HP and Canon Announce Game Changing Wide Format Technical MFP Devices

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

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

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:

1. 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.
2. Color can reduce errors by 80%.  Color can reduce direct costs (errors and changes) and also the associated litigation cost of errors and omissions.
3. The Document coordination process might be much easier to tackle if the construction documents were in color.
4. 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

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

“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

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?

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

"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.