I LEARNED TODAY THAT THE IRGA NETWORKING RECEPTION (THAT WAS GOING TO BE HELD AT THE ISA EXPO IN ORLANDO) HAS BEEN CANCELLED. Lack of response was given as the reason for the cancellation.
Reprographics 101
(more than you ever wanted to know about the reprographics industry)
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Design Presentation Associates will work with ARC’s national and international network to provide full service CAD conversion, CAD drafting, and graphic design services.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE / PRURGENT Princeton, NJ – March 10, 2012 – Design Presentation Associates, Inc. (www.designpresentation.com), a leading provider of CAD drafting, graphic design, and CAD conversion services, has announced that the company has been designated as a preferred vendor by ARC (www.e-arc.com), an international network of printing and technology companies that specialize in providing cutting edge documents management and value added services to businesses and individuals around the world.
Design Presentation Associates will work with ARC’s national and international network to provide full service CAD conversion, CAD drafting, and graphic design services. Design Presentation’s network of professionals are skilled in all the latest CAD design and conversion applications, enabling ARC members to offer CAD Conversion services that reduce their clients costs. Design Presentation will provide ARC clients with top quality service and rapid turn-around on CAD design, conversion and support.
Design Presentation, which has provided services for more than 1000 companies worldwide, has a network of highly skilled, pre-qualified CAD and design experts who are located throughout the United States and overseas. Design Presentation is known for its work in the fields of architecture, engineering, construction, energy, and mapping.
According to Fay Lachmann of Design Presentation, ARC has announced to its regional sales divisions and members its new affiliation with Design Presentation. ARC will provide additional promotional support and communications to members, and Design Presentation will begin servicing ARC member companies immediately.
Design Presentation has been providing outsourced CAD and design services since 2002. The company employs senior level CAD and graphic designers who provide services to clients around the world. For more information, visit http://www.designpresentation.com.
About Design Presentation Associates
Design Presentation is a leading provider of CAD consulting and outsourced design services. Through its established network of expert CAD designers, the company provides architectural, mechanical, and electrical CAD drafting services, 3D modeling, walkthroughs and renderings, format conversions, map digitizing and Geographic Information Systems, as well as graphic design and photo restoration.
For further information please contact:
Design Presentation Associates, Inc.
Fay Lachmann
General Manager – North America
Tel: 609-240-7317 (NJ)
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From Reuters.com
Permits for U.S. homebuilding neared a 3 1/2 year high in February, even as groundbreaking activity slipped, suggesting a nascent recovery in the housing market was still on track.
Published: Tuesday, 20 Mar 2012 | 8:35 AM ET
APNew building permits surged 5.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 717,000 units last month, the Commerce Department said on Tuesday. It was the highest rate since October 2008 and far exceeded economists’ expectations for an advance to a 690,000-unit pace from January’s 682,000-unit rate.
Housing starts slipped 1.1 percent to a rate of 698,000 units. January’s starts were revised up to a 706,000-unit pace from a previously reported 699,000 unit rate.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast housing starts little changed at a 700,000-unit rate. Compared to February last year, residential construction was up 34.7 percent, the biggest year-on-year rise since April 2010.
“The data we see now indicates housing activity has stabilized and we could be in the early stages of improvement,” said Gary Thayer, chief macro strategist at Wells Fargo Securities in St. Louis.
Green shoots are starting to emerge in the housing market, but an oversupply of unsold homes, which is depressing prices, remains a major hurdle, even as sales have picked up in recent months as job growth accelerated.
Residential construction is expected to add to economic growth this year for the first time since 2005. While home building accounts for about 2.5 percent of gross domestic product, it remains a major force in the economy. Economists estimate that for every one house built, about 2.5 jobs are created.
“We are going to see housing (construction) add to GDP in 2012,” said Stephen Stanley, chief economist at Pierpont Securities in Stamford, Conn. “There is still a glut of existing homes in areas where there are a lot of foreclosures. But the supply of new homes is getting tighter so if there is sustained demand for them we could see construction continue.”
Homebuilder confidence held at a near five-year high in March, a survey showed on Monday, and they were optimistic about sales over the next six months.
Housing starts last month were pulled down by a 9.9 percent drop in the construction of single-family homes — which account for a large portion of the market. Housing starts in the South rose to their highest level since October 2008.
Groundbreaking for multifamily housing projects soared 21.1 percent. This segment is benefiting from rising demand for rental apartments as falling house prices discourage some Americans from owning a home.
Permits to build single-family homes jumped 4.9 percent to a 472,000-unit pace — the highest since April 2010. Permits for multifamily homes increased 5.6 percent to a 245,000-unit rate.
In the Midwest, permits were the highest in almost two years, while in the Northeast, they were at levels last seen in December 2010. Overall home completions increased 6.2 percent to 568,000 units.
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Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Press release from the issuing company
PacBlue Printing, Vancouver’s digital premier small, large and grand format printing company, has received the 2011 All Star Award from Constant Contact® Inc., the trusted marketing advisor to more than half a million small organizations worldwide. Each year, a select group of Constant Contact customers are honored with the All Star Award for their exemplary marketing results. PacBlue Printing’s results ranked among the top 10% of Constant Contact’s customer base.
“We’re happy to be recognized by Constant Contact for achieving strong marketing results. Constant Contact’s tools have helped us connect with our customers in a fast, more effective and secure way” said Jonathan Colley, CEO & President of PacBlue. “Customer engagement is extremely important to us and we see Constant Contact’s marketing platform as a key differentiator in our communication strategy for building long-term customer relationships”.
Constant Contact customers using any combination of the company’s Email Marketing, Event Marketing, and Online Survey tools are eligible for this award. Constant Contact looked at the following criteria to select this year’s All Stars:
* Frequency of campaigns, events, and surveys
* Open, bounce, and click-through rates
* Event registration rates
* Survey completion rates
* Use of social features
* Use of mailing list sign-up tools“There is nothing we like more than to see our customers finding success. It’s a thrill to see the fantastic results that our All Stars are achieving,” said Gail Goodman, CEO of Constant Contact. “This group is really leading the charge when it comes to delivering relevant, engaging content that drives real business results. We salute this year’s All Stars for their success, and are honored to have played a part in their achievements.”
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-By Eric Morath and Alan Zibel, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9279; eric.morath@dowjones.com
3-19-12 10:25 AM EDT
WASHINGTON — U.S. home builders’ confidence in the housing market held steady in March after five consecutive monthly gains, keeping sentiment at the highest level in nearly five years as the industry slowly regains its footing after a devastating bust.
The National Association of Home Builders said Monday its housing market index was 28 this month. It was the same level as February, which was revised down from a previously reported 29. The reading, while historically low, is holding at its highest level since June 2007.
The results, however, came in below expectations. Economists polled by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast a reading of 30. A reading above 50 in the NAHB index would mean more builders view conditions as good rather than poor. The gauge hasn’t been in positive territory since April 2006.
“Builder confidence is now twice as strong as it was six months ago,” said David Crowe, the association’s chief economist. “That said, many of our members continue to cite obstacles on the road to recovery, including persistently tight builder and buyer credit and the ongoing inventory of distressed properties in some markets.”
The three components of the index were mixed in March. Builders’ assessment current sales conditions declined one point from the prior month, while expectations for sales over the next six months grew by two points, reaching the highest level since June 2007. The reading of traffic from potential buyers held steady.
The March index was based on a survey of 403 builders. Regionally, the index improved in the Northeast, Midwest and South, but declined in the West.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires, Copyright (c) 2012 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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AECbytes VendorHub Participants (Eadoc Software) in the News …..
Eadoc Software Selected To Manage $200 Million City Of Riverside Water Quality Control Plant Expansion
Cloud-based construction management software used to reduce risk, save time, and save taxpayer money
Oakland, Calif. – March 5th, 2012 – EADOC, the market-leader in collaborative construction management software for the Architecture, Engineering and Construction industry, announced today that the City of Riverside, California, has selected EADOC software to manage a $200 million expansion project at the Riverside Water Quality Control Plant. EADOC was selected after a rigorous competitive bidding process that evaluated multiple vendors on the basis of price, ease of use and functionality.
Eric Law, Founder and CEO of EADOC, said, “Unique in the industry, EADOC software integrates cost controls and document management functions to enable complete collaboration for the project team. Our customers report significant cost savings simply by eliminating the printing, copying, shipping and distribution of paper documents. And the system gets more efficient as more users are added, without increasing cost. We’re honored to have been selected by the City of Riverside to provide a construction management solution.”
EADOC’s software is used across North America by municipalities, local districts, construction managers and other organizations to minimize the cost and hassle of managing complex construction projects. Critically, for construction professionals, EADOC software integrates the entire project team, scales to serve projects of virtually any size, and adapts to existing workflows.
Last month, EADOC announced that it had been awarded GSA Schedule contract number GS-35F-0209Y, making it easier for government agencies to use EADOC to retake control of their capital projects.
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Article now up on AECBytes.com …… drawings vs. models
Beyond BIM – Building With Perfect Information
by Ray Crotty Founder, C3 Systems
Article Summary
In this Viewpoint article, Ray Crotty, who is the founder of the UK-based C3 Systems and the author of the recent book “The Impact of Building Information Modelling,” contrasts drawings with models, asserting that with drawings, no matter how detailed you get, you can only say approximately what you mean or intend, whereas there is no such ambiguity in models. He also questions what would happen if the information used in the AEC industry were fully trustworthy – needing no checking – and were readily computable, as the BIM vision promises, and if the operation of the construction industry were based on the use of effectively perfect information.
Article Link
http://www.aecbytes.com/viewpoint/2012/issue_64.html
To provide comments and feedback on this article, or see what others have to say, please visit its AECbytes blog posting at:
http://aecbytes.com/blog/2012/03/15/beyond-bim-building-with-perfect-information/
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This article appeared on March 1, 2012 on myprintresource.com
Johnson’s World: The Internet, Global Warming, And The Paperless Office
Here’s the beginning of Steve Johnson’s article:
Long ago and far away, shortly after Al Gore invented the Internet, my banker began asking if the World Wide Web was going to hurt the printing business. It was a valid question, of which I pondered the pros and cons in great detail. My ponderings did not bring me to any satisfactory conclusion, but something else did.
Click on this link to get to the full article:
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
BLOG PUBLISHER’S COMMENTS:
In his article, Steve says this….
“I could confidently assure my banker that the paperless society was no more imminent than the paperless bathroom.”
I don’t know how long ago Steve made that statement to his banker; it was probably a long time ago. Someone told me that it will not be too much longer before we actually have paperless bathrooms, including paperless toilets.
Introducing the high-tech paperless toilet that leaves you clean and dry without tearing up trees
By SEAN POULTER UPDATED: 03:08 EST, 10 March 2009
Read more:
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In one of the recent posts on our blog we mentioned an article that appeared on techcrunch.com – about PlanGrid.com and its iPAD app and e-planroom service – and, quite a number of people who read the article on techcrunch posted comments to that article, and some of those commenting mentioned different software programs for the A/E/C field, related to document management and construction management. We thought we’d take just a few minutes to mention some of the “software solutions” mentioned in those comments.
First up, Fasttac.com was mentioned in the string of comments:
We previously (in the summer, last year) wrote an article about Fasttac.com on our blog, and here’s a link to that previous article (the title of the articles is an active link):
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10, 2011
Yet another “eplanroom” software product for Construction Document Management, etc. (FASTTAC)
The information we provided, last year, indicated that Fasttac had, in May 2010, entered into a “reseller” agreement with BW Reprographics, Inc. In late 2011, Bruce Wiener, founder and President of BW Reprographics, joined ABC Imaging’s team. When I checked, today, to see who Fasttac’s current resellers are, Fasttac lists MS Dallas (TX), SE Blueprint (OH), and BlueBoy Document Imaging (DC area) as its resellers. BW Reprographics is no longer listed as one of the resellers.
From the comments section I mentioned, the commenter provides links to a couple of videos about Fasttac:
and
Second up, Archello was mentioned in the string of comments:
“It’s already available, Brendan and Vadim. Archello allows architects/contractors/engineers to upload their 3d models of a project so that clients can see the project either in Google Earth, in white space or augmented reality. The idea is that they can send a proposal to a client, Skype with them and at the same time have the 3d model in augmented reality sitting on the boardroom table. To see the augmented reality I recommend you visit this project for a great example”: This commenter provided this link:
www.archello.com/en/project/china-central-television-cctv-headquarters/38496
Next up, Layar was mentioned in the string of comments:
“@Mark: it’s very cool but not what I meant. You know Layar, the augmented reality browser (comes from your backyard BTW)? Well, suppose you have a CAD drawing, which you can load into a plug-in connected to it. Layar will show the reality and the CAD drawing will be rendered on top. It will probably take some games to superimpose it correctly, but when it’s done, the app can, say, highlight mismatches in red to draw attention to potential flaws.” (I don’t have a link to post to get you to Layar.)
Next up, snapca.com was mentioned in the string of comments:
“there’s some truth in the story, but as many people have noted below, most projects (no matter the size) aren’t nearly as neat or tidy. Like a few others, my own frustrations over 20 years of building structures has been distilled into a web-based PM app – feel free to check it out at snapca.com. We’re building it into a communications app, trying to create a simple platform where all parties in the construction process can resolve issues that come up. We’re creating it as a ‘build something simple first, then add on as you get more feedback from users’ type project. We’d love any feedback, especially from tech-crunch users.
Next up, geedra.com was mentioned in the string of comments:
“we’re working on a web app for managing construction photos called geedra. I invite you to sign up for a free account and share your feedback.”
“I too think that the iPad holds great promise for the construction industry. However, apps designed to bring the design and project management functions ever closer to the jobsite ignore the true root cause of inefficiency in construction. The real problem lies in getting data FROM the jobsite that can be applied towards improving efficiency and lowering the cost of construction and post construction. It’s standard practice in construction to set aside a 15% contingency budget to deal with cost overruns. Despite big advances in design technology over the past few years, I don’t see many project managers backing off on their contingencies just yet. Readers of this blog can sympathize with this analogy of construction’s core problem; each project is like a startup that gets blown up after building the prototype. Unique organizations are established with different combinations of contractors / architects / subcontractors, so that it’s next to impossible to generate any operational efficiency. Meanwhile, the pace of construction moves so fast that it’s difficult to accurately record as-built conditions or construction processes in a consistent manner making post construction analysis difficult. Geedra’s premise is that digital photos and video represent the best chance at a universal solution to ground-level data collection as they can indiscriminately capture information that would be otherwise inaccessible to managers and other interested parties. This media-data can then be repurposed many times over and applied towards greater efficiency in process improvement, warranty investigations, dispute resolution and facilities management. As the best practices for media-data acquisition and exploitation continue to evolve, the construction industry as a whole will finally make strides in improving the productivity losses that have dogged it for the last 50 years.”
Next up, permit-tracker.com was mentioned in the string of comments:
“Ryan said,…but as time goes on we will undoubtedly see more and more useful tools come to market. Sharing information on the cloud can indeed help even before going to the job site. A sub shows up to do their part and finds that an inspection hasn’t been performed for the step needed before their job can start. I can’t hang the ceiling until the inspector signs off on the mechanical, plumbing, or electrical work the ceiling will cover. Tablets can be used with our latest version of Permit Tracker (Permit-Tracker.com) for just this reason. The engineer can include log-ins for all others on the project so they can see and update the steps in progress and know where everything stands in real-time.
This commenter had some overall comments to make:
“Paweł Woźniak, I have been a superintendent, a project manager, an estimator, a purchasing agent, a general manager and the owner of a construction company (over 30 years in all)…no one ever stands at a plan table in a field office for longer than about 10 minutes at any one time. They find their information and move on.
The systems mentioned earlier also work with a keyboard and mouse! User’s option.
The system you saw is not for the designers, it is for the users of the information created by the designers. The portable units mentioned are the more than 70 offerings reported in USA Today on March 9th that are light weight, durable and provide touch capability. Most of the people I’ve dealt with in the construction field are afraid of all computers, they think that a windows tree is something that grows, and would not ever consider using a keyboard shortcut (they don’t know what it is). This group constitutes over 85% of the users of the information that designers create…you are one of the 15% who may need other tools.
Why should the AEC Industry not communicate better, not collaborate better and not coordinate better just because paper is more comfortable? The industry deserves real efficiency tools…paper is no longer one of them!”
And, finally, this commenter mentioned a product called skitch and he referred to “visual communication” as the best way to communicate problems in construction:
“It is not just the tablet. Here is an example of how both the tablets and even the smart phones can transform construction (and other industries). It is called Visual Communication, which is the fastest and most efficient form of communication for humans. All the examples you will see at this link took less than 40 seconds to create, and they communicate a large amount of information. One of them is a real construction example in our office.”
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A couple of options for investments include putting your money in a savings account and earning less than 1% interest or buying Pitney Bowes stock and earning dividends that currently yield around 8.25% (based on PBI’s current stock price at $18.15 per share.)
Pitney Bowes, Inc., a public company (NYSE: PBI) that pays a hefty dividend, is involved in a myriad of related businesses, including production print equipment and staffed FM services. Its staffed FM business is quite large. Some analysts are questioning PBI’s ability to grow – and its ability to continue paying large dividends – given trends in the printing industry and a growing reduction in mail volume.
Here’s a description of PBI’s business followed by two different recent articles about Pitney Bowes finances and financial condition.
Description of Business
Pitney Bowes Inc., incorporated on April 23, 1920, is a global provider of software, hardware and services to enable both physical and digital communications and to integrate those physical and digital communications channels. The Company offers a range of equipment, supplies, software, services and solutions for managing and integrating physical and digital communication channels. It conducts its business activities in seven reporting segments within two business groups: Small & Medium Business Solutions (SMB Solutions) and Enterprise Business Solutions (EB Solutions). It maintains field service organizations to provide servicing for customers’ equipment, usually in the form of annual maintenance contracts. It establishes credit approval limits and procedures of the customer and the type of product or service provided to control risk in extending credit to customers. In addition, it utilizes an automatic approval program for certain leases. The Company markets its products and services through the sales force, direct mailings, outbound telemarketing, independent distributors and the Internet. It sells to a variety of business, Governmental, institutional and other organizations.
Small & Medium Business Solutions
The Company’s the United States mailing includes the United States and Canadian revenue and related expenses from the sale, rental and financing of its mail finishing, mail creation, shipping equipment and software; supplies; support and other professional services, and payment solutions. Its international mailing includes the revenue and related expenses from the sale, rental and financing of its mail finishing, mail creation, shipping equipment and software; supplies; support and other professional services; and payment solutions outside the United States.
Enterprise Business Solutions
The Company’s production mail includes the worldwide revenue and related expenses from the sale, support and other professional services of its production mail systems, sorting and production print equipment. Its software includes the worldwide revenue and related expenses from the sale and support services of non-equipment-based mailing, customer relationship and communication and location intelligence software. Its management services includes worldwide revenue and related expenses from facilities management services; secure mail services; reprographic, document management services, and litigation support and eDiscovery services. Its mail services include the worldwide revenue and related expenses from presort mail services and cross-border mail services. Its marketing services include the revenue and related expenses from direct marketing services for targeted customers.
FIRST ARTICLE:
Moody’s Places Pitney Bowes On Review For Possible Downgrade
March 15, 2012
Moody’s Investors Service placed Pitney Bowes Inc.’s (PBI) investment-grade ratings on review for a possible downgrade because of the continuing deterioration of the mail and document-services company’s operating results.
The credit ratings company, which has Pitney Bowes at A2–five notches above junk territory–expects to complete its review in about a month. Amid expectations that pressures on the company likely will accelerate, Moody’s said it expects that any potential downgrade would be by more than a notch.
Pitney Bowes has been struggling to adapt to slumping mail use in North America as consumers turn to email and other communication methods. The company also has aimed to shift its focus from less-profitable businesses and last year launched a cloud-based service to print postage and shipping labels, among other efforts. The company’s efforts to restore its growth through its new offerings will be a factor in the review, as well as plans to reduce its leverage.
Moody’s also anticipates the company will see worsening mail-volume trends and increasing competition. The credit ratings company also said that Pitney Bowes’s core business continues to be challenged by its sizable exposure to the small and medium-sized business segment, which accounts for nearly three-quarters of its operating profit.
Last month, Fitch Ratings downgraded Pitney Bowes for the second time in six months, citing the company’s accelerating revenue declines and said the outlook on the triple-B rating–two notches above junk–was negative.
Pitney Bowes shares were down 8 cents at $18.30 in recent after-hours trading Thursday. Through the close, the stock has declined 24% in the past year.
-By Tess Stynes, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2481; Tess.Stynes@dowjones.com
SECOND ARTICLE:
Is Pitney Bowes Hiding Weakness?
By Rex Moore March 14, 2012
Pitney Bowes carries $2.4 billion of goodwill and other intangibles on its balance sheet. Sometimes goodwill, especially when it’s excessive, can foreshadow problems down the road. Could this be the case with Pitney Bowes?
Before we answer that, let’s look at what could go wrong.
AOL blows up; In early 2002, AOL Time Warner was trading for $66.27 per share. It had $209 billion in assets on its balance sheet, and $128 billion of that was in the form of goodwill and other intangible assets. Goodwill is simply the difference between the price paid for a company during an acquisition and the net assets of the acquired company. The $128 billion of goodwill in this case was created when AOL and Time Warner merged in 2000.
The problem with inflating your net assets with goodwill is that it can — being intangible, after all — go away if the acquisition or merger doesn’t create the amount of value that was expected. That’s what happened in AOL Time Warner’s case. It had to write off most of the goodwill over the next few months, and one year later that line item had shrunk to $37 billion. Investors punished the stock along the way, sending it down to $27.04 — or nearly a 60% loss.
In his fine book It’s Earnings That Count, Hewitt Heiserman explains the AOL situation and how two simple metrics can help minimize your risk of owning a company that may blow up like this. Let’s see how Pitney Bowes holds up using his two metrics.
Intangible assets ratio; This ratio shows us the percentage of total assets made up by goodwill and other intangibles. Heiserman says he views anything over 20% as worrisome, “because management might be overpaying for the acquisition or acquisitions that gave rise to the goodwill.”
Pitney Bowes has an intangible assets ratio of 29%.
This is not so far over Heiserman’s threshold as to cause panic, but you’ll want to keep an eye on this number over the next few quarters. It’s also useful to compare it to tangible book value, which I explain below.
Tangible book value; Tangible book value is simply what remains after subtracting goodwill and other intangibles from shareholders’ equity. If this is not a positive value, Heiserman advises you to run away because such companies may “lack the balance sheet muscle to protect themselves in a recession or from better-financed competitors.”
Pitney Bowes’ tangible book value is -$2.4 billion, which obviously raises a yellow flag.
Foolish bottom line; If you own Pitney Bowes, or any other company that fails one of these checks, make sure you understand the business model and management’s objectives. You can never base an entire investment thesis on one or two metrics, but there is a yellow flag here. I’ll help you keep a close eye on these ratios over the next few quarters by updating them soon after each earnings report.
Reprographics 101 