Reprographics 101

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  • Stock Prices of 3D Systems and Stratasys are way, way off their peaks!

    Below is a
    portion of an article, authored by Jesse DePinto, that appeared in the
    Milwaukee Business News on March 9th, 2015:
    “By now, most
    people have heard of 3D printing. We’ve all been told by now that 3D printing
    can solve humanity’s problems: produce cheaper buildings, download and print
    useful products at home, fabricate human organs on-demand, etc. The list goes
    on. While the concept of 3D printing certainly has the potential to
    revolutionize our everyday life, the technology is not ready for prime time.
    Stock
    plummet:  Two companies dominate the 3D
    printing market: 3D Systems (NYSE: DDD) and Stratasys (NYSE: SSYS). Last
    January, both companies were trading at their highest stock price since
    inception. Since then, both stocks have been on a long, painful decline. 3D
    Systems traded at its lowest price this January at $28.33 per share, compared
    to $96.42 last January!
    What does this
    mean for 3D printing? It means the hype is finally over. Reality has set in.
    You can’t make an iPhone on your home 3D printer like you were promised. You
    can’t get an FDA-approved replacement liver. You can’t instruct your 3D printer
    robot to make dinner for you.”

    Blog Publisher’s
    comments:
    As Mr.
    DePinto pointed out, 3D Systems peaked at $96.42 in January 2014.
    Today, 3D Systems is trading at
    around $13.44.
    3D Systems’ sales were a wee bit higher in
    2015 than in 2014.
    Stratasys also peaked in January
    2014, at $136.46.
    Today, Stratasys is trading at
    around $17.65.
    Stratasys’ sales were lower in 2015 than in
    2014.
    Since 2015,
    GE has entered the 3D printing field (we did a brief blog-post about that a few
    months ago).  And, since 2015, HP entered
    the 3D printing field with its own 3D printing equipment.

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    While the
    future of 3D printing – additive manufacturing – appears to be very bright, it
    will take quite a bit of time to see if Stratasys and 3D Systems eventually thrive,
    if not survive.

  • PlanGrid – now nearly 5 years old – impressive progress!

    The very first post we did on the
    Reprographics 101 Blog about PlanGrid was on March 9, 2012, so, almost five
    years ago.  Here’s a link to that post:
    http://reprographics.blogspot.com/2012/03/ipad-app-to-replace-printed-blueprints.html
    Today, when one visits PlanGrid’s web-site, and
    looks at the “about us” information, one will notice this – very impressive –
    information:
    After an initial seed rounding of funding
    amount to $1.1 million, PlanGrid completed two additional rounds of funding –
    raised $18 million in May 2015 (led by Sequoia Capital) – raised an additional
    $40 million in October 2015 (led by Tenaya Capital).  That’s some serious funding!
    And, just as impressive, look at PlanGrid’s “outside
    board members”:
    Carol Bartz –
    Former CEO of AutoDesk
    Ben Boyer –
    Managing Director of Tenaya Capital
    Douglas
    Leone – Managing Partner of Sequoia Capital
    George Hu –
    Former COO of Salesforce.com

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    Tracy Young is one of the original founders
    of PlanGrid and she continues on in the CEO role.  Hat’s off to what looks like an extraordinary
    success, so far.

  • Real Estate and Construction – Looking quite healthy per Federal Reserve's most recent BeigeBook Report

    Extracted from the (Fed Reserve Beige Book) SUMMARY OF
    COMMENTARY ON CURRENT ECONOMIC CONDITIONS BY FEDERAL RESERVE DISTRICT     – November
    2016
    Real Estate and Construction
    Residential real estate activity improved across Districts.
    Reports about existing- and new-home sales were mixed, but most Districts noted
    a slight to modest increase during the period. Residential construction was up
    in the Cleveland, Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Kansas City, and
    Dallas Districts. Home prices grew in many Districts, including Boston,
    Philadelphia, Cleveland, Atlanta, St. Louis, Kansas City, and San Francisco.
    Philadelphia reported that the strength of the single-family market is in
    high-end housing. In contrast, Kansas City reported that sales of low- and
    medium-priced homes continued to outpace sales of higher-priced homes. Dallas
    reported that the sales of lower-priced homes remained solid. Home inventories
    were generally reported to be low or declining and restraining sales growth.
    Boston, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Richmond, and Minneapolis reported low or
    decreasing inventories. Reports on inventory levels varied in Atlanta, while
    inventories held steady in Kansas City.
    Commercial construction activity moved higher in the New
    York, Cleveland, Richmond, Atlanta, St.     Louis, Kansas City, and San Francisco
    Districts. In contrast, Minneapolis noted a slowing in commercial construction.
    The Boston, Richmond, Minneapolis, and San Francisco Districts reported
    increases in leasing activity, while Philadelphia noted a lull in
    nonresidential leasing growth compared with the prior period. Dallas reported
    leasing activity as mostly unchanged. Commercial sales activity continued to be
    robust in Minneapolis and grew modestly in Kansas City. Ongoing multifamily
    construction has been steady at a fairly high level in New York. Multifamily
    construction varied in the Atlanta District and slowed somewhat in Richmond,
    Minneapolis, and San Francisco.

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  • Bank of New York Mellon increases its position in ARC Document Solutions

    This note
    appeared on DailyQuint.com on Nov 30, 2016

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    “Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in ARC
    Document Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ARC) by 34.6% during the second quarter (of 2016),
    according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange
    Commission (SEC). The firm owned 482,285 shares of the company’s stock after
    buying an additional 123,880 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon
    Corp owned 1.02% of ARC Document Solutions worth $1,876,000 as of its most
    recent filing with the SEC.    ”

  • SURVEY RESULTS: A/E/C Plan Printing Survey and A/E/C Plan Printing Equipment Survey

    Surveys completed; survey results and
    accompanying article (i.e, my comments about the survey results) are now up on
    the APDSP web-site (link to article on APDSP web-site):
    http://www.apdsp.org/salus-survey/
    Link to complete survey results – A/E/C Plan
    Printing Survey:
    https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B81al4kFAU9JMGhtNi0yX0JuNmc/view?usp=sharing
    Link to complete survey results – A/E/C Plan
    Printing EQUIPMENT Survey:
    https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B81al4kFAU9JVnhYOTVyRkR4bnM/view?usp=sharing
    To those Reprographers who took the time to
    do so, thank you for participating in our two recent surveys!
    Just a couple of comments about the
    two surveys.      (Note: these comments could not be included
    in the comments I wrote-up for the survey-results article I wrote for the APDSP
    web-site, since these particular comments were viewed as “politically
    incorrect” for the APDSP web-site):
    Politically incorrect comment #1:
    Due to
    anti-trust concerns, associations (such as the APDSP) do not like to post
    articles on their web-sites or comments in their newsletters that speak to the
    issue of “pricing”.  Here’s a comment
    about pricing that was “deleted” from the comments that I wrote up for the
    article on APDSP:
    “As to
    pricing (same or different), “color” vs. “b/w”, only 5 respondents out of 53
    reported that they are offering the same price for both color and b/w output (4
    respondents said they are doing this, but only for certain specific customers.)
    I expect that to rise in the future…..  (I base this expectation on what I’ve been
    told about the “cost” difference on an HP PageWide XL, “color output cost” vs.
    “b/w output cost”….. not a significant difference in cost, so I’ve been
    told.)  12 out of 52 respondents said
    they think some of their competitors will
    flat-rate pricing (same for color and b/w) in the future, and another 17
    respondents (out of 52) said they think that is possibly coming.
    As to
    those who do charge different prices for color vs. b/w plan printing, the
    “premium” for color appears to be all over the place.  34 out of 49 (so, a substantial majority of)
    respondents are charging a premium of 200% or more.  The rule I expect Reprographers are
    following, pricing-wise, is to get as
    much as you can for as long as you can. 
    Why would you not?!!”
    Politically incorrect comment #2:
    As one who
    conducts surveys from time to time, I must admit that it is rather frustrating
    when a large number of firms do not participate in the surveys.  A comment about that:

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    “91% of respondents indicated that
    they offer an Internet-based planroom service. 
    Based on the responses to “which planroom do you use”, it is apparent
    that ReproConnect is the clear leader, at least for those who participated in
    the survey.  [Note:  it is always possible
    that ReproMax and RSA members decided to completely boycott our survey.  I did reach out to the head dudes at each
    enterprise (Rick B and Kevin H) to ask them to point their members to the two
    surveys I posted; based on the fact that not a single respondent indicated the
    use of DFS (ReproMax’s planroom), the only reasonable takeway, I think, is that
    not a single ReproMax member participated in our surveys.  Inasmuch as I was one of the original
    founders of ReproMax (then called ReproCAD), some might think that a boycott
    would PMO. Not.]”

  • Sepialine appoints Bob Paschal as Channel Development Manager

    Paschal’s
    position will strengthen relationships with equipment manufacturers and dealer
    networks

    San
    Francisco, 11/15/2016 – Sepialine announced today that Bob Paschal has joined
    the company as Channel Development Manager. Paschal comes to Sepialine from
    Konica Minolta, where he worked as the Program Manager of their wide format
    division. Previous to Konica Minolta, Paschal worked with several equipment
    providers, including ARC, NGI and Alabama Graphics.
    As
    Channel Development Manager, Paschal will be responsible for developing sales
    channel programs to promote Sepialine’s wide-format-focused products, Argos and
    Printerpoint. Paschal will create and nurture programs for the sales teams of
    companies like HP, Canon, Konica Minolta and KIP.
    “Bob’s
    experience working within both manufacturers and resellers of wide format
    equipment with be a great asset to Sepialine” says CEO Jeremy Evans. “He
    understands both sides of the aisle. We are looking forward to him opening new
    doors within our channels to increase awareness of the great products we offer.
    In
    addition to developing programs within the OEM channel space, Paschal will be
    working closely with dealer networks like ReproMAX and RSA to understand the
    needs of their members, and create programs that align with network sales
    initiatives.
    “I
    am very excited to be on the Sepialine team,” says Paschal. “Sepialine is a
    unique company with a fantastic value proposition. We have great brand
    awareness in the AEC space but I believe there is plenty of room for growth in
    the vertical as well as expansion outside in areas such as wide format
    graphics. I think what we bring to the table is unparalleled. Can’t wait to see
    what the future holds.”
    About
    Sepialine

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    Sepialine
    is a San Francisco-based technology company, specializing in print-related
    software. Formed in 1998, Sepialine creates applications to solve the needs of
    imaging technology providers and their customers. Sepialine’s partners include
    HP, Canon, KIP, Konica Minolta, Ricoh, Xerox and more.

  • ABC Imaging (UK) appears on BBC in the UK

    ABC Imaging (UK) appears on BBC One’s flagship reality
    show ‘The Apprentice’
    Link:
    http://www.abcimaging.com/single-post/2016/11/11/ABC-Imaging-appears-on-BBC-One’s-flagship-reality-show-The-Apprentice

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  • NEWFORMA PROJECT CENTER WINS ‘DOCUMENT AND CONTENT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE OF THE YEAR’ AWARD AT CONSTRUCTION COMPUTING AWARDS FOR TWO YEARS’ RUNNING

    London, UK – 7 November 2016 – Newforma, a leader in Project Information
    Management (PIM) for architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) firms
    worldwide, reveals today that the Newforma Project
    Center     has won a public vote in the 2016 Construction Computing Awards
    (also known as ‘The Hammers’) in the ‘Document and Content Management Software
    of the Year’ category. The award was announced at the awards ceremony in London
    on Wednesday 3rd November and marks the second year running that Newforma has
    won in this category.

    This award win heralds Project Center as a superior
    solution used by the design and construction sector to connect,, search and
    manage huge amounts of documents, emails and notes across a project. Already
    deployed with some of the UK’s largest AEC firms, Newforma Project Center has
    been streamlining efficiencies and facilitating an industry-wide transition to
    BIM.
    Technology is having a clear impact on the construction
    industry. A recent survey
    of 100 UK-based professionals working for organisations in the AEC sector,
    conducted by Newforma, showed that over the last year a majority of
    organisations have integrated new digital tools. Respondents also stressed the
    need for greater collaboration and the utilisation of new tools as a key to
    success – but as an industry overall, the research showed this is not being
    done well enough.
    “It is a privilege to have Project Center named a winner
    in The Hammers for a second year running and to be recognised amongst industry
    heavyweights,’” said Paul Daynes, regional director, UK and Northern Europe at
    Newforma.

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    Paul added: “Newforma aims to create a better connected
    project environment that doesn’t impact on working practices, while optimising
    project processes to discover, manage and collaborate critical information with
    project information consumers. With rapid implementation, Newforma Project
    Center is perfectly placed to de-risk projects, add value and increase
    profitability in the increasingly competitive construction industry.”

  • ARC Document Solutions – stock price soared this past week

    I find it
    interesting to watch and see what’s happening with the stock price of ARC
    Document Solutions, especially since the election results made it clear that
    Trump won.
    ARC’s
    stock price, at close of trading on Monday November 7th was $3.50.
    ARC’s stock
    price, at close of trading on Friday November 11th was $4.36.
    That’s a
    significant gain (24.5 %) in just a few days!
    ARC is
    expected (according to at least one analyst that follows ARC’s stock) to report
    sales of $405.29 Mil for year 2016.
    If that estimate is correct, 2016
    will be the first time in four years that ARC’s sales have fallen year over
    year.
    ARC’s
    sales for:
    Year 2012
    – $406.12
    Year 2013
    – $407.19
    Year 2014
    – $423.76
    Year 2015
    – $428.67 Mil
    Year 2015
    – $405.29 (Analyst’s high-estimate for Year 2016 per Yahoo Finance)
    So, if
    ARC’s sales are headed in the wrong direction, what’s driving up the price of
    ARC’s stock?
    Well, one
    of President-elect Trump’s statements is that he will spend billions of bucks
    on building (re-building) our nation’s infrastructure.  (Think roads, highways, bridges, airports,
    etc, and also think about the earth’s second “great wall” – the one that will
    be built on the US/Mexico border.)
    In the
    past (i.e., traditionally) when spending on infrastructure building was
    increased, there was almost a guarantee that reprographics revenues would rise;
    increased planning and design, increased construction = increased plan and spec
    printing for those projects.
    But, will
    this happen this time around, or will the increase in reprographics work not be
    proportionate to the increase in planning, design and construction?  And, if there isn’t a proportionate increase in reprographics revenues, will ARC’s sales of technology services/products (think Skysite) be great enough to propel ARC’s sales higher?
    My take
    on this is that most in the financial/investment community have very little
    knowledge about what’s been happening to the reprographics industry the past 10
    or so years.  And that, based on that,
    they are betting that ARC’s revenues will grow, when there is evidence that
    that may not happen. 

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    We’ll
    see!  And, it will be interesting to see.

  • Takeaways from ARC Document Solutions’ Q3 2016 Results and Earnings Call Transcript

    Yesterday, ARC released its Q3 2016
    results.  If you want to look in detail
    at ARC’s Q3 results, you can access that file by visiting e-arc.com.  After the stock market closed yesterday and
    shortly after ARC released its results, ARC, as it always does each quarter,
    held an earnings-call.  The transcript of
    that earnings call is available at seekingalpha.com (you have to register to
    read the full transcript, but registration is simple and free.)
    Mentioned in the transcript:
    ARC will be bringing on a new head of sales.  (I
    don’t know who that person is or when that will happen, but I suspect that will
    happen very soon.) 
    In September
    2012, ARC announced that Pat Welch (formerly an executive with Office Depot)
    would be joining ARC as ARC’s Executive Vice President of Sales.  Pat Welch departed from ARC after being there
    for approximately two years.  I suspect
    that the new guy (or gal) who joins ARC as chief of sales will have a deep
    understanding of technology sales, since Suri has gone at length to explain
    ARC’s current and future initiatives to drive technology sales.
    ARC has been experiencing a decline in sales
    of print services.  ARC expected that,
    but that does not mean that ARC isn’t just sitting back and letting that
    happen:
    ARC will (quoting from the transcript) be “making
    the required changes to our sales and operations teams, to accelerate our
    growth in our new offerings in technology services while protecting our revenues in the print segment. Revenues in the
    print segment of our business are continuing to shrink and we aware of that.
    However, our size and strength in this business, a greater focus on gaining
    market changes segment, will allow us to minimize the decline and generate
    additional sales while we build our new technology services placements.” 
    Also pulled from the transcript, “those
    executives with expertise and long experience in more traditional print-based
    services of our portfolio have been assigned
    to hunt aggressively for construction document printing and related services    .”
    And, also pulled from the transcript, “we
    understand the importance of our traditional print revenues especially in light
    of our ongoing transformation. Over the
    past several months we have taken significant measures to protect our
    traditional revenues     and give ourselves the necessary time to build up our
    technology sales.”
    And, also pulled from the transcript, “So
    in general the use of print is declining that’s a given. Our strategy after
    this quarter we have been talking about given of experience and knowledge in
    that space we are the biggest print
    provider for the construction space in terms of traditional services.     So what we are saying is we’re going to focus a group of people and really go after that
    business and try to gain that market share and that’s what we have started
    doing.     Now needless to say this quarter we had a fairly good quarter
    compared to the previous quarter in terms of traditional revenues but I won’t
    attribute that to market share gain just yet. Now if that happens three
    quarters in a row then I would be more confident in telling you now we are
    starting to gain market share.”
    Based
    on the statements made in the transcript, I think it’s easy to conclude that
    ARC is, and will be, aggressively selling traditional print (reprographics
    services) and will be trying to increase its market share of those services – –
    and, when in the past I’ve heard companies use the words “aggressive” and
    “increase market share”, that often resulted in prices being lowered to achieve
    market share gains.  ARC’s margin
    declined year over year (Q3’s 2016 and 2015 compared); one wonders if “lowered
    prices” have attributed to the margin decline.
    As to
    the decline in traditional print revenues that ARC has been talking about and
    specifically mentioned in the Q3 transcript, not all reprographers are
    experiencing that decline, at least not in 2016 compared to 2015.
    I’m
    currently in the process of conducting two different surveys, and, in one of
    those surveys, we asked these two questions:
    How would your characterize your
    company’s A/E/C plan printing business so far in 2016?
    Responses
    so far:
    Better than in 2015 –
    37.5%
    Worse than in 2015 –
    12.5%
    About the same as in
    2016 – 50.0%
    If your company’s A/E/C plan
    printing business so far in 2016 has been better than it was in 2015, to what
    factors do you attribute this? (Please select all that may apply):
    Responses
    so far:
    We’ve gained market share – 33.3%
    We’ve raised prices – 44.4%
    Our existing A/E/C customers have
    ordered more plan printing this year than last year – 55.6%

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    All
    that pointed out, there have not been a sufficient number of survey responses
    to draw any concrete conclusions as to whether ARC’s performance (sales) of
    traditional reprographics services are trailing the rest of the reprographics
    industry, or are not.  Since ARC is the
    largest company in the industry and nearly nationwide in scope, it could well
    be that “most” reprographers are experiencing the same decline that ARC is.