Seeking Info About A0 Plotters

[Ed Hanna]

Andrei and Julie,

I'd like to piggy-back on this discussion about printing to A0 plotters. I
like to use A0-size charts--particularly Network Diagram view--to make
schedule management more collaborative again. (Project management is too
lonely when there's only the PM and his/her computer.) We used to use A0
network diagrams to good advantage at Hughes Aircraft Company. We would
(literally) tape these plots to the walls in the hallway at corporate
headquarters and conduct "wall reviews" of the project. Occasionally--we
got the Chairman of the Board to participate.

Getting to the point. What make/model of plotters are people using these
days? Is there a low-cost plotter available? All other technology has
gotten better and cheaper, so I'm imagining that there is a good, low-cost
A0 plotter out there today.

I'm thinking of something suitable for a small business (e.g. consultant).
By low cost, I'm thinking--less than $3,000. I've been in these big
companies that had massive and expensive plotters. I now need something
considerably smaller and cheaper.

Also, I'm interested in what experience other may have had in getting A0
printouts done at Kinko's, Office Depot, or other such print shops. I've
checked a couple and they claim that they can do it--but the cost is quite
high (like $3/linear foot of chart).

If there's a low-cost plotter out there, it seems like a better route for
someone who plans to print A0 charts regularly.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Ed Hanna
Irvine, CA

 

[Ed Hanna]

Just to follow-up on my own message, I've checked the local copy center and
they claim they can send MS Project files to their A0 plotters. They do not
have the MS Project application but said they can work from a .pdf file. I
happen to have Adobe Acrobat 5.0, so printing the MS Project output to a
..pdf file is not a problem.

The cost for plotting on an A0 plotter (i.e. 36" high paper) is $.75/square
foot. That would be $2.25 per linear foot of chart or $22.50 for a ten-foot
long chart. That doesn't seem too bad for an occasional chart. You
probably can't justify purchase of a plotter ($3,000 or so) unless you're
doing a lot of charts.

My reason for wanting to printout A0 charts (i.e. 36" high and x feet long)
is that I'm trying to resurrect the practice of "wall reviews"--where a
group of people go over the network diagram together. I believe this to be
one of the remnants of the past that we need to keep alive. It makes
project management much more collaborative.