Reprographics 101

My SWAG estimates for ARC, Q1 2011:

NET SALES – $107.5 million

EPS – ($0.07)

________________________________

Joel’s comments:

None

Very excellent article on thedigitalnirvana.com

Read it ….. and, most of all, practice it.

It works. I should know. I always did it this way, and it worked better than anything else I ever tried. (I even had great success with “long” letters.)

Here’s an intro to the article I’m suggesting you read:

Letters and Executive Sales

By Tim Askew on April 20th, 2011

Here’s a little dinosaur wisdom: If you want to initiate new business with real corporate decision makers, write a letter. Send it snail mail, just like Grandma.

Yup. That’s my brilliant marketing suggestion for the week.

Here’s a link to the full article:

http://thedigitalnirvana.com/2011/04/letters-and-executive-sales/?utm_source=whattheythink&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=WhatTheyThink+Daily

One of the problems with posting a lot of stuff on a blog is that some of the posts can easily be overlooked.

I mean, after all, how much time can people really devote to reading the nonsense that I post on this blog. The other day, I noticed that, on one particular day, someone, from another country, spent over two hours(!) reading various posts. Did that person have nothing better to do with his/her time? I hope that person did not spend “company time” reading my blog. I’d like to say to that person, “get a life”, there are a lot more interesting things to spend time on than reading articles/posts on “Reprographics 101”.

However, in spite of the fact that I just used the word, “nonsense”, one of my recent posts (on April 18^th) was not nonsense – if you win the contest that post talks about, you can “win” something – something every reprographer most assuredly needs – a vacation! – a “get away!” – a “time to reflect on one’s navel!” Given business conditions in the reprographics industry these past three to four years, I can’t imagine any reprographer who would not benefit from a relaxing, exciting visit to Costa Rica!

To access the “CONTEST”, click on this link:

http://reprographics.blogspot.com/2011/04/contest-win-2-night-stay-at-beautiful-b.html

On March 31^st, I posted an article on “Reprographics 101” about ARC’s AbacusPCR™ Software being added to OCE’s arsenal of software solutions. However, shortly after I posted that article, one of my industry friends asked me to remove it. That request probably happened because “the news” was not yet ready for release. I’m an obliging kind of guy, so, as a favor, I deleted that post. I’m only mentioning this because, after I put the post up and then pulled it down, I received several e-mail inquiries which, basically, asked, “Joel, what happened to that post? Where’d it go?”

This afternoon, I found a “Press Release” – about AbacusPCR™ and OCE – on ARC’s web-site, so the news is now official.

When I publish “press releases” on “Reprographics 101”, I normally show the press release and, if I have comments to make about the press release, I post my comments “after” the press release. Today, I’m going to reverse the order – my comments will appear first, then you’ll see the Press Release.

Joel’s comments:

When I visited OCE’s web-site this afternoon, I looked at OCE’s “Partner Programs” page and found this description:

OCE “Partner” Programs…..

* Enabling exceptional integrated technology solutions

* Extending the reach of the Océ sales organization

A key to developing and efficiently delivering the industry’s best document solutions to the people who need them is – partnerships. The strength of these partnerships enables us to provide the industry’s most comprehensive end-to-end document solutions and make them accessible to customers who need them through the most convenient channels. Find out more about Océ partnerships:

http://www.oceusa.com/main/partners.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302163817&bmUID=1301509520260

If you clicked on the above link, then you would have seen that OCE already offers, through its “partner programs”, print-cost-recovery software from:

* Technesis

* SepiaLine

* Control Systems

My guess is that OCE now needs to update its “partner programs” page to also list ARC’s AbacusPCR cost-recovery-software solution. It’s not yet there, but I suspect that OCE’s “web-meisters” will “get to it” at some point in the near future.

And, that brings me to the last point I want to make – this point being related to “cost-recovery-software”, in general. I’ve always found it quite amusing that equipment-solutions-providers, such as OCE (and many others), have not, for some strange reason, developed their own cost-tracking, cost-recovery software. (Or, at the very least, they could have purchased a company that offers that type of software.) (And, no, OCE’s “account center” did not do the trick.) Do they not recognize that many, many different types of businesses (A/E/C and non-A/E/C as well) want to, or would like to, “track” output for either, or both, “cost-accounting” or “cost-recovery” purposes? What I’m talking about is a “cost-recovery” software (and hardware) “solution” that would track and account for wide-format output and small-format output. For example, if I were a member of OCE’s “corporate” sales team (the team focused on selling to large, multi-faceted companies), would it not be a benefit to my sales presentation to be able to say to the technology-acquisitions guy/gal I’m selling to, “hey, I can not only provide you every bit of small-format and wide-format equipment your company needs, I can also provide you a very comprehensive solution for tracking, and accounting for, all output, regardless of whether output is produced “from hard-copy” or directly from digital files and regardless of whether output is produced on our wide-format equipment or on our small-format equipment. We’ve got a ‘total” solution.’ Well, that’s essentially what OCE’s OBS sales team members can say (and, I would imagine, they do say that), but, in the past, I never heard an OCE wide-format sales team member say that, nor did I see any OCE wide-format sales proposals (to OCE direct customers/prospects) say that. (Note; it was not out of the ordinary for customers to give us copies of the sales proposals they received from OCE’s wide-format sales team members.)

Okay, without further adieu, here’s most of the Press Release; if you want to read the full press release, which incudes information “about ARC” and information “about OCE” and “about Canon”, then go to e-arc.com and access the press release.

“ARC’s AbacusPCR™ Software to be distributed by OCE North America”

Walnut Creek, CA, April 21, 2011….

ARC (NYSE: ARC), the nation’s leading provider of reprographics services and technology, today announced that the U.S. Wide Format Printing Systems division of Oce, a Canon Group Company and an international leader in digital document management and printing for professionals, has added AbacusPCR, ARC’s print cost recovery software, to its portfolio for tracking and capturing print costs within an office environment.

“We’re pleased that Oce has chosen AbacusPCR to add value to their printing and imaging offerings,” said Rahul Roy, Chief Technology Officer of ARC. “Oce has always developed their solutions to enhance document management and production, and by adding print tracking and reimbursable cost analysis with Abacus, we’re sure that customers in any business environment will be quick to recognize its value as a significant business process improvement tool.”

“With the large amount of decentralized printing now done in AE firms and the need to accurately track and recover costs, Abacus is a great addition to our product portfolio,” said Bob Honn, Director of Marketing Services, Wide Format Printing Systems division of Oce North America. “The functionality of AbacusPCR will enable our customers to not only track Oce devices but also all non-Oce narrow and wide format devices.”

Used for keeping track of printing costs and reimbursable print jobs, AbacusPCR software is easily configured to fit into any office environment. From rules-based printing and workstation billing pop-ups, to broad administration tools and its characteristic easy-to-use interface, printing activity can be tracked closely, analyzed for better equipment fleet management and cost controls, or used to capture reimbursable print jobs for a variety of industries.

AbacusPCR was recently upgraded to include print retrieval functions, rules-based printing, color and black & white recognition, phone call tracking, and greater third-party product integration. For a complete list of the features and capabilities of AbacusPCR, visit http://www.abacuspcr.com.

For business-related inquiries please contact Niro Perera at 925-658-0217 or via email at nirop@planwell.com

To all Reprographers:

Dr. Lachmi Khemlani, founder and editor of AECbytes.com, just released an extensive, very detailed report on her trip to Autodesk’s A/E/C Technology Day. Below, I’ve copied into this post just three of the paragraphs that appear in Dr. Khemlani’s report. The “full” report is definitely worth reading.

One of the very interesting, soon-to-be-introduced Autodesk products you will read about in Dr. Khemlani’s report is Autodesk “Vault Collaboration for A/E/C,” which integrates with several other Autodesk software products, including, but not limited to, Autodesk Buzzsaw. Autodesk Buzzsaw is Autodesk’s “on-line project management and collaboration solution.”

In the latter part of 2010, ARC released PlanWell Collaborate. Early this year, ReproMAX introduced cMAX. Both of those software products are aimed at “on-line project management and collaboration” in the A/E/C world.

In my mind, the question is, will Autodesk’s introduction of “Vault Collaboration for A/E/C” have a negative impact on sales of PlanWell Collaborate and ReproMAX cMAX? I’m not smart enough to know the answer to that.

From AECbytes Feature Article, April 21, 2011

“Following the first AEC Technology Day that the AEC division of Autodesk had hosted for media professionals at its AEC headquarters in Waltham last year (2010), Autodesk hosted a similar event this year on April 5 and 6 (2011) in what seems to have become an annual event. Timed to coincide with its annual product launch, Autodesk used this opportunity to not only share information about the new features and enhancements in its 2012 AEC product line, but also to discuss some upcoming technologies it is working on as well as its strategic thinking behind what it has developed so far and what it plans to develop ahead. The event provided us with the opportunity to hear the story “straight from the horse’s mouth” and ask questions to get additional information and clarifications. In addition to presentations from Autodesk executives, the event also featured some customer presentations, which helped to provide the users’ perspective on technology and showcase real-life projects and challenges.”

– – – –

“This feature article captures the highlights of Autodesk’s recent AEC Technology Day event, including what was shared about the 2012 AEC product lineup. (The general Autodesk 2012 product launch was discussed last week in AECbytes Newsletter #50.) Although information was shared about Autodesk’s building as well as infrastructure products, both of which are now under its AEC division, this article focuses primarily on the building products and their updated functionality. However, it does cover some of the broader topics related to infrastructure design, urban planning, and cities that were discussed.”

– – – – –

“Autodesk also introduced a brand-new initiative called BIM 360 to support collaboration and data management in AEC. It aims to provide AEC teams with a “complete, accurate, and digital view of their project, with access to information across the project lifecycle whenever they need it.” The technology at the heart of this initiative is a new product that Autodesk is introducing called Vault Collaboration for AEC. It is an AEC version of Autodesk’s Vault product that was originally developed for the manufacturing industry and is still used extensively there in conjunction with applications like Inventor. The AEC-specific version of Vault integrates with popular Autodesk applications including Revit, Navisworks, AutoCAD, Civil 3D, as well as Buzzsaw, Autodesk’s online project management and collaboration solution, allowing users and firms to better manage the large volume of data that is generated on projects. The integration with Revit, for instance, allows Vault to manage all the linked models in a Revit project. In the case of Navisworks, its Vault integration allows users to retrieve or save files, check in or check out, control file versioning, and manage the relationship between Navisworks files and the original design data.”

Here’s a link to the full article that Dr. Lachmi Khemlani wrote:

http://www.aecbytes.com/feature/2011/AutodeskAECTechDay2011.html

About the Author

Lachmi Khemlani is founder and editor of AECbytes. She has a Ph.D. in Architecture from UC Berkeley, specializing in intelligent building modeling, and consults and writes on AEC technology. She can be reached at lachmi@aecbytes.com.

(Post updated Friday morning, April 22nd.)

You’ll have the opportunity to meet Joseph Joseph, AIA, at the IRgA Convention in Vegas:)

9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.

IRgA Opening General Session

BIM Panel: How BIM and Emerging Technologies Will Change Reprographics Forever

Jim Balding, CEO & Founder, The ANT Group, Inc.; Stephen A. Jones, Senior Director, McGraw-Hill Construction; and Joseph Joseph, AAIA, Director of BIM/CAD Technologies, SAIC Energy, Environment & Infrastructure, LLC

___________________________________________________________________________

Posted on Thursday, April 22nd:

I just noticed this post on a web-site located at http://bim-managers.com

I’m pretty sure that web-site is operated by Mr. Joseph Joseph, and that he is the one who authored the article I’ve copied into this post. (As to his name, it looks like his parents had a sense of humor!)

Okay, without further adieu, here’s what Joseph Joseph wrote:

“How will BIM change the Reprographics industry?”

“Over the past several months I worked very closely with a reprographics giant to create an on-site FM solutions for our AEC firm to manage reproduction internally. This solution worked so greatly so far for our organization and it is helping cut cost tremendously.

I was recently asked by the IRGA Convention to speak on BIM as part of a panel of two very accomplished speakers. My point of view will address the convention which most of which are reprographers and their suppliers on how BIM is changing the AEC industry. Partly, this speaking engagement will cover topics to educate them how BIM is evolving our business. The other part, is project how it will evolve their business to catch-up with ours.

So as I continue to put together my thoughts for the presentation, I took the time to think deeply of how their business will be affected by BIM. For one thing, I noticed a lot of reprographers now have a “BIM” business unit that goes after BIM work. I think to myself, REALLY?! Now they want to come after our thin market?! I think it is a joke how the term BIM is used so recklessly that it is losing the meaning of BIM.

In my mind, it is not farfetched to anticipate a “BIM Handler” business that will provide collaboration tools, virtualization and cloud computer power for a true BIM integrated project. It is not just 3D printing. Between BIM and sustainability – I wonder what the future of reprographics will be? Of course, that is after a really LONG time given that the AEC industry is slowly adopting BIM.

This doesn’t leave out others that will continue to be committed to printing such as Oil and Gas industry and many of the process piping and industrial design and construction firms that are less interested in BIM.

Let me know what you guys think of this, your feedback is valued.”

cop-out n. Slang 1. A failure to fulfill a commitment or responsibility or to face a difficulty squarely. 2. A person who fails to fulfill a commitment or responsibility. 3. An excuse for inaction or evasion.

Several weeks ago, I said that I was going to conduct a “survey” of A/E/C firms. I’m not going to complete that project.

I did create and post a survey, and I did contact a bunch of different AIA chapters and ABC and AGC chapters to explain what the survey was about and to ask them to let their members know of the survey, but I got almost-a-zero response to the survey.

While I do think that a survey would help reprographers determine their future course(s) of action – strategic planning, if you will – apparently I’m not the right “entity” to conduct a survey. I’m just “one individual (and a retired one at that), and I don’t think that AIA chapters or ABC and AGC chapters paid much, if any, attention to the survey project I let them know about and requested their help on.

Since I do believe that surveying A/E/C firms would benefit reprographers – and since I was made aware that many of my reprographer friends believe that such a survey would be useful – I’ve got a suggestion to make – and I’m making this suggestion on my blog because I know that some of my blog-visitors are with ARC or are members of The PEiR Group, ReproMAX, RSA, and/or are board members and/or officers of the IRgA.

My suggestion is that the IRgA, perhaps in conjunction with RW Baird & Co, take on the survey project. IRgA has the “standing” that an individual (such as I) doesn’t have. RW Baird & Co has been conducting quarterly surveys of reprographers. How about directing one survey to customers who use reprographers?

I’d be delighted to turn over everything I’ve done to date – including a copy of the survey I put together, a list of suggested survey questions that my blog-visitors e-mailed to me, and the contact information I used for my e-mails to AIA Chapters and ABC and AGC Chapters – to the IRgA (or to RW Baird & Co’s survey-makers-takers).

I just noticed this Press Release on OCEUSA.com…. (and see “Joel’s comments” at the end of this post)

New Center Extends Océ’s Global Imaging Capabilities

NEW YORK, N.Y. (April 18, 2011) – Océ Business Services, a leader in document process management technology and services, has opened a new Eastern regional document imaging center. Together with the company’s existing Western U.S. and Philippines-based imaging, coding and indexing operations, the added location extends Océ’s national and global capabilities to give clients access to a seamless workflow leveraging different time zones. Océ document imaging solutions are designed to help organizations cut costs, increase efficiency, meet compliance regulations and gain a competitive edge in today’s economic environment.

In one example, a leading financial services institution tapped Océ to help it reduce costs and space associated with physical content. Océ leveraged its extensive document imaging resources to provide the solution.

Océ digitized over 1,350,000 pages comprised of employee retirement and human resources related documents. The imaging initiative enabled the company to significantly reduce the costs and physical space that would have been required to store and access a huge amount of paper-based content at one of its New York City area locations. The project also helped the company improve its document retrieval and disaster recovery capabilities for the newly digitized content.

Its imaging centers enable Océ to offer high-volume offsite digital imaging management services to its clients on a global basis. The facilities operate 24X7 and can digitally image millions of pages per month as well as deliver image files and metadata compatible with virtually any enterprise content management system, database or other application. Capabilities also include Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology, enabling image files to be converted into text files that can be edited or searched.

Services provided by Océ document imaging centers range from the digitization of hard copy documents, regardless of size or format, to barcode generation and interpretation and media creation and duplication including CD and DVD. The imaging centers feature robust security protection. This includes administrative, physical and technical processes designed to help ensure the confidentiality of private health information according to HIPAA regulations.

In addition to imaging solutions, the Océ Business Services’ Philippines’ operation provides outsourced finance and accounting services that include forms and payables processing, billing and business analysis and reporting.

“Organizations are increasingly digitizing documents because it enables them to better concentrate on their core business while at the same time containing costs and improving operational efficiency,” notes Joe Marciano, president and CEO, Océ Business Services. “With our extended global imaging capabilities, Océ can help clients meet these important goals.”

About Océ

Océ is one of the leading providers of document management and printing for professionals. The Océ offering includes office printing and copying systems, high speed digital production printers and wide format printing systems for both technical documentation and color display graphics. Océ is also a foremost supplier of document management outsourcing. Many of the Fortune Global 500 companies and leading commercial printers are Océ customers. The company was founded in 1877. With headquarters in Venlo, The Netherlands, Océ is active in over 100 countries and employs more than 20,000 people worldwide. Total revenues in financial 2010 amounted to approximately €2.7 billion. Océ is listed on Euronext in Amsterdam. For more information visit http://www.oce.com.

Océ Business Services provides high quality managed services and technology to manage, monitor and optimize document intensive processes so companies can improve operating efficiency and performance. Océ Business Services solutions span the document lifecycle and include records management, imaging, managed print services, mail and eDiscovery. Proprietary methodologies apply Six Sigma^®. North American headquarters are in New York City and employment is about 5,000. Learn more at http://www.obs-innovation.com or follow us on Twitter.

Océ and Canon: Stronger together

In 2010 Océ joined the Canon Group of companies with headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, to create the global leader in the printing industry. Canon develops, manufactures and markets a growing line-up of copying machines, printers, cameras, optical and other products that meet a diverse range of customer needs. The Canon Group comprises over 197,000 people worldwide. Global net sales in 2010 were more than US $45 billion. For more information visit http://www.canon.com.

About Canon U.S.A., Inc.

Canon U.S.A., Inc., is a leading provider of consumer, business-to-business, and industrial digital imaging solutions. Its parent company, Canon Inc. (NYSE:CAJ), a top patent holder of technology, ranked fourth overall in the U.S. in 2010†, with global revenues of more than US $45 billion and is listed as number five in the computer industry on Fortune Magazine’s World’s Most Admired Companies 2011 list. Canon U.S.A. is committed to the highest levels of customer satisfaction and loyalty, providing 100 percent U.S.-based consumer service and support for all of the products it distributes. At Canon, we care because caring is essential to living together in harmony. Founded upon a corporate philosophy of Kyosei – “all people, regardless of race, religion or culture, harmoniously living and working together into the future” – Canon U.S.A. supports a number of social, youth, educational and other programs, including environmental and recycling initiatives. Additional information about these programs can be found at http://www.usa.canon.com/kyosei. To keep apprised of the latest news from Canon U.S.A., sign up for the Company’s RSS news feed by visiting http://www.usa.canon.com/rss.

†Based on weekly patent counts issued by United States Patent and Trademark Office.

All referenced product names, and other marks, are trademarks of their respective owners.

Joel’s comments:

In spite of the announcement that OCE Business Services has opened a “document imaging center” in New York City, I’m almost certain (even though no one could ever be 100% sure) that reprographers in New York City should not be concerned that OCE Business Services will send its sales reps out to sell reprographics services to A/E/C firms in the New York City market area!

I don’t think that OCE USA (or Canon) will do anything to interfere with the extensive relationships that it (or Canon) has with “reprographers” who primarily sell to, and service, firms in the A/E/C Industry.

Around two years ago on this blog, I posted at least one article (if not more) about the fact that OCE operates a “ReproCentrum” in Prague (The Czech Republic, for those of you who are geographically challenged.) (And, for those of you who need a translation – smile – ReproCentrum = Reprographics Center). In The Czech Republic and in all other countries in Europe where OCE conducts direct operations, OCE does (most definitely) pursue “FM” deals with firms in the A/E/C Industry. But, I was only able to find one city in Europe where OCE actually has a “Reprographics Center”, that being the one in Prague. Sales Reps who work for OCE definitely sell to A/E/C firms in the Prague market area.

Reprographers in the U.S., I think, are very aware that OCE USA (OCE’s U.S. operation and parent to the OCE Business Services operation in the U.S.) competes with reprographers for “sales and leases” of equipment, but not for “reprographics services” or “FM services”, at least not in the A/E/C market space.

I doubt that will change, even though Canon now controls OCE’s overall strategic decision-making process. And, that (OCE’s decision not to compete directly with reprographers in the U.S. for “reprographics work” or “FM deals” in the A/E/C market space) is (of course this is just my opinion) primarily because the reprographics industry in the U.S. is not fragmented, whereas in Europe the opposite is the case.

What’s going on with “plans and specs” printed to paper?

As ARC management has previously pointed out (during “earnings calls” and in SEC filings), ARC’s “mix of sales” has changed, somewhat, as business conditions have changed and as the percentage of sales ARC derives from “FM” sales and from “Equipment” sales have changed, and especially because of the growth of its sales revenues in China, which, if I understand this correctly, are primarily from “equipment” sales rather than sales of “reprographics services.”

As I’ve previously stated in numerous posts on my blog, the “big question” is NOT whether the A/E/C Industry will bounce back and begin a strong recovery. That is certain to happen; the only question is when will that happen. It is a given that that will happen. For reprographers, and of course for ARC, the “big question” is, will reprographer revenues, and, in particular, sales from printing “plans and specs” for A/E/C projects, recover in direct proportion to the bounce-back, (recovery) that the A/E/C Industry experiences? Personally, I don’t think the bounce-back (recovery) will be proportionate; I think the bounce-back (recovery) in revenues from printing plans and specs will underperform the bounce-back (recovery) that the A/E/C Industry experiences. And, I say that specifically because A/E/C customers are, apparently, on a mission to drive the use of “paper” (meaning, the use of hard-copy prints of plans and specs) out of their project-business-process. As to the latter statement, I’ve done a number of posts on this blog, over the past year (and even longer ago than that), about A/E/C customers transferring digital files to their project partners (and to prospective contractors and sub-contractors) rather than committing everything to hard-copy print.

In today’s post, I’ve included three “tables”. Other than the “estimates” shown in the tables, the information presented was pulled from 10-K’s ARC filed with the S.E.C. (It’s not my intent to pick-on ARC, but ARC is the only “publicly-held” company in the reprographics business in the U.S; hence, the only company in the reprographics industry that publishes its numbers.)

Well over a year ago, ARC began its “Riot Color” initiative. In spite of that initiative, ARC’s “reprographics services” sales have yet to show any meaningful increase, and that’s despite the fact that Riot Color’s sales efforts are, if I’ve correctly understood ARC’s management’s statements about Riot Color’s primary business initiative, directed at/to “non-A/E/C” customers. Sales from Riot Color are included in sales of “reprographics services.” Sales of “reprographics services have, with only one exception (Q2 2010), sequentially declined over the past 12 quarters. If Riot Color is making headway, in other words, if Riot Color is gaining traction and has been and is contributing “new business” to ARC’s “reprographics services” sales, then what does that say about ARC’s revenues from printing “plans and specs”? To me, the numbers kind-of-lead-one-to-assume that, if Riot Color has been, and is, growing, ARC’s sales from printing A/E/C plans and specs are continuing to decline and are declining more than Riot Color’s sales are growing.

Quite recently, I received an e-mail from a former owner/manager of a fairly large reprographics company. In his e-mail to me, he said this ….. (note that, for confidentiality reasons, I’ve xxx’d out any “name” references that person made) …..

“One of the last projects I was involved with was the (name of project deleted) project in (name of city deleted.) About 75% of the documents that were sold (before I left) went out on CD, and, as best as we could tell, never came back for printing. Those who did order (prints on) paper ordered things like 1 set of full-size prints, 1 set of half-size prints …. and a CD with both plans & specs. Those orders came from the bigger GC’s and not from subs unless they (the subs) were really big ones.”

“(Name of GC deleted) built the long awaited (name of very large project deleted) project with minimal printing, and I mean next to nothing, and that was with the docs on (name of e-planroom deleted.)”

Although these statements were made by a single individual – certainly, the statements of one person don’t necessarily exactly define what’s going on in every city and state in the U.S. – the individual who made these statements was in the reprographics business for more than 30 years and, in my opinion, is one of the smartest, hardest-working individuals who ever worked in the reprographics industry – which is why I put great credence in the statements this individual made. Inasmuch as I’ve been “retired” from active participation in the reprographics business in the U.S., statements I make, as to what’s going on, are simply opinion. On the other hand, the statements made by the person who sent me the e-mail I’ve copied into this post, are statements of fact.

Here are the “tables” that I referenced above:

– – First table: ARC “total net sales”

– – Second table: ARC “reprographics services” sales:

– – Third table: % of “total net sales” attributable to sales of “reprographics services”:

Well, after trying three times, unsuccessfully, to get these tables to show up properly in this blog post, I decided to create a pdf file for the tables, and you will have to “click on” this link to access the tables:

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B81al4kFAU9JNTlkZTg1MDAtMjM3YS00NDY2LTgxNzItYWUwZDQzMzQyYzVj&hl=en&authkey=CIDGmJcN

One last set of comments, somewhat related to the blah-blah-blah above …. during the last several ARC earnings calls, I’ve heard Suri talk quite a bit about ARC’s Riot Color initiatives and about ARC’s MPS initiatives. But, I’ve not heard anything, at all, about ARC’s “BIM Services” initiatives. At the end of September (or maybe it was at the beginning of October) 2009, ARC completed the acquisition of the “business and assets” of the RCMS Group. Unless I’m wrong about this, the RCMS Group acquisition was the only “non-reprographics” acquisition ARC completed in the past three years. Inasmuch as RCMS offered “*BIM Services” – and, I would imagine, continues to offer BIM Services under its relatively new name, ARC BIM Services – ARC’s acquisition of RCMS Group represented the acquisition of a technology business, rather than the acquisition of a reprographics business. And, inasmuch as ARC management has worked hard to present ARC as a “technology” business, rather than as “just” a “printing” business, I’m somewhat befuddled as to why Suri hasn’t spoken about ARC’s BIM services initiatives (and, it’s interesting to me that financial analysts who follow ARC and who participate in the “earnings calls” haven’t asked Suri about that initiative – how sales are going, how that business is affecting ARC’s overall business and strategy, etc.) Anyone who follows ARC knows that ARC’s BIM Services team members (led by K.P. Reddy, ARC’s VP of BIM Services) have been out, literally all over the country, promoting ARC’s BIM Services, for over a year by now. In my opinion, success in selling “BIM Services” would require (would have required, to put this in the “past tense”) the identification of “the right people” to sell BIM Services and extensive training to empower those people to properly sell BIM Services. This is not a “knock on” reprographics services “sales” guys and gals, but I’ve worked with a “whole-lotta” reprographics sales reps during my 40 (or so) year involvement in the reprographics business and industry and, in my opinion, not many of them would be the “right people” to sell BIM Services. So, I’m kind of wondering, has ARC had success with its BIM Services initiatives, or not, and, if not, why not, what went wrong?

(* BIM = building-information-modeling and consulting services)