Plan Express prints the plan sets on large format Oce printers and prints a transmittal and shipping label before getting the plans to FedEx for shipping.

Clients pay only for the shipping and printing, and Plan Express is able to get good rates because of the volume of materials they ship each night. The online viewer and document management are free services.

Another added value is that contractors who are interested in submitting a bid for a project can receive access to view plans with authorization from the company and they can place orders for plans as well.

Adamson's reprographics model wasn't immediately embraced by the architects, engineers and contractors community. One reason is because several other Web-based reprographics companies were trying a similar idea that was getting a lot of attention.

Those companies were trying to market a network of dozens of reprographics shops to which national companies could electronically distribute work for printing. It was a concept that failed, Adamson says.

The distribute-then-print model was unsuccessful because companies received inconsistent pricing and no way of tracking work or keeping dozens of reprographics shops accountable for the jobs.

"The network doesn't work, and they validated my business model," Adamson says.

Craig Ulrich, who works for Lakeview Construction in Wisconsin, says before Plan Express, sending an order and then waiting to get plans back could take days.

And Ulrich says he would usually over-order reproductions and end up with extra copies of plans.

"This idea was like a little revolution," Ulrich says. "It just gives us one less thing to worry about. They act like an integral part of our company, but they also do it for 30 other general contractors."

Ulrich says he considers Plan Express his secret weapon in the company's document management. Ulrich says Lakeview Construction, which makes about $40 million a year building stores for national retailers, spends about $100,000 on reprographics.

Local companies with national projects are starting to take notice as well. Memphis architectural firm Hnedak Bobo Group, Inc., has been using Plan Express to manage documents for its Opryland Hotel project in Grapevine, Texas, says project manager Palmer Bartlett. That project alone has generated between 1,200 and 1,500 documents.

"They are the main document distributor to our consultants all over the country," Bartlett says. "They are the clearinghouse for our plans."

Bartlett says the Plan Express distribution ability and archiving services have won the firm over.

"It's a real luxury to know that I can push a button and get a drawing list that's the most up to date drawing list," Bartlett says. "It cuts down a lot on our costs for administration time and effort."

Now that Plan Express has strengthened its reputation with companies doing national work, the company has decided to offer its services to local companies with projects in the Memphis area as well.

Adamson says that because the company doesn't start receiving orders until late afternoon, the four Oce printers are idle most of the day. Adamson figures local reprographics shops are at capacity during the day, so his company can use its excess capacity to generate local printing business.

"It's advantageous for us to push some more volume through the machines," Adamson says.

CONTACT staff writer Tara Milligan at 259-1728 or tmilligan@bizjournals.com