Reprographics 101

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

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  • Financial-related Press Release issued by Service Point Solutions on August 31st, 2011

    The Press Release was issued in a Spanish language version only (at least so far), and I used Google Translate to create an English language version of the Press Release. When you read the English language version (see down below), keep in mind that Google Translate does not work perfectly.

    PRESS RELEASE – IN SPANISH

    Service Point logra incrementar un 5% las ventas en el primer semestre del año

    • El EBITDA ha alcanzado los 9,2 millones de euros, lo que supone un 15% más que en el mismo periodo del 2010.

    • Uno de los elementos clave en ese aumento ha sido el comercio electrónico, que ya supone el 17% de las ventas de la compañía.

    • El grupo espera que para el año 2013 este canal suponga al menos el 30% de las ventas totales.

    31 de agosto de 2011 – Service Point Solutions SA (ticker: SPS.MC), ha cerrado el primer semestre del año con unas ventas que se han incrementado un 5% con respecto al mismo periodo del 2010, alcanzando los 110,5 millones de euros. Este aumento, unido al control de costes operativos llevados a cabo por la compañía, han logrado que el EBITDA se haya elevado hasta los 9,2 millones de euros, un 15% más que en el mismo semestre del año pasado. El Ebit alcanzó los 4,3 millones de euros, lo que implica una tasa de crecimiento cercana al 80% respecto al mismo periodo del año anterior.

    El crecimiento de los ingresos se debe principalmente al aumento de la actividad comercial del grupo en los mercados escandinavos (Noruega y Suecia) y centroeuropeos (Países Bajos y Alemania) donde se han obtenido tasas de crecimiento de doble dígito en las actividades consideradas estratégicas: canal de impresión online, impresión bajo demanda, foto-álbumes y gestión documental para el sector financiero.

    A pesar de estos buenos datos y de un entorno todavía débil, Service Point lleva desde 2008 ampliando sus líneas de negocio tradicionales. Una de esas actuaciones consiste en aumentar el peso específico del comercio electrónico dentro de los ingresos de la compañía.

    Service Point ha sabido identificar las ventajas de este canal y adaptarlas a su modelo de negocio. Dos claros ejemplos de esto son Zip-Poster en Reino Unido e Idekor en Noruega. Gracias a esta potenciación del comercio electrónico, la compañía ha logrado que en el primer semestre del año las ventas por este canal hayan superado los 17 millones de euros, lo que supone más de un 15% del total de las ventas de Service Point, comparado con un 6% para el mismo período del 2010.

    Este dato no hace más que reforzar las acciones que la compañía está llevando a cabo y que tienen como uno de los objetivos principales que en el año 2013 al menos el 30% de las ventas procedan del comercio electrónico.

    Service Point Solutions (www.servicepoint.net) es líder en gestión de documentos e información. Está presente en diversos sectores como son la arquitectura, ingeniería, construcción, corporativo, financiero, público y académico. Emplea a 2.400 personas en 9 países (Reino Unido, Estados Unidos, España, Alemania, Países Bajos, Bélgica, Noruega, Francia y Suecia) y tiene un total de 128 puntos de servicio en su red internacional, así como 794 programas de Facilites Management. Con sede central en España, SPS cotiza en la Bolsas de Valores de Madrid y Barcelona (símbolo: SPS.MC)

    Para más información:

    Service Point Solutions,

    S.A. Pablo Divasson del Fraile

    pablodivasson@servicepoint.net

    Tel +34 93 5082400 / Fax +34 93 5082442

    PRESS RELEASE – IN ENGLISH

    Service Point manages to increase sales by 5% in the first half of the year

    • EBITDA reached 9.2 million euros, representing a 15% increase over the same period of 2010.

    • One of the key elements of this increase has been e-commerce, which already accounts for 17% of sales the company.

    • The group hopes that by 2013 this channel contributes at least 30% of total sales.

    August 31, 2011 – Service Point Solutions SA (ticker: SPS.MC) has closed the first half of the year with sales have increased by 5% over the same period of 2010, reaching 110.5 million euros. This increase, coupled with cost control operations carried out by the company, have achieved the EBITDA has risen to 9.2 million euros, up 15% over the same period last year. EBIT amounted to EUR 4.3 million, implying a growth rate close to 80% over the same period last year.

    The revenue growth is mainly due to increased commercial activity of the group in the Scandinavian markets (Norway and Sweden) and Central (the Netherlands and Germany) where rates have been achieved double-digit growth in activities considered strategic: canal online print, print on demand, photo-albums and document management for the financial sector.

    Despite these data and a good environment remains weak, Service Point has since 2008 expanded its traditional business lines. One of these actions is to increase the specific gravity of electronic commerce within the company’s revenue.

    Service Point has been able to identify the advantages of this channel and adapt your business model. Two obvious examples are Zip-Poster Idekor in the UK and Norway. With this enhancement of electronic commerce, the company has achieved in the first half of this channel sales have exceeded 17 million euros, representing more than 15% of total sales Service Point, compared with 6% for the same period of 2010.

    This finding not only reinforces the actions that the company is carrying out and have one of the main objectives in 2013 at least 30% of sales come from e-commerce.

    Joel’s comments:

    Service Point generates a significant amount of its revenue from the A/E/C sector. Nonetheless, there is no mention of business conditions in that sector. Last week, when I was in Prague at an A/E/C conference, I met, and spoke for a while with, the managing director of a large Spain-based Architecture firm. He said conditions in Europe, in the A/E/C industry, are still quite difficult. His firm managed to reach out and win a very large project in Russia. His firm also has an office in Warsaw. Although his firm is based in Spain, he was unaware of Service Point Solutions. I guess SPS needs to do some additional marketing awareness work in Spain, SPS’ home country!

    In the Press Release, SPS does not mention “net income” (or “net loss”). Although SPS reports positive EBIT, that does not necessarily mean that SPS earned a bottom-line (i.e., “net profit”). It could well be that expenses for interest and taxes resulted in a bottom-line loss, instead of a profit. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see, when SPS gets around to posting is first half 2011 financial results reports.

  • Anne Arundel County Public Schools and Gardens Reprographics

    Anne Arundel County Public Schools (AACPS) has an agreement with Gardens Reprographics (Baltimore, MD) whereby Gardens hosts the plans and specs for AACPS’ “capital” (construction) projects and whereby prospective general contractors and sub-contractors, who want to purchase plans and specs, do so by ordering directly from Gardens.

    Here’s what appears on AAPCPS’ web-site, where it talks about the availability of, and ordering procedures for, plans and specs:

    To obtain a copy of the specifications and plans for capital projects, go to http://www.gardensrepro.com . To go to Garden Reprographics, Inc virtual plan room or production, email gardens@gardensrepro.com . AACPS will no longer issue plans and specifications for bidding. The first set of specifications and drawings are free to the contractor. Additional sets may be purchased from:

    Gardens Reprographics, Inc

    419 Saint Paul Place Baltimore, Maryland 21202

    www.gardensrepro.com

    Yes, it does say that “the first set of specifications and drawings are free to the contractor.” And, yes, it does say that, “additional sets may be purchased from Gardens”.

    The question is, who is incurring the cost for the first set that’s ‘free”? Could it be that AACPS is paying for the first set that’s free to contractors? Or, could it be that Gardens, itself, is incurring the cost of that first “free” set in exchange for the opportunity to print and sell additional sets?

    FYI, here’s a link to the document I found on AACPS’ web-site:

    http://tinyurl.com/3dal8os


    One of my ex-associates, Bill Sparwasser, a 30+ year veteran of the reprographics business and industry, is a V.P. of Gardens Reprographics.

  • State of Wisconsin had to replace its plan & spec printing contractor (vendor went out of business)

    I previously did a blog-post about a procurement by the State of Wisconsin for plan and spec printing services for State construction projects. I don’t recall exactly when it was that I did that previous blog-post, and I’m too lazy to look up when I did that post.

    Today’s post is a “follow-up” post of sorts. What happened? Well, the reprographics vendor the State awarded the work to …. went out of business! So, the State needed to quickly get a new reprographics vendor in place. The State just completed (I guess it was on September 2nd) the new procurement, which the State handled by the use of some sort of “quick bid” process. The State did issue a procurement document covering the specifics of the work and outlining how bidders were to bid on this procurement. I’ve placed a copy of the bid document in my Google Docs library, and you can access that document at this Internet address:

    http://tinyurl.com/3roptfg

    This was kind of an unusual bid, because of the way pricing had to be quoted. Bidders had to bid a “per square foot” unit price, a) for full-size printing and b) for half-size printing. All services associated with the work – including downloading files from the State’s web-site, preparing the files to print, printing, binding, wrapping, labeling and state-wide UPS shipping. Yes, that’s right, the unit price bid for printing had to include the cost of shipping! And, yes, the per-sq-ft unit price applied not just to “large-format” plans (full and half-size), but to specs as well.

    The awarded bidder was Mastergraphics. Based on the bid-abstract I looked at, Mastergraphics left a lot of money on the table. Perhaps the reason why the previous vendor went out of business was that it underestimated the cost it would incur for shipping costs?

  • Presentation at an AEC Conference in Prague

    Well, I just returned to the U.S. from Europe, where, on September 6th, I gave a presentation at an A/E/C conference in Prague (in The Czech Republic.) The conference was a one-day event.

    This conference was organized by a research firm that provides subscribers insights into current and projected A/E/C-industry activity in both the government sector and the private sector.

    Several government officials attended, and gave presentations during, the conference, including public officials from Waterworks, Transportation and Infrastructure agencies. Two real estate developers gave presentations at the conference. Several vendors (who sell products, software and services to the A/E/C Industry) gave presentations at the conference.

    My presentation focused on a) current conditions in the A/E/C Industry in the U.S., b) strategies employed by A/E/C firms in the U.S. to weather the recession (which is, of course, still going on in that industry, in spite of the fact that our government told us that the recession ended in June 2009), c) differences between the U.S. and Europe when it comes to firms “outsourcing” non-core services (the extensive use of “outsourcing” by A/E/C firms in the U.S., which is not the case by A/E/C firms in Europe), and d) “Food for Thought”, strategies one might consider employing to reduce cost, improve efficiency, improve productivity, improve profitability, etc., etc., blah, blah, blah. Most of my frequent blog-visitors are aware that I do research conditions in the A/E/C Industry and that I follow trends affecting that industry.

    It’s very interesting giving a English-language presentation to non-English speakers. The way this works is that you speak for a minute or so, then stop so that the translator can translate (in this case, into Czech) what you said, then you start again, stop again, start, stop, etc. Hard to get any momentum when you give a presentation this way, and it is highly doubtful that the translator came up with precise translations for what you said. Whatever.

    Nonetheless, it was a rewarding experience.

  • Stadium Capital continues to increase its ownership in American Reprographics (ARC)

    Stadium Capital continues its accumulation of ARC shares.

    In a Form 4 filling with the SEC on September 7, 2011, Stadium Capital revealed addition purchases of ARC shares on September 2nd and September 6th.

    Transaction Date

    Purchase Price

    # of Shares Purchased

    # of shares owned, after purchase

    %age of O/S Stock Owned

    9/2/11

    $3.540

    29,315

    4,968,227

    10.75%

    9/6/11

    $3.450

    1,833

    4,970,060

    10.75%

  • LINK DSG announces launch of new web-site

    Several months ago, I did a blog post about the formation of “LINK DSG”, a venture founded by three ReproMAX members, NRI, Thomas Reprographics and CallPrint.

    Today, I received an announcement that LINKDSG launched a new web-site, so, without further ado, here’s that announcement:

    “Today, LINK DSG launched an all new website highlighting the benefits of LINK and it wide range of managed print services for national and international organizations. Through LINK’s unique offering companies can reduce their printing expenses by up to 30%. For more information on LINK DSG and the benefits it can offer, visit our web-site at http://www.linkdsg.com/”

  • AGC issues press release about current "unemployment rate" in the U.S. Construction Industry

    The AGC (Associated General Contractors) issued a press release, just the other day, about the current “unemployment rate” in the U.S. construction industry. That Press Release appears below.

    AGC reported the unemployment rate to be 13.5%. But, while that rate includes the “unemployed”, I am doubtful that that rate includes the “underemployed.” The “real” rate, taking into account both the unemployed and the underemployed, is probably closer to the 18-20% range.

    “CONSTRUCTION EMPLOYMENT DECLINES BY 5,000 IN AUGUST AS INDUSTRY’S UNEMPLOYMENT RATE HITS 13.5 PERCENT”

    Date: September 2, 2011

    Employment Level Continues Long-Running “Zigzag Pattern” of Increases and Decreases as Sector Remains Weak and at Risk from Declining Public Sector Investments in Construction

    Construction employment showed little movement in August, dipping 5,000 below the July total but remaining 4,000 higher than a year ago, according to an analysis of new federal employment data released today by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials said the numbers are consistent with a pattern of small gains followed by slight decreases as demand for construction remains weak.

    “Today’s report continues a long-running zigzag pattern of minimal up-and-down changes in construction employment,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “The free-fall has ended, but the seasonally adjusted employment total in August—5.5 million—has been virtually unchanged for a year and a half.”

    The construction economist said that the nonresidential construction sector lost 9,000 jobs in August. Within the nonresidential sector, employment in heavy and civil engineering construction decreased by 1,600 for the month as work on stimulus-funded public works, military bases and hurricane-prevention projects in the Gulf Coast wound down. Nonresidential specialty trade contractors and nonresidential building contractors shed a combined 7,400 jobs, while their residential counterparts added 3,200 jobs.

    Simonson noted that the industry’s 13.5 percent unemployment rate was an improvement from the 17.0 percent rate of a year earlier but far above the all-industry rate of 9.1 percent. “The drop in the industry’s unemployment rate clearly has more to do with workers leaving the construction industry instead of finding new jobs,” Simonson observed. “Losing so many seasoned workers will make it harder for the industry to bounce back when demand finally increases.”

    Association officials warned that construction employment levels could rapidly decline again if Congress and the White House continue cutting vital construction programs. They urged officials to instead tackle out-of-control entitlement spending. They also urged leaders to quickly enact long-overdue highway, transit and aviation legislation that sets multi-year funding levels for a range of maintenance and repair programs.

    “Cutting infrastructure programs will put tens of thousands out of work while hobbling our economy with aging infrastructure and crowded roads for decades to come,” said Stephen E. Sandherr, the association’s chief executive officer. “Anyone serious about creating jobs now and promoting private sector growth should have infrastructure investments as part of their jobs agenda.”

  • New from OCE: Colorwave 300 "Second Edition"

    Looks to me like the ideal “all in one” wide-format color / bw system for an OnSite Service program

    Océ ColorWave 300 2nd Edition launched

    Friday, September 02, 2011

    Press release from the issuing company

    • Highly productive plotter for large format color, black & white printing, scanning and copying

    • Including new online folding options and Océ Image Logic features that increase production power

    Venlo, The Netherlands, – Océ, an international leader in digital document management and delivery, today announced the launch of the Océ ColorWave 300 2nd Edition for large format B&W and color printing, scanning and copying.

    Saves space, investment costs


    In 2010 Océ launched the Océ ColorWave 300, a large format all-in-one system for printing, copying and scanning. With this system, companies no longer need to invest in separate printers and scanners for large format B&W and color documents. The unique Top Delivery Tray stacks large format documents automatically on top of the system, saving valuable floor space since no separate table is needed. “One of the main advantages is the processing speed. The Océ ColorWave 300 has an integrated processor. It also features an integrated scanner and copier, which saves us floor space,” confirms Marcel Bielleman, engineer at Swisslog Ergotrans.



    Now the Océ ColorWave 300 2nd Edition provides users in architecture, engineering, construction and commercial printing companies with even more productive printing. It is perfect for businesses with limited space looking to get the highest return on their document production investment.

    Productive printing, copying and scanning – in color and B&W


    According to BERTL analysts in their 100% independent assessment of the key buyer benefits the Océ ColorWave 300 system multifunction printer offers users “exceptional ease of use, energy efficiency and solid construction.”



    The Océ ColorWave 300 2nd Edition adds productive featuring to the proven Océ ColorWave 300 concept. The choice of two integrated online folding units enables a fully automated workflow for the delivery of consistent and high quality folded output. The online folders are fully integrated so users can access the scanning and printing functionalities without removing the folder. Folding can be selected from the control panel, the printer driver and submission tools. Backchannel communication between the system and the folder ensures reliable operation.



    With the Océ ColorWave 300 2nd Edition users can print, copy and scan color and B&W large format documents in one go, just by pressing the Océ green button. The unique Océ Image Logic technology is expanded with scanning and copying features of folded documents and documents with color annotations. Océ Image Logic compensates for folding lines and poor background automatically, without losing information. Color annotations like fluorescent yellow will be maintained and reproduced. 



    The powerful controller swiftly handles all file formats – HP-Gl/2, PDF, DWF, JPEG – without sacrificing speed. Users can print and scan documents via a USB flash drive. Additionally the concurrent copying, scanning, processing and printing features, makes the Océ ColorWave 300 2nd Edition the most productive all-in-one system for color and B&W.

    One for tomorrow that helps businesses grow sustainably


    The Océ ColorWave 300 2nd Edition is an economical way to produce B&W technical CAD drawings, for adding color to enhance technical documents and for producing color promotional materials. It delivers the ease of use and workflow efficiency of an Océ B&W system and the versatility of a color printer.



    Waste is eliminated by using automatic original and media size recognition and image positioning feature. And working environment is not affected by ozone, dust or odors. “The Océ ColorWave 300 2nd Edition takes productivity and workflow efficiency to the next level,” explained Michael Boyle, Océ International Marketing Director. The Océ ColorWave 300 2nd Edition is available for immediate delivery.



    For more information, please contact:


    Nick Gale
Manager Media Relations

    
Tel +31 77 359 5628


    Email nick.gale@oce.com

  • HP could sell printing division within two years, reports claim (???)

    An article on Printweek.com ….. says this …..

    HP could sell printing division within two years, reports claim

    By Tim Sheahan Tuesday, 30 August 2011

    HP could divest its entire printing division within the next two years in a bid to become a low volume, high value-add product provider, a mergers and acquisitions (M&A) news service has claimed.

    While there is no active sale process for the $25bn Imaging and Printing Group (IPG), Mergermarket has quoted industry sources as saying that the sale of IPG would appear to be necessary to HP’s transformation into an enterprise solutions company.

    Earlier this month, HP chief executive Léo Apotheker said the company was looking into the future of its PC hardware division, which contributes nearly a third of revenues but operates on narrow margins.

    This could result in it being sold or spun off as it finds itself caught between cheaper rivals from Asia and Apple taking market share for higher-end consumer devices.

    Mergermarket claimed that HP could be willing to shed its IPG within two years of spinning off the PC business but would be likely to keep hold of the printing division during the next several years of transition.

    HP was unavailable for comment at the time of writing.

    In its third quarter results to 31 July, HP reported group revenues down 2% to $31.2bn.The company’s printing division added $6.1bn (£3.7bn) to the IT giant’s $31.2bn net revenues, down 1% year-on-year.

    Sales of its commercial presses came in at $1.3bn for the quarter down 7% year-on-year and 10% sequentially, although hardware units rose 1%, and sales were marginally up for the nine months.

    But, in my opinion, I don’t see this happening. Who would be able to bite of such a large printing hardware business …. Canon? Ricoh? Dell?

  • 3D Printing Technology – 3D Printers from Objet

    Admittedly, I’m not an expert when it comes to “3D Printing Technology.” (Actually, I’m not an expert on anything, but, whatever.)

    This morning, I noticed a piece on LinkedIn that mentioned that Entire Imaging (Toronto), led by Ernie Chiodo, long one of the reprographics industry’s most progressive owner/managers, has installed a new 3D printer, an Objet 500 Connex500 3D printer.

    So, simply because of Ernie’s reputation and credentials, I decided to locate and visit Objet’s web-site.

    Here’s the address of Objet’s web-site:

    http://www.objet.com/

    Objet has a lot of different models of 3D printers, and, if you are a reprographer interested in diversifying the services you offer, you should, in my opinion, visit Objet’s web-site and read up on what they say about their equipment, applications for 3D printing, etc.

    Objet has offices in different parts of the world. Their U.S. office is located in a suburb of Boston. I’m going to contact them to see if I can get a demonstration of their 3D printing systems.