Why is BIM Driving Color in Wide Format Printing?

August 25, 2015 Unknown 0 Comments

BIM is no longer just a cool buzz word to throw around at cocktail parties, it is a reality and it is here to stay.  According to McGraw Hill, 50% of owners are requiring BIM to be used on their projects.  The increase of BIM is directly tied to the increase of IPD (Integrated Project Delivery) contracts which means the burden for change orders and mistakes is spread around.

As the competition for jobs increases, it is incumbent on firms to stand out.  But how?  By investing in a color wide format printer, of course!  What, how can that be the answer?  I didn’t even buy into BIM being a cool buzz word at parties – no way spending money on color printing is the answer to winning work and being more profitable.  Or is it?  Keep reading, it will all come together . . .

Better collaboration and understanding of construction documents helps reduce rework (read that as COSTS) on jobs.  The Economist estimated that 10 – 30% of the costs of any given project can be attributed to mistakes, rework or errors.  Printing construction documents in color increases productivity, reduces delays and reduces litigation.  Europe has already embraced color printing with 50% of construction documents printed in color, compared to 10% in the U.S.

So how does this translate into winning more jobs and reducing expenses?  Color documents reduce search time by up to 80% and reduce errors by 80% while increasing retention by 78%.  If you can reduce the time on a job, reduce errors AND reduce the costs, your clients will take notice.

But doesn’t color cost a lot more than black and white?  Recent developments in wide format technology have brought down the price of color printing making it more affordable than ever while increasing the print speeds.  If you are unsure of the benefits of color printing, though, perhaps you would be prudent to send some documents to your local reprographer and allow them to print them for you in color.  Use them on your job site and see for yourself how big a difference they can make for you.