competitive advantage I have knowing he is overworked and feeling unappreciated?”

Kari also made it clear that while comments like these are harmful enough, they were hardly the worst examples.

In light of this, she wrote, “If you opt to tweet [on Twitter] or make posts on other social networking programs [MySpace, LinkedIn, etc.], consider the manner in which you are presenting yourself; especially if you have readers or friends who are your employees, customers, or competitors. Your statements have an effect on morale and – as in the case of the disgruntled VP – they can also affect our business and competitive position.”

If you don’t want to censor your own posts on a Facebook page, consider adjusting your privacy settings. There are a number of ways you can tweak the settings by page, status, wall, photo collections and even by category of friends. Check out this third-party link on adjusting your settings, or Facebook’s own user instructions here. (It’s important to remember that Facebook and other sites change their privacy policies and tools with some regularity, so check your profile now and again.)

If you don’t purposefully change your preferences, the default settings expose your posts to just about anyone with a internet connection and a basic understanding of search engines – they don’t even have to be a member of Facebook.

Social networking sites have changed the way we communicate with each other, and are clearly here to stay. But just because its’ “Social” networking doesn’t’ mean it won’t be used for professional reasons, and just because it’s a personal expression doesn’t always mean it’s private!

Sub-Hub: New Updates with Turbocharged Productivity

2010-03-25T14:41:00.000-07:00

We all know that more people are competing for fewer projects these days, so making sure your process is as efficient, fast and effective is critical.

Late last year we upgraded our Sub-Hub bid communication tool with tools that turbocharged productivity, make last minute changes easy and fast to implement, and create more ways for your bid or bid management efforts to payoff.

Three new features are attracting the most attention as more and more contractors sign-up for te service.

1. Self-publishing - Create your own projects and upload documents directly from your computer; no outside intervention, document indexing, or handling is necessary.

2. Total flexibility in document format - TIFF, PDF, DWF and more; flexible document formats allow you to use almost any take-off tool and costing application; it also makes simple exchanges, RFI's or other collaborative activities involving marked up documents easy, fast and efficientl

3. Upload/Downloads - Posting documents to your project, or downloading drawings for review and bidding is fast, clean and simple.

Sub-Hub allows anyone to send or receive bid notifications from a private address book via email or fax, and share documents in an easy-to-use and effective online application. You can visit the Sub-Hub website by click on the link here. To find out more about how you can use Sub-Hub, or for a demonstration, contact the PEiR Group at 925-658-2000.

Canon imagePROGRAF Support Announcement

2010-03-25T14:15:00.000-07:00

Effective February 1, 2010, Canon U.S.A. began working with a new nationwide on-site service partner for imagePROGRAF repairs. This partner, Pitney Bowes, has more than 1,200 technicians in the field, of which over 300 are trained on Canon's imagePROGRAF products.
The Pitney Bowes technicians can respond virtually anywhere in the U.S. to service and imagePROGRAF large format printer.

The attached letter was sent to those end customers who were on record as having experienced an on-site visit in the past. The letter was sent to them via e-mail, when addresses were available, or by U.S. Mail.

For your reference, the letter is attached. Please click on the link: Support Announcement.

PEIR Group Educational Webinar April 22

2010-03-25T13:53:00.000-07:00

The PEiR Group is hosting an educational webinar on April 22nd at 10:00 am Pacific Time.

Subject: New Revenue Opportunities - Outsourcing CAD and other Digital Services.

Click here to sign-up for the webinar.

Justifying Digital Services Webinar

2010-03-05T10:35:00.000-08:00

Are you able to get your customers to accept your charges for digital services? If not, then you should plan on attending our webinar "How to Justify Charging your Customers for Digital Services"!

Having the right technology and the right marketing strategy to justify charging for the digital services is the key.

Who should attend?

Sales Reps
Customer Service Reps
Plan Room/Document Management Managers
Owners/General Management

Webinar Details:

When: Thursday March 11, at 12pm Pacific
Duration: 45-60 minutes

Sign-Up Here:

Crest Foundation Scholarship Fund Now Accepting Applications

2010-03-02T11:38:00.000-08:00

Funding College Opportunities For Our Children

The mission of the CREST Foundation is to fund and award scholarships to children of reprographics industry employees who wish to pursue a better education, but who lack the financial means to do so. This foundation provides opportunities for the reprographics industry to unite for the benefit of the children of our long-term employees who provide so much value to the industry.

General Eligibility Requirements:

1)Student must have a parent currently employed by a reprographics company for at least five years
2)Be a US citizen or legal permanent resident
3)Must apply for federal financial aid using the FAFSA (Free Application For Student Aid)
4)Be enrolling on a full-time basis at a college or university
5)Have a minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA
6)Provide recommendations from at least 2 qualified adults

Online applications for the 2010/2011 school year will be available from March 1, 2010 through May 31, 2010. http://www.crestfoundation.org/

Awards for the 2010/2011 school year will be made in the Fall of 2010.

The Art of Questioning

2010-02-12T22:22:00.000-08:00

Asking good questions, and doing so in spirit of honest information gathering and eventual collaboration, is good practice for leaders. It cultivates an environment where employees feel comfortable discussing issues that affect both their performance and that of the team. And that, in turn, creates a foundation for deepening levels of trust.

John Baldoni is a leadership consultant, coach, and speaker. He is the author of eight books, including Lead Your Boss, The Subtle Art of Managing Up.

PEIR Adds Wynit to Vendor Partner Program

2010-02-12T08:47:00.000-08:00

WYNIT, Inc. a leading national distributor with a 20-year history of selling internationally branded products in the consumer electronics, digital photography, print and presentation, video editing, outdoor, security and photo ID market categories has officially become a PEiR Group Preferred Vendor Partner.

As promised, The PEiR Group continues to expand it's vendor programs (47 vendors) and with the addition of Wynit you now have another distributor for both Canon and HP wide-format products and services.

Many of you already know and have worked with our national account manager at Wynit, Miguel Gonzalez, who just recently came over to Wynit from Tekgraf. For more details on the Wynit vendor program please login to the PEiR Group intranet and review the vendor library area titled Wynit.

If anyone is interested in attending the PMA (Photo Marketing Association) Convention on February 21-23 at the Anaheim Convention Center, Wynit has offered our members free passes to the PMA Exhibit Area.

To download the free pass click here:

Shaun's Corner "Sell Technology Not Print"

2010-02-09T12:04:00.001-08:00

I was in Up-State NY and Boston last week to meet with several of our PEiR members and their AEC customers to learn about the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for our industry in 2010.

One thing is abundantly clear: While opportunities to sell customers printing services appear to be declining, the opportunities to approach customers with technology solutions are huge and growing. The days of throwing bodies (labor) at problems are long gone. Every AEC company recognizes the need to use computers and software applications to improve productivity and efficiency.

Whether they use AutoCAD, Microsoft Office, Timberline, Prolog, Primavera, SharePoint or whatever, they are all accustomed to budgeting for technologies. They simply need reminding to extend that technology review to their reprographics services. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the bidding process.

The contractor community, has a limited number of funded projects in the works. As a result, contractors are required to do a lot more bidding to win a project. The bidding process used by many contractors is oftentimes very inefficient, and as a result, can create technology sales opportunities for those reprographers who can demonstrate the value of their bid communications and document distribution services.

In an effort to keep costs down and in some cases to keep their doors open, many contractors are trying to cut any costs associated to pre-construction activity, in order to survive. Remember, contractors don’t make money by bidding, they SPEND money. To stay in business, they need to make the bidding process as cost effective as possible. To most, that means reducing costs in bid set printing by eliminating them entirely, or passing printing down to subs by simply distributing their bid documents digitally.

That’s where we need to turn into technology promoters.

Solutions like PlanWell/BidCaster and Sub-Hub can offer better document control, productivity improvements, bid response tracking and better security than ANY analog-based solution. Contractors are still opting to use less sophisticated digital distribution methods (technologies) like FTP and CD’s because they do not understand the savings that your technologies can offer.

Reprographers who are struggling to get GC’s to pay to use their document management solutions need to remind themselves that they must explain to their customers that the technologies they (reprographers) offer actually help solve problems and create value.

Some reprographers are still lucky enough to be printing bid sets for government projects particularly in markets that require bids to be distributed in paper. Others claim that bid set printing is declining so fast that they (reprographers) are finding that they have more print capacity than the market is demanding. I could not help noticing at some shops, production devices and personnel were sitting completely idle. Such circumstances demand a different approach to remain relevant to our customers and viable as an industry.

Don’t lose the chance to help your customers to increase productivity and reduce costs with the technologies you can offer. You may need to price the technologies a bit different but I think you will find that you will have a better chance of getting your customers to accept the costs.

Automating the Bid Communications Workflow in the Construction Office

2010-02-09T12:00:00.000-08:00

It is important when selling technology that you understand what problems and inefficiencies you can solve for your customers.

In the bid process you can save the pre-construction department labor, printing costs and increase their chances to win more projects. Effectively doing more with less and that is what the marketplace is looking for!

Canon Offers PosterArtist Software-- Wide Format Poster Templates

2010-02-09T09:51:00.000-08:00

PosterArtist is a poster creation software program designed to be used by all levels of users to create professional-posters, banners and signage in just four easy steps. This template driven poster creation tool for PCs was developed by Canon specifically to create large-format posters quickly and easily.

PosterArtist provides over 200 professionally designed templates, and over 1000 royalty free images and clip art that can be quickly customized and outputted to a variety of media. You can even import your own images such as company logos and digital camera photos. With PosterArtist, now you can quickly customize and print posters, banners, signs, and eye catching displays.

PosterArtist includes an Auto Design feature to make printing even easier-just specify your layout elements and the software will automatically generate a variety of designs for you to choose from. With PosterArtist, you can integrate variable data, enlarge scanned data, import presentations and other office documents, and bring in images directly from most digital cameras. Visit Canon's PosterArtist Website to learn more and download a trial version today!

QuarkPromote.com

2010-02-08T14:17:00.000-08:00

In an effort to strengthen its ties with the digital printing community, Quark has announced the launch of QuarkPromote.com, a new on-line service that promotes digital printing by local print operations.

Announced late last year, QuarkPromote.com helps digital print shops market their on-demand print capabilities by providing a web based design application that makes creating and printing marketing collateral like business cards, flyers, datasheets, business letterhead, tri-fold brochures and other promotional documents a breeze.

Quark’s research showed that many small businesses just do not have the marketing expertise or the layout software to make professional looking promotional materials in-house. Now with QuarkPromote.com , businesses of all sizes have free access to professionally designed templates and a network of local print provider to delivery their printed materials.

After hearing about this new service, and thinking how it might help some of our members who have digital presses, I asked Quark to send me more information about this exciting new service.

If you are looking for ways to expand your market reach and to offer more digital printing services please visit the video link and view a demonstration of the features of QuarkPromote.com. You can also visit their web site to learn more about this service or to sign-up and become one of their print partners.

[Links]

Video

Website

Webinar on Print Cost Recovery and Print Tracking

2010-02-04T11:38:00.001-08:00

Please plan to join Mike Becker and myself on a webinar that will offer valuable insight into understanding cost recovery and how this subject can lead to new customers, along with higher profits.

Mike Becker – has over 20 years experience selling document and cost recovery solutions to AEC, advertising, legal and financial service markets. Mike most recently was one of Sepialine's top revenue producers, now Mike is working for us.

Webinar Agenda:

What is cost recovery?
Why are your customers interested in cost recovery?
Finding new customers and new markets
Ideas for cost recovery by industry

Webinar Details:

Date-- Feb 18th
Time-- 9:00 AM (Pacific)
Register -- click here

Shaun Meany
President
The PEiR Group

925-658-0212 direct
925-876-9409 cell
925-658-0201 fax
http://www.peirgroup.com/
http://www.abacuspcr.com/

Shaun’s Corner “Innovate 2010”

2010-01-08T10:59:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year PEiR Group Members:

2009 was a year that really tested our managerial skills. In talking with PEiR members all over the world, there was no escaping the plight of the Great Recession of 2010. Many of you stated that you have never experienced such dramatic changes in your industry, and at the same time, been confronted with such challenging business decisions.

Having weathered the storm, I hope you have learned some good lessons and will use these experiences in planning for your future.

2010 has the prospects of an economic recovery. We are beginning to see indications that the decline in construction employment is flattening and that there is projected growth in some sectors of the industry. Many of you have realized the need to diversify and are seeing the merits of that decision. I also think that many of you realize that change is something that we all have to embrace and that we need to continue to adapt our business offerings to remain relevant to the clients we serve.

With that being said, I would like to start out the New Year announcing the PEiR Group theme for the upcoming year "Innovate 2010". The idea is to show our customers that Reprographers are leaders in innovation. It is more important than any time in our history that reprographers demonstrate to their customers that they are a creative and valuable resource.

But how do you go about doing this? This is where the PEiR Group can help!

While it's up to you to do the actual innovation, the PEiR Group can help you explore what you should be looking to change; new ways of adding value to your offerings, and help you communicate your value more effectively.

Let's face it, your customers are being bombarded with new technologies every day, but do they really understand how these new technologies are going to be useful? Those of us who can explain how new technologies can be applied to solve real business problems (innovation) have opportunities to build our businesses.

To accomplish these objectives, The PEiR Group has planned the following list of activities and events for 2010.

PEiR Group Meetings
- May 21-22: PEiR Group Annual Executive Conference in Palm Springs
- October 14-15 PEiR Group Color Sales & Technology Conference at the SGIA Convention in Las Vegas
Weekly Technology Demonstrations and Training
- PlanWell, SubHub, ishipdocs, Abacus, MetaPrint (sign-up here)
Bi-Monthly Best Practice Webinars
- See Above
Member Visits (if interested please let me know) (shaunm@planwell.com )
- January/Feb/March (NE, MidWest, SW, SE)
- Others to be Announced
Conventions
- March 24-26 AGC Annual Convention in Orlando
- May 19-21 IRgA Annual Convention in Palm Springs
- October 13-15 SGIA Convention in Las Vegas
- Oct/Nov Reprographics Industry Regionals

More details will be sent out on each of these activities but please mark your calendars appropriately.

We have plans to announce some additional vendor programs (currently 43 vendors) and new exciting and innovative technologies later in the year as well, so please check out the PEiR Group or read our emails for the latest news and updates.

Again thank you for all your support and please let us know if you have ideas for innovation we should be exploring with you.

Best Regards

Shaun Meany

End of a Decade

2010-01-05T16:21:00.000-08:00

Woo, what a wild ride the last decade gave the reprographics industry. I thought it might be fun to look back over the last ten years and highlight some of what I thought were the most memorable or maybe the most impactful events that occurred.

• Death of the Blueprint Machine
• No More Vellums
• No Large Format Cut Sheets Inventoried
• Azon who?
• 18-22 “D” PPM LED Large Format Plain Paper Plotters
• Plotting tools like ReproDesk and PLP made Plotting more of a Commodity
• Buzzsaw Collaboration and Plans & Specs were going to eliminate the need for Reprographics
• Project Control Transferred from the Architect to the Owner’s CM or General Contractor
• Océ overtakes Xerox in Engineering Systems
• HP acquires Indigo and ColorSpan
• Death of the Monochrome Inkjet Plotter
• GSA and US Army Corp of Engineers mandates Electronic Bid Sets
• American Reprographics taken Public and Traded on NYSE "ARP"
• Introduction to On-line Plan Rooms
• IRgA issues Best Practice “ Reprographers need to charge for digital services”
• Fewer Pick-ups due to Electronic Orders
• Manufacturers introduce Lower Cost Wide Format Machines
• More FM Placements
• Design moves from 2D to 3D CAD and BIM
• Flatbed Printers and Electronic Cutters Introduced
• Decline of Centralized Printing Volumes (Distribute and Print vs Print and Distribute)
• Green Sustainability and LEEDS
• Double Digital Growth of Half Size Printing
• Smaller Print Shops
• Projects Delivery Methods Moving Toward Design Build or IPD
• Océ Merges with Canon

As you start thinking about all of the significant changes that took place in the reprographics industry over the 10 years it is important to keep in mind that change will continue to occur but at a much faster pace.

I am sure I just scratched the surface on the various changes that occurred in our industry, if you would like to add to the list please make your comments below and share your thoughts about the last 10 years.

Happy New Year

Shaun

Building and Energy Consumption Game

2010-01-01T17:19:00.000-08:00

Interested in having a little fun and learning at the same time? Check out Autodesk's little game that teaches you about buildings and their energy consumption!

click here:

Shaun's Corner: Building Information Modeling And Our Future - Making The Most Of Opportunity

2010-01-01T12:10:00.000-08:00

If you're reading Point of View religiously, and we know you all are, you know I've been tackling the weighty subject of BIM (Building Information Modeling) and its impact on the future of the reprographics industry.

Reprographers have expressed their concerns on the sustainability of the reprographics industry, and rightly so, as more and more AEC companies begin to adopt BIM 3D software. AutoDesk's Revit Architecture, Revit Structural, SolidWorks and Bentley Systems are all up and running and in the marketplace. I believe there are some valid reasons for concern. But I also believe that BIM has its challenges and, as result, will create opportunities for those reprographic companies positioned to overcome them.

Here's a nice little video primer on BIM... check it out. Click here:

Let’s look at the design industry. Sure, every design company could buy BIM software, spend whatever limited resources (time and money) are required to train their staff and generate beautiful 3D models. But in reality not every design company has the budget, skills or the time to learn BIM. Early adopters will embrace BIM, but the rest of the market will lag a number of years behind. So, in the short term, most designers will produce and distribute documents in 2D and reprographers will continue to print and/or electronically distribute print-ready information to the construction industry.

Design firms that do adopt BIM completely will expand their mix of documents by including both 2D and 3D content. The opportunities created for reprographers in this situation are extensive. BIM models will render realistic images which reprographers will print in color - in both small and large format.

Models have been and will remain an important aspect of architectural design. The traditional (analog) model building approach is labor intensive and requires a unique fabrication skill set. It is usually a very lengthy and expensive process. Since traditional models are handmade “one-off’s” it makes it practically impossible for a design company to build multiple variations of designs for owners to review. Another shortcoming of traditional models is that they are difficult to archive and preserve for future use.

Design competition can be extremely fierce in the best of times. Design firms are doing whatever it takes to secure new business. Creating models can help designers compete more effectively by communicating a designer’s concepts in a realistic medium. But not many designers can afford to have traditional model makers on staff. They are now looking at BIM software to render their models on 3D printers. We see this as an opportunity, as there will be increasing demand for 3D printing services from those reprographers who make the investment in 3D printers.

There are other opportunities for reprographers who help their clients in the move towards BIM. Companies embracing BIM will need access to BIM software, in-house 3D printers and special training for their designers. Some reprographers are already recognizing these needs and have begun to sell, train and support BIM software and workflow solutions.

Using BIM for design does not always mean that BIM models will be available during all phases of the project life cycle. A lot of it depends mostly on the type of project delivery methods the owner contracts with the designers and builders. With the design-bid-build project delivery process we have seen significant reticence by many designers to share BIM models (due to avariety of issues: contract terms, deliverables, ownership of intellectual property and risks). Projects that contract using design-build or the latest delivery method IPD (integrated-project-delivery) are more collaborative and more likely to share BIM models throughout the project life cycle.

In my next blog posting I will share my thoughts on how construction companies are embracing BIM and IPD and the opportunities that will present themselves for our industry - if we are smart enough to take advantage of them.

Keep reading, and writing - we like hearing from you!

Regards,

Shaun

PEiR Member In Print: Oregon StatesmanJournal Finds Our David Fox

2009-12-04T09:11:00.000-08:00

You're a multi-talented bunch, PEiR has always known that, and periodically someone else discovers what we already know - as with this recent story on member David Fox in the Oregon StatesmanJournal.

David owns Fox Blueprinting Co. in Salem, Oregon and is quite a talented musician, serving as the front man for a San Francisco Bay Area punk band called "Coffee and Donuts" back in the day.

Fox has been at the helm of his namesake company since 1993, but has been in "the business" - the reprographics business, that is - for 23 years.

You're an interesting bunch, we've always said it!

Paradigm Imaging Group Home Theater Giveway

2009-12-02T11:07:00.000-08:00

Paradigm Imaging Group is offering a Sony Bravia home theater system to PEiR Group members who sell the imagePRO line of large format scanners. The more you sell, Paradigm says, the more chances you have to win.

Sell one or more of these...

imagePRO Gx 42E HD PLUS
imagePRO GxT 42E HD PLUS
imagePRO Gx 42C HD PLUS
imagePRO GxT 42C HD PLUS

...by December 18 to qualify for a chance to win the $2,200 system. Paradigm says the more you sell, the better your chances of winning.

Note:
Dealer Demo units, Multi-Unit and Dealer Serviced purchases do not qualify under this promotion. Dealer account must be in good standing to qualify for this promotion. Deadline the for Home Theater Giveaway is December 18, 2009. All P.O.s must be received by 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time on December 18, 2009 to qualify. Drawing for the Home Theater Giveaway will be held on December 21, 2009 and the winner will be notified via email. Paradigm Imaging reserves the right to substitute brands or items in home theater system if necessary due to product availability.

INDUSTRY NEWS: ABI Index Slightly Up, Still Below Break Even Levels

2009-12-01T08:05:00.000-08:00

The American Institute of Architects Architecture Billings Index (ABI), which measures the number of architecture firms with increases in billings minus the number with decreases compared to the prior month, registered 46 in October, up from 43 in September and a 14-month high, but still below the breakeven level of 50, the American Institute of Architects reported Monday.

Subindexes by practice segment, which are calculated as three-month moving averages, rose from 45 to 49 for institutional practices but were virtually unchanged for residential, commercial/industrial and mixed practices. The index is a rough indicator of future demand for building construction.

Canon/Océ Seem Upbeat About Their Deal

2009-11-30T06:19:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-29T13:18:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-19T06:08:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-12T09:30:00.000-08:00

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!

2009-11-11T11:14:00.000-08:00

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"

2009-11-04T10:47:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-04T10:46:00.000-08:00

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

There IS Strength In Numbers - Especially When You're About To Go "Belly To Belly!"

2009-10-26T15:10:00.000-07:00

By Rick Ysunza
The PEiR Group

Besides being a lot of fun it was great to see the interaction among PEiR members at our Executive Conference in Las Vegas last March. It was a fun dynamic, with a lot of great ideas and success stories bouncing back and forth.

Something that came out of that meeting for me is a simple tale of numbers equalling strength. We are now more than 150 member companies across the country - and internationally. I couldn't help but wonder if any of you were tapping into the strength of those numbers, picking up the phone and asking a colleague a hundred or three thousand miles away how things were going in their market.

There's a list of more than 450 names in our PEiR Group contact roster. You may want to take advantage of that and call. Your peers are a great resource and have a wealth of knowledge about survival in this at-time crazy industry.

I picked up the phone recently for a quick talk with P.J. Vidani of Green Bay Blue. Always fun to talk with, P.J. eagerly shared some of his secrets - including his "belly to belly" approach to pitching prospective customers - standing there and talking with them firsthand to determine their needs.

P.J., and others, also talked about "taking off the AEC hat" and seeking out non-core opportunities these days. Needs are shifting but business is still business, some people may have a different perception of what it is you do - you may have to take some time and explain it to them.

There will be lots of time to do this at our next Executive Conference but nothing is stopping you from reaching out right now and getting a few ideas from your fellow PEiR members. It may not be "belly to belly," but it's the next best thing!

Oce' Colorwave Promotion thru November 30th, 2009

2009-10-26T14:46:00.000-07:00

Oce’ Colorwave 600 promotion thru November 30,2009

Oce is having a promotion for on the Colorwave 600 thru November 30, 2009

Ask you local Oce’ representative for details, or call the PEiR Group at 925-658-0200

Drytac introduces recyclable blockout banner material for UV flatbed printers

2009-10-25T15:04:00.000-07:00

Drytac introduces recyclable blockout banner material for UV flatbed printers

Richmond, VA, -Drytac has added a recyclable blockout banner material, for UV flatbed printers to its line of print media.

Made of low-density polyethylene (LDPE), EarthSmartT Eclipse can be recycled in commercial plastics recycling programs to become raw material for products like trash bags and landscape fabric. It is also certified by ASTM International (ASTM) to biodegrade in most landfills.

EarthSmartT Eclipse is a bright white 15 mil, curl-free banner material.
It is available in 54-inch, 63-inch and 72-inch wide rolls.

Using the EarthSmartT Eclipse banner material with Drytac's Panda StandT can provides a complete eco friendly display solution for the end user.

About DrytacR

DrytacR is a worldwide manufacturer and distributor of graphics finishing materials and equipment, including UV curable and aqueous liquid laminators and liquid coatings. It recently launched the EarthSmartT brand to help customers identify its eco-friendly products.
For more information about EarthSmart*T Eclipse* or to request a print sample, visit www.drytac.com

Scott Schamens of Badger Blueprint Wins PEIR Group Drawing, Scott Gets Hotel Accommodations For The Next Conference!

2009-10-20T08:40:00.000-07:00

The PEiR Group thanks all those who completed the PEiR Group Conference Survey recently. As we mentioned, everyone who filled out the survey form would be entered in a drawing for hotel accommodations at our next conference.

We held the drawing on Monday Nov. 19 and the lucky winner was Scott Schamens of Badger Blueprint in Waukesha, WI.

Scott, who didn't know his response would automatically enter him in the drawing, says he was "surprised" to find out he'd won and that PEiR would be taking care of his lodging when we get together next:

"I’m not one to respond to surveys very much and I did not read all the details... I have enjoyed going to the conferences (as they push) me further to learn about the business and what is happening on the technology side," he was kind enough to write. "I feel you have been a great value to me and do want to go and get something out of it. That is why I responded, I want to help out when you ask for input in order to keep the quality going."

Thanks, Scott! We appreciate that. You're a winner in so many ways!

Shaun Meany is reviewing all of the suggestions you were all kind enough to forward and will make an announcement soon as to where and when our next conference will be held.

HP T1200 Design Jet Promo - Click On The Graphic!

2009-10-19T10:17:00.000-07:00

Shaun And The PEiR Group Visit Chicago - City Of "Broad Shoulders"

2009-10-07T11:15:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I went to Chicago to attend the Print '09 Trade Show. Talking with a couple of attendees, I learned that there was a significant downturn in attendance this year. Nonetheless there were over 10,000 attendees and probably just as many vendors, and everyone was ready to do business.

All major manufacturers of printing devices were there to show off their latest technologies. Heidelberg, Agfa, Xerox, Océ, Canon, EFI, HP and a host of others displayed a variety of new digital devices and workflows (see Shaun's video, left).

One manufacturer, Agfa, demonstrated a new inkjet press called the Dotrix Modular. This revolutionary printer is capable of printing at 75 lineal feet per minute at widths of up to 24 inches. Watch the video for a demonstration of this exciting new Piezo Inkjet Technology that might someday be available for our reprographics industry!

This year, Print ’09 included a Large Format Pavilion where HP, Océ, Canon and Epson showed their latest products. HP was well positioned at the show, demonstrating their Designjet Latex Technology which is targeted for environmentally responsible outdoor print applications (signs, car wraps and textiles). According to HP, the performance of these printers is comparable to low-solvent printers. HP Latex inks are made with water and are really safe and green when compared to other traditional ink technologies. Keep your eyes open for the announcement of HP’s new 42 and 60 inch models; you might want one of these in your shops!

One message that came through loud and clear at the show was that commercial printers are busy diversifying their businesses. Just as many of you are beginning to expand your services into non-AEC markets, off-set print shops are beginning to offer POP and other large format graphic applications, as well. Info Trend research indicates that 33 percent of offset print providers are planning to add or upgrade their large format printers .

Where is printing going? I see a convergence of the various printing sectors: off-set, reprographics, sign-shops, quick printers and Print on Demand. To be successful in digital printing in the future one will require capital, the right mix of digital technologies (hardware and software) and services coupled with market and application expertise.

Okay? What do you think of my amateur video? I promise to get better!

Regards,

Shaun

PEiR Group Conference Survey - Click The Link And Take The Survey!

2009-10-07T10:00:00.000-07:00

The PEiR Group is preparing to schedule its 2010 conference schedule and we would like to have members give us some input as to our approach.

Now's the time to let us know what you want us to address in the coming year!

Click HERE to access the survey.

Webinar Alert: PlanWell DataBridge for Prolog Users

2009-10-07T09:00:00.000-07:00

The PEiR Group will be hosting a webinar on the new PlanWell DataBridge for Prolog - a recently released application that seamlessly links the two powerful online planrooms.

When:

October 20, 2009
Time: 11:00 a.m . Pacific
Sign-Up Here

What are the key features that PlanWell Data Bridge offers your GC’s who use Prolog?

• Synchronized Project Information
– PlanWell project content flows into Prolog
– PlanWell updates Prolog with document information
– PlanWell automatically creates links in Prolog to PlanWell documents
– Creates a more complete project archive in Prolog

• Synchronized Bid Packages
– Bid packages, and documents distributed and managed by PlanWell
– BidCaster usage keeps address book current
– PlanWell provides a broadcast status report/Bid Call Report

• Synchronized Contacts
– Synchronized address book for PlanWell and Prolog

What are the Benefits to the GC Using PlanWell DataBridge with Prolog?

• Eliminate redundant data entry and reduce labor and administrative costs

• Experience dramatically increased productivity throughout the project management cycle

• PlanWell will index your drawings for you – getting them into Prolog then takes just a click of a button

• Dynamically updated packages are imported during the indexing process

• Sub-Contractor information is kept up to date as drawings are distributed through PlanWell

• Updated sub-contractor information may then be synchronized with Prolog

• Leverage digital workflow to generate more bids and win more jobs

• Dramatically increase team productivity by seamlessly sharing data between PlanWell & Prolog.

I look forward to seeing you at the October 20th webinar.

Sincerely
Shaun Meany/President
The PEiR Group

PEiR Group EasyPrint Program - Support For The PlotWave 300 Now Available

2009-10-06T10:57:00.000-07:00

We are pleased to announce the availability of PlanWell EasyPrint™ support for the Océ PlotWave 300!

You can now order the firmware upgrade for the following PlanWell EasyPrint enabled printers:

 Océ TDS450
 Océ TDS700
 Océ PlotWave 300*

*Requires a separate software/hardware kit, which can be ordered at no charge. See below for the part numbers.

FAQ’s

Q: What components are in the Océ PlotWave 300 EasyPrint kit?

A: The kit contains the following: metal post and mounting brackets to attach the touch screen monitor to the PlotWave; touch screen monitor; cables; firmware CD; and installation instructions.

Q: How much does the PlanWell EasyPrint integration cost?

A: Océ does not sell PlanWell EasyPrint software so they are not charging anything for this integration, not even the hardware interface kit required with the Océ PlotWave 300. They have simply made 3 of their printers EasyPrint compatible.

Q: How do I order PlanWell EasyPrint software/hardware kit?

A: The part numbers to order the TDS firmware upgrades and the PlotWave software/hardware kit are below. Contact your Océ sales rep who can either add this part to your new machine orders, or add the kit as a component to an existing machine in the field.

Océ PlotWave 300 Kit
9718037 – PlotWave 300 Easy Print Software/Hardware Kit

Océ TDS450 Kit
9718038 - TDS450 Easy Print Software Kit
4986354 - TDS450 Easy Print Enabler license

Océ TDS700 Kit
9718038 - TDS700 Easy Print Software Kit
4904999 – TDS700 Easy Print Enabler license

If you have any additional questions regarding these integrations, please contact your Océ sales rep.

I’ll take Manhattan! - Shaun Visits The Big Apple, Gauges The Future

2009-09-16T08:54:00.000-07:00

By Shaun Meany
President, The PEiR Group

Last week I traveled to the Big Apple to meet with some of our members and attend Canon’s ImagePROGRAF Reseller Roundtable. I took some time to walk this great city and see for myself if "the city that never sleeps" was awake or not in terms of new construction around town.

I was surprised to see so many open lots with nothing being built on them. Reprographers in Gotham tell me that many projects had been put on hold for a variety of reasons - the biggest and most obvious one being a lack of funding.

It floored me. Here I was in the financial center of America and things were basically standing still. An exaggeration, maybe, but it was a matter of perception - the financial capital of the world finally appeared to be asleep.

The Canon Roundtable was interesting, an event Canon hosts in conjunction with the US Open Tennis Championships in Queens, NY. It was great to meet with some of Canon’s top resellers and learn what they are doing to be successful in their respective markets during these challenging economic times. Canon let us in on some of their new market share statistics and they confirmed that Canon is serious about large format.

They are, it seems, quickly taking market share from HP and Epson in the aqueous inkjet large format market space.

Back out on the town, I had to resist the urge to hold a finger in the air to see which way the financial winds were going to blow. We're in a waiting game, I think, but there is an underlying sense of optimism that things will pick up once money starts flowing again.

PEiR members are struggling with the reality that they can't be focused solely on AEC - still. This confuses me. You don't have to look far to see that the people who are doing the best in these stagnant times are the ones who are out there hustling new business, owners networking and mining every last dime out of connections made at social networking functions and pre-established business contacts.

Others are streamlining their pricing model, removing every last barrier that would make a customer say "Hmm, I dunno..." and offering "Read the Meter" solutions charting a company's use of services at the beginning of the month and end of the month and billing them once for everything in between.

It's clean and it's working, particularly as businesses are watching every penny and can't afford to spend more time than they have to accounting for them.

There are some other trends developing in the market... we'll talk about them in the days to come.

In the meantime, stay in touch and let us know how you're doing.

Regards,

Shaun

Paradigm Imaging Group Releases imagePRO Gx 42 HD Plus Scanners

2009-09-16T07:43:00.000-07:00

Paradigm Imaging Group is announcing release of their imagePRO Gx 42 HD Plus series scanners.

The company says the imagePRO Gx 42 HD Plus series scanners deliver the sharpest CCD image capture available on the market. With true 1200 dpi optical resolution, 2D LED illumination and low energy consumption, these scanners are the industry leaders in versatility and efficiency. Not only can the imagePRO Gx 42 HD Plus scanners handle high fidelity color graphics, these scanners are also capable of capturing fine line detail in technical documents. This unique combination of vivid color reproduction and highly accurate line and detail replication make these scanners the perfect fit for reprographics, fine art, design, architecture, engineering, and facilities management.

The imagePRO Gx 42 HD Plus scanners also boast a state-of-the-art paper transport system, allowing for the safe scanning of delicate originals. The thick media (T) models can accommodate mounted originals up to .8” thick, making the GxT 42 HD Plus perfect for fine art applications. All Gx 42 HD Plus models are Energy Star® compliant, reducing energy requirements by using 30% less power when in operation and 94 percent less power when idle.

Interested?
Contact:
Jane Hicks
1590 Metro Drive, Suite 116
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Phone: 714.432.7226
Fax: 714.432.7222
Email: jane@paradigmimaging.com

Support Your Local Museum: It Pays

2009-09-14T08:19:00.000-07:00

By The PEiR Group

Recently we talked with a busy reprographer who had just packed up and sent off a sizable print job to "some fancy blah blah New York address."

Naturally, that got our curiousity up. "Really?" we asked, "what's the name of the museum?"

Our reprographer checked his invoice, mangled the name a little and then gave us the name of one of the most prestigious museums in the country, small but with ties going back to the Revolution. It turned out he had just provided them with banners and signage for an upcoming exhibit on the origins of freedom. Centuries old documents and other artifacts were being flown in from around the world just for this showing.

It was a big job. A nice job. And we were happy for the reprographer. But we were a little chagrined to find that he may not have fully appreciated what he had just done - and the marketing potential such a job brings to the party.

Museum curators are always looking for people to support important exhibits, and if your shop has the skill set to bring off the sleek sort of signage museums want - you'll be in demand. You may want to reach out to your local museum or historical society and ask them if they have an exhibit planned now or sometime in the future.

If they do, gauge the look and feel of the exhibit and submit your work. It can be steady, lucrative, and fun.

History, it turns out, really can pay.

Prospecting In The "Days of '09" - Sometimes, You Have To Toss The Little Nuggets Before You Find The Big One

2009-09-04T09:16:00.000-07:00

By Rick Ysunza
The PEiR Group

As a salesperson out there prospecting for business these days, I have found that the comparison could be made between us and the old miners of yore - armed with pick and shovel and searching for the elusive Mother Lode.

What would you do if that first pan gave you a tiny, yet shiny return? Would you be excited? You're darn tootin' you would. And you'd probably go back to the same spot and dig up another pan full to see if you could wheedle away another tiny fleck.

But that's not how the successful miners did it back in the day. They were looking for larger nuggets, signs that they were on to a larger vein, and they would work their pans until they yielded three good-sized nuggets, then five - and then, if they were lucky and persistent, they shouted "Eureka!" when they finally hit it big.

My message here is drawn from this approach: don't be so enticed with those initial, glinty successes that you fixate and forget to focus your prospecting efforts where you can get the most return with a decision maker further up the line.

There's a payday at the end of the vein for those who aren't afraid to pass over smaller flecks of success and follow the signs to the "Mother Lode" we all seek.

Good hunting!

Rick

Standees Proving Popular - Do You Sell Them?

2009-09-01T09:45:00.000-07:00

With all the kids back in school and sessions ramping up again The PEiR Group thought we'd remind you of a potential market you may find lucrative.

Some shops we know run life-size standees for local schools - everything from easel backs of the principal to the entire football team for use in pep rallies and assemblies.

This usage has dovetailed into jobs requested by proud parents eager to capture an image of their child for use at graduation parties or special events.

Have you guys done any of these? Send us your images and we'll run the best of the bunch! Shaun says it may be worth something to you!

“Bid Services, Can I Help You?”

2009-08-25T09:45:00.000-07:00

By Shaun Meany
The PEiR Group

For the past two years the PEiR Group has been promoting bid communication solutions and some of the opportunities technologies like BidCaster and SubHub can offer General Contractors with their Bid Processes. Some of our members understand this area of opportunity. Many do not - or just don’t see how it can benefit their customers and their own businesses.

I have talked with several reprographers who understand the bid process, have embraced our bid technologies and have enjoyed new sales as a result.

As our industry continues to evolve, many of the traditional services that you have grown to depend upon for sales and profits simply will not be demanded in the same volume as before. As the construction industry begins to crawl out from under its current cloud many of your customers, like General Contractors, will be looking to change the way they do their business processes; particularly the pre-construction or bid process.

When it comes to the bid process (often considered an overhead activity) most GC’s want to reduce expenses and boost productivity. Reducing bid set printing is one of the most obvious areas that GC’s focus on when trying to reduce expenses. There are two primary alternatives that GC’s tend to choose for reducing their printing costs: (1) send out cd-roms (2) post drawing and specs to a FTP site. While both these methods will reduce printing costs for the GC, neither approach improves productivity for the subs and suppliers. Sure, the documents get to their intended parties fairly quickly, but there are still inefficiencies (and costs) that could be controlled more efficiently with bidding solutions like BidCaster and SubHub.

Let's look at distributing bid-sets on cd-roms. The cd-roms still have to be mastered, duplicated and distributed (by mail, pick-up or express couriers). Any updates to the documentation must also go through a similar distribution process.

The next time a GC asks you to create a bid-set to be distributed via cd-rom here are a few questions you may want to ask: Why are the music and video industries moving away from cd/dvd media? How do you (Mr. GC) plan to update your subs when changes take place? How long does it take to update and notify plan holders of addendums? As you already know, with plan rooms like PlanWell or SubHub the documents are always up to date. Changes can be made real-time and anyone who has access will know what the current documents to bid upon is.

The same applies to FTP sites. It may sound simple for a GC to upload documents to a ftp site and send out instructions on how to download the documents. But when you look at this process in more detail FTP actually creates more headaches than it alleviates. First, the sub needs to know about ftp. Second, the sub needs to know a user name and password. Often the same user names and passwords are used by everyone who want access to the FTP site quickly breaching security. Third, how does the GC track who has documents? If a sub just wants to look at a document he has to download it and then view it. This can take a considerable amount of time if they have a slow Internet connection.

Here's something to ask your GC’s: Why do subs want a digital file?

An important component of bidding is tracking who is interested in bidding and who is still kicking the idea around. CD-Roms and FTP sites do not track who is interested in bidding the project. Sometimes this is the most critical information that a GC needs to know. Does he have coverage of all trades required on the project and if not how can he get more bids before due day?

More than at any other time in our industry’s history, it is vital that reprographers begin to market services beyond mere printing - and bid communications offers a perfect opportunity.

There are two approaches that you can consider with bid communications:

1. Offer bid communication software tools such as PlanWell Bidcaster or SubHub that your GC's can learn and deploy.
2. If your customers don’t want to take on learning a new system there might be an opportunity for you, the reprographer, to provide “Bid Services“ as an outsourced service.

One very progressive reprographer I've talked with recently said they've introduced a new department in their business called Bid Services and they've put a person with construction industry experience in the manager's position to make sure things run smoothly.

Either way, be it with BidCaster, SubHub or a dedicated Bid Services department, you will be offering intelligent choices that can address your GC’s needs, help them reduce costs and increase productivity. It’s a win win for both you and the customer!

What's YOUR Service Offering? Fast Food Or Fine Dining?

2009-08-25T09:00:00.000-07:00

By Mahil Maurice
Special To The PEiR Group

Today, printing has become a commodity and only a subset of a greater service offering. Customers are looking for solutions to augment their bottom line either by cutting costs, creating more revenue through sales, or through a combination of the two approaches.

Printing Companies and Reprographers are under increasing pressure to be responsive to customer needs and find it difficult to compete in a digital age where Cutting-Edge Solutions and Impeccable Service go hand in hand.

Our industry prides itself in providing outstanding services to its customers. One wonders how a small reprographer can upgrade to the latest technology and still provide the services levels required to effectively compete.

Two primary areas where changes need to take place are ‘Work Flow’ and ‘Technology.’ Together, these need to drive adequate compensation for the services provided.

Both Work Flow and Technology go hand in hand and can be discussed in the same breath. Customers want the fastest and easiest ways to send files (content) and track delivery of those files. And the preferred medium is the Internet.

Digital methods of file delivery like FTP (File Transfer Protocol) developed in the 1970s were not designed to meet today’s requirements of optimal work flow and fast delivery of large digital files anywhere in the world. Strong consideration must be given to replacing FTP and email technologies with more nimble and robust Web Based File Delivery and Work Flow Tools.

What is your service offering? A Fast Food menu or a Fine Dining experience? FTP or Digital Work Flow?

FTP is complicated and outdated technology, for these and other reasons:

• Too cumbersome to set up, administer and time consuming for IT – With FTP, time must be devoted to setting up the hardware and software after which maintenance involves managing new users, managing credentials, setting up folder structures for projects and helping users locate files and download them. This is time that could be devoted to more productive activities by your IT staff.
• Weak Security – Data transferred via FTP can be intercepted. As a result many firewalls actually close it to ensure system integrity. Because of the open nature of FTP, an organization’s infrastructure is susceptible to viruses and malware attacks.
• Lack of Track ability and Delivery Guarantee – Track ability and delivery guarantee are vital when business critical files (content) are being delivered and FTP does not provide this. Files may be incompletely transferred if it is interrupted or stopped. End users need to know the files were received and opened by the intended recipient.

With FTP you provide a “Fast Food” menu for your customers, not a superlative service experience!

Ask yourself, is your customer ready for a fine dining experience and are you committed to providing that level of service to them?

Consider ishipdocs as the “Work Flow” tool of choice to provide a superlative service experience. The cost of subscribing to ishipdocs is less than purchasing and maintaining a FTP solution. With ishipdocs, you get;

• Software as a Service (SaaS) – Sign-up as a Print Provider and start using the solution instantly. No infrastructure, software or maintenance costs. You are up and running instantly, the essence of SaaS. Your IT personnel can be doing other things.
• Highest Security Levels - The widely used “HTTPS” protocol. This is http over encrypted SSL (Security Sockets layer). This protocol is widely used for payment transactions on the web and for sensitive transactions in corporate information systems.
• Closed Looped Work Flow Manager – No more setting up folders or helping users locate files. One Web-based tool allows files to be sent, provisioned and fulfilled for the customer and the print partner.
• Track ability and Proof of Delivery – Both customers and print partners can track an order and obtain Proof of Delivery through the tool.
• Business Intelligence – Both customers and print partners can sort and export data into Excel and CSV for Business Intelligence, Auditing and Reporting purposes.

With ishipdocs you can provide that “Fine Dining” experience you customer is looking for at a fraction of the cost of an FTP solution and effectively compete in the digital age with a web based Work Flow Manager.

In addition, a print partner instantly becomes a Global player with access to over 350 locations world wide. This completes the fine dining experience with your dessert of choice! You can distribute and receive files from and to Anywhere, Anytime!

The Reprographics industry prides itself on providing outstanding service to its customers however it cannot be achieved with obsolete FTP solutions. ishipdocs, with its robust Work Flow Manager and World Wide Reach is the solution that will enable a Reprographer/Print Partner to provide that Fine Dining experience.

Custom Pocket Folders Are A Snap With Instafinish

2009-08-25T08:44:00.000-07:00

Spiral Binding is now the exclusive manufacturer of the Instafinish Print On Demand Folders.

Color copies, brochures and laser printed documents can be turned into custom pocket folders in seconds - perfect for sales presentations, meetings, promotional materials and reports.

Easy to use with a quick four-step process, you can create beautiful yet durable custom folders. Printed documents insert under the laminating sheets on the front and back cover. Then folders run through any pouch laminator to seal the documents. After lamination is completed, the adhesive strips from the tabs are removed and pockets are pressed into place. You can laminate everything from thin photos to heavy-duty presentation materials with the same beautiful effect.

The Print On Demand Folders are sold in packs of 10 (or boxes of 100) and are available in letter-sized format.

Spiral serves major corporations, small to mid-sized businesses, printers, facility management organizations, as well as the United States government and education markets.

Contact Info: For more information, including specifications on this machine and other Spiral products visit their web site, www.spiralbinding.com or contact Ann Marie Boggio at 800-631-3572 ext 1231.

Turning Hospital Ceilings Into Cathedral Windows - How About You?

2009-08-24T09:18:00.000-07:00

Not too long ago our John Bidwell, no stranger to the dentist's chair, mused about how cool it would be for reprographers to contact their area dentists and hospitals and work on adding a soothing mural to those sterile surfaces.

Well, one reprographer did just that recently, using their 350GT to turn out these pastoral landscapes for a cancer treatment center in their area.

The result? Instantaneous approval from staff and patients - who are much more relaxed when visiting and who comment often on the soothing qualities of the ceiling murals.

How about you? Have you run a job you're particularly proud of, lately? If so, contact us and we'll feature it in an upcoming Point of View!

Housing Market Stirs - More Hammers Swinging

2009-08-23T08:18:00.000-07:00

It's a tough call, trying to pinpoint the precise time our industry recovers from the most serious economic malaise since World War II, but there are increasing signs of life from the sectors we serve.

Toll Brothers Inc.'s stock jumped Wednesday after the luxury homebuilder posted its first annual increase in signed contracts in four years.

New home contracts rose 3 percent from the third fiscal quarter last year, and the number was up a surprising 44 percent from the second fiscal quarter this year. Toll told the Associated Press that demand was so robust the company has been able to scale back the incentives it offered to get buyers in the door.

Toll sold 792 homes, generating $461.3 million in revenue for the three months ended July 31. Revenue was down 42 percent from the same period last year because home prices have declined and Toll has fewer communities around the country.

"Although some of our markets are still stuck in the mud, many are improving," Robert Toll, the company's chairman and CEO, said in a statement.

Other major builders - including D.R. Horton Inc., Pulte Homes Inc. and Centex Corp. - all recently reported better earnings for the first half of the year.

POV "New Product" Advisory: Drytac Introduces Flexible UV Curable Liquid Coating

2009-08-22T11:29:00.000-07:00

Drytac®, a leader in liquid coating technology, has a new UV curable clear coat for use on applications requiring maximum flexibility.

InstaCure SuperFlex is a high gloss coating flexible enough to form around rivets and stretch into compound and complex curves. It is also thermo-formable.

Tests show that InstaCure SuperFlex has the ability to stretch up to six times its original size, allowing manufacturers of fleet and vehicle graphics to benefit from the low cost and high speed applications made possible with high UV curable liquid coaters.

INSTACure SuperFlex contains a proprietary blend of acrylate and non yellowing urethane UV curable polymers to give coated prints flexibility. The coating develops a tough exterior finish that is scratch and abrasion resistant and able to withstand the rigors of commercial truck washes using standard commercial cleaners.

“With coating costs as low as 6 cents per square foot and speeds of up to 60 linear feet per minute with our new roll to roll attachment, customers can now not only compete, but for the first time in a long time, make significant profits in this industry with this product application," says Jim Tatum, Drytac’s liquid finishing division manager.

Something to consider if you do auto wraps!

The PEiR Group

HP Says It's Time To Trade Up!

2009-08-21T09:55:00.000-07:00

Take advantage of select HP Designjet printers and get cash back!

With the HP Designjet Cash In & Trade Up promotion, you can get up to $2,500 cash back* when you upgrade your eligible old product and purchase or lease an HP Designjet Z6100 or Z3200 series printer and submit the online claim form by October 23, 2009.

You have the option of keeping or trading in your eligible old HP or non-HP large-format product—you just need to show proof that you currently own one. The promotion runs August 1, 2009 through October 23, 2009.

Plus, you can save up to $200 when you add a qualifying HP Care Pack Service, which will help reduce unexpected repair costs and downtime.

*U.S. residents only. Cash back provided by mail-in rebate available for eligible purchases made August 1, 2009–October 23, 2009. Additional restrictions apply. Void where prohibited, taxed or restricted by law.
For qualifying product options, terms and conditions, and claim form, visit www.hp.com/go/cashin4.

Canon Offers Link For FREE Exhibits-Only Pass To Print '09

2009-08-20T12:12:00.000-07:00

"Freebie" Notice!

Here's a link for all PEiR Group members interested in attending Print '09 in Chicago - and who would like FREE access to the exhibits during the show, courtesy of Canon.

Click HERE for your free Exhibits-Only pass to the show, Sept. 11-16.

All badges will be mailed directly to the customer if they register prior to August 14. Badges cannot be picked up on-site unless the actual person is present.

The cutoff for FREE registration is August 26.

HP Invites PEiR Members To See Their NEW Latex Printer At Print '09

2009-08-19T11:50:00.000-07:00

Message from Shaun to all PEiR members:

Frank Marzigliano, our HP representative, has extended an invitation to all PEiR members interested in getting an early look at HP's new Latex printer at Print '09 in Chicago.

Frank has booked a special meeting room for the informal demo on September 14th from 3 to 4 p.m. CST.

This is cutting-edge stuff. Here's the agenda:

• Demo (40 minutes)
• Company overview & sign non-disclosure (5 minutes)
• Overview of HP Signage portfolio (5 minutes)
• Latex technology (5 minutes)
• Demonstration (15 minutes)
• Key applications & media portfolio (10 minutes)

The official public announcement of the Latex machine will be at SGIA in New Orleans in early October, according to Frank. Print 'O9 would be a great early opportunity for us all to watch them put the machine through its paces.

If you're interested drop me an email and I'll make it happen. Should be fun.

Regards,

Shaun

Signs Of Life And Recovery Around The Global Marketplace - How Are Things In Your Neck Of The Woods?

2009-08-18T08:36:00.000-07:00

The PEiR Group

There may still be a long road ahead of us as some have said, but recent developments have given rise to hope that the nation is about to emerge from the worst recession since World War II.

“Recession is over, economy is recovering – let’s look forward and stop the backward-looking focus,” John E. Silvia, the Wells Fargo chief economist, wrote Tuesday.

“We’ve found the bottom,” says Mark Fleming, chief economist for First American CoreLogic, a data firm monitoring housing starts and sales.

Perhaps, we’re all watching and hoping, that’s for sure. But other indicators have arisen to indicate a return to more prosperous times for America and the world.

In China, that country’s largest state-owned construction company pocketed $7.3 billion from investors after an initial public offering of it shares attracted widespread attention. Although the slowdown in the country’s growth caused China State Construction Engineering Corp’s profits to fall last year, its IPO is by far the largest in China this year and the world’s biggest since Visa raised $19 billion in its IPO 16 months ago.

In Europe, nearly a quarter of wide-format printers in the industry today expect business to improve during the remainder of this year with 14 percent already reporting signs of recovery, a recent survey indicates.

In a survey of 400 European printers, 23 percent are pinning hopes on an upturn in the latter part of this year, 25.6 percent expect a change of fortunes to emerge in early 2010. A similar figure anticipates an upturn later, in the second half of the year and less than 12 percent expect conditions to last into 2011.

Fully 83 percent of the survey's respondents say their companies are well-positioned to “take advantage” of market conditions when it rebounds.

And there you have it. Hopefully, we’ll all be on our way soon.

ishipdocs Client Seats - Be Sure To Make Use Of Them

2009-07-28T13:06:00.000-07:00

For those PEiR members who have taken advantage of the 90 day free trial of ishipdocs, have you implemented the five “Client Seats” that are part of the trial?

The client seats can lock in your customer, as well as save you and your customers time and money.

You just assign a client seat to a customer, then they will be able to send you files faster and more secure than through FTP.

The customer has an order number at their finger tips and can get the status of their order online without making a phone call. How much time do you spend handling phone calls to give the status of an order each day?

If you have any question on the “Client Seats” call The PEiR Group today at 925 658-0200.

Look Around - Did You Just Walk Past A Sale?

2009-07-27T09:04:00.000-07:00

Obviously, construction projects are hard to find right now, and you may feel our services are not exactly needed. That said, there may be a few existing sales opportunities out there you’re walking past everyday.

Are you?

When you’re out on a sales call, don’t forget to take a good, hard look at the building registry in the lobby. Think it over: are there any prospects in the building you haven’t called on yet?

And let’s not forget about “Suite 100,” usually the building’s owners, management company, or leasing agents. Poke your head in and ask around, you may find the onsite manager and you may be surprised to find out how many drawings they have in storage.

Anyone seeing an archiving opportunity? Not only could you scan these drawings to CD for your customers but with PlanWell you could offer long-term storage solutions with PlanWell Legacy.

And where are these little gold mines of steady work located? Hospitals, Class A commercial buildings, school districts and assisted living facilities… to name just a few. They’re out there, are you walking past them or giving them the attention they deserve?

You may be happy you did.

The Author: PEiR Group Account Manager Rick Ysunza

Giving Your Customers An e-Commerce Solution: We'll Show You How!

2009-07-21T08:38:00.000-07:00

Over the last decade many reprographers have leveraged the capabilities of the Internet to improve their efficiencies and expand their services.

What can we do now that we couldn’t do a decade ago? Well, we can accept files via email or FTP, offer plan rooms for viewing and ordering and distributing documents, conduct long-distance business over Skype and mitigate the need for expensive business travel with Web conferencing. These are just a few examples of what I call e-Business successes. However, only a few reprographers I have talked with have fully adopted a true e-Commerce offering (pricing and charging customers through the Internet) and presented it to their customers.

I am not sure what is holding back the industry from online pricing; maybe it is because many reprographers are afraid to show prices, the pricing is so complex and every customer has a different price, or that the cost of shipping and other extra charges often associated with a job cannot be determined at the time of ordering. Whatever the reason, I believe it is critical that we get our act together and make it easy for customers to request services over the Web and know what they will spend before they place the order.

When you go online to Amazon or iTunes to buy a book or a song don’t you expect to know what you will pay at the time of transaction? Why should your customers be any different?

If our industry is to evolve we must embrace e-Commerce, make it work for us, and at the same time expand our scope of services that we offer over the Web. Sure, steady clients trust that you will bill them accurately but what about new customers who would like to be doing business with you? Are you making it easy or difficult for them?

As you are all aware, our industry is radically changing, customers who used to order most of the printing in the past are doing significantly less printing today. Many are transferring the printing costs to their customers or suppliers and these new customers are the ones that are actually paying your bills. Sure, the print volumes are less but the profit opportunities in many cases can be even greater than before. But there is one thing that we as an industry must understand: if we are to survive we must be able to sell our services over the Internet and that means we must offer online pricing and a pleasant e-commerce experience.

With this goal in mind, I would like to share with those who are interested, how PlanWell is prepared to take the Reprographics Industry a step closer to an e-commerce solution. Please join me Thursday, July 23rd at 10 a.m. (PT) for a webinar and demonstration on how PlanWell allows students, sub-contractors, realtors, insurance agents and a host of other retail customers to easily conduct e-commerce transactions with your company. We'll have another one on July 30 at 9 a.m. (PT) - we hope you can join us.

Sign-up for the July 23 webinar HERE.

Sign up for the July 30 webinar HERE.

As our industry continues to evolve I believe you’ll find many of your future customers coming to you not only with the expectation of ordering your products and services, but also to see your pricing up front, along with the ability to charge their credit cards at the time of ordering. What are you going to do about it?

Regards,

Shaun Meany

Let's Talk Turkey: Pick The Real One!

2009-07-20T08:20:00.000-07:00

One of our members had a little idle time on his hands recently and he decided to see if he could come up with a decoy to beguile a nosy flock of turkeys hanging around his shop.

He snapped a picture, ran it out on gatorboard and staked it out to see if it drew any interest from the feathered set.

It did. In about ten minutes, apparently.

You tell us which one is the real thing...

Chalk Up Another Win For ishipdocs - Are You Using It?

2009-07-20T08:10:00.000-07:00

Need an example of how ishipdocs can pull off a minor miracle for you and your team? Well, there's a reprographer in Houston who found the power in the offering recently - and is glad he did.

“A very good client of ours was in a rush to get a Duratrans printed and shipped to San Francisco overnight," says our hero. "At first, I thought about the traditional methods, but then I thought about using ishipdocs."

The reprographer went to the ishipdocs site, typed in the address and found the closest location of a partnering shop which, as it happens, was less than a mile from where his client was staying. That's when the light bulb went off in his head.

“I called and asked if they could print Duratrans and when they said they could, I sent them the file and they had it done and delivered within two hours,” he says. “I cannot see how anyone else could have done this and it was an added surprise to my client when it was delivered that soon.”

Steady revenue, higher customer satisfaction... miracle wins for your firm. If you're using ishipdocs, you're one of the smart ones. If you're not, why not?

How To Show Your Customer What You're Going To Do For Them BEFORE You Do It

2009-07-18T13:57:00.000-07:00

It was a big request for a big job - a 5'x40' site banner to be precise. The client was worried about its positioning, and whether it would be exposed to vandals.

That's when a production technician took the bull by the horns and worked a little magic with Photoshop, showing them in "virtual" terms how it would look in place. The upshot? Done deal...

Once the client saw them, “they couldn’t place the order fast enough,” the shop reported. “It couldn’t have worked out better."

Next time you're wondering how to make technology work for you, remember this little application. The ability to demonstrate your shop's capability before you do it is a powerful benefit.

Reprographers Turn To ishipdocs To "Ship Digitally," Business Remains Brisk

2009-07-13T16:28:00.000-07:00

Point of View has talked about ishipdocs and what it can mean to firms who need to ship their documents digitally to far off locales. Those who use it call the application a "win win," with the client saving money and the reprographer capturing revenue from the job - as well as repeat business once clients realize how effective a service ishipdocs really is.

Rationale for using the model ranges from its speed to a desire to get around long customs lines, airports and the shipping chokepoints most commonly associated with traditional shipping methods.

In several cases, reprographers who signed up for the application have had jobs waiting for them upon their return to the office - and a whole new revenue stream open to their shops.

Who's using it? Check the list below, you may recognize some of the names:

Company,Country and No. of Jobs to Date
Air Graphics 1
Demaille France 3
FIS Japan Japan 1
Group Momentum Australia 1
Les Poly Quebec 5
Maxicopias Mexico 2
MS Dallas 3
Perkinson 1
Precision Blue 2
Profiman Dubai 3
Reprographic Technologies 1
Rotolite Elliot 1

Bertl's Names the Best of 2009: Canon's imagePROGRAF Shines

2009-07-06T08:42:00.000-07:00

Bertl's has chosen Canon's imagePROGRAF iPF820 as the "Best Value for 44" Technical Document Printer for the 14th annual selection of top imaging equipment.

Bertl's called the imagePROGRAF iPF820 as "best value" overall and cited the rationale for its decision:
• Price point for a 5 color ink-jet two roll printer
• Two roll system with semi automated load of a roll
• DoD 52220.22M security compliant
• Top speed of 688 sq ft/hr
• Economy printing mode that reduces ink consumption
by almost half (40%)
• CAD/STATION PS+ color RIP for added color
matching and postscript support with the iPF820 Pro

Something to consider...

Attention All BidCaster Users...

2009-07-01T11:50:00.000-07:00

The PEiR Group is hosting an educational webinar on how end users can put the power of BidCaster to best use.

Please feel free to invite all your customers to sign-up, they'll be grateful to you.

The Webinar will be held on September 30th, 2009 10am pacific time.

Please click here to sign-up.

If you have any questions, please contact the PEiR Group at 925-658-0215

Learning From The Best: Get Back To Basics

2009-06-29T15:52:00.000-07:00

By Shaun Meany
The PEiR Group

Last Sunday I had a chance to watch the U.S. national soccer team play Brazil in the Confederation Cup finals in Johannesburg South Africa. I normally don’t watch much soccer, but after the U.S. team surprised Spain (another world class powerhouse) with a score of 2-0 earlier in the week; I just had to watch the U.S. play Brazil.

It was a great game, and it wasn't long into it that I begin to see parallels between the match and our industry today. Like the U.S. and Brazilian players, we're playing to win in an environment full of challenges. Your business, of course, is not a game, your livelihood and those of your employees are at stake - not a silver cup and bragging rights. But if you look at your business and prepare yourselves like the Americans did before their games with Spain and Brazil there are lessons to be found as we enter the second half this challenging year.

Preparing for Sunday's match, the U.S. team was keenly focused on soccer basics: maintain ball possession, keep up a good defense and capitalize on scoring opportunities. This was clearly demonstrated as the U.S. built a 2-0 lead going into the second half.

But when play resumed the Americans were noticeably exhausted. They started to make critical mistakes. The rest was soccer history: the Brazilian’s closed the gap 2-1 then 2-2 and finally toward the end of the half they took the lead and the final with a last minute surge that put them on top at 3-2.

So, what are the lessons that you can learn from this?

The business challenges you are facing require that you have your best team available and ready to play.

This economic cycle we are currently facing is just finishing the first half. You need to pace yourself and your employees to maintain good practices, keep your business fit and lean so it can meet the second half with enthusiasm and creativity.

Remember the basics. Treat each customer and job as if it is the only one. Study your competition. What are they doing that you're not? Are you focusing on just AEC or looking for revenues in quick printing and copying, large and small format color, archiving, FM’s and growing digital services?

Here's my locker room sales talk: Don’t be like the US soccer team. Keep focused on the goal, remember the basics and keep pace with your competition - and save a little extra for when you'll need it!

Social Media and Reprographics: What It All Means To You

2009-06-24T17:00:00.000-07:00

"Shaun's Corner"
by Shaun Meany

YouTube, BlogSpot, Twitter, Yammer, Facebook, LinkedIn and a host of other online social networking sites, frequently used by the “Y Generation," are quickly becoming popular hangouts for businesses and business owners, as well.

But how do you use these online social networking sites to share your expertise, gain a following, and increase your income potential for your reprographics business?

I thought it would be helpful to share some of my research about online social networking and how social media can be put to good use for growing your business.

If you think online social networking is something you want to do, you ought to create a social media marketing plan (this could be included in your annual marketing plan as well). The plan should be in writing and should quantify your goals and identify the primary social networks you are interested in targeting. Be sure that you target networks that fit your needs and desires. For example, I am a member of LinkedIn Network and I have joined several special interest groups within LinkedIn such as: reprographics group, info trends, sales and marketing, wide format imaging, salesforce.com and a few others. By being a member of these groups I have the opportunity to monitor what others are thinking and talking about. This information is invaluable as it helps a business owner know what is on peoples minds and where the future of his or her respective industry may be heading.

Keep in mind that your access to and control of what is said on social networks is often very limited. Social networks turn individuals into marketers for your company, but it can be very difficult to control the messages they send.

Also, remember when posting a message on a social network site that it’s important to add value to your content, not just pitch your products.

The idea is to monitor people talking about the things your company does, and then join in with useful information and expertise that can help answer their questions and solve their problems. When you do decide to make your contribution to the social network be sure to refer to your blog or twitter account so people can check you out for the link.

New social networking sites are popping up all the time. Take Twitter. This micro-blog site allows people to follow a topic or a person and post daily, hourly and sometimes minute by minute tweets (updates). I am just starting to get into twitter and still am navigating through all the different subjects and looking for a way to apply to my business needs. If you want you can tweet me at http://twitter.com/shaunmeany.

The rise of instant communication technologies has created a whole new environment for doing our business. If we are to survive in the future we must learn to adapt and apply the new marketing paradigms of the Generation Y's.

There are some interesting tools available to us today. Instead of turning our nose up at them, we may be well advised to learn how to use them effectively.

Tweet me sometime... or even just pick up the old fashioned phone! Communication, in any form, is a good thing.

Regards,

Shaun