Reprographics 101

(more than you ever wanted to know about the reprographics industry)

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  • Granite School District, Bid Number PW-4372R – BID for BLUEPRINT SERVICES

    FOR REFERENCE PURPOSES….

    Granite School District, located in Salt Lake County, Utah, operates 62 elementary schools, 16 junior high schools, 9 high schools, as well as other special schools and programs. With 67,730 students, Granite is the second largest district in Utah and is among the largest public school districts in the nation. Granite is also one of Utah’s largest employers, with more than 7,500 full and part-time employees. The district boundary encompasses 257 square miles.

    Bid document was released in September 2011.

    Bids were opened on October 31st, 2011.

    Five vendors submitted bids.

    A bid award was made, but I don’t know who was awarded this bid.

    Award was for one year, but there are 4 one-year options to extend.

    I’ve posted a copy of the “bid tabulation” in my Google-Docs library, and here’s the link to the bid tabulation:

    http://tinyurl.com/73gfdbr

    Please also note that I did not register, so I was unable to download (or view) the bid document. Without that bid document, it’s impossible to interpret the line items (print sizes, service descriptions for each line item). If you want to access the bid document, you would first have to register on the site, then figure out how to access the bid document. Here’s a link to page where the bid is mentioned:

    http://tinyurl.com/7sbt3c2

  • City of El Paso, TX – Bid for Blueprint Duplication Services

    Deadline for bid submittals: February 22, 2012 !!!

    Solicitation No.: 2012-150

    Bid Title: Blueprinting Duplication Services

    Status: Open

    Department: Engineering and Construction Management

    Date Issued: January 31, 2012

    Bid Due Date: February 22, 2012

    Contact: Deniese Baisley

    Amendments Issued: So far, one amendment has bee issued

    In order to view the solicitation document, you must register with the City’s web-site; link:

    http://www.elpasotexas.gov/financial_services/invitation_detail.asp?control_number=2012-150

  • If it ain’t broke, don’t try to fix it

    There’s an article up on thedigitalnirvana with the above title:

    http://thedigitalnirvana.com/2012/02/if-it-aint-broke-dont-try-to-fix-it/?utm_source=WhatTheyThink+Newsletters&utm_campaign=05b020f15d-daily&utm_medium=email

  • What to do with your unproductive, under-capacity digital color multifunction system?

    Two thoughts came to mind as I was reading this story….

    1) Are they sure this wasn’t part of the plan for QE 3, QE 4 and QE 5?

    2) If I have an unproductive, under-capacity, digital color multi-function system, printing fake bonds might be a great diversification

    Record $6 Trillion of Fake U.S. Bonds Seized

    By Elisa Martinuzzi – Feb 17, 2012 12:11 PM ET (from part of an article now up on Bloomberg Business News)

    Italian anti-mafia prosecutors said they seized a record $6 trillion of allegedly fake U.S. Treasury bonds, an amount that’s almost half of the U.S.’s public debt.

    The bonds were found hidden in makeshift compartments of three safety deposit boxes in Zurich, the prosecutors from the southern city of Potenza said in an e-mailed statement. The Italian authorities arrested eight people in connection with the probe, dubbed “Operation Vulcanica,” the prosecutors said.

    The U.S. embassy in Rome has examined the securities dated 1934, which had a nominal value of $1 billion apiece, they said in the statement. “Thanks to Italian authorities for the seizure of fictitious bonds for $6 trillion,” the embassy said in a message on Twitter.

    The financial fraud uncovered by the Italian prosecutors in Potenza includes two checks issued through HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA) in London for 205,000 pounds ($325,000), checks that weren’t backed by available funds, the prosecutors said. As part of the probe, fake bonds for $2 billion were also seized in Rome. The individuals involved were planning to buy plutonium from Nigerian sources, according to phone conversations monitored by the police.

    The fraud posed “severe threats” to international financial stability, the prosecutors said in the statement. HSBC spokesman Patrick Humphris in London declined to comment when contacted by telephone.

  • Do you want to become an expert in the MPS business?

    One method of educating oneself about the MPS business is to learn as much as you can from others by following “the process” that others are employing (or have employed) to get from point A to point B; point A being an overall, enterprise-wide assessment of “where we are today” and “where we need to get to” and point B being the conclusion of the process, where, after an RFP is developed, issued and the results are in, an MPS deal is put in place.

    While doing some Google-research this morning, I came across a couple of interesting documents – produced by the I.T. Department at Butler University.

    About Butler – Butler University is a private university located in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in 1855 and named after founder Ovid Butler, the university offers 60 degree programs to 4,400 students through six colleges: business, communication, education, liberal Arts and sciences, pharmacy and health sciences, and fine arts. It comprises a 290-acre (1.2 km2) campus located seven miles (11 km) from downtown Indianapolis.

    Even though Butler is an institution of learning, its needs (for the University and its professors and students) for “copying and printing” are not unlike the needs you would find at a company of similar size or at a government agency of similar size.

    Management at the University, likely spurred on by suggestions from the procurement and I.T. departments, decided to undertake a thorough analysis of the University’s print/copy needs, and, after looking through the two documents I found during my Google-search, the I.T. department has done an excellent job, so far.

    You could use these documents as part of YOUR learning process about the MPS business. If this were a college course, you could break it (the process they went through or are still going through) into four parts:

    Part One – Overall Enterprise-wide Print Assessment Study

    Part Two – Evaluation of Study Results and Determination of “What to Do”

    Part Three – Development of RFP; Distribution of RFP

    Part Four – Selection of MPS vendor

    As to the two documents I found, here’s the beginning of one of them (you’ll later find a link to the complete “study summary” document):

    Butler University’s Print Study Summary

    The goal of the print study is to assess Butler’s document output systems (copiers, printers, multifunction devices, etc.) in order to identify opportunities that will provide Butler with the best “rightsizing” opportunities, green alternatives and enhanced usability options. The assessment will research the current state of our printing and copying environments in order to understand future needs and how best to meet them.

    The Current State:

    With the aid of Butler University faculty, staff and students, the Ascher Group – http://www.theaschergroup.com – is conducting a document output study to determine the current fleet size, cost, location and usage. The analysis of the document output fleet has been broken into three areas: Copiers, HP Printers and Kyocera Printers.

    Preliminary Print Assessment Summary Report

    http://tinyurl.com/7noq48w

    And, the other document I found was an Excel file that maps out the entire process Butler is going through (or, if they have completed the process by now, that Butler went through):

    Print Assessment Status Report (Excel file)

    http://tinyurl.com/893dbmq

    To complete your homework, you would need to request the RFP that Butler came up with and copies of the proposals that Butler received.

    Note that Butler University hired a consulting firm – by the name of The Ascher Group – to help guide the University through the entire process. Evidently, the Ascher Group has expertise in the MPS arena. If you visit Ascher’s web-site, you will likely find one or more “case studies” regarding enterprises that they’ve guided through the MPS process.

  • The Future of Printing? – It’s going to depend on what the item is.

    Publishing: A Whole New World

    By Barb Pellow

    e-Readers are definitely here to stay, so the printing and publishing worlds must change with the times. There will always be a place for hardcover and paperback books, but recent developments will demand a huge transition for book printers and publishers alike. How businesses adapt will determine who is left standing five years from now. This article provides an overview of the publishing landscape and provides examples of service providers who are changing with the times.

    Click on this to get to the full article:

    Publishing: A Whole New World

    – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

    Blog Publisher’s Comments:

    The above article brings to mind the subject of “the future of printing”.

    Yesterday, I posted about (and provided a link to) an article authored by Dr. Joe Webb, an economist who follows and reports on the economics of the U.S. Commerical Printing Industry. Most would interpret Dr. Joe’s forward forecast to paint a rather bleak picture of the commercial printing industry, years from now. As I’ve admitted many times on this blog, my crystal ball does not work (and, believe me, I’ve tried to get it to work.) But, although my crystal ball does not work – I cannot predict the future of the printing world, nor the future of the reprographics world – trends point, more and more, to people and businesses printing less than they did before. The Internet, of course, has had a huge impact on that. And, PCs, MACs, Desktops, tablet computers, e-reader devices and electronic displays, collectively, are having an equally huge impact on that. Fact of life, printing to “hard-copy” – “per capita” – is in decline. But, having said that, it’s going to depend on what’s to be printed.

    Your outlook, item by item, 10 years from now? 20 years from now?

    Types of printed materials

    Outlook – Bleak?

    Outlook – Fair?

    Outllook – Excellent?

    Books

    Training Manuals

    User Manuals

    Warranty Information

    Proposals

    Business Cards

    Stationery

    Envelopes

    Product Packaging

    Wrapping Paper

    Greeting Cards

    Calendars

    Marketing materials

    Point-of-Purchase displays

    Trade-show graphics

    Conference handouts

    Vehicle wraps

    Wallpaper

    A/E/C Presentation boards

    A/E/C plans

    A/E/C specification books

    Legal exhibit boards

    Banners

    Bank statements

    Insurance policies

    T-Shirts

    Fabrics

    Newspapers

    Magazines

    Stock-trade confirmations

  • Reprographers: take a look at Dr. Joe Webb’s Forecast for the US Commercial Market

    Dr. Joe Webb is the premier economist following and reporting on the U.S. Commercial Printing Market. He’s associated with the web-site known as “whattheythink.com”.

    Although, market-wise, “printing” is different than “reprographics” there are, of course, similarities between the two industries.

    In his very detailed article, which is now up on whattheythink.com, Dr. Joe talks about the economic forecast for the U.S. Commercial Printing Market; there are several charts/graphics and there’s even a slide-show.

    One of the paragraphs in the article that I liked best was this one:

    “Overly relying on economic data is like driving while only looking at the rear view mirror. It has its place as a management tool, but it’s not the way to run a business. Just like your car, if you are not paying attention to what’s coming at you from the front, the outcome is likely to be a nasty crash.”

    Here’s the Title of Dr. Joe’s Article:

    A Contrarian Perspective About Economic Forecasts

    By Dr. Joe Webb on February 15th, 2012

    Here’s one of the main paragraphs in the article:

    The Updated US Commercial Printing Forecast, 2012-2018

    The updated forecast table is in our online commercial printing data spreadsheet. With all of the comments about the use of forecasted data stated above, it is important to note some methodological details about the creation of this chart. I apologize for the boring nature of the details, but they are important. First, all data are in January 2012 dollars. The first two columns, “conservative” and “aggressive” are forecasts we run through our forecasting software every month as new monthly printing shipments data are released by the Department of Commerce. We take those current dollar data, inflation-adjust them using the Consumer Price Index for the entire history for each month (the data series goes back to 1992) and then forecast 12-month moving totals of the value of industry shipments. We use 12-month totals so we are always forecasting the value for a full year; this smooths the data and reduces overall statistical forecasting error. For a discussion of the issues involved in inflation-adjusted data, we strongly recommend our slide show about the topic (and that perhaps you bring a pillow; it’s had over 750 views, and we suspect that some might be from an insomnia study at some medical school).

    Reprographers, I urge you to take the time to read the full article; you should be able to access the article by clicking on the link immediately below:

    A Contrarian Word about Economic Data and Forecasts; The US Commercial Printing Forecast 2012-2018

  • Service Point USA – Boston Area – seeks a Business Development Analyst

    Noticed this help-wanted ad from Service Point USA, Woburn, MA location:

    JOB TITLE: Business Development Analyst

    REPORTS TO: Director, On-Site Services

    JOB CLASSIFICATION: Permanent

    PRIMARY ROLE: Perform financial analysis on new and existing accounts to ensure sales and profitability targets are met.

    DESCRIPTION:

    • Collect necessary proposal information from Business Consultants.

    • Complete spreadsheets, written proposals, letters, PowerPoint presentations, and other documentation as needed.

    • Gain a high level of knowledge of all aspects of company services including data collection and proprietary reporting.

    • Take part in ongoing professional development activities.

    • Maintain a dialog with business unit manager to raise awareness of processes needing improvement.

    • Prepare complex information in a clear and concise manner.

    REQUIREMENTS:

    • Familiarity with financial management concepts helpful.

    • Prior experience in reprographics or a related service industry helpful.

    • BA or BS in Business, Finance or related field.

    • Knowledge of MS Excel and Word a must.

    • Must be comfortable working in a fast-paced environment and balancing multiple priorities and deadlines.

    • Ability to learn, absorb and analyze concepts and facts logically and quickly

    • Established, demonstrable organizational skills.

    • Highly articulate when speaking and writing.

    * Neat and professional business appearance.

  • Homebuilder Sentiment Index Continues to Rise

    From Associated Press…… Feb 15th, 2012…..

    WASHINGTON – U.S. homebuilders are gradually growing more optimistic about the depressed housing market and believe homes sales could pick up sharply when the spring buying season begins.

    The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo said Wednesday that its builder sentiment index rose for a fifth straight month in February to 29, up from 25 in January. The index has climbed 15 points since September and is now at its highest level since May 2007.

    Builders have generally become more hopeful during the past five months about current sales, sales six months out and foot traffic, the report shows.

  • Fedex Office (Kinko’s) going GRAND

    GRAND-format, that is.

    FedEx Office Invests in Advanced Print Technology and Talent

    Wednesday, February 15, 2012

    Press release from the issuing company

    FedEx Office®, the leading provider of printing and shipping services, knows that businesses need cost-effective and scalable solutions to printing challenges. To help solve customer challenges, FedEx Office is accelerating investment in its infrastructure by adding additional high-end, commercial production equipment. The company is deploying new grand-format inkjet printing devices to its centralized production centers across the country for producing rigid signs, banners, posters, point of purchase materials, oversized prints and more. Also, it is expanding its experienced workforce by hiring more team members.

    As further evidence of its reliability as a best-in-class print provider, FedEx Office was recently awarded a four-year contract from Boeing, the world’s largest aerospace company and leading manufacturer of commercial jetliners and defense, space and security systems. Effective March 1, FedEx Office will serve as Boeing’s primary print provider, producing critical operations, sales, and large/grand format printed materials.

    “FedEx Office offers a broad range of print solutions that meet the needs of customers of all sizes, and we’re continuously enhancing both our production and retail network as well as our support structure to make that happen,” said Aimee DiCicco, vice president of sales for FedEx Office. “We’ve got the depth and breadth to deliver customized solutions for our customers. Our corporate print solutions are a perfect fit for Boeing’s needs and we’re thrilled to have the opportunity to leverage our capabilities for this leading Fortune 100 company.”

    Since May 2010, FedEx Office has deployed nearly 8,000 new printing devices to its U.S. and Canada locations and recently installed new automated finishing equipment at its offset printing facility. The new high-speed equipment scheduled for installation by spring includes Agfa Graphics’ Jeti 3020 Titan inkjet printers and Zund G3 M-2500 digital table cutters – all of which will be critical for high quality, grand format production print runs. The company will leverage this technology to produce a variety of signage and oversized prints for various customers, from big box retailers with multiple locations across the country to large corporations and small businesses.

    FedEx Office delivers world-class printing solutions that can be tailored for commercial customers’ needs. The company’s convenient network of digitally-connected retail locations, centralized production centers and around-the-clock online services help large businesses improve their productivity and maintain total control of their print supply chain. In addition, FedEx Office leverages a variable cost model, which helps corporate customers manage the bottom line. To learn about the full portfolio of FedEx Office® Corporate Print Solutions, visit www.fedex.com/corporateprint.

    Blog Publisher’s comments:

    Kind of “sounds like” Fedex Office (which I still refer to as Kinko’s) is going to attempt to clone ARC’s Riot Color business model. And, it’s not like this will be an easy step for Fedex Office, inasmuch as, nowadays, most reprographers are very involved in the large-format color business and some reprographers have expanded into grand-format. (Example: recent post we did about Franklin Imaging in Ohio.) Thomas Reprographics and ABC Imaging have been very involved in grand-format printing for years. Fedex Office is likely to find the grand-format business to be a crowded, hotly competitive business. All that aside, best of luck to Fedex Office.

    As to this statement made in the press release, “As further evidence of its reliability as a best-in-class print provider, FedEx Office was recently awarded a four-year contract from Boeing,” that statement made me laugh out loud. (And, when I do that at my Starbucks, which is where I start my days, they look at me like I’m strange; me sitting here, all by myself, laughing out loud.) And, that statement made me laugh because of this question …. did Boeing really select Fedex Office (over ARC) because of evidence of Fedex Office’s “reliability as a best-in-class print provider” …. or did Boeing make that decision purely because Fedex Office buys Boeing’s planes?