So, when will we see rolls of plan sets (i.e., sets of A/E drawings printed on paper) REPLACED by flexible, electronic display screens? R&D people have been working on this technology for many years. E-INK is the electronic ink technology behind this, and that’s the same E-INK that powers Amazon’s Kindle device. Someday in the…

What effect will BIM have on the Reprographics Industry? Many years ago, not long after I began my career in the reprographics business and industry, an “older” reprographer mentioned to me that, only a few years before, people in the micrographics industry had said that “microfilm” would replace blueprinting. That customers would take miniature pictures…

I attended the 2009 IRgA Convention in Pittsburgh, PA, last week, and, while I hate to put it this way, the mood (of attendees) was glum. Certainly the events of the past year – the design/development/construction experiencing a recession and reprographers, of course, feeling the recession as well – had a numbing affect on the…

Okay, ARC reported its Q1 2009 results this afternoon, and after looking over the numbers ARC reported, I AM ….. STUNNED! ….., and here’s why I’m stunned. First, as I’ve previously explained on this blog, I was, until I left the company we sold in December 2007, deeply involved in the reprographics business and industry…

ARC JUST REPORTED ITS Q1 2009 SALES …. AT $139.5 MILLION THE CONTEST WINNER IS JOHN SCHER ZELLER, A REPROGRAPHICS INDUSTRY VETERAN OF MORE THAN 40 YEARS, WHO RETIRED JUST A FEW YEARS AGO. JOHN’S GUESS WAS THAT ARC’S Q1 2009 SALES WOULD BE $135 MILLION. HIS GUESS WAS CLOSEST TO ARC’S ACTUAL Q1 2009…

Okay, no more entries permitted to the “Guess ARC’s Q1 2009 Sales” Contest! Guesses at ARC’s Q1 2009 Sales ranged from a low of $119.4 million to a high of $159.5 million. That, readers, is a very large gap. (The guy who submitted the low number has to be smokin’ some REALLY good stuff! –…

Below is the web-site address of an interesting article (an investment opinion) about ARC. The author of the article refers to ARC as “a cash cow” and is recommending accumulation of ARC’s stock. http://pleaseactaccordingly.com/2009/04/arp-is-a-cash-cow/

Just a couple of comments about a very interesting article I found on http://www.aecbytes.com (1) For years, reprographers have been talking about, and, today, most reprographers offer some level of, Internet-based document management services. Take for instance solutions offered by ARC (PlanWell) and ReproMAX (DFS/PDM) and there are quite a number of others. (2) And,…

This information was found on the web-site operated by AECCafe: BURLINGTON, Mass., April 20 /PRNewswire/ — Z Corporation today announced it is a Gold Sponsor of the Autodesk Imagine 2009 tour, which starts tomorrow and continues in eight cities, including a virtual event, across the United States and Canada. Z Corporation is the exclusive 3D…

There’s been a lot of discussion in the reprographics industry, the past 3 years, about A/E customers transitioning from 2D drawing programs to 3D drawing programs (and BIM and Autodesk Revit and such). I think this information (the following) was released by AutoDesk in January 2009: AutoDesk “bonus pack” enables 3D-print-job-submission (file processing and job-submit)…