Golden State Giant

California Office of State Publishing

Sacramento, Calif.

Sometimes when you're big you've got to get smaller to survive.

That's what happened in 1996 at the California Office of State Publishing (OSP), the largest state printing operation in the country. That was the year the Sacramento-based operation went non-mandated—when state agencies were no longer required to use the in-plant's services.

The result was a significant drop in sales—10 percent over two years—and a corresponding reduction in staff. But the move also reduced some of the privatization challenges being directed at OSP by private sector printers and won the operation a lot of support.

Though some of those early losses are now being recouped, Jim Davis, production manager, says the change was not an easy one.

"It put more pressure on us to perform competitively with outside printers," he notes. The in-plant now has to prove to customers that it is the least expensive, most efficient vendor.

This bold move was just one of the ways that State Printer Celeste Maia Cron has been trying to reshape and modernize OSP since she was appointed by the governor five years ago.

"Before Celeste there was more of a status-quo type of management," reveals Davis. "Technologically, the in-plant had really fallen behind. The biggest thing for Celeste and me is to try to identify appropriate technology for the plant."

This has resulted in several new pieces of equipment, including the recent addition of two Xerox 6180s for producing documents using variable data input. Fed by a Roll Systems DocuSheeter, the printers have inline C.P. Bourg signature bookletmaking capabilities and one has inline C.P. Bourg perfect binding.

The analysis of new technology never ends. At the recent Xplor conference, Davis looked at streamfed printers from Océ, Xerox and IBM in anticipation of a purchase next year.

OSP's progressive plans aren't limited to technology upgrades, though. An innovative new program of soliciting paid advertising in state publications has helped draw new business.

"We've been able to help our customer agencies offset their printing costs," Davis explains, "which has created a better customer/OSP relationship." OSP recently got a $350,000 job from a former customer that was lured back because the revenue from ads brought the price of printing its publication down considerably.

Such innovation is part of the reason OSP has survived as long as it has. It officially got its start in January 1850—eight months before California's admission to the Union. That was when the state legislature created the office of State Printer. For 25 years, printing was handled by private concerns, with the State Printer acting as the purchasing agent.

By the early 1990s OSP comprised several scattered satellite printing facilities. When Cron came on board she led the consolidation of these offices into a single 300,000-square-foot operation, with one satellite office near the Capitol.

Today OSP prints more than 12 million ballot pamphlets, 14 million tax forms, 5 million department of motor vehicles handbooks and hundreds of thousands of other projects for state agencies.

Additionally, the office develops Web pages and electronic forms and handles CD-ROM replication. It also provides addressing and bar-coding of documents for efficient handling and mailing, and maintains and updates address lists for customers. Fulfillment is another new service. Customers can FTP a document to the in-plant and OSP will take orders via an 800 number, print the document on demand and fulfill the order.

"I see that as a big growth area," remarks Davis.

—by Bob Neubauer

Key Equipment

• Logic computer management system

• Five-color, 40˝ Heidelberg with coater

• Four-unit, 38˝ Hantscho Mark VI three-web press

• Three Halm Jet envelope presses

• Drent Gazelle press

• Muller-Martini forms presses

• Harris forms presses

• Two Xerox DocuTech 6180s

• Xerox DocuTech 135