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

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

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...

BERTL Says the Arizona 350GT is "Star Quality"

Pretty much the "Brangelina" pairing of the reprographic industry, Océs Arizonas - the heralded 250 and 350GTs - continue to attract attention, success, and laurels.

The superstar 350 received a 4.5 star Outstanding BERTL evaluation Monday, celebrating the printer and its Océ VariaDotTM imaging technology. BERTL reserves its 4.5 star rating for those devices that deliver a range of business-critical features and functions that are above average and provide potential buyers with a good return on investment. The BERTL report specifically cites the versatile way the Océ Arizona 350 GT printer can apply white ink (over, under, in-between and as a spot color); its ability to print on roll media while staging the next rigid print job; the approximately 40% increase in print speed over previous models; and the very quick return on investment time, which BERTL estimates to be less than two months.

The Océ 350 GT printer combines a true flatbed design with a separate, dedicated roll-to-roll system. It can print onto rigid media up to 1.25 m wide x 2.5 m long x 48 mm thick (49" wide x 98" long x 1.89" thick). With the Roll Media Option installed, users can print onto flexible media up to 2.2 meters (87") wide. Shops lucky enough to have it are reporting remarkable results with a variety of different substrates.

The printer uses four-color (CMYK) inks and offers a White Ink Option to expand applications options to non-white surfaces. The White Ink Option enables under-printing for non-white media or objects, over-printing for backlit applications on transparent media and/or printing white as a spot color. Under-printing white ink provides a base for non-white surfaces upon which color can be added, giving users the ability to expand their range of offerings to include specialty applications. Over-printing white ink provides a diffusion layer for backlit applications that will be viewed from the unprinted side, enabling users to produce high quality backlit images for point-of-purchase applications. The ability to also print white ink as a spot color enables white features of images to be highlighted for greater effect. Day-night panels – which can be viewed either front-lit or backlit – can also be created by printing color data on two separate layers with a white diffusing layer in the middle.

If you've got one, let us know how it's working for you. Click HERE to drop us a line.