PlanWell Collaborate & AbacusPCR Awarded BERTL's BEST

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

Shaun's Corner "Sell Technology Not Print"

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.

End of a Decade

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

Buzz Words Or a Real "New Deal?" You Tell POV...

With plans to use government billions like so much radiator “StopLeak” in an effort to stanch the nation’s hemorrhaging economy and put Americans back to work, terms like “shovel ready,” “infrastructure” and “green economy” are making their way to the forefront of the nation’s collective mindset.

At least, some people are giving it some thought. Here are a few quotes culled from traditional media outlets and the blogosphere POV hopes might give us some insight into the nation’s direction and, perhaps, immediate plans for the future.

There’s a lot riding on this. Here’s what these people – both high and low-profile – think. How about you? Hit the “comment” button below to sound off and tell us if we’re headed in the right direction… or not.


“We can’t dillydally. This has to do with jobs. This has to do with the environment. And this has to do with getting the economy moving.”
Rep. Nita Lowey, D-NY

“An investment of $3.5 billion in critical ecosystem restoration is anticipated to create 50-75,000 jobs in industries like construction and engineering, while restoring tens of thousands of acres of habitat and protecting hundreds of species.”
April H. G. Smith, National Audubon Society

“If the objective is to create jobs, we should focus on projects that are ready to go. But, within a year, we’ll start to see demands for a comprehensive national approach to infrastructure.”
Richard Little, USC’s Kenton Institute

“The meat-and-potatoes buyers are coming out right now.”
New York realtor Kristina Leonetti