eCommunication is Here

Bid Your Project Digitally

“I’ve got a project coming up, and I’m going to need to print approximately 30 sets of 100 architectural ‘D’ sized (24”x36”) prints to bid out. What are you going to charge me? Can I get a deal or a volume discount? Also, I am going to want you to keep track of who took a set. Oh, by the way, we’ll also need you to collect and manage deposits payable to our company as well.”

In today’s marketplace, this scenario is still very common, and with the technology we have at our disposal, it boggles us as to why. The best answer we can come up with is that we haven’t done a good enough job of sharing new technology tools with you, our partners.

At BPI, we have a very fast, convenient, organized way of managing your bidding process while reducing your printing costs. The service we are referring to is our BPI Planroom. The first step we take is getting you connected with one of our very knowledgeable Construction Information Managers, hereafter referred to as a CIM. Your CIM is your own personal BPI representative allocated specifically to your project information management needs. Your CIM will assist you in taking your bid documents and Ad for Bid or Invite to Bid to one of these web portals: BPI’s Public Portal; BPI’s Private Portal; or a Custom Portal, branded specifically to your project.

Within the portal, you can specify a number of things through permissions, including opening the project up for bid to the general public or locking it down to your very specific “invite only” list of recipients. The Bid Notification can be distributed to your recipient list via the internal notification system. When your recipient receives an email notifying them of the bid opportunity, they can simply click a link taking them directly to your project. Once they’ve viewed the bid documents and determined they are going to bid on a portion of the work, there are a number of ways to get the bid documents into their estimating team’s hands, including digital downloads, prints ordered and delivered by a shipping company, or from the friendly BPI staff in your area. All actions taken within the portal are tracked. This allows for multiple reports to be generated within BPI Planroom. There is no need to keep a separate planholders list, because your CIM can quickly run a real time report providing you with information such as who the plan holders are and whether they ordered hard copy prints or digital downloads.

If you have any addenda, they also can be loaded into the portal and managed with the notification tool, thus providing you with a considerable advantage over your competitors. You will have the ability to get your addendum notification out within a very short amount of time. Time is always of the essence. Your CIM updates your portal with the accompanying documentation and your bids get back to you fast.

Finally, once you’ve awarded work and you no longer need the portal, your CIM will close it out for you by archiving it to our secure backup. Or, you can continue to manage the construction phase via the BPI Planroom. A closeout of the project data is available, providing you with a reliable digital record of the bid process, which may come in handy if  litigation were to arise later in the project life cycle. What a great way to keep your organization protected from “he said, she said” or  “we’re not sure” scenarios! In addition, it gives you a very tech savvy professional method of delivering this information to your management or owner team.

2012 AIA Expo Wrap Up

Thanks again to all of the AIA members, participants, vendors, and partners that made their way to the BPI booth this year.  What a great show it was!

This year was certainly an upswing from the last couple, as the AIA members were attending in full force.  We all certainly hope this has to do with the AEC market taking a turn for the better.

At the BPI booth, we saw a focused interest in the Construction Information Management software solutions.  This ranged from online bidding sites to sophisticated software applications which allow you to track workflow documentation on projects from initial design through closeout.

However, getting the most attention was the scan to file document site where BPI scans old valuable plan sheets into a portal and delivers the documents in a digital searchable format. We thank everyone for their great feedback and interest in this regard and look forward to cleaning out all those ‘closets’.

We also want to call attention to the lucky winners of our Sports Canvas giveaway. The winner of the print and clip coupon giveaway was Bill Simpson of FCM Corporation. Thanks, Bill, and congratulations! Following Bill’s lucky streak with the final 3 giveaways was Steve Harms of Tri-North Builders, Chad Wright of Northwestern Mutual and Jim Fryk of LaMacchia Group.

Congrats to all the winners and thank you all for your support at the Expo.

Did not attend 2012 AIA?  You can still partner with BPI, the complete source for all your large format document needs.  Call one of the locations below to find out more about our Color Services, Construction Information Management, or to have a demonstration on the new Canon iPF760 MFP.

2012 AIA Expo Starts Tomorrow

The Annual AIA Wisconsin Convention & Building Products Expo offers members and allied professionals an opportunity to explore emerging design, practice, technology and environmental issues, as well as to investigate innovative products and services available to the design and construction industry.

BPI is Wisconsin’s complete source for all large format document needs. We are a family-run company with over 55 years’ experience servicing Architects at both the local and national levels. At BPI, we exceed your expectations to earn your testimonial.

Visit BPI at Booth #38 to find out more about:

• Color Services
• Construction Information Management
• Canon iPF760 MFP  NEW!