Government, University In-plants Gather at D.C. Forum

AS HE gave the keynote address at the sixth annual INTERQUEST Digital Printing in Government and Higher Education Forum on November 30, U.S. Public Printer Bill Boarman* did not sugar coat the difficulties the Government Printing Office is facing.

"There is a drum beat in Congress to cut printing," he declared, speaking to a crowd of about 80 government and higher-ed printers, consultants and vendors. His task, he stressed, as leader of the GPO, is not to preserve printing at all costs, but to make sure reductions are done in a way that doesn't hurt the legislative process.

Boarman was one of 12 speakers from university and government in-plants at the Washington, D.C., event. As he described the changes and cost-cutting measures he has brought to GPO since taking over the reigns from previous Public Printer Bob Tapella (who was also in the room), he made it clear that GPO is not just the government's "printer" any more.

"Today, we're the government's digital information platform," he said, adding that GPO just launched its first mobile application, which allows users to search for members of Congress by name, state, chamber or party. "I'm really proud of this app," he said, "and it was done by GPO employees in its entirety."

Though Boarman noted that GPO is looking into some of the new inkjet production presses being offered by Kodak and HP, he acknowledged calls from people as high up as President Obama himself to cut expenses by reducing printing; the President has specifically questioned the need to continue printing the Federal Register, a situation GPO has responded to by surveying those who receive it to find out if they want to keep getting a printed copy. About a third opted out.

He said he agreed that eliminating waste was a good idea, but warned that if cutting back on GPO printing resulted in people simply printing out digital files on office printers, then printing costs would actually rise.

Boarman remarked that members of Congress have a problem with two of the three words in GPO's name: Government and Printing. "I think they're O.K. with Office," he joked.

Research and Real-World Reports

Throughout the day, speakers from government and university in-plants took to the podium to discuss best practices at their operations. In between, principals from INTERQUEST—the market and technology research and consulting firm that organized the event—presented trends and research results.

Gilles Biscos, INTERQUEST president, discussed key trends in the publishing, print-on-demand, transactional, graphic arts and in-plant markets. He examined the impact of the latest vendor announcements and the synergies between paper-based and electronic communications. Toby Cobrin, a director at INTERQUEST, presented key findings from research into the government and higher-ed markets.

Here are some points covered by speakers:

• Shawn Magill, director of Strategy & Development with the Defense Logistics Agency's Document Services operation, talked about his organization's successes eliminating warehouses of documents for clients like the Navy and Air Force and printing them on demand instead. "We are not a printing organization," he stressed. Any in-plant that doesn't think of itself as being in the information technology business, Magill added, is behind the times. His operation is now implementing EFI's Digital StoreFront.
• Jane Bloodworth, former manager of the World Bank's Printing, Graphics and Map Design Unit, detailed the steps she took to relocate her in-plant from downtown Washington into a new facility outside of the city. She noted the importance of Skype in helping staff communicate between the different locations, and talked of efforts the in-plant made to be more sustainable and to reduce unnecessary printing.
• Stephanie Hemling, Copy Center supervisor at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, noted that her student-staffed in-plant, in addition to handling digital and wide-format printing and laminating, is in charge of the digital signage on campus. She said that displaying promotions and student-made videos on these screens for customers has led to more print business.
• Leslie Rutledge, director of Brown University Graphic Services (see IPG's November cover story), detailed her in-plant's reorganization, noting that it was successful largely because she focused on getting employees to buy into the changes, take ownership of jobs and welcome cross-training.
• Former Public Printer Bob Tapella talked about his efforts while in office to move documents into a digital format. "Look at the communication needs of the customer as opposed to just the printing needs," he advised. How are clients using documents, and what is the best format in which to send them this data? He said the federal government's push to cut expenses by reducing printing is an opportunity for in-plants to show their value by aiding in the elimination of unnecessary printing.

A panel of executives from Kodak, HP and Xerox also provided updates of their companies' digital printing strategies. And during breaks between presentations, attendees visited the tabletop displays of vendors like Kodak, MGI, HP, Xerox and Canon.