Reprographics 101

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  • Service Point Solutions – in the black, or in the red?

    On May 9th, 2011, Service Point Solutions (the public company based in Spain ad the parent company of Service Point USA) issued a press release titled …..

    ……. “Service Point back in the black”

    9 May 2011 – Service Point Solutions SA (ticker: SPS.MC) registered growth in all its key income statement headings in 1Q11. The first-quarter release marks the company’s return to profits.

    In that press release, SPS also said …..

    …… “The company expects to post over €20 million in EBITDA in 2011”

    Recently, we did a post about SPS’ Financial Results Report for the first half of 2011. For the first half of 2011, SPS reported a bottom-line loss (meaning, net “loss” instead of net “income”. (We clarified with SPS’ contact person in Spain that “BDI” stands for “Net Income”.)

    From that first half report, here’s a quick snapshot of SPS’ first-half performance

    in Spanish

    in English

    1st Half 2011

    Ventas

    Sales

    € 110,554

    Margen Bruto

    Gross Margin

    € 70,694

    EBITDA

    EBITDA

    € 9,238

    EBIT

    EBIT

    € 4,281

    BDI

    Net Income (Loss)

    -€ 576

    I guess SPS could have issued a press release, after or when it released its first-half 2011 results, titled “Service Point back in the red”, for when you get down to it – meaning down to the bottom line (net income or loss), the bottom-line number was red, not black.

    In order for SPS to achieve EBITDA of 20 mil (Euros) for the full year 2011, SPS’ performance is going to have to pick up in the 2nd half, compared to the 1st half, for first half 2011 EBITDA was less than half of the 20 mil projection. Perhaps the inclusion of recently acquired Holmbergs (Sweden) will help SPS get to the 20 mil EBITDA number. One question in my mind, will the second half see SPS truly return “to the black”?

  • Quick Profile: Premier Reprographics, San Diego, CA

    Premier Reprographics

    9178 Chesapeake Drive

    San Diego, CA 92123

    O: 858-467-1200

    F: 858-467-1206

    Premier is a full service reprographics company operating in the San Diego, CA market area. Apparently, the do not offer an e-planroom service.

    I came across this firm when I was doing some Google research on reviews (customer reviews) of reprographics companies in the U.S. Below, I mention only one of the positive reviews I found about Premier.

    This is the kind of review all reprographers want! (I found this review on yelp.com)

    Reviewer: Alexis K, San Diego, Rating: 5 stars!

    4/26/2011

    I wish I could add more stars!

I am a small business owner and have printed with Premier for over a year now. Printing is a huge necessity in my profession and was ecstatic when I finally found a reprographics that I could stick with. Where do I begin on why they deserve 5+ stars:

    1. Lu, co-owner, is friendly and he actually takes pride in everything that he prints. I have never had a faulty print or a color mis-match. Everyone at Premier does whatever they can to make sure that the print job is done right. Lu and everyone who works there offer the best customer service!

    2. The only place I know that is open late (until 7pm) and open on Saturdays and do not charge extra. Like others in my profession, we work up until the last minute and print right before our deadline. I will send a file to be printed and then call to let them know that it needs to be rushed and that I will be picking up the order in 15 minutes (at 6:50pm). Or I have needed something printed at 7am Saturday morning. They are terrific and not once did I ever hear them complain about my demanding orders :)



    3. Affordable! No matter what you are printing, they will beat any other reprographics. I have printed at OCB and Mesa, but unfortunately they do not even come close to Premier’s affordability and quality.

    4. Quality: Premier is stocked with all the printing equipment and tools to get the job done right (yes, I have snooped around their printing room). No print job is too small or too big. Clients range from nation wide companies to small companies or individuals like myself. They always provide test prints and if you are a frequent customer, they will save all of your printing preferences. Like others, they also have an FTP where you can upload your files to print or you can just email them. 



    5. Delivery / Location. I prefer their new location in Kearny Mesa over Mission Valley because they are close to many of my consultants and they are on the way to downtown from where I work. I never needed their delivery service on a consistent basis, however they did provide a rush delivery for me because I forgot a set of prints.

If you are in need of printing a single photo or fifty sets of plans or a six foot sign, I would recommend Premier Reprographics for all your printing needs because they actually know what they are doing and understand what you are looking for (unlike Staples or those 24 hour places that just give you blank stares in return), while still providing excellent customer service!

  • Congratulations to Kevin Murphy on his appointment as President & CEO of Onyx Graphics

    Like most reprographers in the U.S., I first met Kevin when he was in management with OCE’s USA WFPS group, based in Chicago. He visited us several times at our HQ’s in Tampa, FL. (Florida is a great place to visit when you live in Chicago, especially in the wintertime!) Working with Kevin was always a delightful experience. It was easy to observe his passion for business and for helping OCE’s dealers be successful. After that stint, Kevin relocated to OCE HQ’s in Venlo. I visited Kevin in Venlo and, while there, he introduced me to the OCE ColorWave 600. That was in late January 2008, a few months before OCE officially launched the OCE ColorWave 600 system. (Remarkable printing technology.) Kevin was instrumental in the very successful launch of that system, and, for that mater, other new OCE systems. Kevin was in Venlo for several years, but, earlier this year, relocated back to the U.S. and rejoined OCE’s USA management team.

    Please join me in wishing Kevin Murphy the best of luck and success in his role as President & CEO of Onyx Graphics.

    Here’s the Press Release…..

    SALT LAKE CITY, Oct. 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ —

    ONYX Graphics, Inc., a leader in wide format digital printing workflow solutions, today announced that Kevin M. Murphy has been named President and Chief Executive Officer.

    Mr. Murphy brings to ONYX Graphics a wealth of international experience in business management in the printing and imaging industries. He comes to ONYX Graphics from Oce North America (a Canon Group company), where he currently serves as Vice President, Commercial Excellence. In this role, Mr. Murphy has been leading U.S. and European regional commercial transformation of the company’s sales, pricing, and marketing organizations.

    He has held progressive management positions at Oce including International Marketing Director of the Wide Format Printing Systems (WFPS) strategic business unit, based at Oce headquarters in Venlo, the Netherlands. At Oce headquarters, he was instrumental in implementing a successful re-alignment of the worldwide marketing strategy at WFPS.

    Prior to that, Mr. Murphy served as Vice President, Sales for Oce North America’s Wide Format Printing division, where he was responsible for revenue generation, operating profit, channel strategy and management of 150 employees nationwide.

    His early career included progressive management roles, both domestically and internationally, in the Office Imaging division at Eastman Kodak Company.

    Mr. Murphy holds a master’s degree in business administration (MBA) from Georgia State University, and a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Southern California. He will be based at ONYX Graphics headquarters in Salt Lake City, UT.

    About ONYX Graphics, Inc.

    ONYX Graphics, Inc. helps companies improve their bottom line results by reducing printing costs and increasing productivity. ONYX develops and markets commercial printing software and solutions for the digital color printing marketplace. By combining color science, image processing and print production knowledge, ONYX delivers powerful, reliable printing workflow solutions.

    “ONYX” and the ONYX logo are registered trademarks of ONYX Graphics, Inc. All product and company names are trademarks or registered trademarks and are the property of their owners and are respectfully acknowledged.

  • OCE Introduces the ColorWAVE 600 Poster Printer (???)

    I think I must be a little slow.

    I don’t understand the difference between an OCE ColorWave 600 and an OCE ColorWave 600 “Poster Printer”. If my memory serves me correctly, OCE released the OCE ColorWave 600 system approximately 3 ½ years ago.

    Is there a difference? And, if so, what’s the difference?

    From a press release on OCEUSA.com

    Océ North America introduces the Océ ColorWave 600 Poster Printer

    Highly productive and cost-effective way to produce posters for digital print providers, retailers and offset printers

    New Orleans, Oct. 19, 2011 – Océ, a Canon Group Company and an international leader in digital document management and printing for professionals, today announced that the Océ ColorWave® 600 Poster Printer is now available in the United States. This system produces short-term, retail-quality, brilliant color prints at production speeds. The Océ ColorWave 600 Poster Printer is on display in the Océ booth #1519 at the Specialty Graphic & Imaging Association’s (SGIA) annual convention and exposition held October 19-21 in New Orleans.

    Designed for cost-effective, high production poster printing, the Océ ColorWave 600 Poster Printer uses patented Océ CrystalPoint® imaging technology to produce instantly dry, water-resistant prints that are cut-to-size and ready for immediate use. Up to six rolls of media from 11 to 42 inches wide can be loaded into the printer at one time, so the system is ready to produce posters of varying widths or media types, eliminating the need to change media between jobs and the need to manually trim standard sized jobs.

    Shifting the production of posters from traditional inkjet printers to the Océ ColorWave 600 Poster Printer reduces labor per print and media costs. Operators can be freed up for other tasks, since the system can run unattended at full production speed and, with the roll-to-sheet feature, no manual trimming is required for standard sized jobs. The Océ ColorWave 600 Poster Printer reduces media costs as well. It delivers high quality prints on a range of media from inexpensive uncoated bond paper to specialty media.

  • HP unveils iOS ePrint and Share app for large-format plans

    Friday, October 21, 2011

    Press release from the issuing company

    Bringing easy large-format printing and the instant sharing of plans to design professionals wherever they work, HP today unveiled a new HP ePrint & Share mobile application for the iPhone, iPad® or iPod touch®.

    HP ePrint & Share is a printing and sharing tool that allows designers in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry to easily locate and access large-format plans on the cloud. This makes it easy to share these files with team members regardless of file size and format, and to adjust page layouts, preview print pages and create print-ready files.

    With the new mobile application, large-format plans are always available from any iOS-based device, enabling users to:

    — Print to any web-connected HP Designjet ePrinter while on the go, whether in a taxi, at the airport or on a construction site.

    — Easily access and view the latest project documents stored in their HP ePrint & Share library at any time.

    — Share designs with remote project teams and seamlessly collaborate with design partners around the world – wherever the job takes them.

    “AEC design professionals are highly mobile, constantly moving between the office, the job site and offices of partners and clients,” said Santiago Morera, vice president and general manager, Designjet Large-Format Solutions, HP. “The new HP ePrint & Share mobile application allows designers to view, print and share the designs that are critical to their business, wherever they may be.”

    Simplifying the printing and sharing of large-format files

    In addition to the new remote printing capabilities, HP’s award-winning ePrint & Share tool simplifies large-format printing by allowing users to print without installing drivers or opening applications.

    With the HP ePrint & Share plug-in for AutoCAD, users also can access the tool directly from Autodesk’s industry-leading AutoCAD design and documentation application and create print-ready files with just one click.

    New this fall, users can print from HP ePrint & Share to HP LaserJet printers to get A3/B+ and large-format prints in the same printing workflow.

    “For us, technology is not only a tool to materialize ideas, but an important partner in a creative process that demands a high degree of mobility,” said Matias del Campo, principal, SPAN Architecture and Design. “Using the HP ePrint & Share mobile application while we are on the go is a very powerful tool for us to communicate with all parties involved in a project, ensuring that the plans we are working from are the most current and keeping the design process flowing smoothly and efficiently.”

    HP ePrint & Share is available at no additional cost as a download for HP Designjet customers. The mobile application is initially available at no additional cost as a launch offer through Apple’s App Store. The HP ePrint & Share mobile application enables remote printing to any web-connected HP Designjet printer, including the HP Designjet T2300 eMFP and the HP Designjet T1300 and T790 ePrinters.

    More information about the latest additions to the HP Designjet portfolio is available at www.hp.com/go/simplify. More information on HP ePrint & Share is available at www.hp.com/go/eprintandshare. Videos and updates on HP Designjet are available on Facebook at www.facebook.com/HPdesigners, on Twitter at twitter.com/hpgraphicarts and on YouTube at www.youtube.com/hpgraphicarts.

  • Stadium Capital continues building its position in ARC shares (information updated through Oct 17, 2011)

    On October 1st, 2011, I posted a fairly detailed (long-winded) note on this blog about Stadium Capital’s continuing purchases of shares in ARC. Today’s post won’t be as detailed as the last post. All I’m going to do today is provide an update on additional shares purchased since the last update.

    Stadium Capital continues building its position in American Reprographics Co (ARC) shares (information updated for purchases through October 17, 2011)

    Since August 23, 2011, which was when Stadium Capital first filed SEC Forms 3 and 4 to indicate it had become a 10% or more holder of ARC shares, Stadium Capital has purchased, through October 17th, 2011, an additional 512,225 shares, bringing its total share ownership to 5,158,546 shares, which figure represents approximately 11.16% of ARC’s total outstanding shares. Stadium Capital paid $1,865,572.00 for these 5,158,546 additional shares.

    Stadium Capital’s average cost per share, for ARC shares purchased from August 23rd through October 17th, works out to $3.64 per share. The closing price of ARC shares on October 20th, 2011 was $3.79 per share.

    Recent Form 4 filings with the SEC reveal these purchases – from August 23rd, 2011 through October 17th, 2011.

    Transaction Date

    Purchase Price

    # of Shares Purchased

    # of shares owned, after purchase

    %age of O/S Stock Owned

    8/23/11

    $3.79

    30,600

    4,676,921

    10.12%

    8/24/11

    $3.88

    17,991

    4,694,912

    10.16%

    8/25/11

    $3.80

    244,000

    4,938,912

    10.69%

    9/2/11

    $3.54

    29,315

    4,968,227

    10.75%

    9/6/11

    $3.45

    1,833

    4,970,060

    10.75%

    9/8/11

    $3.57

    6,591

    4,976,651

    10.77%

    9/9/11

    $3.49

    11,641

    4,988,292

    10.79%

    9/12/11

    $3.54

    17,256

    5,005,548

    10.83%

    9/20/11

    $3.56

    13,737

    5,019,285

    10.86%

    9/21/11

    $3.50

    9,170

    5,028,455

    10.88%

    9/26/11

    $3.47

    5,500

    5,033,955

    10.89%

    9/28/11

    $3.33

    27,524

    5,061,479

    10.95%

    9/29/11

    $3.29

    22,203

    5,083,682

    11.00%

    9/30/11

    $3.35

    41,019

    5,124,701

    11.09%

    10/3/11

    $3.20

    18,348

    5,143,049

    11.13%

    10/17/11

    $3.64

    15,497

    5,158,546

    11.16%

  • AIA ABI Index for September 2011 slumps to 46.9, reversing course from last month's score

    Architecture billings index switches course and heads downward in September

    An article at www.housingwire.com, posted yesterday….

    by KERRY CURRY

    Wednesday, October 19th, 2011, 9:43 am

    Following the first positive score in four months, the Architecture Billings Index reversed direction in September.

    The ABI, an economic indicator of future building activity, reflects the approximate nine- to 12-month lag time between architecture billings and construction spending.

    The American Institute of Architects reported a September ABI score of 46.9, down from 51.4 in August. Any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings. The score reflects a sharp decrease in demand for design services, AIA said. The new projects inquiry index was 54.3, down from a reading of 56.9 the previous month.

    “It appears that the positive conditions seen last month were more of an aberration,” said AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker. “The economy is weak enough at present that design activity is bouncing around more than usual; one strong month can be followed by a weak one. The economy needs to be stronger to generate sustained growth in design activity.”

    The index recorded the following regional averages: Midwest (51), Northeast (50.8), South (47.3) and West (46.7).

    Commercial/industrial was the strongest sector coming in at 52.4, followed by mixed practice (50), institutional (48.0) and multifamily residential (46.4).

    The regional and sector categories are calculated as a three-month moving average, whereas the index and inquiries are monthly numbers.

    The ABI is sent to a panel of AIA member-owned firms. Participants are asked whether their billings increased, decreased or stayed the same in the month that just ended as compared to the prior month.

  • Make Scanning the Beginning of Your Revenue Stream…

    Ideal announces Webinar:

    LEARN HOW YOU CAN EARN RESIDUAL INCOME WITH DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT IN THE CLOUD

    JOIN OUR WEBINAR – OCTOBER 25, 1:00 pm Eastern

    PRESENTED BY IDEAL-CLOUD powered by kloudtrack ® Become part of the #1 strategic technology for 2011-2012.

    To attend this Event, sign up here

    http://info.ideal.com/become-an-ideal-cloud-residual-income-agent-ria/

  • 27 Reasons Not to Have an OnSite Service

    For those of you who don’t sell FM services (OnSite service), but are planning to, or for those of you who do offer FM services, but haven’t yet figured out how to effectively “pitch” FM services, or for those of you who do offer FM services, and who are always interested in seeing how others “pitch” their FM services, here’s a document that may be of interest to you, a document I found while doing some Google research.

    This document (which I’ve placed in my Google Docs library, and you will later see a link to take you to the document) was, evidently, prepared sometime after ARC acquired Imaging Technologies (the Atlanta-based reprographics operation formerly owned by Carter Pope), but before ARC rebranded all of its operating companies to the ARC name. For one thing, ARC now has over 5,000 FM’s (the number of FM’s stated in the document, 3,500, is seriously out of date.)

    Before you read the document, I’d like to make a few comments.

    The document speaks heavily of creating a “profit center” for the A/E customer. That point is made over and over, throughout the document. Note that not all A/E firms are reimbursable by their clients for reprographics expenses; whether clients are obligated to reimburse an A/E firm is a matter of the A/E firm’s policy and practice. Yes, I am fully aware that the “standard” form of (AIA) agreement between an Owner and Architect, contains paragraphs that deal with the Architect’s right to be reimbursed for reprographics expenses. But, not all A/E firms use that standard AIA form, and, even some that do use that form (as their contract), strike through the “reimbursement” provision. Like I said, it is a matter of policy, and each individual A/E firm sets its own policy. To go further on this point, some A/E firms that do include “reimbursement entitlement” in their Owner/Architect agreements, take very seriously the word “reimbursement”. Reimbursement, to an accountant (and, by background, I am a CPA), means just that, “reimbursement” – meaning reimbursement for “cost.” In order for an A/E firm to generate a profit on in-house (or out-of-house) reprographics output, that firm would need to charge its clients a higher price (for various reprographics services) than the A/E firm, itself, is being charged by the FM vendor. In other words, their has to be a spread between the actual price the A/E firm incurs and the actual price the end (Owner) client is charged. To some A/E firms, reimbursement means reimbursement. While to other A/E firms, reimbursement means cost plus profit. Years ago, I had two meetings with FM prospects on the same day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. At the morning meeting (at an Architecture firm), the owner of the Architecture firm said, “no way we will want to earn a profit from our clients on the reprographics work we do for them; we are only entitled to recover “actual” cost with a small percentage mark-up, per our client agreements.” In the afternoon, the business manager of the A/E firm had a completely different take on things. He loved the idea of turning his in-house reprographics output into a “profit center”. These two different firms were in the same city, and, it is (was) highly likely that both firms did projects for the same clients. Anyway, as I said, some A/E firms like the idea of earning profits on reprographics, but some do not. Beyond that, reimbursement is not the only issue. Most A/E firms, even if they are not entitled to reimbursement or don’t want to be reimbursed for reprographics output, still want to be able to “account” for cost on a project by project basis, simply so they will have a good handle on the “bottom line” profit (or loss) on each project. They can’t know their real bottom line profit (or loss) if they aren’t accounting for all costs. Reprographics expenses are a cost.

    Okay, now that I’ve said all that, open up the document and read how this reprographics firm “pitches” its FM service. I’ve not posted this document because I agree 100% with what’s said. Quite frankly, I hardly ever agree with 100% of what someone says.

    Link to document:

    http://tinyurl.com/64y8qyy

  • HP's Ed McCarthy on expanding your business with wide format

    Yes, I’m aware that this video (see link below, and there’s also a written transcript, if you want to read the Q&A interview instead of listening to it) first appeared in April, but it is still very relevant today, so I’m posting a link to it, see below.

    To me – given my background as a reprographer – the most interesting thing about “wide-format” (or “large-format”, if you prefer that term) is that “reprographers” were the first “sub-industry” (within the greater Printing and Graphics Industry) to offer “wide-format” digital printing services. We did that back in the 1980’s – for plotting drawings from A/E firms – and, after the first color RIP was developed and married to an electrostatic color plotter (I think that was the Cactus system), reprographers began to offer large-format digital COLOR prints. That happened right around 1990 or 1991, if I’m recalling the time-frame correctly. So, when the A/E/C reprographics industry was in recession, back around that time, reprographers had something new to offer (wide-format color printing) to customers who were not in the A/E/C business. Later, color photo labs began to offer “digital” large-format color printing, rather than just photographic large-format color printing. And, later, copy shops all around the U.S. (if not the planet Earth) began to get large-format digital color printers, as did sign companies, such as Fastsigns. (Fastsigns hired Jeff Youngblood to “roll-out” large-format digital color printing services; Jeff had formerly been the digital manager at Thomas Reprographics.) Inasmuch as the HP video appeared on “whattheythink.com”, which is a web-site primarly devoted to the “printing” industry (as opposed to the “reprographics” industry), don’t be surprised if many, many “offset” printers begin to offer wide-format digital color printing services (many are already doing that.) The wide-format digital color printing market is growing more crowded every month. Competition for wide-format digital color printing business has certainly had a negative (from the producer’s perspective, not from the customer’s perspective) impact on pricing. Oh well.

    HP’s Ed McCarthy on expanding your business with wide format

    Published on April 5, 2011

    Everyone is looking for a competitive edge and growing their business further. Ed McCarthy, HP’s Large Format Marketing Manager, shares the secret of how to make the decision to grow your business in the large format world.

    http://whattheythink.com/video/view.cfm?id=49970&slug=hps-ed-mccarthy-expanding-your-business-wide-format