PEiR Member In Print: Oregon StatesmanJournal Finds Our David Fox

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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.