Map Production

COPGIS · Status: Offline

Map Production

EngGIS · Status: Offline

For these kinds of basic requests, we still use ArcView 3.2 for map production. From the initial request, to plotting, we can punch out a c- or d-size map in 15-20 minutes. We have basic templates and .AVL files that are used to speed thru the process. I've tried to handle these requests in ArcMap, but I always find myself going back to AV because it is quicker.

As for cost, we charge customers only $10. But we are (finally) revising our fees soon. I guess we will be looking at $20 or $25 for these kinds of basic map requests then.

Barry · Status: Offline

We charge $35 per hour plus the cost of the map itself. That ranges from a whole dollar for a letter-size monochrome page to $13.00 for a color E-size sheet. These costs are our actual cost calculated by what we pay for paper and using HP's cost figures for ink. What a deal! I sheet covered with lots of ink would cost more than that (like something with a black background), but that's not what people want usually anyway. I'll be updating these costs in a few weeks. At this point, I don't know if they'll be going up or down.

Barry

Barry · Status: Offline

I was just looking at HP's web site to calculate updated costs per page. I found a calculator designed to calculate profit for commercial print shops. Put in your plotter, how much you pay for paper (do it more than once for different types of paper), type of printing, expected sales costs and volume (enter anything since you're not trying to calculate profit) and then see the cost of materials per print. Add on your labor costs (no padding on that!), and you're set. Remember, you can't charge more than it costs you. Here's the link:

http://h41186.www4.hp.com/country/us/en/supplies/roi_calculator.html?jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN&pageseq=734511

This is great justification for your map prices. In our case, I do a charge per page for standard maps plus $35 per hour for anything that's not already made or created in a few minutes. If you get too many requests and can't get to the daily work, you may need to limit or not allow map sales to the public. Sometimes, that's just how it has to be.

The vast majority of our maps that go out are for internal use or economic development. It doesn't make sense to charge for the latter. Why charge someone $8 for a map when you're trying to convince them to come to town and generate taxes? The other heavy sales are at election times for all the candidates. Those sales are full price, which is still cheap, and go through the city clerk. We print a stack of those at a time.

Hope this helps.

Barry

EngGIS · Status: Offline

What a coincidence, I looked at that and several other HP sites last week. The other sites provide sample ink costs for different media and plotters used, along with a how to compute your own plotting costs based on the amounts of ink & paper used. These HP sites can be found at: http://snipurl.com/19p29 & http://snipurl.com/19p27 (They were very long so I had them snipped).

Also, some plotters have a built-in accounting module that provides info on the amount of ink & paper used for each map plotted, which is helpful in determing your actual costs. The module is accessible by typing in the plotter's IP Address in your browser. We have a HP 5500 which provides us with this info. We are checking to see if there is a firmware upgrade to our HP 1050 C+ allowing the same function.

We don't charge for in-house map production, nor to developers working with our Development Services folks bringing in new businesses. Ditto for the election maps here. We print a stack and the City Clerk sells them. They even posted the PDF of the map on the City website too.

Hope this additional info helps too!

Bill

Roman · Status: Offline

We charge the public $75 per map, shipping is extra. Pretty much all our maps are already prepared and saved as .GRA, EPS or even AML files. All we have to do when a request comes in is look up the map and plot it, that doesn't take long (typically 30-60 minutes to print, trim the paper, make mailing label, put in mailing tube, take to mail room, photo copy receipt, etc.). For a list of maps refer to http://planning.co.la.ca.us/docMap.htm

We also have a website where the public can look at the GIS data themselves at http://regionalgis.co.la.ca.us/imf/sites/GISNET_pub/jsp/launch.jsp. We seem to be getting fewer map requests as a result of the web site from what I hear, but we are not in the business of map production or sales anyway.

We also have half size PDF files that can be downloaded. Coming soon, GIS data may be available for download too.

-- Edited by Roman at 07:45, 2007-02-12

GavinMartin · Status: Offline

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