Phil Maggenheim, President & COO of Contex Americas, Inc. until March 2012, departs Contex and forms new company, PGM Strategic Business Consulting

Our best wishes for success to Phil on his new endeavor.

Phil Maggenheim

Managing Partner

PGM Strategic Business Consulting

April 2012 – Present (1 month)

Phil’s Prior Experience:

President and COO

Contex Americas, Inc.

July 2008 – March 2012 (3 years 9 months)

Vice President

IDEAL Scanner & Systems

February 1984 – June 2008 (24 years 5 months)

Phil Maggeheim's experience and capabilities:

•General Management & Strategic Planning 


•Sales & Marketing – North and South America


•Product planning and regional strategy development


•Channel, distribution and OEM business development


•P&L responsibility - International profit center management


•Hands-on manager 


•Government sales strategies


•Pricing and product planning


•Team transition and development

Industry and Business Type Engagements


•Wide format scanners and solutions


•Equipment and software distribution


•Document and content management 


•CAD conversion 


•BIM and 3D CAD w/emphasis on 3DP and rapid prototyping


•Reprographics sales and management

Autodesk’s 2013 Product Launch and AEC Portfolio

from AECbytes Newsletter #56
, April 11, 2012

Article Summary

It is that time of the year that Autodesk typically launches its next release of products, and this year was no exception—Autodesk has just released its 2013 product portfolio. This includes new releases of applications across all the three main industries it serves, including AEC (which includes buildings as well as infrastructure), manufacturing, and M&E (media and entertainment). This AECbytes newsletter provides an overview of the overall 2013 release and then takes a deeper dive into the more AEC industry-specific details that were shared.

Needless to say, with the commanding lead that Autodesk has over competing products, at least in the AEC industry, interest in every new release is always very high, and Autodesk users are eager to know what to expect. Let’s see if the 2013 release holds any surprises, or is comprised more of routine enhancements rather than dramatic changes.

Article Link

http://www.aecbytes.com/newsletter/2012/issue_56.html

To provide comments and feedback on this article, or see what others have to say, please visit its AECbytes blog posting at:

http://aecbytes.com/blog/2012/04/11/autodesk-2013-product-launch-and-aec-portfolio/

Investor interested in acquiring traditional and digital printing companies in the U.S.

These two paragraphs were (very recently) posted in one of the LinkedIn groups:

“I'm looking to acquire printing companies (traditional and digital) in the US with >$1M of EBITDA.

If you are aware of any potential opportunities, then please contact me at crane@palomar-group.com. Thanks.”

That post was posted by:

Justin Crane

Private Equity Investor & Entrepreneur

Greater San Diego Area

The Future of Large-format Printing is Here (???)

HP announces press conference and luncheon at the AIA Convention in Washington DC on May 17^th, 2012

Link to announcement:

http://tinyurl.com/6otkana

Interesting “perfect storm” article ….

Here’s the beginning of the article, followed by a link to the complete article:

Commentary & Analysis

Surviving “the Printing Industry’s Perfect Storm”—and Its Aftermath

By Thomas J. Williams
Published: April 9, 2012

The graphic communications industry has been under unprecedented pressure for the last decade, with the stage set during the 1990s as consolidators, fueled by easy money from an aggressive lending community, rolled up scores of commercial printing operations nationwide. Beginning in the early 2000s, many of these roll-ups came unglued as the synergies the consolidators pitched to lenders and the stockholders of the firms they acquired failed to materialize.

As many consolidators defaulted on the considerable debt they carried, these roll-ups began to fail as they were forced to file for bankruptcy protection and in many cases liquidation. As a result, many firms that took a bite of the consolidator’s apple often were shut down, liquidated or sold, or returned to former owners, many unable to survive in the long term.

The stage was set and the first clouds were formed for what would become the printing industry’s perfect storm. At the same time alternative electronic media were beginning to compete with ink on paper, new digital printing systems based on toner and inkjet were competing with traditional offset processes. As these trends accelerated and a dramatic transformation of the printing industry became inevitable, the economy contracted significantly, and the perfect storm gained momentum.

Here’s a link to the complete article:

http://whattheythink.com/articles/57160-surviving-printing-industrys-perfect-storm-aftermath/

Very interesting “niche business” – printing company focuses on the “racing” business

Electric City Printing Installs an HP4600

Friday, April 06, 2012

Press release from the issuing company

Electric City Printing, a Consolidated Graphics, Inc. company based in Williamston, SC, recently installed an HP4600 digital press in order to facilitate a growing demand for the company’s printed race number capabilities. The new HP4600 will supplement output from the printer’s existing HP4050, which serves a similar function. Electric City is the world’s largest printer for competition media, providing entry packets, racing numbers, brochures, signage, and integrated technology to help facilitate major races and competitions throughout the world. 

“

We had to look for additional equipment to service our growing clientele,” said Electric City President Mike Schmitz. “Electric City has been servicing the racing business for over 30 years, and we’ve committed ourselves to bringing our customers the newest technology, highest-quality equipment, and best-in-class service to meet their needs.” 



Schmitz possesses a solid understanding of the racing business, as he himself is a marathon runner, and is therefore able to ensure that his business provides top of the line capabilities to its race business clients. “The racing business is a highly-customized segment,” adds Schmitz. “By running in the events, I’m able to personally experience the result of the services we provide, and to bring better, more innovative solutions to our customers. The HP4600 is just one of the ways we’re doing that.” 



The new press will supplement the company’s existing HP4050 press, enabling Electric City to output nearly six million impressions per month in order to keep up with growing demand. The two presses will be used primarily to print race numbers on DuPont Tyvek, which requires specialized equipment to avoid melting the substrate. The digital press also helps service a growing demand for customization at events like the Disney Princess Race in Orlando, Florida, where runners can select a Disney princess, color, and name, all of which are printed onto the race number. Additional benefits of the new press include faster turnaround times and reduced cleanup and maintenance. 



Other races serviced by Electric City Printing include the Boston Marathon, New York Marathon, Chicago Marathon, Rock & Roll Marathon series, Houston Marathon, and the 2012 Olympic Marathon qualifier held in Houston, TX.