Tell Us What You Want To Talk About

The PEiR Group is holding its Sales and Operation Managers Conference in the 4th quarter of 2008.

We ask that you click on the link and complete the survey below so that we can better focus on subjects our members would like to be covered at the conference.

Click Here to take the survey.

As always, The PEiR Group appreciates the input of its members. Feel free to contact us via this blog or at any of the contact numbers given to share your thoughts and ideas about our industry.

Canon Announces Regional Launches for iPF810/820 Printers

Canon will be conducting one day, regional launch events for its new iPF810/820 printers in September, you may want to save the dates.

To sign up click here:

Here are the Cities and the Dates:

Jamesburg (New Jersey) - September 9
Atlanta (Norcross, GA) - September 11
Chicago (Itasca, IL) - September 16
Dallas (Irving, TX) - September 18
Irvine (Los Angeles) - September 23

PEiR Group Member Alert: Océ 9160 Arrives in Australia

The folks at Océ say they’re making their new Océ CS9160 eco-solvent wide format digital printer available to Australian shops. Those of you Down Under may want to check out this machine, built for creation of high quality indoor and outdoor durable prints onto a wide range of uncoated media.

Potential applications include banners, posters for indoor and outdoor, general signage, canvas reproductions, backlit imagery and pull up display stands.

To support the launch, Océ is promoting a “Think Opportunity, Think Océ” trade-in offer, giving users a considerable discount on their outdated wide format printer to move up to the new Océ CS9160. Users can log on to www.thinkopportunityoce.com to register their interest.

Tell ‘em The PEiR Group sent’ya…

A PEiR Group Staff Report

Lot of talk out there about digital printing, the digital economy… and digital this and that these days, right?

But you know people are seriously evaluating the digital marketplace when the global stock markets sic their analysts on the industry. Dublin, Ireland-based Research and Markets recently compiled a report on our “Digital Future,” – and came up with some interesting findings.

The report covers a variety of topics including past, present and future market positions; technologies and products; equipment suppliers, document management, financing and economics of print, plus a resources section of suppliers.

Interviews with companies such as Quark, IBM, OCE, Hewlett Packard, One2One, Lloyds/TSB, British Airways, Renault UK, TJ International and more are featured.

Key Conclusions from Research and Markets:
The Digital economy is on a solid growth track. In addition to its steady growth as a sales opportunity, we are seeing rapid, consistent growth in digital printing and black-and-white and colour copying volumes, as well as significant plans to invest in additional digital printing units, whether as upgrades or as additional capacity. Both printers and their customers are consistently showing growth in their use of key applications like Web-to-print, variable data printing, and short-run digital printing.

Key to growth in the digital printing marketplace is the diversity of press sizes, speeds, and price ranges in the equipment market, reducing the barrier to entry and making digital production affordable in production environments of all sizes and volumes. The data clearly shows that the line of demarcation, in terms of size, between serious players and those whose budgets are too restricted to do anything but dabble, have all but disappeared.

Quik Facts:
- 41% of all graphic arts firms now say they offer some type of digital printing in-house;
- 17% of graphic arts firms say that their volumes of full-color digital printing are increasing “a little” (1-25%) or “a lot” (25% or more);
- 11% of creatives see “digital printing” as a top sales opportunity for their businesses.

The PEiR Group Blog – A New, Interactive “Point of View”

Starting today, The PEiR Group will use blogging technology to help bring its members the latest news and vendor offerings available – in an interactive format designed to foster discussion and the sharing of ideas beneficial to us all.

This format will replace our traditional Point of View (POV) newsletter. We think you will find that it offers several distinct advantages over the old offering, including the ability to communicate directly with our staff, to get the latest news and advice from your colleagues, and – in the near future – to see video tutorials of product offerings and other print industry hardware as they come online.

We believe that a newsletter delivered in this format presents several distinct advantages.

Blogs can:

Build Community: Blogs provide your business with a chance to share your expertise and knowledge with a large audience – a strong benefit for technology-based companies.

Enhance Communications: Blogging provides several communication benefits. As shown by Business Weeks’ “Blogging for Business,” blogs give businesses a chance to tell their side of the story without interference from the media or biased industry analysts.

Sidestep “e-newsletter procrastination:” A blog post can be as short as one sentence or as long as several Web pages. But a short paragraph with one or more links works best; it's easier and quicker to write and will help you sidestep the procrastination that often accompanies publishing an e-newsletter. It’s also easier to read and digest.

Allow readers to give Feedback: I hope you find our new POV and this new mode of communication stimulating and informative.

Please do not hesitate to “drop us a line” in the “comments” window of these or any upcoming story as we move forward. Hearing from you means that we can continue to address the needs and interests of the global reprographics community.

Sincerely,

Shaun Meany
President
The PEiR Group

"Who Should I be Talking With About Bid Communications?"

By David Swider, Sub-Hub

Many of you who have phoned or emailed ask: “Okay Dave, we identified or qualified which companies to target for Bid Communications, now who should we be speaking with at these companies?”

As most of you know, the answer varies, but in most cases it will be one of these three no matter the size of the company:

· Bid Coordinators or Assistants
· Estimators or Project Managers
· VP of Construction, Executives or Owners

Any or all of these three positions will have an interest their company’s Bid Communications. It is however, important to know what language they all speak. By language, I mean “what are they hearing?” In most cases, you will find the following:

· Bid Coordinators and Assistants – The language they hear best is features and benefits.
· Estimators or Project Managers – The language they hear best is more bids on bid day, better bid coverage.
· VP’s, Executives and Owners – The language they hear is more profitable projects, reducing risk, higher margins.

At the end of the day, these are the functional areas you want to address when it comes to Bid Communications. Just remember to ask yourself: “Am I speaking their language?”

Re-Introducing your PEiR Group Member Services Team

Do you ever find yourself wondering what the current vendor pricing is, if you have any product brochures in stock, where you put the latest article of the POV, etc?

As part of the many benefits that PEiR brings to your business everyday, there are three very real, time saving resources right here in our Walnut Creek offices. John Bidwell, Janet Benson and Nicole Sisneros make up the member services team. We are here to help you with whatever it is you need, whether it be finding a print partner, double checking that you have correct vendor pricing, ordering product brochures, getting some new ideas on how to better your business practices, signing up for training – we are ready and willing to help!



Janet Benson
(925) 658-0214

Nicole Sisneros
(925) 658-0213

John Bidwell
(925) 658-0215

OCE' TRADE UP YOUR 9800 PROMOTION ENDS 8-29-08

Subject: 30,000 Reasons to Trade Up to an Oce TDS800 Pro Series

Only 9 business days left for PEiR Members to trade up their Oce’ 9800’s for a TDS800. and participate in the "30,000 Reasons To Trade Up to an Océ TDS800 Pro Series by August 31, 2008" promotion.

There will not be any exceptions to get the $30,000 or $25,000 after August 31, 2008.

Remember the last day of business in August is the 29th in 2008 !!!

Please call Barry Foust at 412-475-1792 or your local Oce’ representative for complete details.