I recently said to a co-worker, “This business is so much easier to run when the economy is doing great!”

Of course, this seems to be a fairly obvious statement. But it is so true, on so many levels.

When the economy went south several years ago, we, like most businesses, were forced to really analyze every expense, every project, every prospect, every move we made. Our company’s biggest expense during “good times” was a huge amount of employee overtime pay. Being efficient wasn’t as top a priority as volume. And why not? We had plenty of volume, and business was booming from our AEC clients.

And then the bottom dropped out. And a lot of our AEC business dried up, as our AEC clients lost business as well.

We had to work really smart to continue making a profit out of every small, precious AEC job that came through the door.  We had to diversify, and start talking to other industries as well about using our services. We had to cut back overtime to avoid layoffs. We had to really get creative. We had to work smarter, and leaner, and more strategically.

So that’s the big plus to a down economy – more efficient work.

These are habits our company won’t soon forget, even as the economy recovers and our core AEC customers come back to us with jobs and work.

The same is true for our eProcurement service.

Much like eDistribution, eProcurement is a service offered by Alabama Graphics to make it much easier for other companies or organizations to bid on your equipment or services that you need. We host a web portal for you where you can maintain current documents for suppliers and vendors interested in providing your product or service.  This is a great way to post all information needed for qualifying your vendors.

For example – if you need a copier, or new fleet of vehicles, prospective bidders can go to your eProcurement site to view and download the needed information in order to do business with you.  The process works the same for services.

As with eDistribution, Alabama Graphics can tailor your eProcurement site to match your existing web site, so there is a consistent look and feel for your branding.

Learn more about Alabama Graphics’ eProcurement and how it can help your business. Talk to a sales rep today!

Maintaining, organizing and sifting through project bids is a full-time job.  In these tough times, you don’t always have the manpower for it. Enter Alabama Graphics’ eDistribution!

eDistribution takes the administrative work out of bid management for you, and puts it right where it belongs – in the hands of a capable, knowledgeable commercial AEC partner – Alabama Graphics! 

Through a streamlined web portal, eDistribution distributes, manages and organizes your project bids FOR you. Contractors work with you through us to get all the information they need to create a bid, and then submit that bid directly to you.

With eDistribution, you’ll have an online digital plan room that’s available 24/7 for interested contractors. We can even customize a plan room to coordinate with your website, creating a consistent look for your web site visitors.

Alabama Graphics has been providing eDistribution for several years, and the response has been tremendous. Architects around the state and nation are using eDistribution successfully and reaping its benefits.

You may be thinking, “That’s great and all, but why would I pay someone to do something I’ve been handling for years?” The truth is, the ROI on eDistribution is fantastic. The benefits outweigh the cost, especially when you factor in all the time you’ll save. We also offer your first project totally free, because we know you’ll be back for more eSuite services. We work with you to create a customized plan that suits your individual needs.

Plus, Alabama Graphics offers a quick turnaround on your online bidding room. We can have you up and running in 24 hours. Custom online rooms take as little as two weeks.

So get a jump start on your bidding process for 2012 with Alabama Graphics’ eDistribution! Talk to a sales rep today to learn more.

Sandra’s duties at Alabama Graphics keep her on her toes. She’s responsible for managing employees, keeping up with inventory, doing purchasing, invoicing customers, handling collections for the Montgomery office and helping with customer service. She has a lot on her plate!

“I do a lot of things!” she says. “In a typical day, I may answer phones, assist customers who walk in (or call in) for information, help our employees solve their daily problems and work with customers. I also help make sure our deadlines are met (a very important aspect of our business) and order inventory for customers with special projects.”

Sandra will celebrate her 31^st anniversary with Alabama Graphics in July of this year (yes, we hired her when she was 2).  In her 31-year tenure, she’s definitely seen changes in the printing industry. “The transition from Blue lines to digital bonds and black and white to color was huge!” she says. “And computers! When I started here in 1981, there were no computers. Every invoice had to be hand written, and book keeping was all manual. There was no email, no cell phones – everything took so much more effort. Technology has made it possible to do business with anyone, anywhere. It’s amazing how much and changed in this industry since I started.”

Sandra says she wants people to know about the wide array of services Alabama Graphics offers. “A lot of times, people will say, ‘I didn’t know Alabama Graphics could do that!’ They’re usually talking about the wide range of color services that we can tackle. Banners, signs, photo-to-canvas are only a small part of what we do.”

Sandra enjoys working at Alabama Graphics because of the people. “We have a great staff of people here – kind of like a family – and we pass that on to our customers. They always feel welcome when they come into our store. Everybody here is very customer oriented!”

When Sandra isn’t at work, she enjoys spending time with her husband, son and cat, who – interestingly enough – all have red hair! “We maintain a close family relationship and do a lot of outdoor activities together,” she says. Sandra also enjoys nature photography, arts and crafts, walking, listening to music and watching a good movie.

Sheila will celebrate her 20^th anniversary with Alabama Graphics this year, so she knows a thing or two about how our business functions. “I’ve been heavily involved in production for many years, but recently, I’ve moved into managing our sales force as well,” she says.

Sheila is involved with a variety of tasks for clients. “I may quote a job directly, help problem-solve an equipment issue in production or work directly with a salesperson to provide a solution for their clients,” she says. “I wear a lot of hats.”

Additionally, she serves on the board of directors for the Specialty Graphics and Imaging Association (SGIA).This year she also is a chairperson for the graphic production committee.

Sheila loves the challenge of working at Alabama Graphics. “It’s never the same thing,” she says. “There is always something new… new materials or unique applications. It’s never stagnant.”

While Alabama Graphics is known for working with the Architecture, Engineering and Construction industry, Sheila wants people to know that they do so much more than that. “There are so many things we do that people don’t realize we do,” she says. “We can do large tradeshow booths, hi-end acrylic pieces, all types of signage, we even do fulfillment pieces for franchises. And we do it while keeping cost in mind. We try hard to be cost-effective and help conserve for our customers.”

When Sheila isn’t at work, she likes to spend time with her husband Jeff and two 5-month-old Maltese puppies. “They are like having children, so we’re currently going through K-9 training with them so we start them out in the right direction!” She also has a fine art degree and enjoys drawing, mixed media and printmaking. She even has her own intaglio press at home.

Our two main resolutions for the New Year relate to our customers, both current and potential.

For starters, we’d like to thank our loyal clients who continue to depend on us to handle their work. We resolve to continue to improve our offerings and customer service!

The other area we’d like to work on in the New Year is letting everyone know exactly what we do so they will know we are here for them.  Many believe that we only work in the AEC industry, but this is not so! We also work in other industries like: churches, manufacturing, retail, development, schools, legal, and more.

In 2012 you will see more from Alabama Graphics, including some new services.  Stay tuned for more about these great new offerings.

Additionally, we will be expanding our color services, and providing more equipment offerings in both large and small format color, and only having the most highly skilled service technicians working for us and for you.

In keeping with our first resolution above to keep you more informed in the coming year about what we are doing, we’ll talk a bit about eCommunication.

We have had great success with eCommunication in 2011 and want to remind you all that we offer local support, not an “800” number. Additionally we have four CDT, CSI certified consultants on staff that understand the construction process.  With eCommunication we can help with faster project delivery by:

• keeping projects on track
• having unparalleled team communications
• saving overhead and simplifying security
• lending local expert support to a project based solution

We look forward to serving you in 2012.  To stay tuned in to our latest news, please like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and connect with us on LinkedIn.

Happy New Year to you all!

Go caroling. It may sound a little hokey, but Christmas caroling reminds us of a simpler time. Grab the family and go to a few houses singing some of your favorite holiday songs. Or, if everyone tends to be a little tone deaf, carry your iPod and some speakers with you and go “makeshift” caroling – your neighbors will get a kick out of your creativity.

Be thankful. Thanksgiving isn’t the only time of year we should stop to count our blessings. Let everyone write down a few things they’re thankful for while the family sips hot chocolate. It’s a great way to remind yourself about the true spirit of Christmas.

Set out cookies for Santa. This may not be a unique tradition, but baking cookies and leaving a few out with a glass of milk for Santa is fun for children of all ages. Leaving some carrots out for the reindeer, as well as a little note for Santa can complete your tradition!

We at Alabama Graphics wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!

Alabama Graphics understands that everyone and everything on your team has to be on the same page to ensure your project’s success. We also understand that the submittal and RFI process can be daunting. That’s why we’ve introduced eCommunicaiton to simplify and streamline that process!

With eCommunication we ensure that your entire construction team has the most up-to-date information when the work starts.  Whether you are an owner, architect, CM, GC or sub-contractor, eCommunication lets you easily initiate, track and trace changes as they happen through our website.  Because eCommunication is a single shared workspace, you can organize and integrate all your project information with your team to improve closeout.  The set routing and approval process automates the steps to approve and share changes, which reduces risk and saves time.

eCommunication is a necessity for anyone in the ACE industry:

• Designed by AEC companies and built by experts in construction workflow, eCommunication seamlessly fits with your existing systems and process.
• Keep your projects on track.
• Enjoy unparalleled team communications from your desktop, smartphone, or tablet.
• Receive relevant changes and actions that need your attention via email notifications.
• Browse, view and download documents from the vault.
• Initiate a submittal and attach drawing files for review/approval.
• Quickly search and review project logs and team activity.
• Mark up and stamp construction documents using eCommunication’s mark-up/stamping tool.

Why wait? Contact an Alabama Graphics representative today to learn more about eCommunication and how it can dramatically affect your team’s productivity.

When John is not with his teams at Alabama Graphics or involved in an industry board meeting, he enjoys spending time traveling and going to the lake with his wife.  You might find him fishing on the lake any given weekend throughout the year. Some of his travels over the past few years have included going on safari in Africa, touring the wine country in Napa Valley, and even a recent trip to Alaska, where this picture was taken.

In addition to his daily life in the office, John is very active in the AEC and printing communities and has served on many boards such as the IRGA, RSA, and CC Converting.  He is also a member of Fire Power, a group that meets 3 times per year.  He enjoys this group so much because of the intensity of their meetings (each time they meet it is for a day and a half). They share ideas and visions and best practices in this peer group, which allows John to regain focus to bring back to his team.

One of the biggest challenges John faces is finding additional revenue streams.  However, he takes this on as a learning experience by looking at avenues outside of the AEC industry. Stay tuned in 2012 for more on this.

If you are wondering how John got started, it’s all in the family! In 1979 John’s brother Jeff and their father started Service Blueprint and John joined in a few months later.  Their father moved to Montgomery and bought a small blueprint company. Jeff ran that location.  In 1990 they merged with Patton Harris Company and changed their name to Alabama Graphics at that time.  They merged two Birmingham locations, kept the Montgomery location and even had a place in Mobile, until they sold it three years later. John and Jeff had a partner in their business, Murray Smith, who retired in 2005.  John and Jeff purchased the company at that time.

1. Alabama Graphics was formed when Service Blueprint and Patton Harris merged in 1980, and our history combined with these parent companies can be traced back 52 years.
2. We are one of the region’s leading digital color providers and have offices in Birmingham and Montgomery.
3. Our process is a simple, online approach that reduces time, effort and waste across the lifecycle of all projects.
4. We serve a diverse client base from advertising agencies to fine artists.
5. We recently launched DCX (Digital Color Experts) so we could concentrate exclusively on the large and small digital color needs of customers.
6. Reducing our impact on the environment is very important to us. We embrace current technology and offer a line of 30% post-consumer waste bond paper.
7. All of our in-house paper waste is recycled.
8. We are partnered with the United Cerebral Palsy of Greater Birmingham “Gone for Good” program for scheduled secure pickups and recycling of all paper waste.
9. One of our lines of equipment consumes much less energy during the copy and scan process and generates significantly less heat and emissions while standing idle than most other engineering printing equipment.
10. We can handle pretty much any printing need, including custom orders, no matter how large or small. We even offer pickup and delivery service!