Reprographics 101

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  • Survey of A/E/C firms regarding "the future of print" (Part 2)

    Yesterday (March 21st), I did a post on this blog to share with reprographers that I’m going to attempt to do a “survey” of A/E/C firms to elicit their perspectives on “the future of print.”

    I explained in that post the reasons why I want to do this survey. (So, I won’t repeat the reasons in today’s “update” post.)

    I e-mailed several repro industry-friends to elicit their “suggestions” for questions the survey should ask. While I’ve not yet received “suggested questions” from all who I contacted, I did want to share with you the responses I’ve received, so far.

    It appears to me, and I’m not saying this facetiously, that “reprographers” do have a lot of questions they’d like A/E/C firms to respond to!

    Joel here are a few thoughts. Not in any specific order. You got me early today so keep that in mind:

    1.Knowing what reprographers have provided as services in the past (printing, copying scanning, storing and distributing documents) what services do you see reprographers providing in the future?

    2. Do you feel reprographers are essential to the AEC project document workflow or has technology (internet and digital documents) diminished their value in the process?

    3. Do you feel that you can trust (with confidence) outsourcing your Enterprise Content Management requirements to a local reprographics firm? For example, would you rely on your reprographer to archive all your critical project related business records on the cloud or in secure data centers as a service, becoming your company’s primary archive solution provider?

    4.Could you envision your reprographer offering BIM hosting services, where the reprographer offers to host the BIM model on secure servers allowing various project team members to update the model?

    5.Do you see value and advantages of reprographers position themselves as being a local vs. virtual technology partners?

    6.Could reprographers offer training to the AEC community, and if so, what types of training programs would you see them offering?

    Joel, here are a couple thoughts:

    1. Is it going to just architects? I would suggest sending it to architects, engineers, general contractors, and subcontractors. You may want to have different questions as they use the documents differently.

    2. The challenge I’ve found with surveys is there is an inverse relationship between the number of questions you ask and the response rate. We had this debate at the IRgA, and I made the argument do you want more data points or more questions?

    3. If you follow #2 there are some obvious questions you could avoid (i.e. do you see yourself printing less in the future. I think most would say yes.

    4. Here are some things I’d be curious about:

    – Are paper plans necessary for accuracy OR are you confident that plans can be accurately read on a computer screen?

    – With the distribution of digital information are you MORE or LESS concerned about people having the most current contract documents?

    – Does the use of BIM reduce or increase the number of documents TODAY? What about 12 months? 5 years?

    – How confident are you with the systems in place today to manage the storage and distribution of contract documents and changes to them?

    – What is your level of confidence that your reprographics firm understands your processes for managing and distributing project critical documents?

    Joel, you’ve cut a broad slice of industry change in your pro log …. and it ain’t over yet. (Many of these questions are self-serving but intended to expand the dialog and gain client perception.)

    – Is the security of online FTP sites acceptable for your project documents.

    – The effectiveness of online collaboration tools during the design development phase.

    – The use of private chat rooms for project team members.

    – How important are integrated account tools to project management.

    – Is the collection and management of project documents through the construction cycle adequately handled by existing offerings … what are the products of choice.

    – Has litigation…. increased the level of importance to justify digital records archiving.

    Joel, I have writers block on this one. Hmmm. I could probably come up with 100’s more, but since you have time on your hands, I’ll let you come up with others! Feel free to use any of my questions and reword them please!

    1) What products or services would you prefer to get from your local repro office if you could and why?

    2) What is the biggest challenge you face in your business today?

    3) What is the single most important technological change that has happened to your business in the last 5 years?

    4) Do you see a growing need for color printed plan sets? Why or why not? Would you use this service if it could be proven that by spending $1 in color printing, you could gain 2 to 4 times that amount in reduced construction errors?

    5) When choosing a new software vendor, what are the most important factors to you? (i.e. features, ease of use, training, migration, cost)? As a follow up, would you find value in a local company supporting your software needs?

    6) Have you heard of MPS? Would that interest you if one company would handle all of your print technology needs? Why or why not?

    7) If you use an FTP site, do you have a way of tracking use of the site for liability and do you track internal costs to managing the site within your business?

    8) Do you find it difficult in finding qualified repro companies in other locations/states/nations when needed for your projects?

    9) Is managing the “BIM” model among project team members a concern for your company? Are there issues with sharing the model (ie. file transfer time, storage space, lack of collaboration tools)?

    10) What are the biggest technology changes you see coming to your business in the next 2-5 years?

    11) If there was one thing you would like to recommend to the reprographics industry, what would it be?

  • Post on PEiR Group Point of View blog about offering "self-managed" project workspace solutions to AEC clients

    Even though it’s “kind-of-a-lead-in-for” an ad about PlanWell Collaborate, there are some interesting remarks – and good food for thought – in an article posted today on the PEiR Group Point of View blog.

    Here’s just the first part of the article; later on you’ll find a link that will whisk you away to the full article.

    MONDAY, MARCH 21, 2011

    Offer “Self Managed” Project Workspace Solutions to Your AEC Clients

    The document management needs of the AEC marketplace are changing and reprographers who fail to acknowledge these changes will be challenged to survive in the years ahead.

    Over the last several years we have seen more and more AEC end-users starting to adopt low-cost file sharing tools that are diminishing the needs and value of traditional reprographic offerings, even On-line Plan Rooms.

    Owners, GC’s, Sub’s and Design Professionals are aggressively moving towards using self managed solutions for distributing critical project information to project stake holders. Many are choosing to use CD’s, E-mail, FTP and web-based technologies like: BaseCamp, iSqft, SmartBidNet, Yousendit, BoxNet, DropBox, FileGenius, and a slew of others products to share and exchange project documents digitally.

    Here’s a link that’ll take you to the full article:

    http://peirgrouppointofview.blogspot.com/2011/03/offer-self-managed-workspace-solutions.html

  • More on the "managed print services" (MPS) business

    Strangely enough, “Reprographics 101” has attracted visitors from many different countries outside the U.S. Sometimes I can tell “who” visited the blog, but most of the time, not. For example, the other day, someone from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, visited “Reprographics 101” and spent nearly 30 minutes reading articles. I suspect that this visitor is a Xerox wide-format dealer interested in finding information about Xerox’s recent decision to stop selling wide-format equipment.

    Within the past couple of day, someone from “The Danwood Group” visited “Reprographics 101.” So, I decided to see “who” The Danwood Group is.

    The Danwood Group operates in the U.K. Here’s what they say about their business activities. But, after you read this, make sure to skip below, because I’m then going to “tie this in” to the “managed print services” (MPS) business.

    The Danwood Group

    In just four decades, Danwood has become the largest independent supplier of office printing equipment, consumables and associated management services in Europe. Today we support companies and organisations large and small via our network of over 40 offices: combining our specialist expertise with the personal touch.

    Our business support services span four core areas:

    • Consultancy, advice and guidance on print effectiveness and cost reduction.

    • Hardware, software and systems for the print, management, processing, storage and retrieval of documents.

    • Servicing and maintenance of equipment and systems.

    • Consumables for print, copy and fax technology.

    Product independence makes Danwood a different kind of provider. We are able to build exactly the right print solution for your needs by working directly with multiple manufacturers whilst still remaining accessible to you as your local dealer on the ground. We focus on your requirements, not ours – and we stay abreast of new technologies too.

    One of the operating companies owned by The Danwood Group is this one:

    Insatsu Chosa® is our print investigation consultancy team, specialising in realising cost savings and improving efficiency across organisations.

    In the previous sentence, if you click on the name of the company, “Insatsu Chosa” (which is a very strange name), doing so will take you to Insatsu Chosa’s web-site.

    If you are interesting in learning more about the “scope” of the “managed print services” business and how to “present” your company as a “managed print services” provider, you can learn that – see that – at Insatsu Chosa’s web-site. I think they did an outstanding job of explaining the business and what it’s all about.

  • Service Point Solutions releases English-language version of 2010 Full-year results

    On March 1st, we did a post about Service Point Solutions results for the full-year 2010. At that time, Service Point Solutions had just released its full-year results, but, unfortunately, the only documents we found were in Spanish.

    This morning, I found that Service Point Solutions has, by now, posted an English-language version of its full-year 2010 results.
    You can find the English-language version at this link (give it some time to load up!):

  • Survey of A/E/C firms regarding "the future of print"

    Related to the previous post, I’m in the process of creating a “Survey of A/E/C firms” regarding “the future of print.”

    I decided to create and conduct a survey because:

    1) – – – – There was a recent “discussion string”, in the “Apprentice” Discussion Group on LinkedIn, about the “future of print”. All of the participants in that discussion, not surprisingly, were people from reprographics companies. Inasmuch as “reprographers” may have opinions about “the future of print” that differ from the opinions that A/E/C people have, why not find out what “they” think?

    2) – – – – I am not aware that any of the reprographics associations (the IRgA, Regional reprographics associations, RSA, ReproMAX, the PEiR Group) have conducted, are conducting, or have plans to conduct formal “surveys” of A/E/C firms regarding the “future of print”. While I personally think that the IRgA would be the most appropriate organization to conduct a formal survey of A/E/C firms regarding the future of print, I’ve not heard any mention that the IRgA has plans to do that.

    If you are aware of any recent surveys conducted by any of the aforementioned reprographics associations, please kindly bring that to my attention.

    Once I’ve finished creating the survey document, I will be using “Survey Monkey” to conduct the survey. My “plan” (to promote the survey) is a) to announce the survey to local AIA and ABC chapters and b) to elicit their support by offering to make donations to the Pediatric Cancer Foundation for each survey response received.

    If anyone who reads this post has any suggestions, please let me know what your suggestions are.

    Thank you.

  • How has the economic downturn (the recession) changed the way your GC customers do business?

    In the latter part of 2010, the C.T.O. of the reprographics company we sold in December 2007 decided to change careers and moved to the I.T. industry. He is now a “sales engineer” for an I.T. company. Inasmuch as he had been in the reprographics industry for some 20 years (give or take a few years), it was a very difficult decision for him to make. I’d like to share with you a recent e-mail (slightly edited) that I received from him.

    Joel,

    Interestingly enough, and not surprisingly, some of our I.T. customers are involved in the A/E/C industry. Most are struggling, but, for some reason, one of them, in particular, is not struggling.

    Last week, I was in a meeting with the two principals of a construction firm that is doing well; we were discussing their need for an upgrade. Their servers are out of storage space and are around 5 years old. After taking a tour of their new office (which they are in while they build their own building), I noticed that something didn’t add up. First, they have work, and, second, there were very few prints. There were a few books of half size prints (not done by the local ___ office) on a couple of desks, but that’s it. Not the typical “rolls and rolls of drawings” that I’m used to seeing at a GC’s office, and no sign of the typical plan- room with a copier, plotter, FedEx containers, etc.

    After questioning them about their work, I mentioned my prior career. At that point, they both went, “ah ha!, that’s where I recognize you from!” They, then, stated that they can understand how the reprographics world took a one – two punch with the recent economic downturn. First, they stated that everyone suffered from the downturn, and, second, they stated that they really don’t use prints much, anymore. They don’t have a plotter… and, their clients don’t want to exchange prints, …. or pay for them. And, their subs don’t get prints. And, they hate FAXes, to the point that, if their subs want to use the FAX machine instead of the computer, they won’t use that sub anymore. One of the principals then said that they used to budget $10K for repro expenses on a typical project, but, now, they don’t budget anything for prints at all. They, and their subs, are almost totally electronic. It seems this firm used the downturn to modernize, learn new technology, and were able to modernize their internal operations. They also have forced their subs to do the same.

    CB

    _______________________________________________

    Joel’s comment / question:

    Reprographers, if your GC customers are ordering fewer prints – if the number of sets they are ordering is down from what it used to be – are you sure that the recession is the only reason for that? Or, are your CG customers finding it unnecessary to print, per-project, as much as they used to print? Have you surveyed your customers lately to find out what they are doing regarding the printing of plans and specs?


  • HP's Managed Print Services (MPS) deal with The Walt Disney Company

    Here’s an interesting “white paper” on the Managed Print Services (MPS) deal HP did with The Walt Disney Company.

    You’ll find this white paper posted on my Google Docs site; here’s the link:

    https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B81al4kFAU9JNDNmMThjYTEtMzY3Mi00MTIzLTk0OTYtZjRjN2VjMTFlZmM0&hl=en&authkey=CNjqtTA

  • Results of Beverly Hills USD multifunction copier-printer bid – IS THIS AN MPS DEAL?

    On February 28, 2011, the Beverly Hills (CA) Unified School District awarded a contract to “Image IV” (a Konica/Minolta dealer) for 20 small-format multifunction copier-printers.

    Bids were invited on a “monthly-lease-cost” (for each machine) PLUS “cost-per-click” for each copy/print (cost-per-copy/print to include toner and maintenance.)

    Vendors who submitted bids for this procurement included:

    – Image IV (a Southern California Konica/Minolta dealer)

    -Xerox Corp

    -Canon Corp

    -Docusource (Ricoh dealer)

    -LDI (Canon dealer)

    -Ricoh Corp

    Here’s some of the details of the bid award recommendation, as put forth by the BH USD administrator responsible for this procurement:

    Re: Acceptance and Award of Bid # 10-11/006 Multi-function Digital Color and Black & White Devices

    Background:

    Due to the age, older technology, and downtime of the some of the District copiers and in the interest of obtaining the most competitive prices available, the District has conducted a formal bid for the replacement of the older copiers.

    Current Consideration:

    The bid was for a sixty month lease of new multifunction copiers, including service and supplies (excluding paper & staples). There are nineteen copiers scheduled for replacement, and one that will be added for a total of twenty multifunction copiers.

    The results of the bid are as shown on the attachment.

    Administrative Recommendation:

    The Administration recommends that the Board of Education accept the bid and award the contract to Image IV Systems based on their low bid and ability to meet bid specification.

    I’ve placed a copy of the “bid abstract” on Google Docs, and you can access that document to see what each vendor bid by clicking on this link:

    https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0As1al4kFAU9JdFJUM3BFcVpfYTVrWGN5ODlPa0czSnc&hl=en&authkey=CITSiegP

    There’s been a lot of discussion in the reprographics industry, the last year, about reprographers getting involved in offering “MPS” – managed print services. Was this an “MPS” deal? And, if so, why did not a single reprographer participate in this bid procurement?

    Or, was this not an “MPS” deal? And, if the answer is, “no, it is not an MPS deal,” then I’d like to see someone provide a thorough explanation of – – –

    – What is an “MPS” deal?

    – How does an “MPS” deal differ from an “FM” deal?

    – Which “MPS” deals should reprographers pursue?

    At the upcoming IRgA Convention, there will be a breakout (educational) session with this title:

    “MPS – Why This Is Key to the Growth of Your Firm”

    presenter: Ed Crowley, President & CEO, Photizo Group

    If “MPS” is truly “the key” to the “growth” of a reprographer’s business, I’d surely like to have a complete definition of what “MPS” is!

  • Cloud computing – scanning, document management, workflow – an opportunity for Reprographers?

    According to a fairly recent article published in the “Washington Post”, the U.S. (Federal) Government is aiming to shift about one-quarter of federal government agency spending for I.T. to “cloud (web-based) computing”, in an effort to make the government more efficient and to save money.

    I would imagine that State, County and City governments will also begin to, if they’ve not already started to, shift some of their I.T. to the “cloud”. And, will not (and have not) firms in the private sector take more and more advantage of “cloud” I.T.?

    IDEAL, led by Jay Maggeheim, recently published an article about “cloud” computing, and here’s a link to that recent article:

    https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B81al4kFAU9JMjM3ZDg3YTEtNGY1OS00ZTY5LWJlMTktMDRkYmZjMWYwMGMy&hl=en&authkey=CKnxjbkI

    There’s a “whole lotta” discussion going on in the reprographics industry, right now, about “what should reprographers do to augment their revenues from printing services”?

    Reprographers have been offering scanning services for years. But, do most reprographers push into the “small-format” scanning market space – the “non-A/E/C” market space? Or, do most reprographers pretty much market scanning services only to A/E/C firms?

    “What if” you – in your capacity as a reprographer – could show non-A/E/C firms (whether government agencies or private-sector companies) that your firm is fully capable of: a) scanning all types of legacy documents (on-site or off-site), b) providing “document management” software, c) providing “cloud” I.T. services for hosting documents …. and that you can do that in such a manner that it improves the customer’s workflow and business process, enabling the customer to be more efficient and producing cost savings?

  • Technology Solutions and Services for the A/E/C Industry

    In the previous post, I mentioned www.aecbytes.com.

    On that site, you’ll find a link to a “vendor hub”, which provides a list of vendors who offer A/E/C Technology Solutions and Services.

    I looked at that list and did not find any of the “technology solutions and services” offered by “reprographers”. What’s up with that? No mention of PlanWell or PlanWell Collaborate, no mention of ReproMAX DFS, PDM or cMAX, no mention of RSA PlanCommand, not a single mention of any e-planroom software or services solution offered by reprographers.

    Here’s what Dr. Khemlani, Ph.D., Founder and Editor of AECbytes, says about the “VendorHub”

    “Welcome to AECbytes VendorHub!”

    “The objective of AECbytes VendorHub is to provide AEC professionals with a comprehensive “at-a-glance” listing of AEC technology solutions and services grouped into related categories. All vendors in the AEC space have the opportunity to participate in AECbytes VendorHub and list their products and/or services for a nominal fee.

    Please use the links on the left to browse through the solutions and services in different categories. You can also see the latest news from the participating vendors highlighted below.

    Hope you find VendorHub a useful resource for finding relevant products and services more easily and keeping updated on their significant developments.”

    http://www.aecbytes.com/vendorhub/index.html

    Just a suggestion ….. if your company or association offers technology solutions for A/E/C firms, you might want to consider contacting Dr. Khemlani to add your product/service to the VendorHub.