THE OLD WAY: In the past when we wanted to bid on a job, I would contact the GC and request plans. Most times a set of plans would be fedx'ed to us. This was time consuming and with only 5 to 6 days lead time we were always pushed for time in gathering the figures for our quote.
A NEWER WAY: Then came the day of the computer and e-mail. I receive a full set of plans as an attachment to an e-mail. At this point, I forward the plans to Staples to have them printed at $3.00 per page. Ouch! That is expensive and there is still a wait time and plans have to be picked up.
THE BEST WAY: Then we discovered this big jewel of a machine. Thanks to Duncan-Parnell, we now have a "plotter" or as I call it a printer that prints plans and it can do it right off of my computer. However, I've had to call the repair/service man out twice in as many months. Power failure has been the culprit. I'll just have to breakdown and get another battery backup. Mine died six months ago. It's so rewarding to see the blueprints rolling off this machine. I can print the pages we need (I don't deal with the architectual pages) and leave the rest.
The only draw back is that it came with it's own little cp, moniter and keyboard which I had to make room for in the corner. This is the controler and my cp has to talk to the printer's cp.
I don't deal with all that cp stuff either.. I'm just too old to learn all those new tricks.
wow that's a big piece of equipment.
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