Reprographics 101

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

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  • RFP for Reprographics Services – from Solano County, CA

    Well, I’m late on publishing this RFP opportunity, but I’m not going to apologize, since it’s your job, not mine, to find government-sector RFP and bid opportunities for your company!

    As you can see, the deadline for submission was yesterday (unless they extended the RFP submission deadline date.)

    COUNTY OF SOLANO INVITATION FOR BID

    IFB NO.: T012-720-12 DRAWING REPRODUCTION SERVICE

    Notice is hereby given that sealed bids will be received at the Purchasing Office, until August 11, 2011, 3:00 PM local time, at which time they will be publicly opened in accordance with the County of Solano specifications and contract documents.

    Here’s some of the description of what this procurement is all about:

    Division of Architectural Services (DAS) is a division within DGS that leads capital improvement planning and development of new and existing County facilities by providing quality architectural, engineering, project and construction management services for its customers. Currently, DAS has approximately 60 pending projects which consist primarily of Capital Projects, Design/Build, Job Order Contracting (JOC) Projects, and Tenant Improvements.

    Facility Operations (FO) is a division within DGS that provides comprehensive facilities management services including project planning and implementation for small and mid-size construction related projects; assisting with capital project development and implementation; maintaining HVAC systems; and managing responsibility for exterior and interior building maintenance, which could consist of roofing, plumbing, electrical, locksmithing, signage, masonry and carpentry. Currently, FO has approximately 50 pending projects which consist primarily of Small Projects and Furniture Projects.

    Joel’s further comments:

    I’ve posted the RFP document in my Google Docs library, just so those of you who like to see how “reprographics services” RFP’s are explained can peruse through the RFP document.

    Here’s the link to the RFP document for the aforementioned RFP procurement:

    http://tinyurl.com/3k4twlw

    We complain about big government. And, rightly so. But, what do we, the business community, do to help government agencies, and, in particular, government-sector procurement agencies, streamline their business operations?

    I’ve always found it stupefying that government agencies don’t get together (they, too, have their own “associations” and “get-togethers”, i.e, conferences, to discuss how they conduct business) to agree on a standard RFP (or ITB) format for the purchase of “reprographics services.” Think of how much time and effort (and MONEY) it would save if every government-sector procurement office, needing to go out for RFP’s (or Bids) for reprographics services used the same exact template! It ain’t rocket science, but, in spite of that, most procurement documents are very different. Why is that? That’s stupid. As I believe I’ve suggested (probably more than once) in the past, the IRgA should have taken on the project of developing a template for RFP (and Bid) documents for government-sector “reprographics services” procurements.

  • Millions of Web pages are hacker landmines

    I found this article on the Internet, this morning, and wanted to share it with everyone who visits my blog. Kind of call this a public-service post.

    Millions of Web pages are hacker landmines

    By Byron Acohido, USA TODAY (Aug 12, 2011)

    Some 8 million Web pages, published mostly by smaller merchants and professional firms, have been hijacked this summer and set up to usurp control of the PCs of unsuspecting site visitors.

    That’s the latest development in a new style of hacking sweeping across the Internet, according to research by website security firm Armorize.

    “The misuse of numerous small sites is making the Internet a much more dangerous place,” says Alena Varkockova, lab analyst at anti-virus firm Avast. “Even the unimportant sites can do big harm when misused.”

    A single criminal gang using computer servers located in Ukraine is responsible for the latest twist in converting legitimate websites into delivery mechanisms for “drive-by downloads,” according to Wayne Huang, chief technical officer at Armorize.

    In a drive-by download, malicious software gets inserted into the Web browser of any unsuspecting Internet user who simply has navigated to a hacked Web page.

    With control of the visitor’s browser, the attacker can easily install malicious software that silently harvests all account log-ons, identity data and payment card data. The PC is usually also slotted into a botnet, a network of infected “robot” PCs controlled by the bad guys, who then use it on an ongoing basis to spread spam, carry out hacktivist attacks and do other criminal activities.

    Google and Microsoft say they continually scan for Web pages conducting malicious activities and issue warning pages in search results and via Google’s Chrome and Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browsers. They also provide free guidance and tools for website owners to diagnose and clean up problems.

    But many of the infected Web pages won’t get cleaned up anytime soon, as these wrongdoers use “myriad techniques to ensure their malicious software goes undetected,” says Jon Clay, product manager at anti-virus firm Trend Micro. Use of polymorphic infections that constantly change has become commonplace, says Clay.

    Internet users can reduce their risk by keeping Web browser and anti-virus updates current and avoiding use of Internet Explorer, since Microsoft’s dominant browser is also the most intensively probed for security holes, says Adam Wosotowsky, senior analyst at anti-virus firm McAfee.

    “I suggest using Firefox or Chrome,” he says.

  • It’s clever, but is it fair play?

    Late last year, we posted our first article about Florida Reprographics filing for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection.

    We’ve done a number of follow-up posts since then.

    This morning, I decided to check to see if Florida Reprographics’ web-site was back up and running. For many years, Florida Reprographics’ web-site address was www.flrepro.com. After Florida Reprographics filed for bankruptcy, its web-site was shut down. I don’t know why that happened. The company did continue on in business.

    Well, this morning, when I checked www.flrepro.com, a notice came up saying the web-site was under construction.

    I checked to see if there was another web-site address for Florida Reprographics; when I did that, Google Search suggested I try www.flrepro.net. When I entered that web-site address, I was automatically re-directed to http://rapidblueprint.com. Rapid Blueprint, one of Tampa’s oldest reprographers and one of Florida Reprographics’ long-time competitors

    I’ve not seen any information, nor heard any information, that would indicate that Rapid has acquired Florida Reprographics. Nonetheless, Rapid found a way to re-direct those searching for Florida Reprographics to its (Rapid’s) web-site.

    Clever, but is that fair play?

  • Building Design Suite – software product from Autodesk

    Information about AutoDesk’s “Building Design Suite” software came to me in an e-mail from www.aecbytes.com, one web-site I follow for info about software applications designed for the A/E/C industry.



    Maximize Building Design, Engineering & Construction Workflows –

    Autodesk® Building Design Suite 2012 is a comprehensive building software solution, combining in a single economical and convenient purchase the tools that architecture, engineering, and building construction professionals rely on everyday for both CAD and Building Information Modeling (BIM) workflows.



    Efficiently Design, Document & Share Drawings
- Standard US$5,495 (MSRP)

    Autodesk® Building Design Suite Standard 2012 software provides building designers, drafters, and detailers with a foundational set of tools in a single economical and convenient package. This design CAD software suite helps you to:

    • Design, document, and share drawings in the DWG™ format.

    • Take advantage of AutoCAD products specifically designed for the building industry.

    • Show your ideas more effectively with tools for design illustration and graphic communication.

    Intelligent Model-Based Design
- Premium –

    US$6,495 (MSRP)

    Autodesk® Building Design Suite Premium 2012 software provides architects and engineers with an optimized set of tools in a single economical and convenient package. This premium building design suite supports Building Information Modeling (BIM) workflows, efficient documentation, and the creation of compelling visualizations.

    Comprehensive Tools for Design and Construction
 – Ultimate –US$11,495 (MSRP)

    Autodesk® Building Design Suite Ultimate 2012 software is ideally suited for construction professionals and provides an advanced set of comprehensive tools for design and construction in a single economical and convenient package. Take advantage of Building Information Modeling (BIM) workflows with this construction design software suite.

    Joel’s comment: I admit that I have no idea, whatsoever, if this software product from Autodesk competes, or does not compete, with ReproMax’s cMAX software product or with ARC’s PlanWell Collaborate software product. What I do know about this Autodesk software product is that it comes in three versions, and none of those versions are “cheap.”

  • Detroit Regional Convention Facility Authority – RFP still open until tomorrow!

    I posted about this RFP opportunity a few days ago.


    Apparently, they extended the RFP “due date”…..


    RFP-RM-Phase III Reprographic Services, Addendum No. 1. Bids are due on August 12th, 2011, 1:00 PM, at Cobo Center Administrative Offices, 2nd Floor, One Washington Blvd., Detroit, MI 48226.


    If you’re still planning to submit a bid/response, you better be prepared to burn the midnight oil tonight!

  • IRgA thinking about holding a networking reception in New Orleans on October 19th

    Save the Date

    In IRgA’s continued quest to provide industry networking, the Board of Directors is considering having a reception in New Orleans on October 19, 2011 for those attending the SGIA Expo. Please click here and let us know if you would be interested in attending such an event by Tuesday, August 16, 2011.

    Thank you,

    IRgA Board of Directors

    Contact IRgA at 312.245.1026 or info@IRgA.com with any questions.

  • RFP for Reprographics Services – San Bernadino City Unified School District

    Bid Number: RFP No. 25-11

    Bid Title: Reprographics Services

    Category: Purchasing Department

    Status: Open

    RFP response deadline due date/time: August 18, 2011, 2:00 p.m.

    If I copied this address correctly, you should be able to see this RFP announcement, and should be able to download the RFP document, at this Internet address:

    http://www.sbcusd.k12.ca.us/bids.aspx?bidID=311

    Update: I decided to post in my Google Docs library a copy of the RFP document, and you can access that document at this link:

    http://tinyurl.com/3kyfrzp

    I’m not going to post any amendments or further info about this RFP, so, if you are planning to respond to the RFP, check the City’s web-site for amendments!

  • RW Baird continues its "outperform" rating on ARC stock (American Reprographics Co)

    ARC’s stock closed at $5.70 on 8/4/11.

    On 8/5/11, RW Baird & Co issued its updated report on ARC. In that report, RW Baird continues its “outperform” rating on ARC stock, but lowered its “price target” from $12.00 to $9.00. The report assigns a “suitability rating” of “higher risk.”

    Yesterday, 8/10/11, ARC’s stock closed at $3.60 per share.

    RW Baird’s report on ARC contains a lot of detailed information. I’m not at liberty to publish the report, so, if you want a copy of the report, contact RW Baird & Co (or, perhaps, your stockbroker or financial adviser can obtain a copy for you.)

  • Yet another "eplanroom" software product for Construction Document Management, etc. (FASTTAC)

    Quite some time ago, I put up a post on this blog that contained a list of vendors who’ve developed and offer “eplanroom” services. At the time I did that, I was unaware of the company I’m going to now mention in today’s post, FASTTAC.

    I don’t know how much progress FASTTAC has made since 2008, which is when the A/E/C industry – and reprographers – began to experience a slowdown in business. (Yes, that’s putting it mildly.) I did notice that FASTTAC signed up a few reprographers as “resellers”, but, apparently, FASTTAC has not made much progress on that front since early in 2010.

    What I found interesting about FASTTAC is that it was developed by a former Vice President and General Manager of Turner Construction. Turner is, of course, one of the largest GC’s active in the United States.

    Here’s some information about FASTTAC, per the company’s web-site:

    Executive Team

    Ray Steeb

    Founder, President and CEO

    Ray Steeb, Founder, President and CEO of FASTTAC, has worked on this project from its inception when it began as a research project at Carnegie Mellon University. Ray is a twenty-eight year veteran of the construction industry having been Vice President and General Manager of the Pittsburgh Office of Turner Construction Company and President of his own commercial construction and program management companies from 2002 to 2007.

    Ray began his career in field supervision on projects ranging in value form $3 million to $150 million where he obtained various levels of project responsibility. He then moved into middle management where he had total responsibility for profit and loss at the project level. Ray became the VP and General Manager of Turner’s Pittsburgh office in late 1997 where he took on P & L responsibility for the business unit. This unique experience in field operations, project management and business unit leadership provides FASTTAC with the insight and guidance of an industry insider providing solutions that address the specific challenges and risks of the construction industry.

    Here’s the company’s most recent Press Release – you will see that this Press Release announced that BW Reprographics became a “reseller” of FASTTAC:

    FASTTAC® Announces Reseller Partnership with BW Reprographics

    31 MAY 2010 
POSTED IN PRESS

    Partnership Expands Company’s Market Presence in New York City and Northern New Jersey

    Pittsburgh, May 31, 2010 – FASTTAC®, an industry leader in simplifying the complexities of drawing distribution, control and collaboration in the A/E/C and Facilities Management industries, announced today that it has expanded its Reseller Program to include BW Reprographics. BW Reprographics, a comprehensive reprographics and document management solution provider, can now sell FASTTAC directly to its clients. This partnership expands FASTTAC’s market presence and complements BW Reprographics’ other products and services by creating an end-to-end digital document tracking and distribution solution that enables the sharing of drawings and documents by all team members on a project.

    “This agreement advances our partnership with BW Reprographics and acknowledges our market leading position as the only effective digital alternative for easily distributing construction drawings and documents.” said Ray Steeb, CEO of FASTTAC.

    Steeb continues, “FASTTAC is so intuitive and easy to use that all project team members, regardless of their computer skills, can immediately use and share digital construction drawings. Our decision to partner with BW Reprographics was based on their experience with providing digital document management solutions in combination with their tradition in delivering innovative and progressive solutions to address the needs of architects, contractors and building owners. We are pleased we have established this partnership in this market and look forward to working together to introducing their clients to the FASTTAC solution.”

    The FASTTAC Reseller Program supplies its partners with the tools and resources required to deliver the high level of excellence experienced by FASTTAC’s direct sales customers. The impact of BW Reprographics’ long standing relationships with their local customer’s combined with FASTTAC’s ability to simplify and automate the drawing distribution process will result in improved communication, productivity and reduced project risk for owners, general contractors, sub contractors and facility managers.

    “This partnership gives BW Reprographics an innovative digital document distribution system that complements our existing digital printing, plan room and document management and archiving services which we sell and market today,” remarked Bruce Wiener, President, of BW Reprographics. “We only introduce solutions to our customers that have a high level of ease of use and that can address complex document management problems while delivering quantifiable business results. FASTTAC is a solution that meets these criteria and enables us to continue to deliver enterprise level document management solutions to our customers.”

    With FASTTAC’s patented technology, all project team members instantly benefit from the automated distribution of digital drawings and documents which were historically distributed in a paper form on an as needed basis by the construction manager and/or general contractor. FASTTAC users obtain a complete set of contract documents and ongoing updates by simply clicking one button that automatically places updated drawings and documents exactly where the user found the previous version on the user’s PC providing system management of the database of project information. These capabilities enable FASTTAC to go far beyond other simple electronic user managed access methods for construction drawings and documents such as shared drives, FTP sites and Plan Rooms. The ease-of-use and speed with which FASTTAC users can access and navigate between drawings quickly results in FASTTAC becoming the “go-to” location for contract documents used on construction projects greatly improving productivity and reducing project risk.

    About FASTTAC
Founded in 2005 by industry veteran Ray Steeb in collaboration with Carnegie Mellon University, FASTTAC products enable the construction and facility management industries to offer fast and easy access to project drawings and related documents created during the planning, design, and construction phases of a facility through its operation and maintenance. FASTTAC is the only product designed to centrally manage and maintain the contract set of project drawings and related documents while automatically distributing all needed content to the user’s local computer. The entire set of project drawings, specifications and approved revisions can quickly and easily be distributed to everyone on the project team. FASTTAC’s products are targeted at construction managers, owners and project managers that want to reduce costs and risk while improving productivity and profitability. FASTTAC software products are being used by contractors and building teams on projects throughout the United States. FASTTAC can be found at www.fasttac.com.

    Established in 2003, BW Reprographics (BWR) provides commercial and onsite reprographic services in supporting our client’s largest construction projects now underway in the New York Tri-State area. With commercial locations in New York and New Jersey, each operation maintains significant capacity, an experienced team, and virtual connectivity. Our growing customer base includes numerous members of New York’s largest and most successful firms in the following industries: architectural, construction, development, engineering, real estate and financial. Our Web interfaced state-of-the-art processing centers located in New York City and Wayne, NJ, generate millions upon millions of printed and electronic documents across a wide variety of applications. For more information on BWR, please go to www.bwrepro.com.

  • Toying with a Scammer (completely off-topic)

    This post is completely off-topic, but I thought I’d post it anyway, because I think this string of e-mails is completely ridiculous … and all of us can use a smile.

    As most of you must know, there are “scams” galore being run by various groups, where people are told something “too good to be true,” but, nonetheless, they fall for it, get sucked in, and end up paying out thousands (sometimes, hundreds of thousands) of dollars. I don’t know how people manage to fall for scams like this. If someone walked up to you on the street and offered to sell you a map for “only $10,000” that would lead you (“guaranteed to lead you”) to a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, would you go ahead and give that person 10 grand? I don’t think so, but, apparently, there are people who would fall for that.

    Perhaps some of you saw the show on “60 Minutes” or “Dateline” (can’t remember which network that show was on, but it was about five or six weeks ago), where a “scam” was documented. A lady, who fell for the scam initially, purportedly paid several hundred thousand dollars to the scammers, but, at some point, figured out she was being scammed, and, then, called the network, who stepped in at that point … and, later, confronted the scammer (who actually ended up getting some jail time.)

    Okay, with that background, I received an e-mail in my inbox, several days ago, and immediately recognized that the e-mail was from one of these scammers – who offers something way too good to be true. I’m in the process of playing with that scammer. I’ll probably lose interest, soon, but wanted to share with you the e-mail string, so far. Smile, this is real! The scammer’s e-mails appear in black type; my responses (I’m “John”) appear in red type:

    —–Original Message—–

    From: kennedy1010105 <kennedy1010105@me.com>

    To: Undisclosed recipients:

    Sent: Sat, Aug 6, 2011 9:56 am

    Subject: THANK YOU

    An account with my bank has been left with a balance of $14.5M since the account holder passed away in 2007. We have a real chance of having the fund released to you if the bank receives application in that regard since no application has been made. Further details will be provided upon your response.

    Kennedy.

    Wow, I would love to get my hands on the $14.5 million in that account.

    Details?

    John

    —–Original Message—–

    From: Kennedy Lebola <kennedylebola@gmail.com>

    To: John

    Sent: Sat, Aug 6, 2011 11:13 pm

    Subject: FURTHER DETAILS

    Dear John,

    I am writing to give you more insight on how we can execute this transaction perfectly without hitches. I want to thank you for your response to my email and to use this opportunity to assure you that this transaction is 100% safe and legitimate because it will be executed in line with the bank foreign remittance procedures which support inheritance claim in totality so it does not breach any international or local banking laws, therefore you have nothing to worry about.

    Because I work in the account department of a major bank here in South Africa as accounts supervisor, I was able to discover these abandoned finds(US$14.5M) in an account belonging to one of our foreign client Mr. Graham Williams, a mining magnet and one of the founders of Harmony Gold Mining company who was a victim of the worst mining accidents in South Africa in recent years. None of the deceased relatives know these funds because they were deposited in the bank for investment purposes and so nobody will ever file for the claims. If we do not remit this funds out of South Africa, they will be confiscated into the government treasury. I am seeking your co-operation to present you as the beneficiary of the funds to my bank, hence I contacted you because in the bank database the deceased did not specify anybody as beneficiary.

    The strategy is to use my influence as a staff of the bank to ensure that you are made the beneficiary and the funds are approved to you since there is no beneficiary. If you are willing to be of assistance, you will be entitled to 40% of the fund($14.5M) and 60% for me. I wish to inform you that I will also need your advise on lucrative areas of investment and your assistance in purchase of properties when the fund arrive your country because the whole fund will be transferred to your account pending on my coming over to receive my share. I hope that you will not betray the trust I have reposed on you to receive the funds for our mutual benefit.

    In order to proceed with this transaction without delays, I will request you confirm your information to me properly as stated below so that the necessary changes can be made in the bank database;

    1 Your full names

    2 Your direct telephone and fax numbers

    3 Your age

    4 Contact address

    5 Occupation

    Upon the receipt of the above mentioned information, I will fill in your names and your information as the beneficiary of the fund in the bank database, then I will provide you the relevant documents and prove of the source of the fund that you will use to put in application to my bank as beneficiary of the fund in question. The bank will crosscheck your details that I will fill in the database with the details in the claim documents that you will send to them and when they realize that the details are the same, they will respond to you positively in view of how the funds can be remitted to any account of your choice.

    I want to reaffirm that this transaction is risk free, all that is required is for us to maintain absolutely confidentiality in all matters concerning this transaction not to jeopardize it. You can call me at +27 78 001 1880 for any clarification on this matter.

    I look forward to hear from you soon.

    Regards,

    Kennedy Lebola

    On Mon, Aug 8, 2011 at 3:53 PM, John wrote:

    Dear Kennedy,

    Why have you used two different e-mails to contact me? That kind of worries me, and I’d like to know why you did that.

    Also, for me to be involved in this transaction with you, I want 50% of the proceeds, not 50% of the proceeds. I think an even split would be more fair. Are you will to do that?

    Regards,

    John

    —–Original Message—–

    From: Kennedy Lebola <kennedylebola@gmail.com>

    To: John

    Dear John,

    Yes, I know that I contacted you with two different emails and the reason is because my wife has the password to my first email address which I contacted you with initially. I do not want her to know anything about this transaction until the funds are finally transferred to your account because I do not want her to say anything to anyone about this transaction. Secondly, I do not really have any problems about sharing the funds with you 50/50 so long as you will ensure that my share will be safe with you pending on my coming over to receive it. If we are in agreement on this issue, I expect you to provide the requested information so that I can make the necessary changes and I will furnish you with the application documents to enable contact the bank legitimately for the funds release with the details I will also send you with the documents.

    Regards,

    Kennedy Lebola

    Kennedy,

    Sorry, but my wife thinks that a 50/50 split is not fair … to me. So, will you do a 70/30 split, 70% to me, 30% to you?

    John