American Reprographics Reviews

Pros

Company is flexible with work schedule, nice work environment, people are great, many have been around for more than 15/20 years and grew with the company. Always new projects going on, if you are the type to put in the time/effort you can get somewhere in this company.

Cons

Company compensation/benefits and morale down due to tough economic times, many layoffs, cost cutting. Some internal systems need to be upgraded, some locations have it better than others.

Advice to Senior Management

Lots of cost cutting going around yet Sr. Execs still receive salary increase, it would be nice to spread some of that reward back down the ladder to bring up morale.

Pros

Its a family owned business and they dont have much in the way of structure so if you like that then this is the place for you.

Cons

I'm not sure how much longer they are gonna be in business, the leadership of the company has definitely taken a turn for the worse.

Pros

There is a good work / life balance.
It is a comfortable atmosphere where everyone gets along with each other and works well together.
Management maintains an open door policy.

Cons

Salary ranges are not competitive.

Pros

Always on the cutting edge of technology with the AEC industry. Much to learn and the ability to grow if you are able to handle the work load.

Cons

After becoming a Publicly traded company was not run in the same diplomatic fashion. Projects completions became difficult and work loads were exhaustive.

Advice to Senior Management

Continue to promote from within but look at the company and its accomplishments as a whole and not just the bottom line.

Pros

NOTE: This review refers to one of the companies that was acquired by American Reprographics back in 2002.

If you are into Graphic Design, it is an excellent place to learn the next step, which is digital prepress and printing. And you learn new things every day. You get to work with the best commercial design and image manipulation software available - Illustrator, Photoshop, Quark, InDesign, etc.- and the best commercial printing equipment. (No offset, so there is no film, color separations or plates used here)
Coworkers and managers were mostly nice people. You could get time off whenever you asked, with few exceptions.

Cons

Lost that "big family" athmosphere, which it had when it was an independent, regional company.
Stress levels very high, due to tight deadlines, being shorthanded and layoff worries. But this may be true for the whole industry also.
Because of being understaffed, overtime could go crazy, especially on night shift. This may be good (overtime pay) and bad (less family life/ social life).

Advice to Senior Management

Getting rid of good people will only make matters worse for your company.

Pros

American Reprographics Company is the leading reprographics company in the United States, providing business-to-business document management services to the architectural, engineering and construction industry, or AEC industry. It also provides these services to companies in non-AEC industries that also require sophisticated document management services. The company provides its core services through a proprietary suite of reprographics technology products, a nationwide network of locally-branded reprographics service centers, and more than 4,000 facilities management programs at customers' locations throughout the country. Service centers are digitally connected as a cohesive network, allowing the company to provide its services to more than 140,000 active customers both locally and nationally.

Cons

ARC professionals deliver a wide variety of products and services, nearly all of them involving specialized digital production techniques, proprietary technology. Because of the way ARC acquires and integrates new reprographics companies into the corporation, it can feel like you are going in a million different directions.

Advice to Senior Management

Get in tune with your employees. Don't be so decentralized that you miss out on what is happening on the streets.

Pros

Field service, not locked to a desk all day, Excellent Benefits. OCB has generous time off policies.

Cons

Local Management does not, and has not in the last year or so communicate to employees during the downturn in the housing and construction market, where the company is headed. Just lots of Pink Slips on Thursdays. generous time off, but most employees do not take vacation as allowed, and end up not taking advantage of this policy with "too busy" remarks on returned on disapproved vacation tickets, due to layoffs resulting in skeleton staffing. Field Techs are getting killed by rising fuel prices, with NO hope of ANY help from the company. I fully expect retaliation/termination from the company if they use their legal force to disclose my identity. "Ethics Point" is a joke, designed to protect department managers.

Advice to Senior Management

For the local Management at OCB - Talk to your employees. Why not follow the Senior Corporate management at ARC and COMMUNICATE to your people what is happening at the company. We like our jobs, and enjoy the work we do, but in the last year this has become an unsatisfying place to work. Sr. Management at ARC is TRYING to keep things moving in the right direction, but local management seems to be stuck in the 1970's with their thinking. Panic first, react later.