MySmartPlans - technology/software (developed by a reprographer) that enables "less printing"

We’ve recently posted articles on this blog about “Paperless” Construction and other articles that highlight an interest on the part of firms in the A/E/C Industry to reduce printing costs. This post is about a “reprographer” (Marathon Digital) who actually promotes “less printing. “ Imagine that.

Since I’m a member of the “IRGA” group on Linkedin, I automatically received, this morning, an e-mail alerting me to a new post in that group. After I clicked on the link, I saw that it was an advertisement, posted by Tim Harrison, for “MySmartPlans.” I guess Tim’s involved in selling MySmartPlans for Marathon Digital Services. Marathon is both a reprographics company and a technology company. Marathon is based in Kansas City, MO. The first time I heard about MySmartPlans, which was several years ago, was from Kevin Rowe. I think most reprographers know Kevin. “Historically” (not to be confused with “hysterically”) Kevin was in management with Western Blue for many years (Western is now an ARC-owned company.) While at Western Blue, Kevin founded the U.S. Reprographics Network. He continued U.S. Repro Network after he left Western Blue. It was my understanding that Kevin has something to do with Marathon Digital, but maybe I’m wrong about that.

Here’s what I found on Linkedin (this was posted by Tim Harrison of MySmartPlans):

“Are you looking to increase revenues with no upfront investment?

“Are you looking to increase print revenue and create new streams of income with no upfront investment? Join us for a free webinar to learn more. See why other reprographers are jump starting their business. Register at https://www.mysmartplans.com/news.htm.”

So, I did some further reading about MySmartPlans, basically, the information found on MySmartPlans’ web-site:

Here’s the “About Us” information:

About MySmartPlans: MySmartPlans is a project information management tool with revolutionary capabilities to coordinate planning, scheduling and accelerate every step of the construction lifecycle, for every member of the construction team. The MySmartPlans program is a secure desktop application that provides a single virtual archive for all project documentation, from all participants into a single collaborative virtual workroom – tracking changes, verifying requirements and keeping plans up to date. By reducing the need for printing, MySmartPlans support green building efforts. At the conclusion of the project, MySmartPlans produces detailed, comprehensive and organized record of the project history – a digital closeout archive. For more information, see www.mysmartplans.com.

And, here’s what MySmartPlans said (in a couple of different press releases) about a couple of projects that committed to the use of MySmartPlans

Children’s Mercy Hospital project:

The projects are designed by HMN Architects Inc., based in Overland Park, KS. HMN Architects, with Children’s Mercy Hospital, selected MySmartPlans for its document control, submittal exchange management and “green” capabilities – giving the project team access to current documents without printing paper copies. “We are so excited to be a part of the team supporting HMN and Children’s Mercy Hospital on this critical addition,” said Shelley Armato, president of Marathon Digital Services. HMN Architects noted that MySmartPlans will allow it to avoid printing multiple sets of documents, such as the 400-plus page plans for the east patient tower. MySmartPlans provides a central point for all bidders, consultants, field support, assuring the HMN Architects team that all are working from the most current documents.

Sequoia Hospital project:

Marathon Digital Services announces that its flagship project information management service, MySmartPlans, has been selected to support the expansion and remodeling of the Sequoia Hospital in Redwood City, CA. The Sequoia Hospital, operated by Catholic Healthcare West, is developing a new four-story, 148,000- square-foot, 104-bed pavilion. The new facility will house medical and surgical services and an advanced cardiovascular center, a central utility plant and mechanical yard. The project also includes seismic upgrades to the existing hospital, a dining/kitchen addition and remodel to the existing hospital. “We are delighted to support Sequoia Hospital on the development of this advanced healthcare facility,” said Shelley Armato, president of Marathon Digital Services. Hunt Construction Group is the general contractor for the project, designed by Moon Mayoras Architects. The project is set to begin construction in May 2010 with an anticipated completion date of December 2012.