Moving Beyond Conversion

Most manufacturers realize there are advantages to converting their paper, large-format (engineering) drawings to an electronic format. It helps preserve the drawings, and it also saves on physical storage space. "However, now that they have these drawings scanned and stored electronically, how do end users work with them?" asks Gary Heath, CEO of large-format software developer Informative Graphics. Informative Graphics, based in Phoenix, AZ, was founded in 1990 and has approximately 35 employees.

"Do end users have to reprint their large-format documents to make revisions to them, and then rescan them?" Heath continues. "No, there is software available to help them revise scanned documents electronically. If a VAR can provide end users with this software, it helps increase end users' return on their investment in the conversion."

To convert large-format documents usually requires at least a $10,000 investment in a large-format scanner and the appropriate software. This is not to mention the time needed to make sure the electronic version matches the original. "There is still quite a bit of labor involved in scanning large-format documents," says Jim Kruse. Kruse is the v.p. of sales and marketing at large-format software developer Kruse Inc. Kruse Inc. is a 25-year-old, 30-employee company headquartered near Philadelphia. "A lot of programs claim to convert raster drawings to electronic format automatically. However, it still takes quite a bit of manual interface to make sure you get an accurate reproduction."

Offering Conversion Services Can Be Advantageous To VARs
Kruse suggests that VARs and systems integrators who offer large-format scanning systems consider offering conversion services to their customers.

"The end user has a job to do, and that job is not scanning documents. Offering conversion services not only provides extra income for VARs, it also improves their relationships with their customers," Kruse says. "Once VARs start converting drawings, they can start offering their customers other services as well. These include creating a library for electronic documents for easier retrieval. It can also involve connecting electronic, large-format documents to electronic document management (EDM) systems for other office documents."

Kruse said that in many cases the purchasing department at a manufacturer may need access to large-format documents when it is ordering parts. "A lot of end users don't realize what can be accomplished with the document management software that is currently available," Kruse says. "There is currently a demand for consulting in this area."

Moving Large-Format Documents Online Increases Scope Of A Sale
Don Dennison, manager of marketing programs for Spicer Corporation, says that end users used to be content to store their converted large-format documents offline on CDs. Spicer (Kitchener, ON) is a developer of large-format document management software. It was founded in 1983 and has approximately 90 employees.

"Storing documents on CD provided end users with insurance against their paper drawings' being damaged or turning up missing. The recent evolution of the Internet, however, has created an immediacy of communication. It's not good enough to store documents offline anymore, because somebody might want to view them immediately."

"And with the price of storage becoming cheaper and cheaper, users can afford to store more documents online on servers or optical jukeboxes. The problem now becomes managing the online distribution of these documents. How do you make sure that you are always working with the latest version of a drawing, for example," asks Dennison.

One way to do this is by integrating large-format systems with traditional EDM systems. "EDM systems allow users to know who authored a document, when it was checked out and checked back in, and what type of document it is," says Dennison. "Then, there is large-format software available that allows a user to see the changes in a drawing made by each party who worked with it. Connecting these two types of software in one system can be a valuable service that an integrator can provide."

Adding Workflow Or Knowledge Management Can Increase Margins
Kruse adds that once an end user's large-format and regular documents are integrated together in a system, VARs can increase their margins by making it as easy as possible for end users to find the documents they want. "This often involves the installation of some sort of knowledge management or workflow software," says Kruse. "Whereas this software may increase the cost of a system, the return on investment for an end user is quick, in terms of time saved searching for documents."

The large format market has moved beyond conversion. End users now want to work with, and manage, their scanned large-format documents. This includes making changes to them and integrating them with their regular office document management systems.

Software is available to help end users do this. However, most end users don't know where to begin. VARs that understand their end users' businesses and also understand the software related to large-format documents can be a valuable partner to their customers. And this is the type of value for which end users are willing to pay.