Flexibility is the Future

The United States Government Printing Office sets the bar high in a new millennium

WORKING HAND-IN-HAND with the president-appointed public printer, Bruce James, is the Government Printing Office's chief of staff, Robert Tapella. Both men, are the driving force behind revolutionizing a 19th century government print factory into a 21st century digital printing and information dissemination powerhouse.

After two years of painstaking study, research and testing, the Government Printing Office (GPO) released its "Strategic Vision for the 21st Century." With 90 percent of government business solutions, amounting to more than half a billion dollars in sales volume, being contracted out to the private sector through the GPO, the vision is wide-reaching and a beacon of light for the industry.

In discussing the development of the strategic vision, Tapella noted, "The first year was about gathering the facts concerning what was occuring internally at the GPO, the federal government and our agencies. Also, we had to take a look at what was going on in the printing industry, the information dissemination industry, the library community and high technology at the universities."

The process may sound long and arduous, but as Tapella explained, "When you are dealing with an agency that has a history such as the GPO's and a critical mission dating back to 1813, providing the documents of our democracy to the public, we took it very slowly. We had to be sure we had it right."

The Start of a Digital Era

The keystone of the GPO's vision is the development of a flexible digital platform. Today, it is estimated that as many as 50 percent of all Government documents are "born digital" and published directly to the Web, never seeing ink on paper. Flexibility is paramount to implementing its vision and will ensure a system that can change with the times and with the latest technology while providing fast, authentic information dissemination that can be safely archived for future generations.

The GPO, now entering the second year of implementing its strategic vision, is finding success in this new digital world. "We are reorganizing GPO around business lines, focusing on our customers and working to get ourselves into a new plant. We are here more as institutionalists, and the policies we set are about business and running more efficiently. We have a lot of exciting things that are multi-year projects that we are embarking upon," Tapella commented.

The GPO, having received approval from the Appropriations Committee to redirect millions of dollars toward the Future Digital System, is reaching its goals as laid out in the strategic vision and can now also set its sight on moving into a world-class plant, as well.

Situated in Washington, D.C., the GPO encompasses a one million and a half square foot complex of buildings, spanning seven acres. Of government facilities, the GPO is second in size only to the Pentagon. Its massive size is a clear indicator of the importance of business solutions as they relate to the federal government. "The problem is, we have an outdated factory," admitted Tapella. "We are one of those last bastions of the 19th century printing world that is downtown multi-level manufacturing. Literally, our product moves up and down a series of elevators. It is our goal, like the rest of the printing world, to get ourselves into a single level modern manufacturing facility that will give us more flexibility."

Stretching the Possibilities

Flexibility seems to be a reoccurring theme in the GPO's vision for business solutions. And, the demand for it doesn't stop when leaving its complex. It is also a key element to what the GPO is looking for in its private sector manufacturers/distributors, as well.

Last year, the GPO worked with more than 2,500 private sector business solutions providers. They were a combination of printers and specialty houses running the full gamut of products and services. Of the products being outsourced, Tapella noted, "It was an incredible array, including traditional forms, direct mail pieces, the creation of multimedia, CD-ROMS and tags and labels for homeland security purposes."

Today, working with the GPO, is primarily about finding and providing innovative solutions and going beyond ink on paper. Tapella explained, "We will put jobs out to bid. We want printing industry professionals to come back with interesting solutions to help our agency customers." The keys to success with the GPO simply stated are: best value for the tax payer, on-time delivery, top-quality work and creativity. Tapella advised private sector vendors to "bid for success," meaning bid only on the jobs that match your companies' skill set.

The GPO is making it as easy as possible for the business solutions industry to bid on opportunities. The private sector can go to the GPO's Contractor Connect Website, www.contractorconnect.gpo.gov, to register for work, find bid opportunities, place bids and view results.

Poised for Success

For 2006, Tapella sees continued expansion for the private sector. "Over the last two years, there has been steady growth. This past year we saw a 4 percent increase over the year before in overall print volume. The only changes are the types of jobs being outsourced with creative services on the front end and distribution on the back end. That is where we are seeing growth."

As leaders to the industry, the GPO is poised for success and looking to the private sector to flex its creative muscles and continue to grow with the GPO as new technology builds.

With the federal government firmly positioned at the forefront of industry change and development, manufacturers and distributors of printed products can take their cue from the GPO and find success by adding a healthy dose of flexibility and creativity to their already diversifying mix of products and services.

By Nichole Stella