Reprographics 101

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  • Manufacturing Growth Accelerates; Construction Picks Up

    From an article published Tuesday, Jan 3, 2012, by Reuters with A.P.

    The pace of growth in the U.S. manufacturing sector accelerated in December, its best month since June, according to a report released on Tuesday. A separate report showed that construction spending rose in November.

    The Institute for Supply Management said its index of national factory activity rose to 53.9 from 52.7 the month before. The reading topped expectations of 53.2, according to a Reuters poll of economists.

    A reading above 50 indicates expansion.

    New orders, which economists consider a leading indicator of future activity in the sector, rose to 57.6 from 56.7. The employment component also jumped to 55.1 from 51.8.

    Construction spending also increased in November as builders spent more on single-family homes, apartments and remodeling projects.

    The Commerce Department said spending on construction projects rose 1.2 percent in November following a revised 0.2 percent drop in October. The increase was the third in four months and the largest since a 2.2 percent rise in August.

    The November increase pushed spending to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $807.1 billion, still barely half the $1.5 trillion that economists consider healthy. Analysts said it could be four years before construction returns to healthy levels.

    For November, strength was seen in housing and government spending. Nonresidential construction fell, reflecting declines in construction of office buildings and shopping centers.

  • CANON SEEKS DELISTING OF OCÉ N.V.

    This morning, one of my blog-visitors alerted me to this Press Release from Canon/OCE. I had heard about this Press Release – but had not seen it – when I visited Art Post’s print4pay web-site. In addition to Canon delisting OCE from the stock exchanges, one person on Art’s site speculated that Canon is planning to drop the OCE name. I don’t see why Canon would do that, or even think about doing that. The OCE brand is a very strong brand. Here’s the Press Release …..

    CANON SEEKS DELISTING OF OCÉ N.V.

    Tokyo, Japan and Amsterdam, The Netherlands – 22 December 2011 – Canon Inc. (“Canon”) expresses the intention to realize a delisting of Océ N.V. (“Océ”) from the Amsterdam stock exchange NYSE Euronext, following the acquisition of the ordinary shares held by Orbis Funds (“Orbis”) in Océ (“Orbis Shares”), bringing Canon’s ownership in Océ to 98.83 per cent of the entire issued share capital (including cumulative preference shares). This increased percentage allows Canon and Océ to start discussions about the delisting procedure and the timing thereof, taking into account all regulatory requirements.

    Canon will also commence statutory buyout proceedings under Dutch law (“squeeze out procedure”) in due course to affect the purchase of the remaining minority shareholdings. The acquired Orbis Shares represent approximately 10.8 per cent of the ordinary share capital and 8.8 per cent of the entire issued share capital of Océ (including cumulative preference shares).

    As stated in the Offering Memorandum dated 28 January 2010, Canon has always had the intention to ultimately acquire 100% of Océ’s shares. With 98.83 per cent of the shares of Océ, Canon and Océ will be able to start preparing for the delisting procedure of Océ and continue to accelerate further the integration of Océ into the Canon Group, following which the combination can realize the benefits for all stakeholders involved.

    Canon and Océ will provide more information on the related proceedings as and when appropriate.


    Note: if you want to read the “about OCE” and “about Canon” information that’s shown in the Press Release, visit Canon’s international web-site.

  • Reprographics Industry – POSITIONS SOUGHT and POSITIONS AVAILABLE – a new service from Reprographics 101

    Regarding the announcement we made on January 2nd, this link will take you to the page (on our Google-Docs site) that shows people looking for positions in the Reprographics Industry:

    http://tinyurl.com/7d83rbv

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

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

    Okay, here’s the original post we did on January 2nd to announce this service:

    In the survey we are currently conducting “about” Reprographics 101, we ask this question:

    “In your opinion, should Reprographics 101 add a section to the blog where reprographics-industry employees, who are not now employed, can let it be known that they are looking for positions in the industry?”

    As of today’s date, 25 people have participated in the Survey about Reprographics 101. Their response to the above referenced question:

    No, bad idea – 1

    Yes, good idea – 20

    No response – 2

    I was quite surprised at the number of “yes” responses. One of the purposes of our blog is to provide and share information that our blog-visitors feel is important. And, for that reason, and because of the number of “yes” responses we received, we are, today (by this post!) announcing a new service Reprographics 101 will be providing to job seekers …. and to prospective employers.

    Participation in this service is limited to:

    a) people who are seeking positions with reprographics companies or with vendors who serve the reprographics industry

    b) prospective employers who are in the reprographics business or who are vendors to the reprographics industry

    And, here’s how we are going to operate this service:

    1) if you are looking for a position in the reprographics industry, with either a reprographer or with a vendor who serves the reprographics industry, submit your information to Reprographics 101, and Reprographics 101 will show your “position sought posting” in an Excel file that will be hosted on our Google-Docs site. (Note that your confidential contact information will not be shown in that file, unless you want us to show that information in the file. If your I.D. is your name, then we will take that to mean that you do want your contact information reflected in the Excel file; see “provide contact information” below for further details about this.) If you do not want your name to appear in the “positions sought” Excel file, then we will take that to mean that you want to remain “anonymous” until such time as you notify us to go ahead and provide your contact information to an employer who has notified us that they are interested in being put in touch with you.

    2) if you are an employer looking for people to join your company’s team, submit your information to Reprographics 101, and Reprographics 101 will show your “positions available posting” in an Excel file that will be hosted on our Google-Docs site.

    3) Employers who are interested in contacting people who are looking for positions must e-mail an “inquiry” to Reprographics 101, indicating (in the e-mail they send to us) the I.D. of the person they are interested in being put in touch with. Once an inquiry has been received, it will be forwarded to the person the employer is interested in contacting, and it will be up to the prospective employee to decide whether to, or not to, contact the employer. Note: we have decided to handle it this way because some who are seeking positions may not want to be contacted by certain employers.

    INFORMATION THAT WILL NEED TO BE SUBMITTED TO REPROGRAPHICS 101 BY PEOPLE WHO ARE SEEKING EMPLOYMENT:

    Who are you?

    Either use your name or create an I.D. number (or series of letters) that will be used to identify you. While some may be comfortable using their names, others may wish to keep their names private, at least until they are ready to contact a prospective employer.

    What type of position (or positions) do you seek?

    Create a name for the type of position you seek. Examples: Sales Manager, Controller, Sales Representative, Reprographics Operator, etc.

    How long have you been employed in the reprographics industry?

    State the collective number of years/months you’ve been employed in the reprographics industry.

    Where do you want to work?

    Provide the names of the cities and/or states where you would consider being employed.

    How much do you expect to be paid?

    Not including benefits and perks, provide the “salary range” that you would consider?

    Provide “contact information”.

    Your contact information will not be shown in the information we publish about you on Reprographics 101 (see exception noted above). The contact information you provide will be used as follows: so that Reprographics 101 can contact you, should we receive an inquiry about you from a prospective employer.

    Examples of information to be submitted to Reprographics 101:

    I.D.: John Taylor

    Position sought: Production / Operations Manager

    Reprographics Industry Experience: 8 years

    Where I’d like to be employed: Washington, DC area, Baltimore, MD area

    Salary range: $40,000 – $50,000

    Contact Information (for Reprographics 101 only)

    Name:

    Phone Number:

    E-mail address:

    I.D.: 12359

    Position sought: Sales Manager or V.P. of Sales

    Reprographics Industry Experience: 12 years, 6 months

    Where I’d like to be employed: Anywhere in the U.S. except for Hawaii and Alaska

    Salary range: $45,000 plus commission (or likewise incentive compensation for performance)

    Contact Information (for Reprographics 101 only)

    Name:

    Phone Number:

    E-mail address:

    INFORMATION THAT WILL NEED TO BE SUBMITTED TO REPROGRAPHICS 101 BY EMPLOYERS WHO ARE SEEKING PEOPLE TO JOIN THEIR TEAM:

    · Company Name

    · Names of Positions Available

    · City/State where positions are available

    · Contact Information:

    o Name of person to contact

    o Phone number of person to contact

    o E-mail address of person to contact

    Further terms and conditions of this service:

    · Reprographics 101 agrees to keep confidential any and all information that is intended to be kept confidential.

    · Reprographics 101 reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to amend the rules of this service.

    · Reprographics 101 reserves the right to discontinue this service at any time, without prior notice to anyone.

    · Anyone who uses this service, whether a job-seeker or an employer seeking people, agrees that Reprographics 101 (including its author, Joel Salus) shall have zero liability to individuals looking for positions or to companies seeking employees. The mere act of submitting “jobs sought” e-mails to Reprographics 101 or submitting “positions available” e-mails to Reprographics 101 shall be deemed by Reprographics 101 to be consent to, and acceptance of, the zero liability term/condition.

  • City of Cambridge MA – Reprographics Services Bid – Bid Results

    On December 11, 2011, we advised our blog-visitors that the City of Cambridge, MA had released an RFP (bid) for Reprographics Services.

    Here are the results of that bid, as per the “bid tabulation” sheet now up on the City’s web-site:

    Bid opening date – Thursday, December 22, 2011

    File NO 5667: Reprographic Services

    Ridgway LLC., DBA ARC Massachusetts

    $27,625.45

    BFS Business Printing, Inc.

    $28,025.00

    Andrew T. Johnson

    $29,392.50

    ABC Imaging

    $48,441.50

    There are certainly more than just four reprographics companies active in the Greater Boston Market Area, so, after looking at the brief list of companies who submitted bids, I find myself wondering, “where are the others, why did they choose not to submit bids for this procurement?”

    Curiously absent:

    – Makepeace (one of the country’s oldest reprographics companies)

    – Service Point (the second largest reprographics company in the world and their U.S. division is based in the Boston area.)

    – NRI (although based in NYC, they acquired and operate the reprographics company formerly owned by Ernie Lorandeau, a long-time Boston-area reprographer).

    – AIR Graphics (owned by Mike and Kevin Cully, two very knowledgeable, long-term, Boston-area reprographers.

    – Ben Franklin Printers (are they still active in the reprographics business?)

    The City’s Bid Tabulation shows only “total bids”. My suggestion to those who want to know the “unit prices” that bidders bid for each and every line item. Contact the City’s Purchasing Department, by letter, to request copies of each bid submitted. If you really want to be aware of pricing in your market, you’ve got to be willing to do the homework!

    City of Cambridge MA Bid for Reprographics Services

    Reprographics Services – File No. 5687

    Bids due on Thursday, December 22nd, 2011, 10:00 a.m.

    Contact Information:

    City of Cambridge, Purchasing Department

    795 Massachusetts Avenue, Room 303

    Cambridge, MA 02139

    Purchasing Agent: Cynthia Griffin

    Phone 617-349-4310

    Fax 617-349-4008

  • Econ 101 from Repro 101: Report on Predictions Made on May 21, 2011

    On May 21st, 2011, I put up a post on Reprographics 101 titled, “Economics 101 from Reprographics 101.” In that post, I made 10 predictions. Note that all of my predictions were based on the “SWAG” (silly-wild-ass-guess) method. Today, I’m going to revisit those predictions to see how close I came (or to see how far off base my predictions were.)

    Black type > the predictions I made on May 21st, 2011.

    Red type > today’s update on those predictions.

    1. On December 31, 2011, the S&P 500 will be between in the 1,150 to 1,200 range. (Today, it’s right around 1,334.)

    Update: at market close on December 31st, 2011, the S&P 500 Index was 1,218.

    2. On December 31, 2011, the average interest rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage will be 5.50% (zero points.) (Today, Bankrate.com reports that the current average interest rate is 4.77% (zero points, 20% down)

    Update: On December 31, 2011, the average interest rate for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage was 3.95%.

    3. On December 31, 2011, the yield on the 30-year U.S. Treasury bond will be 4.85%. (Today, Google Finance reports that the current yield on the 30-year U.S. Treasury bond is 4.31%.)

    Update: at market close on December 31st, 2011, the yield on the 30-year U.S. Treasury Bond was 2.89%.

    4. On December 31, the Euro/USD exchange rate will be 1.31. (Today, Google Finance reports the Euro/USD exchange rate at 1.415.)

    Update: at market close on December 31st, 2011, the Euro/USD exchange rate was at 1.2942.

    5. For the full-year 2011, ARC’s “U.S.” Sales will come in at right around $384 mil. (In an article on this blog on March 10, 2011, we included a table that showed ARC’s “U.S.” Sales at $676.7 mil for 2008, at $473.4 mil for 2009, and at $404.5 mil for 2010.) Please note that these numbers exclude ARC’s sales in countries outside the U.S. And, please note that my prediction for ARC’s “U.S.” Sales are based on “organic” sales; and I point that out because ARC may decide to acquire a few companies during the 2011 year, and there’s no way for me to guess at what “acquired” sales ARC may end up adding to its U.S. Sales.

    Update: We won’t be able to provide an update on this prediction until ARC files its 10K report for 2011, which won’t happen until around mid February (or mid March) 2012, and that’s because ARC does not disclose its “U.S.-only” sales until the 10K report is published.

    6. ARC’s stock price will be $8.20 on December 31, 2011. (Note: On May 20, 2011, at market-close, ARC’s stock price was $8.76 per share.)

    Update: at close of market on December 31, 2011, ARC’s stock was trading at $4.59 per share.

    7. The AIA ABI Index – for May, June, July, August, September, October, November and December (2011), will be above 50 in four of those months and equal to or below 50 in four of those months. (Up down, up down.)

    Update: As to May 2011 through December 2011, right now we still have one month to go because the December 2011 index won’t be reported until the middle of January 2012. However, so far, the ABI Index was at or above 50 for only 2 of the last 7 months and below 50 for 5 of those months.

    8. The NAHM Home Builder’s sentiment index will be 20 in the month of November 2011. (The index was 16.0 in May 2011)

    Update: the Home Builder’s sentiment index in November was at 20.0. The index reading in December was at 21.0

    9. The U.S. GDP number for year 2011 will come in at +2.4% (for the full year 2011).

    Update: Sorry, we will not be able to update you on this prediction until the government issues this number (the annual growth rate number), which will likely be a month or two from now. For now, we can report that the GDP growth rate was .4%, 1.3% and 1.8%, respectively, for Quarters 1, 2 and 3 in 2011.

    10.The officially reported U.S. Unemployment number reported in December 2011 will be 8.8%. (The unemployment rate reported for April 2011 was 9.0%)

    Update: The officially reported U.S. Unemployment rate reported on December 4th for November was 8.6%. We won’t know the official growth rate for December 2011 until sometime in mid-January 2012.

    – – – – – – – – – – – –

    Joel’s comments:

    Well, based on the “actuals”, so far, readers can now see clear evidence of why I barely passed Econ 101 in college!

    My SWAG at the S&P 500 Index wasn’t far off, and, inasmuch as did over 200 short-term trades in 2011 and relied on my projection that the S&P 500 would move lower from the 1,334 number it was at when I prepared my list of predictions, I did fine, but that’s only because the market swung up and down, lots, during 2011 and I managed to catch most of the ups and avoid most of the downs. My disaster of the year was Bank of New York Mellon. Although analysts “say” that that stock has a fair value of around $50 per share, that stock plunged during the latter part of 2011 and, like the idiot stock trader I am, I held onto it ….. waiting, waiting, waiting. However, in spite of that, I managed to eke out a “total return” of approximately 14% for 2011. (Dividends plus gains, minus losses.)

    As to interest rates, well, I was waaaaay off the mark on my predictions of the 30-year fixed mortgage rate and the 30 year U.S Treasury Bond yield. That’s mostly because the Fed Reserve continued – and even strengthened – its policies to keep down, if not further lower, interest rates. [I hope some of you refinanced this year, the rates are ridiculously low. And, I hope some of you bought long (10 and 30) year Treasury bonds early in 2011, because Treasury bonds were evidently the big winner (in terms of total return) for the year 2011.]

    My prediction of the Euro/USD exchange rate was very close! Unfortunately, I was in France and Spain in September and the Euro/USD exchange rate was much higher then than it ended up being at the end of 2011. I have to learn how to better time our trips to Europe.

    I was well off the mark on my prediction of ARC’s stock price! Not much I can say about that. I think Stadium Capital – the investment company that acquired a huge chunk of ARC stock during 2011 – must have acted on my prediction. Sorry about that.

    As to my prediction about the AIA ABI Index, even though that story ain’t yet over, my prediction isn’t going to make it. I really was expecting to see at least four 50+ months out of the last eight months of 2011. If December’s index reading comes in plus 50, that’ll make 3 50+ months out of the last eight months of 2011. In spite of that, I still believe that we are going to see a rise in A/E/C Industry activity during 2012. After all, how long can conditions continue to be awful? There has to be a good amount of pent up demand.

    I did “nail” the Home Builder’s sentiment index, right on. But, even at 20 and 21, respectively, for November and December, that index is still way below 50. That’s not exactly an expression of robust positivity about the near-term outlook for home building.

    Like almost every economist, my prediction of the U.S. GDP growth rate for 2011 will be well off the mark. Early in 2011, the majority of economists were predicting that the GDP growth rate for year 2011 would come in around 3.0%. Inasmuch as it now looks like that rate will come in somewhat lower than 2.0% (and, to hit that, it relies on a fairly strong Q4, which, some say, did not happen) what does that say for the “expert” economist community?

    My prediction of the U.S. Unemployment rate wasn’t far off. But, considering the fact that the real unemployment rate is probably a good bit higher than the rate reported by the government – (people have dropped out of the employment market because their unemployment ran out and they still can’t find a job, so some have stopped looking for work) – who really cares what the “official” unemployment rate really is? Let’s get Americans back to work with an infrastructure / development, jobs creation program!

    Okay, that’s it for my comments about the predictions I made on May 21, 2011.

  • Happy New Year to everyone!

    Best wishes to everyone for a Happy, Healthy, Productive, Prosperous New Year!

    Legjobb kíván mindenkinek boldog, egészséges, termelékeny, virágzó Új Évet!

    S přáním všeho nejlepšího všem za šťastné, zdravé, produktivní, úspěšný nový rok!

    أطيب التمنيات للجميع لسعيدة وصحية ومنتجة السنة مزدهر ، جديد!

    איחוליי לכל עבור שמחה, בריאה שנה, משגשג פרודוקטיבי חדש!

    Meilleurs voeux à tous pour un heureux, en santé et productif, le Nouvel An prospère!

    Mis mejores deseos a todos para un feliz, sano, año productivo, próspero Nuevo!

    Najlepsze życzenia dla wszystkich na szczęśliwe, zdrowe, produkcyjne, Prosperous Nowego Roku!

    С наилучшими пожеланиями всем для счастья, здоровья, производственных, Процветающая Новым Годом!

    Hälsningar till alla för en glad, frisk, produktiv, framgångsrikt nytt år!

    Mit freundlichen Grüßen an alle für ein glückliches, gesundes, produktives, erfolgreiches neues Jahr!

    Beste ønsker til alle for et lykkelig, sunt, produktiv, Prosperous nyttår!

    Onnea kaikille ja onnellinen, terve, tuottava, vauras uutta vuotta!

    Auguri a tutti per un felice, sano, produttivo, prospero Anno Nuovo!

    ハッピー、健康、生産性の高い、豊かな新年にみんなの幸運を祈ります！

    祝大家幸福，健康，生產，繁榮的新年！

  • Quick Profile: RGS (ReproGraphic Solutions) in Las Vegas and Keith Holding (owner of RGS)

    Most Reprographers – during their “lifetime” in the reprographics business – operate one or two locations and conduct business in only one city or market area …… and do not venture out to other market areas or to other countries.

    Even thought that’s very, very common, there are, of course, some who have an appetite for adventure, even though there’s added risk in expanding beyond where they originally established their footprint. (If I remember to do it, I’ll later author a separate article about the “adventurers” that grace (or have graced our industry.)

    Today’s blog-post is a “quick profile” of RGS, a reprographics company that operates in Las Vegas, NV and is owned by Keith Holding, one of the more interesting characters in the reprographics industry. Keith has definitely proven to be one of the “adventurers” in the reprographics business. So far, he’s been in the reprographics business in the United Kingdom, the United States and in Singapore (Asia). That’s a lot of frequent flyer miles. I don’t recall having met Keith in the past; maybe, maybe not, but we have several acquaintances in common.

    Okay, here’s quick profile of RGS, which operates 3 locations in the Las Vegas area. Later on in this post, I’ll have some comments about Keith’s former companies and adventures.

    RGS’ Services:

    • Digital Reprographics

    • Plan Printing & Copying CAD
Plotting

    • Large Format B/W & Color
Inkjet Printing

    • Small Format B/W & Color
Copying

    • Presentation Graphics

    • Wide Format Scan to Print

    • Finishing Mounting &
Lamination Services

    • B/W & Color Digital Scanning
& Archiving Services

    • Document Management
Services

    • On-Site (Facilities
Management) Solutions

    RGS has launched it’s new planroom system called ReproConnect. With added features such as “Hosted Planroom” and “Invitation To Bid” together with easy online viewing and ordering services, ReproConnect streamlines your document management needs.

    RGS is the official Reprographic vendor for the Clark County School District (CCSD).

    – – – – – – – – –

    On RGS’ web-site, there’s a list of major projects and major customers presently or previously served by Keith’s companies. Included are customers and projects of Keith’s Singapore company, Keith’s AL, LO and MS companies, and Keith’s first Las Vegas company. It’s a very interesting list of very high-profile companies and projects, and you can view this impressive list by clicking on this link:

    http://www.rgsgroup.net/content/view/5/3/

    From the “Company History” …..

    Keith Holding, as a young man, entered into the reprographics industry by starting a London-based reprographics operation in 1976. Early successes resulted in rapid growth throughout London and progressed into other major cities nationwide. LDO Ltd UK became the first of many companies that Keith would groom into a successful business.

    In 1993, the company reached across the Atlantic to further expand its operation to Las Vegas, NV, a (then) rising U.S. metropolis with an emerging construction boom. The company became the U.S. arm of Keith’s successful reprographics venture.

    In 1995, an exciting opportunity presented itself through a joint venture project which featured an “on-site” facilities management setup in Hong Kong’s Chep Lap Kok airport, the largest civil engineering project in the world. This joint venture produced millions (of prints of) construction drawings and administered document control for the entire project from start to finish.

    In 1997, additional operations were established an investments made in Mobile, AL, New Orleans, LA and Biloxi, MS, namely LDO Ltd “ALM”.

    In January 2000, the company teamed up with Charrette, a leading U.S. international corporation, in order to continue with strategic acquisitions and growth ventures throughout the states of Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi.

    Following an extremely successful integration of the businesses, Keith Holding and his family relocated to Singapore (Asia) and, again, established a Reprographic and Color Digital Printing business. This company, which is still in existence today, Service Point Media Solutions (www.servicepoint.com.sg), has become the Singapore market leader in Digital Reprographic and Color Imaging/Printing with 24 hour operations and staffing levels in excess of 60 employees.

    After successfully establishing their base in Singapore, Keith Holding and his management team relocated back to Las Vegas, NV in order to facilitate a new acquisition. On July 1, 2005, RGS ReproGraphic Solutions (RGS) opened its doors.

    I found this information at http://www.akama.com:

    “About Mercury LDO” …..

    Mercury Blueprint and Supply Company was founded in 1954 by Joseph E. Robichaud who located his first shop on Main Street in downtown Las Vegas. “Robie’s” business philosophy was to provide the best customer service in town. He started the shop with three diazo machines and a photocopier. In 1985, Robie moved the shop to its present location at 2910 South Highland Drive, making the move to a much larger facility. He added a photo lab and additional diazo machines and expanded the supply and map side of the business. In 1990, Robie’s daughter Suzanne and son-in-law, Miguel Garcia acquired the company and began transitioning the company into the digital world. When Oce introduced the 9800, Mercury Blueprint recognized this new technology as the future of reprographics and purchased their first machine in Las Vegas in 1995. The digital revolution and plain paper conversion had begun, Mercury closed its photo lab in 1998 and phased out its large map business at the same time. After owning a series of successful reprographic firms in England, Ray Martin arrived in Las Vegas in 1992 and with his partner, opened LDO (London Drawing Office). Ray’s expertise in document management of major projects quickly earned his company the rights to such projects at The Bellagio, and The Venetian Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. In 1998, both Mercury Blueprint and Supply Company and LDO were acquired by American Reprographics Company , the largest reprographics company in the world. After one year, ARC, blended the two Las Vegas firms into one, forming the new Mercury LDO. The synergy of Mercury, LDO and ARC brought the latest technology to their customers, including PlanWell, the world’s largest on-line planroom. In 2002 Mercury LDO became a fully digital shop, replacing diazo prints with crisp digital bond copies, T1 bandwidth for digital transmissions, and an easy to use Electronic Work Order system. The same commitment to quality over the past 50 years remain the hallmark of Mercury-LDO today. With the addition of PlanWell online planrooms, Mercury LDO’s superior services, and an easy-to-use digital work order process, 9 convenient locations and ARC affiliates in more than 300 locations, Mercury LDO now serves both traditional and digital markets with equal priority, efficiency and quality that our customers deserve and expect. Welcome to Mercury LDO. We appreciate your business. Thank you from Mercury-LDO!

    Joel’s comments about Keith’s ventures/adventures:

    If you read the “company history”, you likely noticed that it’s all about Keith Holding.

    As to the LDO operation that Keith was with in the United Kingdom….Keith’s history, as stated on RGS’ web-site, says this, “LDO Ltd UK became the first of many companies that Keith would groom into a successful business.” It doesn’t go on to say what happened to LDO UK. Perhaps LDO UK was sold to another company? Another reprographics company, at the time called UDO (I think that stood for United Drawing Office) and which later, via a name change, became Service Point UK, may have purchased Keith’s LDO UK business, but I’m not sure about that. (Perhaps one of our UK visitors, or Keith himself, could clarify that point.) UDO (not to be confused with LDO) was founded in 1919.

    As to the LDO operation in Las Vegas (Keith’s first business in Las Vegas), after I read the LDO/Mercury “story” that I found on akama.com, I found myself wondering, “why did that story mention Ray Martin but not Keith Holding?” The story did mention that Ray Martin came from the U.K. to Las Vegas and it did mention that Ray had “a partner”, but it did not say that Keith Holding was Ray’s partner. And, when I read the “Company History” that’s on RGS’ web-site, while it does talk about Keith founding LDO in Vegas, it does not mention that he did that with a partner (who, evidently, was Ray Martin.) Anyway, LDO was sold to American Reprographics Co (ARC), around the same time that ARC purchased Mercury Reprographics. Not very long after ARC purchased those two Las Vegas companies, they were merged together. (Does anyone happen to know what happened to Ray Martin? Is he still with the ARC operation in Las Vegas?)

    As to the LDO operation that was active in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi, Keith sold that operation (those businesses) to Charette (the use of the phrase, “teamed up with” is, I think, stretching it just a wee bit!) For those of you who are not familiar with Charrette, Charrette was a Boston-based company that operated two different business segments; Reprographics (referred to as Charrette ProGraphics) and Supplies (simply referred to as “Charrette”). Charrette ProGraphics was sold to Service Point Solutions (the Spain-based public company). So, Service Point’s USA Division (which is still based in the Boston area) was formerly known as Charrette ProGraphics. Keith sold the LDO AL, MS, LA operation to Charrette in 2000. Subsequently, Charrette (or it may have been called Service Point at the time) later sold those operations to another company. (I guess Service Point decided that doing business in the deep South was not a good fit, culturally speaking.)

    As to the LDO operation in Singapore that Keith founded, well, first let me say that I love Asian food (all Asian food), so I would have enjoyed participating with Keith in that venture/adventure. Yesterday, I attempted to visit that operation’s web-site, but found that it was “under construction” (“new and exciting services coming your way soon.”) On that web-site, it does show logos for both the Service Point Media Solutions company and the RGS company in Las Vegas. Sounds like Keith still owns the company in Singapore. (Looks like Keith is still getting lots of frequent flyer miles!) Although at first glance, the name of Keith’s company in Singapore makes it look like that company is part of Service Point Solutions’ operations (I’m referring to SPS based in Barcelona, Spain), I don’t think that Keith’s company, SPMS, is part of SPS’ operations. Just sounds like it is.

    As to Keith’s second venture/adventure in Las Vegas, RGS was founded in July 2005. If Keith did agree to a “covenant not to compete” with ARC when he sold LDO to ARC in 1998, that CNTC would have been well over and done with by July 2005. But the timing of the opening of RGS in Vegas may not have been fortuitous for Keith; design/development/construction in Vegas was booming at the time (and that boom continued for at least to more years), but, as most of us are well aware, the A/E/C Industry in the greater Las Vegas area was hit very hard during the Great Recession. Well, thinking positively, perhaps all of the Vegas area Reprographers earned so much money during the boom time that they are comfortably coasting through the downturn. I hope that’s the case.

    One thing’s for sure, Keith’s venture/adventures – working for and opening businesses on three different continents – qualify him as one of the reprographics industry’s most adventurous spirits and interesting characters.

    RGS’ web-site is at this Internet address:

    http://www.rgsgroup.net

  • ABC IMAGING OFFICIALLY CONFIRMS DEAL TO ACQUIRE NOVA BLUE REPROGRAPHICS’ ASSETS AND OPERATIONS

    PRESS RELEASE ISSUED TODAY BY ABC IMAGING:

    ABC Imaging purchases Nova Blue assets at 3 locations

    Acquisition of Nova Blue assets strengthens ABC Imaging’s operations in Northern Virginia. Company agrees to purchase 3 hubs—including Nova Blue’s Chantilly showroom – located near active and long-term construction projects.

    Washington, DC—December 29, 2011—ABC Imaging, a Washington, DC- based printing and document technology company, announced today that it has agreed to purchase the assets of three locations from Nova Blue, a reprographics and surveyors’ supply company headquartered in Chantilly, VA. ABC Imaging will acquire the assets and assume operation of Nova Blue’s Chantilly, Manassas, and Herndon locations.

    “Nova Blue has a long history in our area,” said Medi Falsafi, President and CEO of ABC Imaging. “Like ABC Imaging they started with a strong commitment to customer service. We will certainly continue to meet the expectations of Nova Blue’s customers.”

    In business since 1950, the company (Nova Blue) has been operated by Richard “Dick” Bartlett and his family since 1965. When Mr. Bartlett purchased the company it was renamed the Northern Virginia Blueprint and Supply Co. or Nova Blue.

    Formerly a surveyor, Mr. Bartlett sold surveyor supplies and equipment as well as technical drafting supplies and equipment. ABC Imaging managers said that they expect to continue to offer supplies and equipment from Nova Blue’s Chantilly showroom.

    “Construction continues to boom in Northern Virginia,” Mr. Falsafi said referring to construction of the Washington Metro Silver Line to Dulles Airport and numerous commercial projects in the Tyson’s Corners area. “Acquiring these assets from a company with a strong reputation works to our advantage as the area continues to grow.”

    ABC Imaging expects to complete the purchase of the Nova Blue assets by December 31.

    About ABC Imaging

    From its headquarters in Washington, DC and more than 30 locations worldwide, ABC Imaging (www.abcimaging.com) provides full-service, on-site solutions for document management, printing, scanning, archiving, and back-office support. ABC Imaging’s industry-leading technology includes innovative office service software easily customized to support a variety of vertical business models. ABC Imaging seamlessly integrates its technology and systems with most accounting and ERP systems. Our mission—“Impress Every Client, Every Time.”

    Contact Information

    Timothy Sachs

    Senior Vice President

    ABC Imaging

    202.429-8870 x144

    tsachs@abcimaging.com

    Corporate Headquarters • 1155 21st Street, NW • Suite M400 • Washington, DC 20036 • Phone 202.429.8870 • www.abcimaging.com

    PRESS RELEASE © Copyright 2011 ABC Imaging

  • Who's on your team who should probably not be on your team?

    An interesting and, I think, thought-provoking article from Business Week (article was published sometime around Nov 8, 2011)

    “Three Types of People to Fire Immediately”

    Want a more innovative company? Get rid of these folks. Today!

    By G. Michael Maddock and Raphael Louis Vitón

    We (your authors) teach our children to work hard and never, ever give up. We teach them to be grateful, to be full of wonder, to expect good things to happen, and to search for literal and figurative treasure on every beach, in every room, and in every person.

    But some day, when the treasure hunt is over, we’ll also teach them to fire people. Why? After working with the most inventive people in the world for two decades, we’ve discovered the value of a certain item in the leadership toolbox: the pink slip.

    Show of hands: How many of you out there in Innovationland have gotten the “what took you so long?” question from your staff when you finally said goodbye to a teammate who was seemingly always part of problems instead of solutions?

    We imagine a whole bunch of hands. (Yep, ours went up, too.)

    These people—and we going to talk about three specific types in a minute—passive-aggressively block innovation from happening and will suck the energy out of any organization.

    When confronted with any of the following three people—and you have found it impossible to change their ways, say goodbye.

    1. The Victims


    “Can you believe what they want us to do now? And of course we have no time to do it. I don’t get paid enough for this. The boss is clueless.”

    Victims are people who see problems as occasions for persecution rather than challenges to overcome. We all play the role of victim occasionally, but for some, it has turned into a way of life. These people feel persecuted by humans, processes, and inanimate objects with equal ease—they almost seem to enjoy it. They are often angry, usually annoyed, and almost always complaining. Just when you think everything is humming along perfectly, they find something, anything, to complain about. At Halloween parties, they’re Eeyore, the gloomy, pessimistic donkey from the Winnie the Pooh stories—regardless of the costume they choose.

    Victims aren’t looking for opportunities; they are looking for problems. Victims can’t innovate.

    So if you want an innovative team, you simply can’t include victims. Fire the victims. (Note to the HR department: Victims are also the most likely to feel the company has maliciously terminated them regardless of cause. They will often go looking for someone—anyone—who will agree that you have treated them unjustly. Lawyers are often left to play this role. So have your documentation in order before you let victims go, because chances are you will hear from their attorneys.

    2. The Nonbelievers

    
“Why should we work so hard on this? Even if we come up with a good idea, the boss will probably kill it. If she doesn’t, the market will. I’ve seen this a hundred times before.”

    We love the Henry Ford quote: “If you think you can or think you cannot, you are correct.” The difference between the winning team that makes industry-changing innovation happen and the losing one that comes up short is a lack of willpower. Said differently, the winners really believed they could do it, while the losers doubted it was possible.

    In our experience, we’ve found the link between believing and succeeding incredibly powerful and real. Great leaders understand this. They find and promote believers within their organizations. They also understand the cancerous effect that nonbelievers have on a team and will cut them out of the organization quickly and without regret.

    If you are a leader who says your mission is to innovate, but you have a staff that houses nonbelievers, you are either a lousy leader or in denial. Which is it? You deserve the staff you get. Terminate the nonbelievers.

    3. The Know-It-Alls
“

    “You people obviously don’t understand the business we are in. The regulations will not allow an idea like this, and our stakeholders won’t embrace it. Don’t even get me started on our IT infrastructure’s inability to support it. And then there is the problem of ….”

    The best innovators are learners, not knowers. The same can be said about innovative cultures; they are learning cultures. The leaders who have built these cultures, either through intuition or experience, know that in order to discover, they must eagerly seek out things they don’t understand and jump right into the deep end of the pool. They must fail fearlessly and quickly and then learn and share their lessons with the team. When they behave this way, they empower others around them to follow suit—and presto, a culture of discovery is born and nurtured.

    In school, the one who knows the most gets the best grades, goes to the best college, and gets the best salary. On the job, the person who can figure things out the quickest is often celebrated. And unfortunately, it is often this smartest, most-seasoned employee who eventually becomes expert in using his or her knowledge to explain why things are impossible rather than possible.

    This employee should be challenged, retrained, and compensated for failing forward. But if this person’s habits are too deeply ingrained to change, you must let him or her go. Otherwise, this individual will unwittingly keep your team from seeing opportunity right under your noses. The folks at Blockbuster didn’t see Netflix‘s (NFLX) ascendancy. The encyclopedia companies didn’t see Google (GOOG) coming. But the problem of expert blindness existed well before the Internet.

    Two of our favorites from rinkworks.com: “This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us.” —Western Union internal memo, 1876.

    And “The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?” —David Sarnoff’s associates in response to his urgings for investment in the radio in the 1920s.

    At one point in his career, Thomas A. Edison had dozens of inventors working for him at the same time. He charged each with the task of failing forward and sharing the learning from each discovery. All of them needed to believe that they were part of something big. You want the same sort of people.

    You don’t want the victims, nonbelievers, or know-it-alls. It is up to you to make sure they take their anti-innovative outlooks elsewhere.

    G. Michael Maddock is chief executive, and Raphael Louis Vitón is president of Maddock Douglas, an innovation consultancy that helps clients invent, brand, and launch new products, services, and business models. Maddock is author of the upcoming book Brand New: Solving the Innovation Paradox—How Great Brands Invent and Launch New Products, Services, and Business Models (Wiley, April 2011).

  • What’s the employment-attitude of Reprographers ….. at this moment in time?

    I subscribe to Morningstar Research (“MR”), and, this afternoon, I found this note in an e-mail I received from MR …..

    “Stateside, CareerBuilder reported in its annual survey that only 25% of employers plan to hire full-time workers in 2012, the same percentage expected for 2011. However, the company also noted that hiring managers tend to be more pessimistic when surveyed than they are in practice.”

    Down below the tables, you’ll find the complete article that the above note referred to.

    Since the note about Career Builder’s Survey appeared while we are in the middle of conducting a Survey of Reprographers and because we asked two questions in our survey that deal with the “employment attitude” (at least “as of this moment in time”) of Reprographers, we thought we’d share with you what Reprographers are thinking…. so that you can compare these (preliminary) survey results with the results that Career Builder published.

    From the Survey of Reprographers:

    At this time, are you planning to add employees in 2012?

    Answer Options:

    Response Percent, so far

    Yes

    42.90%

    No

    28.60%

    Don’t know yet

    28.60%

    From the Survey of Reprographers:

    At this time, are you planning to lay-off employees in 2012?

    Answer Options:

    Response Percent, so far

    Yes

    14.30%

    No

    71.40%

    Don’t know yet

    3.00%

    Here’s the complete article about the Career Builder Survey:

    US Hiring Seen Cautious, Improving Slowly

    12-28-11 7:25 AM EST

    By Ben Fox Rubin, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-3108; ben.rubin@dowjones.com

    Hiring should remain cautious through 2012, as one in four employers expect to bring on new full-time workers next year, same as in 2011, according to employment company CareerBuilder’s annual survey.

    But CareerBuilder Chief Executive Matt Ferguson said its surveys often find that employers are more cautious in their predictions than their actual hiring practices, leading CareerBuilder to believe that 2012 will be a better year for hiring than this year.

    “Many companies have been operating lean and have already pushed productivity limits,” Ferguson said. “We’re likely to see gradual improvements in hiring across categories as companies respond to increased market demands.”

    The employment survey included about 3,000 hiring managers and human resources professionals across industries and company sizes. About 23% of those surveyed expect to hire full-time workers, relatively unchanged from 24% for 2011. About 7% plan to lower their headcount, same as this year, while 59% anticipate no changes in their staffing levels. The rest said they were unsure.

    Small businesses are reporting more confidence in both hiring and retaining employees, a trend that is likely to boost hiring in 2012.

    CareerBuilder also said it expects compensation for skilled positions will rise next year, as recruiting for skilled talent becomes more competitive.

    Voluntary turnover should also continue to rise, as employers reported more workers saying they desired higher compensation or felt overworked. About 30% of employers said they lost top performers to other organizations in 2011, and 43% said they are concerned their top talent may go elsewhere in 2012.