This year is wrapping up, so it's time to look at the most popular APDSP Today articles of the year, based on Google Analytics. This year they are a mix of business articles -- paper prices, for example -- and articles about reprographics companies. And there's even a little international coverage thrown in. Enjoy!
1. Eastern Engineering Supply at Age 50: Just Ramping Up: It’s a big deal when a company reaches 50 years old. But in the case of Eastern Engineering Supply, which is celebrating the half century mark this year, reaching that milestone is hardly the real story.
2. Starting from Scratch: Action Repro’s Owners Learned On the Job: Reprographics firms are often family-owned, and these days it’s usually the second or third generation that is in charge. But every once in a while, someone comes into the field from the outside, with zero experience.
3. Paper Prices: Still Rising: In September 2021 APDSP sponsored a panel discussion about media and equipment prices and supply (click here to read highlights of that discussion). Prices of media have continued to cause grief since then, so we reached out to Dan O'Malley from RB Converting, one of the panelists, and asked him for an update.
4. Let’s Revisit Per-Sheet Pricing: At the APDSP Regional Workshop in Denver in March, Kevin O’Hea from Academy Reprographics explained that he has used per-sheet pricing instead of square-feet pricing since he opened his company two decades ago.
5. Q&A with Chuck Gremillion: 15 Years After Selling A&E: Many APDSP members know Chuck Gremillion, who was president of his family’s company, A&E - The Graphics Complex, when the firm was sold to Thomas Reprographics in 2007.
6. Kevin Rowe: Former Blueprinter has Forged a Digital Pathway to the Future: Kevin Rowe says his friends in reprographics rarely send him Christmas cards anymore, and he knows why: His company – iPlanTables – sells a product that greatly reduces the need for printing AEC documents.
7. A/E Graphics Expands with Acquisition: APDSP member company A/E Graphics & Epic Color in Brookfield, Wisconsin is growing. In early June the company bought B&L Graphic Solutions, a printing company with a diverse list of capabilities.
8. Tables Compare ARC Revenue to Overall Construction: Joel Salus, a veteran reprographics pro who follows the industry closely, recently sent us two tables that compared ARC's revenue with the Census Bureau's "Construction Put in Place" values, from 2002 to 2021.
9. Rick Bosworth: 46 Years of Bringing Bright Repro Minds Together: Rick Bosworth is retiring at year-end after a 46-year career in reprographics, including the past 19 years as president of RMX Network. He spoke with Ed Avis, managing director of APDSP, about his career.
10. “Fundamental Change”: German APDSP Members Respond to Ukraine Situation: APDSP members in Germany are way closer to the new war in the Ukraine than members in the U.S. or Canada – both physically and, in many senses, emotionally -- and consequently they are feeling the effects more acutely.