Reprographics 101

Found on the NAHB web-site, this morning…..

May 16, 2011 – Builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes held unchanged at the low level of 16 in May, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI), released today. The index has now remained at this level for six out of the past seven months.

“Builder confidence has hardly budged over the past six months as persistent concerns regarding competition from distressed property sales, lack of production credit, inaccurate appraisals, and proposals to reduce government support of housing have continued to cloud the outlook,” said NAHB Chairman Bob Nielsen, a home builder from Reno, Nev. “In addition, many builders in this month’s survey cited high gas prices as a further contributor to consumer anxiety and reluctance to go forward with a home purchase.”

“The HMI component index measuring traffic of prospective buyers increased by one point for the second time this year as prospective buyers show growing interest but remain extremely hesitant due to a number of factors,” said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. “Asked to identify reasons that potential customers are holding back at this time, 90 percent of builders surveyed said clients are concerned about being able to sell their existing home at a favorable price, while 73 percent said consumers think it will be difficult for them to get financing. Clearly, access to credit for both builders and buyers remains a considerable obstacle to the revival of the new-homes market.”

Derived from a monthly survey that NAHB has been conducting for more than 20 years, the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index gauges builder perceptions of current single-family home sales and sales expectations for the next six months as “good,” “fair” or “poor.” The survey also asks builders to rate traffic of prospective buyers as “high to very high,” “average” or “low to very low.” Scores from each component are then used to calculate a seasonally adjusted index where any number over 50 indicates that more builders view sales conditions as good than poor.

Both the index gauging current sales conditions and the index gauging traffic of prospective buyers inched up one point in May, to 16 and 14, respectively. While still very low, the traffic gauge is now at its highest point since May of 2010. Meanwhile, the index gauging sales expectations in the next six months declined two points to 20 in May.

Regionally, the HMI results were mixed, with the Northeast posting a 5-point decline to 15, the Midwest posting no change at 14, the South posting a one-point gain to 16, and the West posting a two-point decline to 16.

Editor’s Note: The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index is strictly the product of NAHB Economics, and is not seen or influenced by any outside party prior to being released to the public. HMI tables can be accessed online at: www.nahb.org/hmi. More information regarding housing statistics is also available at http://www.housingeconomics.com/.

Found on Google Finance this morning:

Goldman Sachs reiterated its Buy rating on Autodesk (NASDAQ: ADSK). In a research report published today, Goldman also left its price target unchanged at $51.

In the report, Goldman states, “Our bullish thesis on Autodesk is driven by: (1) in our view it is the right time of the economic cycle to own Autodesk as key drivers of nonresidential construction and employment are still only in the earliest stages of improving; (2) we view Autodesk as the best margin expansion story in our coverage; and (3) the company’s emerging suite strategy has the potential to drive greater customer spend over a multi-year horizon. Autodesk currently trades at 26X CY2011 non-GAAP EPS, in-line with the software group median. Our 12-month price target of $51.00 is based on 23.5X our CY2012E EPS of $2.16 and implies 11% upside from current levels. Risks include persisting sluggishness in commercial construction and/or employment, as well as FX fluctuations given majority international exposure.”

On Friday, Autodesk lost 0.91% to close the week at $45.57.

Engineering News-Record Presents a Complimentary Webinar
- Cloud Computing (webinar is scheduled for May 25, 2011)

“The air is so filled with clouds these days–cloud computing, cloud services, public clouds, private clouds, internal clouds, managed clouds, fake clouds, hybrid clouds–you would think a storm is brewing. But while “cloud computing” is the buzz of the year, some debunk it as “nothing new” and say we have been using services leveraging cloud computing for a long time. And while that may be true, what is new is a rapid expansion in the opportunities companies now have to apply the benefits of cloud computing to their own operations to manage more data, collaborate more effectively and run far more sophisticated applications than ever before without having to sink bottomless investments into IT. This webinar featuring construction industry experts on the subject will help you find your way through the fog.”

One of the webinar presenters is from this company:

“Viewpoint Construction Software”

Viewpoint Construction Software’s “targets” include General Contractors, Heavy Contractors, and Specialty SubContractors.

Here’s what HCS says about its business:

Defining the future of construction excellence together

With a long-standing focus on the issues and challenges facing contractors, Viewpoint Construction Software has carved out a unique position in the business software marketplace. Instead of pointing our resources towards the development of generic business solutions, we have focused our attention on solving the unique needs of construction professionals.

By working closely with our customers to gain the specific insights we need to adapt our software to new industry conditions, we’re creating products that are built to scale with our customers’ businesses, yet not force them to invest in infrastructure that outpaces their current needs. And most importantly, we’re building a software platform as rock-solid as the foundations our customers build their roads, bridges and buildings upon.

Our complete suite of integrated applications for Accounting, Human Resources, Project Management and Operations is built on the award-winning Microsoft .NET Framework using the SQL Server database for timely reporting of critical data.

Here’s the address of HCS’ web-site:

http://www.viewpointcs.com/

Joel’s comments:

During a recent discussion in the “Apprentice Group” on LinkedIn, one reprographer (Curtis Thornton) said this:

“We (reprographers) are no longer only competing with each other, we’re competing with other industries and technologies. Many of these new competitors understand branding and have business models with a consultative mind-set. The tipping point has arrived.”

I don’t know all that much about Viewpoint’s software, but I do know that it does have a “document management” component. So, in that sense, Viewpoint’s software for the Construction industry does represent competition to reprographers who offer document management software and services. I find myself wondering, though, why wouldn’t reprographers, who have developed document management software, “partner” with non-reprographer software developers, such as Viewpoint, so that Viewpoint would not have to develop, on its own, the “document management” component of its software? And, why wouldn’t reprographers try to convince non-reprographer software developers to add a “print button” inside the “dm” software, which would allow the reprographer (the reprographer’s network of print centers) to at least be first in line for stuff that has to be printed?

I found this article (see below, in blue type) in an issue of “Development Magazine, but I don’t know which issue of that magazine this article appeared in. Anyway, I found the article to be interesting from the point of view that “reprographers” do offer “document management” software and services, and, thusly, real estate development and management companies are “appropriate targets” for reprographers ….

Real estate businesses have heard optimistic talk about “the paperless office” for at least 20 years now. However, if you are still drowning in paper-based lease documents, asset reports, monthly budgets, ownership documents and drawings, take heart – there are life preservers out there. The Shorenstein Company, a large commercial real estate owner headquartered in San Francisco, California, is using document management software from Stellent, Inc., Eden Prairie, Minnesota called the Stellent SmartCabinet. According to Natasha Tuck, program manager for Shorenstein, the company began looking for a Web-based document management system when it outsourced its legal department. Because Shorenstein did not have the administrative staff to copy and distribute these documents any longer, it needed a system to have them available 24/7. “All the attorneys needed access to the files,” said Tuck. “This was our first challenge that we faced and handled. We looked at a handful of solutions. We chose SmartCabinets for two reasons: SmartCabinets had all of the functionality that we needed, such as email notifications when documents were available in the system. The second reason was ease of use: The system is very intuitive, which was critical. It is a nice balance between being user friendly and having sophisticated functionality.” SmartCabinet is designed specifically for the real estate industry, according to Tuck. The user interface is a filing cabinet, file drawers and files. What makes it specific to real estate is that it understands the property hierarchy, so that one can have a property that has multiple buildings under it and each can have its own files. Shorenstein implemented SmartCabinet in about 12 weeks, which included scanning 8,400 property and tenant documents into the system – a mere 175,000 pages! Some of the benefits for Shorenstein of using document management software: • The company can manage thousands of real estate documents. • By bringing the content to the web, the company has improved many of its business processes, from asset management, leasing and legal services to property acquisitions and dispositions. • The company was able to better align cost structure more closely with business cycles. • Because the company can efficiently and securely share infor-mation with external partners, it was able to effectively out-source its legal department and decrease administrative staff. • The company was also able to accelerate cycle disposition times and enhance its leasing process.

On May 9, 2011, on McGraw Hill’s Southeastern Construction News, Scott Judy posted an article about “construction employment” (in the Southeast part of the U.S.).

Here’s a couple of paragraphs from Scott’s article, followed by a link to the full article:

The latest unemployment rate figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics came out recently, and the construction industry saw some improvement, according to a recent report from ENR. The industry’s jobless rate fell from about 20% in March, to 17.8% in April, thanks to the addition of roughly 12,700 jobs during the month. Despite the drop in the jobless rate, construction still ranked last among the nation’s major industries.

In other words, the situation became slightly less horrible.

In March, Florida’s construction industry employed an estimated 332,900 workers. Compared to a year ago, that number was 4.2% lower. HISTORICAL PEAK: According to BLS, Florida’s construction employment peaked in June 2006, with an estimated 687,200 construction jobs. The latest estimate of 332,900 represents a loss of 354,300 jobs, for a 51.6% drop in industry employment since that peak.

Here’s a link to the full article:

http://tinyurl.com/438kk96

Joel’s comment:

Florida construction employment is off over 50% from its peak in 2006. Unbelievable, staggering, sobering.

If you’re in the reprographics business and offer FM (MPS) services, this video is a great example of how powerful a “VIP-customer” testimonial can be, when the testimonial has been outstandingly scripted and staged. ARC’s marketing person who managed the production of this testimonial gets a standing round of applause from me. Perfect, A+++ score.

The video I’m speaking of is a testimonial from an HOK officer about the MPS program service ARC provides for HOK.

To access this video first go to e-arc.com. The video may come up on ARC’s home page, and, if it does, then click on it / play it from there. If it does not come up on ARC’s home page, then, in the red bar on ARC’s home page, go to “managed print services”, then click on the HOK video. The video is about 4 minutes long.

The “presenter” in the video is:

Kenneth B. Young

Senior Vice President

Chief Information Officer

HOK (Architects, Engineers, Planners)

In one place in the video, Ken says, “Managed Print Services is something I think a lot of firms will start to take a look at as we go into the future.” Ken does not use the term, “FM” even once!

Inasmuch as Ken Young has been with HOK for around 15 years and considering the fact that some HOK offices have had staffed FM (OnSite) service programs – from various reprographics companies – since the early 1980’s, if not before that, I’m now convinced that “MPS” – managed print services – is an extension of the “FM” business, if not the same exact thing. At Rowley-Scher, our first reprographics company, we implemented a staffed “FM” program for HOK’s office in Washington, D.C. Not long after I joined NGI in Florida in 1997, we implemented staffed “FM” programs for HOK’s offices in Tampa and Orlando. And, not long after that, we implemented a staffed “FM” program for HOK’s office in Atlanta. Even before R/S implemented an FM program for HOK in D.C., NRI was already doing one for HOK’s NYC office. Years later, NRI implemented one for HOK’s DC office. And, Carich Reprographics implemented a staffed FM service for HOK in Dallas, not long after R/S implemented one for HOK in DC. I’m not sure who was then providing staffed FM service programs for HOK in L.A. and San Fran. Anyway, many HOK offices (most of HOK’s larger offices around the U.S.) have been employing staffed “FM” services for at least 20 years, if not longer.

“FM” is not “new” to HOK. But, the term “MPS” is!

Come to think of it, I like the term “MPS” a lot better than the term “FM”. It’s brighter, fresher, catchier, more up to date and it doesn’t cause one to wonder if your FM business deals with managing facilities!

So, reprographers unite …. stop using the term “FM” and begin using only the term, “MPS.”

If ARC did manage to do a “national” MPS deal with HOK, that was certainly a very prestigious deal for ARC, and it shows you the power of being able to “implement” a “nationwide” MPS deal as “one company.”

You’ll see what I’ve mentioned above if you are patient…., and that’s because the “digital document kiosk” is in the latter part of the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JR4dzQriMR8

Not quite as interesting as Inglorius Bastards or Pulp Fiction, but this particular video should, I would think, be of interest to reprographer

I would like to get some feedback / input from my blog-visitors on a few matters.

All of these matters pertain to “things” I think the IRgA should look into and pursue on behalf of IRgA members. Most of us who attended the IRgA Convention are aware that the IRgA may be going through a “restructuring” at some point during the current year. However, no matter what that restructuring ends up looking like, I would love to see the IRgA (whether it continues as an “association” or whether it simply becomes a “group” or “club”) look into and pursue.

Item #1 – IRgA Educational Programs ?

Over lunch the other day, I suggested to one of my IRgA friends that the IRgA has not gone far enough with “educational” programs in the past. I explained to my friend that on any one specific topic, there’s a 10%-90% “split.” 10% of “education” is making someone aware (in our case, making reprographers aware) that there’s an opportunity that’s worth pursuing. The other 90% involves providing detailed information and education so that one interested in pursuing an identified-opportunity will know “how to pursue it, how to do it.” In the past, I believe the IRgA has done an adequate job letting reprographers know about opportunities that are worth pursuing. But, on the other hand, I believe the IRgA has not done a good job, if any, on the 90% piece.

In an effort to ensure that I’m expressing myself clearly, as to what I said in the previous paragraph, I’d like to use an example. Many years ago, the IRgA had, at one of the IRgA Conventions, an educational/breakout session on the subject of “FM’s.” Subsequent to that, there were other “FM” related sessions at subsequent IRgA Conventions. For the past three years, the IRgA Convention has presented “MPS” related sessions. (Personally, I don’t think the “MPS” business is all that different, if different at all, from the “FM” business.) Okay, to go further, what the IRgA has done in the past about the topic of the “FM” business, in my opinion, is to ensure that reprographers “know” that the FM (MPS) business “is an opportunity.” That’s the 10% – the “awareness factor – I spoke of. But, in order to effectively pursue the FM (MPS) business, one needs to know the remaining 90% that’s been missing. Inasmuch as I’ve had at least some experience in the FM (MPS) business, I’m going to “bullet point” the 90% that’s been missing:

· Clear definition of what an “FM” business segment is, including the strategy behind it.

· How to “market” FM programs and how to pitch an FM program

· How to determine an FM prospect’s needs and requirements (survey / analysis process)

· Technology implications

· How to do FM math (costing and pricing, detailed explanation)

· How to propose an FM program (detailed proposal format)

· Suggested terms and conditions of an FM program

· How to effectively “sell” and “close deals” (drawing on successes of others)

· How to organize an FM business segment (people, SOP’s, etc.)

· How to implement an FM deal

· How to monitor, review and manage an FM deal and how to “renew” deals

There are lots of people in the reprographics industry who have significant experience with all of the items I just mentioned, and I’m sure those people could add to the list that I just put forth.

Okay, I used the “FM” (MPS) business as an example. To my blog visitors – am I completely off-base on this? Should the IRgA pursue this sort of “education” for its members? If so, it would require the development of an educational program that contains separate “modules” for each sub-topic. The FM business cannot be “taught” in a 90 minute educational/breakout session.

Item #2 – Certification program for “Document Management” ?

I also “suggested” to my IRgA friend that it would be a good idea for the IRgA, perhaps in conjunction with CIS (Construction Specifications Institute) and the AGC (or maybe ABC) to develop an “educational program”, including a “certification” for “document management” for A/E/C projects. Jared Willis, former Sales Director at BarkerRepro (CA) made a suggestion about this on his blog. Just because we (reprographers) “think we know” all of the “document management” issues our customers have to deal with, does not necessarily mean that “we do know” all of the document management issues they have to deal with. Why not develop a course that “does deal with” “all of the document management issues” our customers have to deal with? And, then teach that stuff to our team members, get them “certified” and then promote our “certified” people to A/E/C customers. Reprographers hold themselves out to be “document management” experts and we promote “document management” software and document management services. Are we experts? As to DM software and services, reprographers face competition from other reprographers AND FROM technology companies who are not reprographers. How do we stack up against the non-reprographer companies that compete with us for DM software and, especially, for DM services? Our A/E/C customers “trust” us with their printing needs? Do they really “trust” that we know all we should know about their “document management” needs? Building a significant level of trust is important. Perhaps “certifications” will help “differentiate” reprographers.

To my blog visitors – am I completely off-base on this? Your input and feedback is welcome.

Item #3 – Suggested “standard” nomenclature and units-of-measure for “government-sector” reprographics services bids and proposals ?

I’ve mentioned this topic in at least one previous post related to “government sector” bids and proposals. As taxpayers, we fund government. We pay the salaries and benefits of people who work at government-sector purchasing departments. Would it not be in our best interests (as reprographers and as taxpayers) to bring about “changes” that would reduce the time it takes for government-sector purchasing people to put together bid and proposal documents? As reprographers, would we not benefit if we received government-sector bid and proposal documents that “called out services” that are “current” (and not obsolete) and using terms that we understand, and using standard units-of-measure that our industry uses?

To my blog visitors – am I completely off base on this? Is this a project that the IRgA should take on?

Have a pleasant Sunday.

The five paragraphs below come from the beginning of an article (authored by Scott Judy) that I came across on Southeast.Construction.com. After the first five paragraphs, you’ll find a link to the full article that Scott wrote.

“Earlier this year, I blogged about the four-state region’s 2011 construction forecast, courtesy of information from McGraw-Hill Construction, publisher of ENR Southeast. At that time, McGraw-Hill Construction was predicting some fairly rosy scenarios for the Southeast.

The company projected the volume of Florida’s construction contracts to grow by 9% overall, for example. The optimism expressed for the Sunshine State was mild compared to the 40% and 43% overall gains predicted for Georgia and South Carolina, respectively. North Carolina, on the other hand, was in line for a 2% decline in 2011.

So far, reality isn’t matching up with these predictions. Instead, through the first quarter of 2011, three of the four Southeast states are down significantly, and the fourth is off slightly compared to last year’s pace, according to McGraw-Hill Construction.

State-by-state, it’s not pretty. The biggest of the Southeast states, Florida, is 29% behind the early pace of 2010, with about $5.1 billion in new contracts through the first three months of the year. It could’ve been worse, as both January and February saw 50% declines in monthly contracts. A 35% overall jump in March improved the numbers from merely horrible to just plain bad.

It gets worse. Thanks to a 36% overall decline in the value of its March contracts, Georgia is now 30% behind its first-quarter pace of 2010, with nearly $2.2 billion in new contracts so far this year. And North Carolina, fresh off a 52% nosedive in March, is now 34% behind 2010, with nearly $2.8 billion in new contracts.”

Click on this link to access the complete article:

http://tinyurl.com/6adov9t

When I originally posted the announcement of the contest – to guess ARC’s price per share – I said that the one who guesses a price per share that’s closest to ARC’s per-share closing price on May 15^th would be the winner. I guess I was not looking at May’s calendar when I said that. Stupid me. For May 15^th is Sunday. Inasmuch as ARC’s price as of the market close on May 13^th will be the same price on Saturday (the 14^th) and on Sunday (the 15^th), since the market is not open on the weekends, the May 13^th “closing price” prevails.

ARC’s stock closed at $8.77 on May 13^th. During the day on May 13^th, ARC’s stock price ranged from a high of $9.09 to a low of $8.77. The point being that any of the people who submitted entries could have won the contest, based on the stock-trading-range on May 13^th. (Closing price and day’s trading range per statistics on Google Finance and Schwab.com)

Trevor Hansen is the winner of the contest. Trevor is a member of the Thomas Reprographics team. Trevor’s guess was $8.95 per share. Congratulations to Trevor.

NOTE TO TREVOR: IF YOU DECIDE NOT TO GO TO COSTA RICA, YOU CAN, IF YOU WANT TO, TRANSFER YOUR PRIZE TO ANOTHER REPROGRAPHER. JUST LET ME KNOW WHO YOU TRANSFER THE PRIZE TO!

The PRIZE: Reimbursement of up to $200.00 on a three day or longer stay at “Ocasocerro” B&B in Costa Rica. Make your reservation (choose any available room you want to stay in), go to Costa Rica, stay at the B&B, pay your bill, then send me a copy of your paid bill, signed by one of the owners of the B&B (Chuck or Debbie Knight), and I will then send you a check to reimburse you for two nights of your stay, reimbursement limited to $200.00. Your stay at the B&B must take place and end before January 10^th, 2012.

Disclosure: this contest has not been sanctioned, nor is it sponsored, by the owners of Ocasocerro B&B. But, they have been made aware of the contest.

Further details: Just to let you know, I’ve vacationed in Costa Rica. It’s a beautiful country to visit. Friendly people, excellent food and wonderful beaches and rain forests. There’s also excellent golf courses and deep-sea fishing. When I stayed in Costa Rica, I stayed at the Marriott Resort near Jaco Beach. Room cost me $250 per night (not including any food.) Had a very laid-back, relaxing time. Not much of a view from my room (I overlooked the entry of the hotel, because I was too cheap to get a room with a view of the ocean.) If you want stunning views from your room, stay at OcasoCerro!

http://www.ocasocerro.com