Entering AEC's Digital World
As the AEC market experiences many challenges—from low construction activity, to increased competition, to the influx of newer technologies—reprographic shops are finding themselves forced to move away from the traditional ink-on-paper model they're...
The AEC industry is in the midst of a storm of change, and reprographers are caught right in the middle of it all. Looking at the industry as a whole—from the lack of job growth within the construction sector and the low if not anemic level of housing starts and building permits being issued—it looks like recovery and growth may be many quarters away. Additionally, the AEC sector is in the midst of increasing legislation for higher environmental building standards (such as LEEDS) and increasingly stringent safety regulations. Increased pressure on the entire supply chain—buyers to builders to architects—tighter margins, and a more efficient, mistake-proof workflow also challenge the AEC workforce.
Industry experts, however, have begun to see some positive signs that the market is starting to make the turn toward recovery. Todd McGowan, sales manager of the Engineering Division, Seiko Instruments USA, Inc., has seen a slow, but steady, recovery. HP’s Emre Ozguc, director of Marketing, Large Format Printers, points to recent reports from IDC that show in Q1 of 2011 the technical wide-format printing market grew 15 percent YoY in unit terms in North America. “Construction activity in the US is still slow, but beginning to show recovery. We are seeing an increasing demand from the AEC market for large-format printers, especially in the workgroup segment,” said Ozguc.
Bob Honn, Director, Product Marketing, Wide Format Printing Systems division, Océ North America, concurred with Ozguc’s findings. “In the US we have seen slight improvements in the sale of wide-format printers this year, as well as stabilization in the number of ‘clicks’ generated by Océ machines in the field. These are good indicators that the AEC/reprographic communities are experiencing the same improvements. Although these improvements make us cautiously optimistic about where the market is going, it still appears as if the industry has a ways to go before it is fully recovered.”
Keep Those Belts Tightened
While industry experts have seen some light at the end of the proverbial tunnel, the fact still remains that this market is experiencing many challenges—from low construction activity, to increased competition, to the influx of newer technologies. In many cases, reprographic shops are finding themselves forced to move away from the traditional ink-on-paper model they’re accustomed to and adopt these newer technologies—just to stay in the game. Layoffs have become common in many segments of the market as well as reprographers struggle to ride out the recession and stay in business.
“The crisis has forced many AEC companies either out of business or to be more frugal in everything they do, including printing,” said HP’s Ozguc. “Keeping costs low while speeding up project timelines is a competitive requirement. We are seeing a trend toward more distributed printing favoring workgroup printers versus centralized printing on production machines. More and more projects require collaboration between companies and across geographic locations. As a result, architects, builders, and contractors are becoming more and more mobile, with a growing need to access drawings 24/7. Paper is still critical for the review process, creating the need for a seamless bridge between digital and paper formats.”
“The recession has caused many firms to layoff portions of their staffs and 'rightsize' themselves to be profitable going forward in the new economy,” said Honn. “In this process, they have adopted new technologies and modified processes for doing business, so the slowdown was an opportunity to become stronger. Now the challenge becomes how to competitively compete in a business climate that has fewer projects with smaller margins.”
